Adam & Amber’s Blog

Every year the United States National Film Preservation Board places 25 films onto the National Film Registry. These films are meant to represent “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films”. The films on this list are preserved by the Library of Congress and are meant to be a history of film for future generations.

The 2006 inductees are:
1. “Applause” (1929)
2. “The Big Trail” (1930)
3. “Blazing Saddles” (1974)
4. “The Curse of Quon Gwon” (1916-17)
5. “Daughter of Shanghai” (1937)
6. “Drums of Winter” (1988)
7. “Early Abstractions #1-5,7,10″ (1939-56)
8. “Fargo” (1996)
9. “Flesh and the Devil” (1927)
10. “Groundhog Day” (1993)
11. “Halloween” (1978)
12. “In the Street” (1948/52)
13. “The Last Command” (1928)
14. “Notorious” (1946)
15. “Red Dust” (1932)
16. “Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania” (1971-72)
17. “Rocky” (1976)
18. “sex, lies and videotape” (1989)
19. “Siege” (1940)
20. “St. Louis Blues” (1929)
21. “The T.A.M.I. Show” (1964)
22. “Tess of the Storm Country” (1914)
23. “Think of Me First as a Person” (1960-75)
24. “A Time Out of War” (1954)
25. “Traffic in Souls” (1913)

If you are like me you notice two things about this list. First, there are many films that I have never heard of (in my defense IMDB hasn’t heard of some of them either). Second, 10. “Groundhog Day” (1993). I have to say it is very comforting to know that in 3006 our great great great great grandchildren will be able to watch a fully preserved copy of “Groundhog Day” and in doing so get a better understanding of how we lived and what we were entertained by. It is a little confusing why we need to preserve a film that you can’t seem to escape in February on Cable, but I guess that is the point.

I just can’t wait until the next time I get into an argument about the greatest films ever made and can actually make a legitimate case for one of my favorite movies.

Link to the Variety story
Link to the complete list of movies on the National Film Registry