Ah the National Film Registry inductees! One of the most important December cinematic traditions that I always forget about. I wish it were in March each year -- since it's not any kind of "year in..." since film works aren't eligible for induction until they're ten years old. Placed it March it would also serve as a nice salve to the sometimes wounding notion that the Oscars are the only barometer for American movies that are deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" I wish too that this annual honor were more practical (restoration, anyone?) and less symbolic in nature.
THE TWENTY-FIVE 2014 INDUCTEES
Which have you seen and which will you be seeking out?(presented in chronological order)
Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day(1913)
The oldest surviving film featuring African-American actors. But no title cards, credits, or script has survived.
Shoes (1916)
Directed by Lois Weber, a female film pioneer. This one is about a desperate girl trying to support her parents and brothers who sells her body for a pair of shoes!
Unmasked (1917)
Another female silent director Grace Cunard who also acted in the short with co-director Francis Ford
The Dragon Painter (1919)
A US/France coproduction
More films after the jump filled with Satan-worshipping neighbors, chocolate rivers, and rugs that tie the whole room together...
The Power and the Glory (1933)
Preston Surges wrote this film about a man whose life story is told after his funeral. Starring Spencer Tracy & Colleen Moore
State Fair (1933)
One of many films with that title. State fairs used to be a big thing, y'all. It was nominated for two Oscars including Best Picture and what we now think of as "Adapted Screenplay". Starring Louise Dresser and Will Rogers as a husband and wife in Iowa with their family at the State Fair. Their eldest (Janet Gaynor and Norman Foster) find romance at the fair.
Ruggles of Red Gap (1933)
I'm so horrified I haven't seen this one because I've meant to for years and I love Leo McCarey's films. Nominated for Best Picture (and nothing else!) in its year.
Down the Argentine Way (1940)
A comic musical with Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, Don Ameche and more. Three below the line Oscar nominations
this shit is bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s
The Gang's All Here (1943)
A Busby Berkeley musical... another one with Carmen Miranda (plus Alice Faye). Carmen Miranda is all up in the NFR this year. Remember that Busby Berkeley biopic they were going to make. It's one of the rare biopics I want I want I want.
V-E +1 (1945)
???
The Way of Peace (1947)
Animated short about the end of the world. Cheery!
House of Wax (1953)
'No, not the one with Paris Hilton,' he says shuddering. This classic horror film is once of the Vincent Price gems.
Rio Bravo (1959)
Howard Hawks directs John Wayne, Angie Dickinson,Dean Martin, in this western. Walter Brennan is in it arguably ending his two-decade run as Most Ubiquitous Character Actor in the World. (He made 10 more films after it though)
Felicia (1965)
Here's the whole short (I think) about a black girl in California...
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The certified TFE favorite that we probably talk about a little too much
Little Big Man (1970)
Dustin Hoffman raised by Native Americans in this 70s smash.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
The demented family classic with Gene Wilder that Tim Burton & Johnny Depp tried to replace. It lives on, sure of its place in the world.
Please Don't Bury Me Alive (1976)
an indie Chicano film about life in the barrio
Moon Breath Beat (1980)
I know nothing about this one but it since it features a woman cuddling with cats, I purr my approval as I type.
Luxo Jr. (1986)
Pixar's 'look what we can do' birth of a logo short film. It was nominated for the Oscar for short film
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The high school classic. It's charms largely escape me and even did when I was the right age for it.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
I delight in other people's delight of this film but I admit to no real personal connection to it other than a) the Julianne Moore Valkyrie Bowling dream sequence and b) the fun memory of the first time I saw it at a movie theater/bar in Salt Lake City called "Brewvies" - it was the perfect movie to watch while drinking legally in the movie theater
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
meh. Shakespeare in Love was better (*ducks and hides*)
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)
This Oscar winning documentary is about the British rescue of thousands of Jewish children during the Holocaust who were shipped to live with strangers hoping to someday be reuinted with their families
13 Lakes (2004)
This contemplative documentary short consists of 13 shots of US lakes - no camera movement but the water moves, naturallly.