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Muppets, Leone and Dancing Zombies to be preserved for all time! This year's Library of Congress list is out!

Published at:  Dec 31, 2009 9:38:20 PM CST

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I don't know why, exactly, I love hearing what the Library of Congress preserves each year. There's an AFI List type quality to the announcement, comparing your own film taste to someone(s) that purveys all film, seemingly, of all time. There's that. And then there's the post-apocalyptic zombie world fantasy that most dyed in the wool geeks have had. What if the world was overrun and you're one of the survivors. Where would you go? What would you do if you had the run of the world?

I can't help but imagine digging through the rubble and finding this stash of cinema history and it fascinates me to no end to see what films the Library of Congress deems important enough to preserve for all time.

This year we have a few geeky additions, most notably the Thriller Music Video, directed by John Landis. And why not? The Thriller Dance has become a world-wide phenomenon, from Filipino prisoners to regular people gathering en masse to break Thriller Dance world records. There was even a crazy French dude who recorded the whole song (instrumentals, sound effects, everything) using only his voice.









Zombie/Werewolf/Awesome '80s Michael Jackson will be joined by Jim Henson and Co's first feature length muppet movie titled, appropriately enough, The Muppet Movie, which deserves to be saved forever for Rainbow Connection itself, one of the most beautiful, heart-warming songs ever sung... and it's done by a green felt frog. Goddamnit, now I want to watch The Muppet Movie. Again.





Also on the list is Sidney Lumet's awesome DOG DAY AFTERNOON. If you have missed this one somehow make sure to correct that immediately... Top of the New Year's Resolutions list, I'm tellin' ya'. ATTICA!!! ATTICA!





1957's THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN was also added, a film that balances cheesiness and awe pretty well. The effects work in the movie is still what makes it stand out to me. Love the forced perspective and giant props.





Also in the batch is William Wyler's Bette Davis starrer Jezebel. I haven't seen it, but own it on DVD... It's a Movie A Day leftover that might be getting some screentime very soon.





MRS. MINIVER is another one I'm not familiar with by William Wyler. I've heard of it, of course, but haven't watched it yet. The film swept the Oscars in 1943, winning best screenplay, director, cinematography, Actress (Greer Larson), Actress in a supporting role (Teresa Wright) and Picture.





UNDER WESTERN STARS is notable for being the film that made Roy Rogers a star. I know to our generation Roy Rogers isn't very ingrained, but to our grandfathers there was no bigger star. Singing Cowboys don't really exist anymore, but there's something lovely about watching these old flicks.





Tyrone Powers and Basil Rathbone in THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940) will be saved! Check out the brutal climactic fight between Powers and Rathbone here (spoilers)... and marvel at just has vicious it is.





I love Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum... and war films, so I'm ashamed at having not seen William Wellman's THE STORY OF GI JOE. Maybe in my youth I associated the movie with the old 12 Inch GI Joe action figures and never gave it a closer look. This hole will be plugged soon. Here's the opening of the flick:





Doris Day and Rock Hudson's romantic comedies of the '50s are sweet and simple, but they put a smile on my face. Now aliens who won't have any idea that Rock Hudson was famously closeted will find 1959's PILLOW TALK when we're all gone and appreciate Hudson, Day, Themla Ritter and Tony Randall.





And, possibly the best thing on this list, one of the most amazing westerns ever put to film by the great Sergio Leone: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. Next to THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, this is the best Leone/Morricone collaboration and one of the best Westerns... no, one of the best films ever made. Henry Fonda as a heavy? Those eyes are cold and brutal, Charles Bronson is a badass that'd give The Man With No Name a run for his money, Woody Strode at his coolest, Jason Robards at his toughest and Claudia Cardinale at her sexiest. An incredible film.





And then there are a lot of short film work, silents and experimental films including Helen Hill's student film Scratch and Crow (1995), a series of Pancho Villa reenactments from 1930-1936 called THE REVENGE OF PANCHO VILLA, Janie Geiser's experimental animated film THE RED BOOK, another animated piece from 1975 called QUASI AT THE QUACKADERO by Sally Cruikshank who did a lot of the Sesame Street animation, Chuck Workman's compilations of movie clips PRECIOUS IMAGES, the 1911 animated adaptation of LITTLE NEMO that inspired Walt Disney, avant-garde filmmaker Sidney Peterson's 1949 flick THE LEAD SHOES, a film put together by underprivileged kids called THE JUNGLE, Martin Brest's 1972 NYU student film starring a then unknown Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman HOT DOGS FOR GAUGUIN, Mabel Normand's 1914 silent comedy MABEL'S BLUNDER, 1961 Native American doc THE EXILES, Karl Brown's 1927 Great Smokey Mountain-filmed amateur film STARK LOVE and the Red Cross 1920 film looking at the aftermath of WW1 HEROES ALL.

I didn't intend for this to be a big rundown of the list, but once I started pulling trailers I couldn't help myself. I'll be damned if I don't want to watch all those movies right now. Click here to visit the Library of Congress' official site!

Happy New Year, squirts!

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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    Readers Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:42:03 PM CST

    First.

    by blest

    I got nothin.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:42:54 PM CST

    I still love The Muppet Movie.

    by beedub

    It's brilliant. Kinda like a live-action Pixar movie.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:45:25 PM CST

    Jett list, many i am proud to have been involved with

    by jettl93

    I can rmember the look of Leone's face when I suggested Fonda for the villan role

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:45:30 PM CST

    live action pixar?

    by bouncy x

    uh oh, now someone at disney will try and get a CGI animated muppets movie made!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:45:44 PM CST

    Actually, I got somethin....

    by blest

    Wouldn't it be funny if the Library of congress got switched up, and the film list has Ecks v.s Sever, The Wash, Batman and Robin, Double Take, and 6 seasons of One Tree Hill on repeat for the ultimate RickRoll?Nuclear survivors open canisters, "Nooooo!"

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:48:15 PM CST

    What.....no AVATAR?!

    by iammrmonkey!

    I kid. I kid.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:48:47 PM CST

    The Incredible Shrinking Man

    by skimn

    Jack Arnold's best of his '50s sci-fi output. An ending that questions mans place in the universe? Classic. Just about perfect as is, matte lines and all. And that fucking spider still is chilling. (What is it about the fifties and giant spiders?)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:49:16 PM CST

    X files dancing zombies

    by kingoflight

    were better.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 4:53:56 PM CST

    Charles Bronson was Roland of Gilead for me in that movie

    by stormwatcher

    Seriously, perfect for Roland. Too bad we can't yank him through time to play it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:02:13 PM CST

    Cool!

    by jamie mcbain

    The Muppet Movie is on that list!
    One of my favorite films, of all time!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:05:51 PM CST

    Once Upon A Time In the West

    by klytus_i.m_bored

    Beautiful movie. I had the fortune of seeing a pristine print of one of the reels of that film at a conference a couple years ago and it was gorgeous.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:17:57 PM CST

    Michael Jackson should re- make Thriller now.

    by ingeld

    He has finally grown into the role. (I know, I know, that's terrible.)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:19:09 PM CST

    Library of Congress is outdated

    by tatoosh

    Google has already indexed and archived every piece of media ever produced. Why do our taxes go to this any more?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:20:24 PM CST

    Once Upon A Time In The West...

    by admonisher

    Favorite Leone movie ($5 for the 2-DVD set at any Wal-Mart) ... favorite Morricone score (get the expanded 27-track Italian import version on GDM, if you can find it) ... favorite Western, period. Just an amazing piece of cinema. As for Henson's brilliant "The Muppet Movie" ... well, it's a happy day for me!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:31:18 PM CST

    Jett...really?

    by supermans

    Or are you pulling our legs?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:41:20 PM CST

    What business does US Govt have deciding the best movies?

    by anything but tangerines

    honestly the worst use of govt and taxpayer $$$ I can think of off hand. The age of great film dying in canisters is decades over. This project is useless now. just another, more official, best of list.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:48:09 PM CST

    The Incredible Shrinking Man

    by amadeo zeller

    Out of this whole list of inductees, The Incredible Shrinking Man, stands out as one of my all time favorites. It's by far one of Richard Matheson's most insightful works to explore existentialism. Scott Carey's closing monolog is still one of cinema's most moving and profound line readings.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:48:21 PM CST

    Tangerines

    by quint

    Tell that to Universal who lost original negatives of feature films in that fire two years ago. I'd rather my tax dollars go toward preserving our cultural heritage and art than the usual waste, but maybe that's just me.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:49:04 PM CST

    WAKA WAKA WAKA

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    Jett that made me piss meself....

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:51:24 PM CST

    Ingeld...don't apologise, nice joke.

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    Fuck Wacko Jacko....fuckin baby bandit...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 5:54:04 PM CST

    BAN FIRST! POSTERS PLEASE,FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

    by eoneon

    umm that Thriller parody was supposed to be funny?? MJ is rolling over in his grave

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:00:14 PM CST

    quint why do you always begin with

    by phoenixmagida5th

    'Ahoy squirts'? I'm assuming you named yourself after quint from jaws so why do you always say that stupid phrase? He never says it in the movie. He would never say something so faggotty. Seriously get rid of the pretencious catchphrase

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:05:42 PM CST

    God, lets bitch about some3thing positive..

    by eustisclay

    ...the gov is doing with our tax dollars. First I'd love to know just how much this costs before And the gov wastes so much money on a lot of other crap, I don't feel bad if it wants to use my tax bux to preserve films. Just watching Once....West a couple of months ago for about the 20th time. Man, you can keep your megan Foxs and kardashian chix, Claudia Cardinale was some kind of hot. We just watched her in the Pink Panther xmas day, and my girl gave me permission to do her. Course she's like 70 now.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:21:58 PM CST

    Too bad Bronson and Eastwood never battled..

    by onin solstice

    it may be too much manhood to be captured on screen. Frankly, men would look away in shame of themselves, and women would soil their undies by the millions.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:43:20 PM CST

    LEONE FOR THE WIN!

    by blakindigo

    That's what's up…

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:47:55 PM CST

    Fareal... I hear you...

    by scarywaitress

    but Thriller was before all that. I personally love the idea of the young, brilliant Michael Jackson being preserved for all time like this. THAT is the Michael I want to remember. Also, remember, that video was the result of MANY people's work, not just his. THAT also deserves to be preserved.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:48:33 PM CST

    Its called Criterion

    by anything but tangerines

    saved you alot of $$$ Uncle Sam.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:48:42 PM CST

    eoneon. Re: MJ is rolling over in his grave

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    Why??? Is there an eight-year-old underneath him?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:48:48 PM CST

    no subject

    by anything but tangerines

    and AMPAS

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:49:46 PM CST

    Mark Of Zorro

    by markmaiden

    Not glorious Technicolor. Colorized! Glorious black and white!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:50:02 PM CST

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    by dancreepythinmantwo

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  • Dec 31, 2009 6:51:05 PM CST

    Watch out for those "false notes"...

    by linguo_is_dead

    Once upon a time = the awesome!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:53:24 PM CST

    Although I despise Jacko, the Thriller filmclip is Ace.

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    Fucking suss cunt though. It must have been hard when all he had to do to become the greatest man on Earth was not go crazy or develop a hunger for young boys.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:53:31 PM CST

    i still think the Good Bad and Ugly is better

    by bmacsmith

    OUATITW is a little self indulgent for me and has plotholes you can drive a truck through. but its good. all his westerns are good. but TGTBTU is just a masterpiece.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:53:53 PM CST

    Pennys New Year sale honoring Michael Jackson..

    by mr dark

    Young boys trousers Half off !!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:54:05 PM CST

    dancreepythinmantwo.....fuck off

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

  • Dec 31, 2009 6:55:00 PM CST

    mr dark What did MJ say to Gary Glitter

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    "I'll trade you two fives for a ten."

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 7:03:24 PM CST

    mr dark Did you hear the duet MJ did with Elton John?...

    by flickapoo

    ..."Don't Let Your Son Go Down On Me"

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 7:03:33 PM CST

    Ha ha ha .....NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks

    by mr dark

    Whats the difference between Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett?
    One blew minors the other Majors..

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 7:05:13 PM CST

    TEAM MUPPET MOVIE!!!!!!

    by scarywaitress

    RIP, Jim Henson. I still miss you. Goddammit, for dying of something as stupid as fucking pneumonia.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 7:05:15 PM CST

    holy shit.. that thriller redone video is incredible.

    by soup74

    kudos to that kid

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 8:31:30 PM CST

    Awesome! Glad to see MJ remembered!

    by hollywoodhellraiser

    Liberary Of Congress did some great picks with Thriller and the Muppet Movie!I think they failed with Dog Day Afternoon as that movie was just okay. Pacino co-stars did a better job in the acting dept. as well!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 8:32:53 PM CST

    I love ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST

    by continentalop

    But DOG DAY AFTERNOON is the one on this list that is the must see for me. Quintessential New Hollywood. They literally don't make movies like this anymore, and we are worse off because of that.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 8:33:26 PM CST

    Mrs. Miniver

    by @gape

    Quint, you really have to see Mrs. Miniver. Great film! It's a strange mix of buholic, idealistic English sensibilities (particularly that of stubborn resolve) with the grim realities of war. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most patriotic films that I have ever seen . . . but, then again, I'm a huge William Wyler fan, so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 8:35:11 PM CST

    HollywoodHellraiser, no offense

    by continentalop

    But are you drunk already? DOG DOAY AFTERNOON is just perfect. One of Pacino's best performances.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 8:36:45 PM CST

    Plus MARK OF ZORRO

    by continentalop

    With two of the best fencers ever in Hollywood. Rathbone was a well known and great fencer, but he paid Tyrone Power the ultimate compliment when he said that he "could fence Errol Flynn into a hat box."

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 8:47:44 PM CST

    Nope Continetallop, just honest!

    by hollywoodhellraiser

    Dog Day Afternoon WAS an exciting film that didn't lose my attention but thats it!Far as Pacino best performance, I thought he was better in Serpico!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 9:26:09 PM CST

    All these lists...

    by kavalier

    It really does make me wonder what will be remembered a thousand years from now. I mean, will film even be remembered then? Found in the ashes? Pick, for argument's sake, Citizen Kane. Will they really teach that (show it) in classes of the future a thousand years from now? Just a random thought.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 9:38:59 PM CST

    To each their own HH

    by continentalop

    I prefer DOG DAY. But in my opinion you can't go wrong with Pacino in the 70s. His worst performance was probably in SCARECROWS, and that is better than a lot of Academy Award nominated performances.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 9:50:18 PM CST

    Nice to see those rapists and killers dancing to Thriller

    by saber12

  • Dec 31, 2009 9:57:35 PM CST

    Once Upon a Time in the West

    by lastofthev8interceptors

    ... Fonda was so amazing in that. Hell, everyone was. Still like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly more.. but it's very close! Leone/Morricone and Hitch/Herrmann = best director/composer teams ever IMO.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 10:00:22 PM CST

    Yup, Pacino in the 70's was great to watch BUT..

    by hollywoodhellraiser

    the 70's had lots of good movies and actors!Saber12 grow up! Its not like you can stop people from ejoying music! I'm sure convicts were rocking(even today)to Jailhouse Rock!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 10:26:18 PM CST

    HollywoodHellraiser

    by continentalop

    The 70s were the best period in American Cinema and the best period for American actors. When Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman are all arguably doing there best work, you know you are in a Golden Age.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 10:41:16 PM CST

    Continentalop

    by saber12

    The 70s also gave us Harrison Ford and Roy Scheider.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:15:20 PM CST

    That Zorro duel is amzing stuff!

    by the dark shite

    I'm surprised they didn't kill each other!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:15:21 PM CST

    The 70's... Also the best of Coppala, Lucas, Freidken....

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:17:54 PM CST

    Well I wouldn't call the 70's the best period in cinema!

    by hollywoodhellraiser

    That being short-sighted! I dearly love my 50's and 60's films! If I didn't have TCM I dunno what I would do!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:37:37 PM CST

    What was great about the 70's

    by amadeo zeller

    was the film makers weren't afraid to produce films with ambiguous to downright sad or tragic endings...Nowadays with these focus groups, it's rare to find a big studio film sans a happy ending, so the suits can maximize their profits. Thank God for certain independent productions minus big studio interference and/or tacked on happy endings. Spielberg is nortorius for this offense. What he did with Kubrick's A.I. still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Think of how powerful A.I. would've been if it would've ended with the scene of Haley Joel Osment left at the bottom of the sea, disillusioned while staring at the Blue Fairy, instead of tacking on another half hour of his typical sacchrine coated B.S.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:38:56 PM CST

    I went to Roy Rogers' museum when I was little.

    by gotilk

    Seeing Trigger stuffed (not the original one, the last one.. the original's meat was actually sold and eaten!! But Roy didn't know. weird. ) was exciting, strange and revealing to me in ways that I didn't understand for a long time. And it gave me nightmares. Meeting Dale Evans is something I didn't appreciate as much until much later. Such icons. And she was so warm, sweet. Really lovely person. I'll never forget my visit there. I love those old movies, they kept me company in a small town on the weekends when I was growing up.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:41:03 PM CST

    Amadeo Zeller, I'm of the opposite view.

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    I thought A.I. was hella harsh. They give him his reason for existence for one day, then she dies in his arms and the machines simply switch him off. Gave me the chills anyway.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:44:19 PM CST

    It's 2010 - Relaying message - http://tinyurl.com/yzmkmta

    by orionsangels

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:44:32 PM CST

    HollywoodHellraiser I love the classics as well

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    give me Spencer and Tracy any day over Reynolds and Bullock any day. The fact is that the 70's changed cinema forever. You could argue that it killed the Golden Age, but the artistic leaps were astounding.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Dec 31, 2009 11:52:04 PM CST

    Mrs. Miniver

    by mistermanreturns

    Man, don't admit you haven't seen it. That would be too sad.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 12:11:32 AM CST

    NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks

    by amadeo zeller

    No, what would've been harsher and more real, is Spielberg not succumbing to his Susie Q-like propensity to wrap things up with a bow-ribbon. The whole idea of him (Spielberg) not having enough faith in life's harsh realities by not tampering with its' natural conclusions. Spielberg, adding a bunch of "BENEVOLENT" e.t.'s to grant that android a happy ending smacks of condescension.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 12:19:41 AM CST

    I understand your view, I just thought his end wasn't happy

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    I'll admit, on first viewing I thought it would end there, under the sea. It still would have been flooring and as you say harsh, yet I was and still am disturbed by where it ends up. Like I said, it's just my opinion, yet it resonates more with me to give him but a glimpse of the only thing that makes him happy, take it away, and just switch him off.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 12:29:50 AM CST

    NomoredirtyjokespleaseweareYanks

    by amadeo zeller

    Yeah, but he was switch off with a false happiness that smacked of some condescending focus group whose been so conditioned to expect a happy or satisfying ending, instead of an ending reflecting real life...Like I typed earlier: TYPICAL SPIELBERGIAN B.S.. I have a sneaky suspicion, if Kubrick was still alive during the production of A.I., Spielberg (out of respect) would'nt have committed such an offence.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 12:30:49 AM CST

    Oops *Offense*

    by amadeo zeller

  • Jan 01, 2010 12:48:36 AM CST

    thats cool dude, I guess the Burg don't bug me as much

    by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks

    gonna go watch Empire of the sun right now in fact.... see ya.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 12:48:39 AM CST

    It's been awhile...

    by kavalier

    Apologize for jumping into the conversation, but I had to ask. Do they switch off the boy/robot in the end? I really like that movie but it's been awhile since I've seen it. I remember the narrator saying something about sleep, but I guess I didn't realize that anyone switched him off.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 1:55:23 AM CST

    For the record...

    by blade_walker

    The "happy" ending for A.I. was Kubrick's idea, not Spielberg's. Just letting you know.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 1:56:48 AM CST

    Quint

    by klytus_i.m_bored

    Did Universal lose original elements in that fire? I'm friends with the head of their vaults and he said that they only lost some LTO tapes of digitized film elements but no originals. Maybe that's just their party line but I really didn't think they lost anything irreplaceable. Oh and to the people who think saving film is pointless - bear in mind that motion picture film is still the most stable image capture medium. Properly stored film (polyester base) is tested to last up to 800 years. That, coupled with the fact that playback equipment is fairly easy to engineer for motion picture film (light+lens+motor) means that film is likely to last much longer than digital media.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 1:58:28 AM CST

    And by "last" I meant...

    by klytus_i.m_bored

    that film is the image capture medium most likely to be accessible centuries into the future.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:31:43 AM CST

    Oh and Harry its..

    by emeraldboy

    Greer Garson. not larson. Bye

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:43:20 AM CST

    I love the ending of the muppet movie...

    by emeraldboy

    The camera is on Kermits face and he is sitting in a directors chair. and he starts to sing..... "life´s like a movie, write your own ending, keep on dreaming, keep pretending, we have done what we´ve set out to do, thanks to the lver, the dreamers and you" while kermit is singing the camera pans out to include all of the muppets who are joining in. the last scene as the credist are rolling is the movie theatre that the muppets have destroyed. but in a chlid like way.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:57:56 AM CST

    Worst use of US Taxpayer Dollars : AIG. Haliburton.

    by ptsdpete

    List goes on.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:58:32 AM CST

    Iraq. Guantanamo Bay. Vietnam. Abu Gharib.

    by ptsdpete

    List goes on.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:59:21 AM CST

    Muppet Movie is maybe my favorite movie...

    by danielkurland

    right up there with Oldboy, Zodiac, There Will Be Blood, and Blue Velvet. It is astounding. The writing is great. The cameos are fun. The tricks are superb (wide shot of Kermit riding the bike) and goddamn if that end shot of the Muppets absconsed in a rainbow doesn't look like a fucking painting. I have literally cried because of how beautiful this movie is.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 3:04:51 AM CST

    "We read the screenplay"...

    by danielkurland

    You don't get jokes like that in movies any more!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 5:33:03 AM CST

    I mis-read the Leone for Leona in the headline...

    by gabba-uk

    And rightly freaked the fuck out. But all is well. A 'tarded X-factor winner preserved for all time??! Shuddering thought.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 5:42:39 AM CST

    david gest...

    by emeraldboy

    looks preserved alright.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 7:06:00 AM CST

    Life's like a movie;

    by buffywrestling

    write your own ending.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 7:09:11 AM CST

    Hitler, really?

    by buffywrestling

    You so lose any internet debate ever.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 7:30:59 AM CST

    Comparing a

    by buffywrestling

    genocidal, homicial dictator that wanted to EXTERMINATE A FUCKING RACE to a sketchy pop idol is retard turned to 11. I hope all your presents that your parents got you for Christmas were toys made of nerf.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 7:49:39 AM CST

    Good one, Buffywrestling!

    by hollywoodhellraiser

    Some posters are so eager and so desperate for attention that they write without thinking.They are called Attention-Whores! Fareal is one who made a statement that is profoundly stupid!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 8:06:12 AM CST

    ...wow. Champagne farts are............remarkable...

    by flickapoo

    ...I was going to bay bad, but I'm not sure I hate the smell.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 9:04:00 AM CST

    Once Upon a Time in the West

    by avastar

    One of the best revenge movies of all time!!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 9:30:33 AM CST

    Kavalier...

    by danielkurland

    Absolutely. That's exactly how I came to love Kane.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 10:07:48 AM CST

    I'm not the type to use aliases...

    by danielkurland

    but if I were, the one I would use would be Arch Stanton.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 10:31:18 AM CST

    Did you all know...

    by williamzabkarox

    Dario Argento co-wrote the script for Once Upon A Time In The West along with Sergio Leone and Bernardo Bertolucci. That's right! Before Argento went on to be one of the masters of horror he co-wrote one of the greatest westerns ever made!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 10:49:07 AM CST

    Aye, the long flms

    by star hump

    I need a roach clip to hold the roach that will inspire me. There it is. Ah. Fire it up.

    Aw hell, I can't get past the Muppet Movie! So beautiful, so wonderful. OK. Retreat, try again

    It's just that, if we're going to go into the late 70s, those golden years, then Congressional Library, next year demands THE GREAT SANTINI. DUVALL 'Nuff said.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 11:00:00 AM CST

    Wait, a Dying Daddy marine?

    by star hump

    On 2ns though6

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 11:00:07 AM CST

    Seigel Muppet movie

    by mr_p

    whatever happened to that? Is it not happening now?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 11:01:45 AM CST

    So did the Universal fire destroy Abbott and Costello films?

    by feralangel

    Because that would be a real tragedy. "Hold That Ghost" and "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" are two of my fave movies. Watched them over and over as a kid. Hope there's something left of them besides bad prints.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 11:08:59 AM CST

    Clam soup in a can

    by star hump

    in Spain. Officers club. No one will know beacuse it is a movie, where no one knows anyfucking thing yet we love all the mvies that are released and I cannot wait for the next movue to be released hopefully it will have a robnot or a hot chick or both. Yes. But the clam soup inn a can is what Duvall used in Santini so you thought he threw up. In real lifew it is worse. US pilots couldnt give a fuck and at one point flew under a tram in Scandanvia, (YES -- JET PLANES) just so they could do it. They cut the wires and dozens fell to their deaths. BLAP, go w. SANTINI, its that culture without the corp influence. Great movie about a sick, brainwashed US pilot.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 11:14:42 AM CST

    God I cant take it anymore

    by star hump

    HOLLYWOOD. OH HOLLYWOOD

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 1:00:23 PM CST

    So how do they preserve these flicks?

    by bass ackwards

    Do the studios give them an original negative and they seal em up in a vault somewhere? Or is it just some dudes VHS collection left in his parent's basement?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:16:09 PM CST

    And the first groin pull of 2010

    by buffywrestling

    goes to Fareal, for the gigantic leap to his conculsion.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 2:26:20 PM CST

    Well done Fareal!

    by buffywrestling

    Now come accept your "Giant Paintbrush" award! It's a bit wide & heavy like yourself but I'm sure you'll manage.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 4:14:40 PM CST

    Hitler's paintings shouldn't be in a museum or library

    by continentalop

    Because they are bad pieces of art. But "Mein Kampf", despite being odious and poorly written, should be. Why? Because it is a historical document.
    Same with Michael Jackson's music video. The video is an important historical document about the growth of music videos and pop music during the 80s. And if we start basing who gets remembered on moral reasons, a lot of guys are going to be excluded: Jefferson (slave owner), Washington (slave owner), DW Griffith (racist), Ford (anti-semite), Ingrid Bergman (adulterer), Lord Byron (incest), Fatty Arbuckle (demonized as a rapist by the press), Errol Flynn (statutory rapist), Charlie Chaplin (ditto), OJ Simpson (murderer), Robert Blake (ditto), and many others should be excluded from any sort of library or museum based on Fareal's logic.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 5:29:08 PM CST

    "You brought two too many."

    by falafalguy

    What a bad-ass line. Bronson rules.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 5:45:18 PM CST

    Once Upon a Time in the West is a masterpiece

    by soylentmean

    One of my favorite films. Glad to see it's getting preserved.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 5:56:02 PM CST

    the muppets stand for something..

    by emeraldboy

    Jim Henson was a really decent person who stood for something. I am thrilled that the Muppet Movie is on the list. it is the story of having a dream and never giving up on that dream.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 6:06:07 PM CST

    oh and as for mein kampf...

    by emeraldboy

    is going published in germany for the very first time and it is going to be give to all jewish students and non jews alike. It has been throughly re edited and heavily annonated the book was given to scholars to add their notes to give historival weight. Mein Kampf is being published by one of germanys largest jewish publishing companies

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 7:03:40 PM CST

    Well written Continenatlop!

    by hollywoodhellraiser

    And Buffywrestling that was some funny shit! I wanna use that paintbrush putdown! LOL

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 7:42:29 PM CST

    At first I thought it was about Sunny Leone

    by blade_walker

    Her films should be preserved alongside Sergio's. Hot-ass Indian bitch could suck-start a Harley.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 01, 2010 8:22:35 PM CST

    Michael Jackson

    by hastros

    Michael Jackson is wherever he is right now stinking up the place with the smell of little boys booty holes

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 02, 2010 1:25:53 AM CST

    The Mark of Zorro

    by dukeroberts

    I love Zorro, and 1940's The Mark of Zorro is right near the top of Zorros. That is still one of the greatest swordfights ever filmed. Why did you use the colorized version though? Yech.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 02, 2010 1:37:47 AM CST

    Al Pacino in the 70s and early 80s

    by takingscorpioscalls

    from Panic at Needle Park (1971) to roughly Scarface (1983), No one, and i mean no one was better than Pacino in this period. DeNiro, Nicholson, Hoffman were in their own greatness then, but Pacino was above even that greatness, just such a forceful singularity. Dog Day Afternoon was probably the single greatest performance of all time.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 02, 2010 1:40:01 AM CST

    continentalop

    by takingscorpioscalls

    I have to agree with that, even Pacino's weaker stuff in the 70s like Scarecrow or Bobby Deerfield makes the academy winners of today look jokey.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 02, 2010 2:32:27 PM CST

    You guys are laughing at Jett's horseshit?

    by skyway moaters

    Suspicions confirmed. Tailenders eat current's lunch.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 02, 2010 2:35:10 PM CST

    Currently watching "Watchmen" for the first time...

    by skyway moaters

    ... what was it you jagoffs hated about it again?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 02, 2010 4:25:42 PM CST

    what's the pre-req for preservation?

    by meadowe

    Obviously Mark of Zorro is one of if not the oldest on this list this year. Have any videogames ever been preserved?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 04, 2010 1:12:06 PM CST

    Preservation at LC

    by klytus_i.m_bored

    Interestingly enough, I'm interviewing with the Library of Congress in a couple weeks. You can find out about their Preservation program (and a bit about criteria for selection for preservation) here: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/.

    Generally archives look at factors such as historical significance, cultural significance, and scarcity to assign "archival value" and decide what items should be selected for long-term preservation. And yes, many libraries are collecting and preserving videogames. Preservation of videogames is thorny because so much attendant playback equipment and software must be preserved to ensure future accessibility to the games. Emulation is one way around that, and many repositories (including, I believe, LC) are looking at emulation as a way to ensure future viability to the games they preserve.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 04, 2010 9:30:15 PM CST

    Re: Takingscorpioscalls

    by sk229

    Same here... Dog Day is, imho, the most perfect performance ever. I can't think of any other performance that comes close in terms of originality and an actor just wringing his or herself out onscreen. The phone call with Leon is, to me, the pinnacle of screen acting... yes, beyond even Brando, although I still think Brando is the only genius among actors ever with the possible exception of Daniel Day-Lewis.

    Reply to Talkback

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