The NFR Class of 2009: Poker Face

December 30th, 2009: As we wrap up another decade, the NFR adds another 25 movies to the roster, bringing the total to 525. Here once again is the Class of 2009, as reviewed by me:

Little Nemo (1911): “the evolutionary step needed to get Winsor McCay to ‘Gertie the Dinosaur’”
Mabel’s Blunder (1914): “The NFR wouldn’t be complete without Mabel Normand”
Heroes All (1920): “represents a specific time and place for this country”
Stark Love (1927): “I’m willing to give films a slight pass with a convincing argument, but ‘Stark Love’ is testing those limits.”
La Venganza de Pancho Villa (1930-1936): “a wholly original piece of filmmaking”
A Study in Reds (1932): “I’ll be honest, I couldn’t get into this one.”
Jezebel (1938): “Even the great Bette Davis can only do so much.”
Under Western Stars (1938): “cheap and a bit contrived, but you can see Roy Rogers’ screen appeal on display.”
The Mark of Zorro (1940): “a slight pass for the popularity of Tyrone Power, and not much else.”
Mrs. Miniver (1942): “propaganda to be sure, but…an important document of addressing the war without the blessing of hindsight”
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945): “a good movie, but I question its standing among the greats.”
The Lead Shoes (1949): “leading the charge for San Francisco’s experimental art scene of the 1950s.”
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957): “not the first ‘50s sci-fi film that comes to mind”
Pillow Talk (1959): “still one of filmdom’s top-notch romantic comedies.”
The Exiles (1961): “a unique approach to a largely ignored culture”
The Jungle (1967): “an interesting if somewhat messy examination of gang life”
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968): “[Sergio] Leone’s contributions to the genre deserve to be preserved by anyone who can stake a legitimate claim.”
Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972): “Why is it on the NFR?”
Dog Day Afternoon (1975): “definitely one of those ‘wasn’t that already on the list?’ kind of movies.”
Quasi at the Quackadero (1975): “a mind fuck of a film”, “a Fleischer cartoon on acid”
The Muppet Movie (1979): “one of the biggest hearts of any quote-unquote family movie ever.”
Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983): “the perfect embodiment of an artist in peak form”.
Precious Images (1986): “certainly one of the NFR’s more meta inductions”
The Red Book (1994): “not my cup of tea”
Scratch and Crow (1995): “ensur[es] that [Helen Hill’s] sadly silenced voice has a place to be heard.”

Other notes

As I can tell from my own write-ups, overall I was not digging the Class of 2009. Despite some personal favorites on the list like “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Muppet Movie”, a lot of these get either a slim pass from me or my standard “on the list for what it represents rather than for what it is”. Not that any of these movies are bad or lacking a reason to be on the NFR, but this class was missing big heavy hitters. All of these movies are deserving (except for maybe “Hot Dogs for Gauguin”), but none of them are iconic enough that they just have to be on the list.
The big NFR news of 2009 was the induction of “Thriller”, the first and only music video on the Registry. Michael Jackson had died six months earlier, and apparently “Thriller” had been in contention for a few years at that point, so it’s no surprise that not only did “Thriller” make the cut, but that it was the headline for most articles about the Class of 2009.
When the Class of 2009 was announced, “Avatar” was beginning its dominance over the U.S. box office. Other notable titles playing in theaters included “The Blind Side”, “Up in the Air”, “The Princess and the Frog”, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”, and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”.
Double Dippers this year include: actors Charles Durning, Henry Fonda, Carol Kane, and William Schallert, director William Wyler, editor Albrecht Joseph, and if we’re counting archival footage, everyone in “Precious Images”.
Speaking of “Precious Images”, “The Mark of Zorro”, “The Incredible Shrinking Man”, “Pillow Talk”, “Once Upon a Time in the West”, and “Dog Day Afternoon” all make appearance in “Precious Images”, and therefore have clips inducted twice in the same year.
Not a lot of thematic double dippers this year, but they include: World War II during the war, experimental animation by women, weird love triangles, non-actors acting, pre-feminism, and sexual harassment. Oof. On the plus side, five of these films are directed by women, which had to have been an NFR record at the time.
Favorites of my own subtitles: A Red Cross to Bear, Backwoods and Forwards, The Revolution Will Not Be Moralized, The Marx Sisters, Belles Are Ringing, Where in the World is Swordsman Don Diego?, Totally Ducked Up, and Heart Felt.
And finally, a reminder that over 200 NFR titles are featured in Chuck Workman’s “Precious Images”. You can learn more by checking out my detailed shot list for the movie.