Every year, the Library of Congress selects 25 movies to join the National Film Registry, pictures that will be preserved in perpetuity because of “their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage, the newest selections include a vibrant diversity of American filmmakers, as well as landmark works in key genres and numerous documentaries.”
This year’s list includes some titles that date back nearly 125 years — as well as recent films, including 2008’s Iron Man. The film has certainly been culturally and historically important; it not only launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it redefined the model for almost all superhero movies (not to mention more general blockbusters) since then.
The Little Mermaid (1989)Disney
Other movies on this year’s list include the Cary Grant thriller Charade, the experimental classic Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger, the blaxploitation landmark Super Fly, Brian De Palma’s iconic horror movie Carrie, the Disney favorite The Little Mermaid, the watershed rom-com When Harry Met Sally, and John Waters’ beloved comedy Hairspray. Here’s the full list:
- Mardi Gras Carnival (1898)
- Cab Calloway Home Movies (1948-1951)
- Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
- Charade (1963)
- Scorpio Rising (1963)
- Behind Every Good Man (1967)
- Titicut Follies (1967)
- Mingus (1968)
- Manzanar (1971)
- Betty Tells Her Story (1972)
- Super Fly (1972)
- Attica (1974)
- Carrie (1976)
- Union Maids (1976)
- Word is Out: Stories of Our Lives (1977)
- Bush Mama (1979)
- The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)
- Itam Hakim, Hopiit (1984)
- Hairspray (1988)
- The Little Mermaid (1989)
- Tongues Untied (1989)
- When Harry Met Sally (1989)
- House Party (1990)
- Iron Man (2008)
- Pariah (2011)
Here was Marvel’s Kevin Feige’s statement on the news that Iron Man was going into the National Film Registry:
Iron Man was the very first film Marvel Studios independently produced. It was the first film that we had all of the creative control and oversight on and it was really make or break for the studio. All of our favorite movies are the ones that we watch over and over again and that we grow up with. The notion that here we are, almost 15 years after the release of ‘Iron Man,’ and to have it join the Film Registry tells us it has stood the test of time and that it is still meaningful to audiences around the world.
If you want to explore the full National Film Registry, you can do that at the Library of Congress website.
Sight & Sound’s 2022 Picks For the Greatest Films of All Time
Every ten years, the British film magazine Sight & Sound polls a collection of international critics and directors to determine the greatest movies ever made. Here were their choices in 2022.
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