Tweet NEW National Film Registry titles!

https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-17-178?loclr=fbloc-natfilmregistry

https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-17-178?loclr=fbloc-natfilmregistry

Only 2 silent films.

Four, Ed: He Who Gets Slapped; The Sinking of the Lusitania; and Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street are all professional releases; plus, I imagine Fuentes Home Movies Collection 1920s and 1930s is all or partially silent.

Bob

Four, Ed: He Who Gets Slapped; The Sinking of the Lusitania; and Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street are all professional releases; plus, I imagine Fuentes Home Movies Collection 1920s and 1930s is all or partially silent.

Bob

ONE silent feature film.

ONE feature film from the 1930s.

The Goonies?

Four, Ed: He Who Gets Slapped; The Sinking of the Lusitania; and Interior New York Subway, 14th Street to 42nd Street are all professional releases; plus, I imagine Fuentes Home Movies Collection 1920s and 1930s is all or partially silent.

Bob

ONE silent feature film.

ONE feature film from the 1930s.

Yeah, the recentness bias of it isn't that great. Titanic seems to another iffy choice.

Hmmmm...

Who gets to choose the pictures?

...Die Hard..? I will now officially declare the national film registry as irrelevant.

In other news, the LoC has launched a playlist of NFR titles on their YouTube channel and on their own online "Screening Room". One of the 35 films posted by the LoC online is a new scan of their material on THE ITALIAN (1915) with a new piano score by yours truly.

Ben

Who gets to choose the pictures?

Organization

The board is appointed by the Librarian of Congress and is composed of representatives from professional organizations representing the film industry, archives, scholars, filmmakers and others who comprise the diverse American motion picture community.[1] Explicitly it is composed of up to 5 "at-large" members (with 5 alternates) and 17 member/alternate pairs from the following 18 organizations:[2]

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
American Film Institute
American Society of Cinematographers and International Cinematographers Guild
Association of Moving Image Archivists
Directors Guild of America
Motion Picture Association of America
National Association of Theater Owners
National Society of Film Critics
Department of Film and Television of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University
Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Society of Composers and Lyricists
United States members of the International Federation of Film Archives
University Film and Video Association
The Department of Film and Television of the School of Theater, Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles
Writers Guild of America

If the idea of the registry is to promote preservation of distressed but culturally valuable films, I would suggest all films that "have already been preserved by the copyright holder, the filmmaker or other archives" be disqualified from being named to the registry. The LOC should be calling attention to films that are in real need, and not films that reflect the subjective tastes of selectors.

If the idea of the registry is to promote preservation of distressed but culturally valuable films, I would suggest all films that "have already been preserved by the copyright holder, the filmmaker or other archives" be disqualified from being named to the registry. The LOC should be calling attention to films that are in real need, and not films that reflect the subjective tastes of selectors.

Also, "The 1996 law also created the non-profit National Film Preservation Foundation which, although affiliated with the NFPB, raises money from the private sector."

The NFPB is non-profit. The Foundation is not. Its fund-raising ability partly explains the bias toward the post-Boomer films donors would be familiar with.

Who gets to choose the pictures?

The board is appointed by the Librarian of Congress and is composed of representatives from professional organizations ....

Thanks Ed, appreciated.

To round things off, it would be nice if there was an input from actual audiences. I don't know whether there are still those cards issued on film previews/premieres which asked for the audience's opinion of a film, but to leave the judging to academics and those within the trade seems to narrow things down a bit. Just my opinion.

Who gets to choose the pictures?

The board is appointed by the Librarian of Congress and is composed of representatives from professional organizations ....

Thanks Ed, appreciated.

To round things off, it would be nice if there was an input from actual audiences. I don't know whether there are still those cards issued on film previews/premieres which asked for the audience's opinion of a film, but to leave the judging to academics and those within the trade seems to narrow things down a bit. Just my opinion.

They have a "nomination" process open to the public, but of course we have no idea if they even look at the nominees.

That’s the only explanation for why Gigli hasn’t been nominated.

Bob

A number of these are now considered "classics" or of cult standing.
Both DIE HARD AND TITANIC have achieved that in the eyes of younger viewers. GOONIES has become a major cult classic with thousands of people visiting the up in the Pacific Northwest and driving the owners nuts. Several years ago, when I first got into film history, the 1970s was the new Golden Age for film, much to my shock. I do believe it is now the 1980's that is being revered.

And these are the fans TCM is trying hard to attract. Explains a lot.

I bought Spartacus this past year.
I was actually disappointed. Not as good as I remembered.

Rick

No, I bought Spartacus.

Bob

Not sure about "Goonies" or "Die Hard", no "Adventures of Captain Marvel" but am happy to see "Wanda" made the list, I recognize Barbara Loden's name from "The Ernie Kovacs Show".

Keep trying at some point the LOC needs to add another film serial besides "The Perils Of Pauline" (1914)

No, I bought Spartacus.

Bob

I see what you did there.

Rick

No, I bought Spartacus.

Bob

I see what you did there.

Rick

No, I see what you did there.

I see nothing!

Seriously folks, we should suggest that the LOC read the erstwhile comments of Nitratevillains here as regards the films we like?

No, I bought Spartacus.

Bob

I see what you did there.

Rick

No, I see what you did there.

Slaves are to be crucified along the roadside
the full distance between here and the gates of Rome.

Hold this man till the end.
And that man, too.

Rick

I see nothing!

Seriously folks, we should suggest that the LOC read the erstwhile comments of Nitratevillains here as regards the films we like?

The Board members seem to be a secret. At least I didn't find any info on who's on it.

I see nothing!

Seriously folks, we should suggest that the LOC read the erstwhile comments of Nitratevillains here as regards the films we like?

The Board members seems to be a secret. At least I didn't find any info on who's on it.

I will vote for Ed Lorruso and Bob Lipton to start off with - 5 times if necessary!

Presentism is always a problem. But -

1. I'd imagine many more vintage films are ALREADY on the list?

2. DIE HARD is one phenomenal film. If some of Hitch's thrillers rated, so does this title.

Rebecca, Dial M for Murder, Rope, Strangers on a Train, Foreign Correspondent, Lifeboat, and Spellbound are not on the Registry. So I guess DIE HARD is more iconic than they are.

Face it, Die Hard and Titanic are old enough to be classics, and it's hard to overstate how they're culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The only surprise about Titanic is that it wasn't added ten years ago.

Now this is interesting:

Who set up the National Film Registry and why?

Congress passed a bill that "prohibits any person from knowingly distributing or exhibiting to the public a film that has been materially altered, or a black and white film that has been colorized and is included in the Registry, unless such films are labeled disclosing specified information."

If only it were enforced...