The NFR Class of 2005: We Belong Together

December 20^th, 2005: Cutting things a little too close to the holidays, the National Film Preservation Board selects 25 more films for the National Film Registry, bringing our total to 425 films. I have just completed watching and writing about all 25, so you know what that means. Here again is the Class of 2005:

San Francisco Earthquake & Fire, April 18th, 1906 (1906): “might be played up a bit for the cameras, but the footage is nevertheless welcome in the National Film Registry”.
Jeffries-Johnson World’s Championship Boxing Contest (1910): “on the list for the event it is covering rather than anything noteworthy about the film itself.”
The Making of an American (1920): “a surprisingly well made film that encapsulates the immigrant boom of the early 20th century”
Hands Up! (1926): “an enjoyable, if not integral, silent comedy from an unsung artist.”
The Cameraman (1928): “[Buster] Keaton’s last creative hurrah in a decade long hot streak”.
The Power of the Press (1928): “exhibits the confident skill of a young director [Frank Capra] who will go on to help define the sound era.”
H2O (1929): “it’s nice to know that avant-garde filmmaking was happening as early as the late ‘20s.”
Baby Face (1933): “a hidden gem from the ‘30s”, “the unaltered version is definitely the superior film”.
Imitation of Life (1934): “the handling of its subject matter makes for a cringe-worthy watch today.”
Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort South Carolina, May 1940 (1940): “You had me at Zora Neale Hurston”.
Mom and Dad (1945): “one of the NFR’s more bizarre entries”.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947): “wonderfully imbued with the Christmas spirit”
Giant (1956): “still entertaining, but definitely doesn’t pack the punch it used to.”
House of Usher (1960): “I am all for Roger Corman being on this list.”
A Raisin in the Sun (1961): “continues to be an important film due to the strength and ongoing relevance of its source material”.
The Music Man (1962): “a feel-good film that represents the end of the movie musical’s reign in Hollywood.”
A Time for Burning (1966): “offers a more realistic approach [to Civil Rights] with its share of current-day parallels.”
Cool Hand Luke (1967): “bountiful iconic moments, a never-better Paul Newman, and some stunning imagery”
The French Connection (1971): “the high-energy antihero action movie that came to define the early ‘70s.”
The Sting (1973): “still an entertaining movie”, “another ‘minor classic’ on the list.”
The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man (1975): “a touching report of time and place”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): “the greatest B-movie musical in film history”.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982): “an iconic slice of ‘80s pop culture”.
Hoop Dreams (1994): “I can’t remember the last time I was so moved by a documentary.”
Toy Story (1995): “Not since ‘Snow White’ has one animated film been such a big game changer”.

Other notes

Similar to a typical NFR list in the late ‘90s, the Class of 2005 is a good balance between big-ticket movies (“Giant”-ticket movies, if you will) and more obscure entries that represent a specific time period or genre. Not as many “what’s not on the list yet” entries, though we do get our first Roger Corman movie (even if it’s not one of his more iconic, cheaper movies). We also get “Toy Story”, the first Pixar feature on the list, and only the fourth film to make the NFR at the 10-year minimum mark.
Interestingly enough, a least six movies in the Class of 2005 deal with race relations, primarily regarding African-Americans. I wonder what prompted that? I don’t recall 2005 being a big year for Civil Rights (we had just started George W. Bush’s second term), but it was the year that Barack Obama became the only Black member of the U.S. Senate, and Rosa Parks died that October. I guess something was in the air, or possibly the water.
There’s mention in the NFR press release of the National Film Preservation Board being reauthorized this year as part of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005. The big part of this reauthorization is the direction for the Library of Congress to make NFR titles more publicly accessible, as well as the expansion of the number of members on the National Film Preservation Board (though as best I can tell they only added two more At Large representatives). This is all good stuff, so thanks to…who sponsored this measure? Senator Orrin Hatch!? [Shudders] Never mind.
The Class of 2005 includes two films with no information on who actually filmed them. I wonder if anyone can claim they were in both San Francisco in 1906 post-earthquake and Reno in 1910 for the Johnson-Jeffries fight.
Another interesting (at least to me) bit of trivia: three of these films have connections to “The Exorcist”: “The French Connection” was also directed by Friedkin, “The Sting” was the major Oscar rival to “Exorcist”, and “Toy Story” makes a quick head-spinning homage. And yet it would be another five years before “The Exorcist” finally made the NFR.
When the Class of 2005 was announced, Peter Jackson’s remake of “King Kong” was number one at the box office. Also playing was “Brokeback Mountain”, which as of this writing is the sole 2005 film on the NFR, plus another remake of an NFR title: “The Producers”. Other notable titles include “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, “Walk the Line”, “The Family Stone”, and “The Chroni-WHAT-cles of Narnia”.
Only a handful of Double Dippers this time; by my count all actors. Among them, Paul Newman, Dennis Hopper, Ray Walston, Theresa Harris, and Jane Withers.
Thematic double dippers: Early film of news events, the struggles of working class Black people in Chicago, final scenes set on Christmas Day, big spooky houses, sexual promiscuity, euphemistic pregnancy talk, con artists, Dennis Hopper in thankless supporting roles, smart-ass New Yorkers, stage musicals turned movies (plus one movie turned stage musical), and epilogue text explaining what happened to everyone. There’s also at least three movies in the Class of 2005 on my Die Hard Not-Christmas list (not counting “Miracle on 34th Street”, which is actually a Christmas movie).
Favorite of my own subtitles: The Mark of Zora, Corn on Macabre, The Grift of Song/The Wrath of Con (TIE), I Am a Christ Allegory from a Chain Gang, Take the “H” Train, My SoCal-ed Life (original “Ridgemont High” post only), Rebound for Glory, and Pixar Upper.
Speaking of “Ridgemont High”: Disco sucks. Never forget that.
And finally, I leave you with two notes regarding “Cool Hand Luke”. First, if you’ll permit me to toot my own horn for a second: I am really proud of the Newman’s Own joke in my “Cool Hand Luke” post. That came out fully formed while I was watching the movie. And second: Here’s Lalo Schifrin’s main theme to “Cool Hand Luke”, which is still one of my favorite pieces of music.