As we say farewell to another summer, we as a nation start preparing for a very important year-end decision in Washington D.C.: Which 25 movies will make the National Film Registry this December. Below are my 50 nominees for 2024; films marked with * are being nominated by me for the first time this year.
The Five-Timers Club: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), The Miracle Worker (1962), The Great Escape (1963), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Original Cast Album: Company (1970), 9 to 5 (1980), Big (1988), The Sixth Sense (1999)
I guess they want Christmas movies now: White Christmas (1954), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)*, Elf (2003)*
Animation!: One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), The Jungle Book (1967), Finding Nemo (2003)
Shorts!: Time Piece (1965)*, Meet Marlon Brando (1966)*
Animated Short!: The Skeleton Dance (1929)*
Classic Hollywood: Of Human Bondage (1934)*, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Hellzapoppin! (1941)*, The Pride of the Yankees (1942)*, Stage Door Canteen (1943)*, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)*, Father of the Bride (1950)*, Royal Wedding (1951), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Female Directors: The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Yentl (1983)*, Clueless (1995) [plus “Big” from the 5-Timers section]
Directors Not Yet on the NFR: The Warriors (1979)*, Beetlejuice (1988), The Truman Show (1998), Being John Malkovich (1999)*, Office Space (1999)*, Best in Show (2000), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Mean Girls (2004)*, The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)*, Juno (2007)*
The Nicolas Cage in ’87 Film Festival: Moonstruck (1987)*, Raising Arizona (1987)*
Grab Bag: The Dirty Dozen (1967)*, F for Fake (1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), The Elephant Man (1980)*, Sophie’s Choice (1982), The Birdcage (1996)
The new kids from 2014: Boyhood (2014)*, Selma (2014)*
On average, three of my picks make it into the NFR, and I’m feeling good about this year’s selections. I’m off next week, but I’ll be back afterwards with more posts and more naked pleas to anyone on the National Film Preservation Board willing to read this.
Happy Viewing,
Tony
P.S. I’m not the only one with a public NFR nomination list; Representative Joaquin Castro recently unveiled his 25 nominations. It’s mostly a rehash of previous years’ lists (not unlike mine), but he does have “Pan’s Labyrinth” on there, which I feel has a good shot.
The Horse's Head 