My Nominations for the 2020 National Film Registry
Every December, the National Film Preservation Board announces the latest batch of movies to be added to the National Film Registry (NFR) in the Library of Congress. Although the final selections are made by the Film Board and the Librarian of Congress, they encourage the public to nominate films they believe should be added to the Registry.
Anybody can send in nominations; instructions on how to do so can be found at the National Film Registry website (https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/nominate/). You can nominate films as well, but be sure to do it soon — the deadline to submit nominations this year is Sept. 15.
To be eligible for the Registry, a film must be at least ten years old and must be considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It also must be a film produced or co-produced by an American company (hence the *National* Film Registry).
There are currently 775 great (and not so great) films in the Registry (a complete list can be found at https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/), but there are many more that deserve to be included. Many are highly-regarded classics; others are not as praised but are in need of preservation specifically for their historical or cultural significance.
Four of the films I nominated last year were added to the Film Registry: 'Amadeus' (1984), 'Body and Soul' (1925), 'A New Leaf' (1971) and 'She's Gotta Have It' (1986). I also had four of my nominees make it into the Registry the previous year, two the year before that, five in 2016, four in 2015, and three in 2014. So don't think that your votes don't make a difference, because they clearly do. :)
Below, in alphabetical order, are my nominees for the 2020 National Film Registry, which I have already submitted to the Film Board. I once again did not nominate any documentaries due to my preference for — and more knowledge of — narrative features. As always, I've nominated 50 films, which is the maximum number each person can nominate.
Good luck to those of you submitting your own nominations. I hope some of your favorites get in this year. :)
Anybody can send in nominations; instructions on how to do so can be found at the National Film Registry website (https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/nominate/). You can nominate films as well, but be sure to do it soon — the deadline to submit nominations this year is Sept. 15.
To be eligible for the Registry, a film must be at least ten years old and must be considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It also must be a film produced or co-produced by an American company (hence the *National* Film Registry).
There are currently 775 great (and not so great) films in the Registry (a complete list can be found at https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/), but there are many more that deserve to be included. Many are highly-regarded classics; others are not as praised but are in need of preservation specifically for their historical or cultural significance.
Four of the films I nominated last year were added to the Film Registry: 'Amadeus' (1984), 'Body and Soul' (1925), 'A New Leaf' (1971) and 'She's Gotta Have It' (1986). I also had four of my nominees make it into the Registry the previous year, two the year before that, five in 2016, four in 2015, and three in 2014. So don't think that your votes don't make a difference, because they clearly do. :)
Below, in alphabetical order, are my nominees for the 2020 National Film Registry, which I have already submitted to the Film Board. I once again did not nominate any documentaries due to my preference for — and more knowledge of — narrative features. As always, I've nominated 50 films, which is the maximum number each person can nominate.
Good luck to those of you submitting your own nominations. I hope some of your favorites get in this year. :)
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- DirectorArthur HillerStarsJames GarnerJulie AndrewsMelvyn DouglasAn American Naval Officer's talent for living the good life in wartime is challenged when he falls in love and is sent on a dangerous mission.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsTom HanksBill PaxtonKevin BaconNASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsWallace BeeryRichard ArlenLouise BrooksAfter killing her treacherous step-father, a girl escapes with a young vagabond and dresses as a boy. They hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and use a stolen car in their attempt to reach Canada.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsTom HanksElizabeth PerkinsRobert LoggiaAfter wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
- DirectorHerschell Gordon LewisStarsWilliam KerwinMal ArnoldConnie MasonAn Egyptian caterer kills various women in suburban Miami to use their body parts to revive a dormant Egyptian goddess while an inept police detective tries to track him down.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsIsabella RosselliniKyle MacLachlanDennis HopperThe discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliStarsEthel WatersEddie 'Rochester' AndersonLena HorneA compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
- DirectorsJoseph BarberaWilliam HannaTom Cat is a concert pianist who plays beautifully until he is interrupted by Jerry Mouse.
- DirectorWendell B. Harris Jr.StarsTimothy AlvaroRenauld BailleuxWilliam BallengerDetroiter William Douglas Street poses as a Harvard doctor, Time reporter, African exchange student.
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsAlicia SilverstoneStacey DashBrittany MurphyShallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsWilliam RedfieldWarren FinnertyGarry GoodrowMen sent their own way await heroin in Leach's apartment.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsGlynn TurmanLawrence Hilton-JacobsGarrett MorrisIn 1964 on Chicago's Near-North Side, the lives of four carefree high school seniors and best friends, including an aspiring playwright and an all-city basketball champion, takes a tragic turn.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsWoody AllenZero MostelHerschel BernardiIn 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsGene TierneyRex HarrisonGeorge SandersIn 1900, a young widow finds her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobin WilliamsForest WhitakerTom T. TranIn 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsPeter TorkDavy JonesMicky DolenzThe Monkees frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing surreal humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsGene TierneyDon AmecheCharles CoburnAn old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxQuincy Adams Wagstaff, Huxley University's new president, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against their rival, Darwin University.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharles LaughtonMaureen O'HaraCedric HardwickeIn 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJeremy RennerAnthony MackieBrian GeraghtyDuring the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
- DirectorLois WeberStarsCourtenay FooteMyrtle StedmanHerbert StandingThe parallel stories of a modern preacher and a medieval monk, Gabriel the Ascetic, who is killed by an ignorant mob for making a nude statue representing Truth, which is also represented by a ghostly naked girl who flits throughout the film.
