Suggestions for the National Film Registry, 2015

by Dragonfly777 | created - 02 Sep 2015 | updated - 03 Sep 2015 | Public

50 suggestions I sent to the National Film Registry in August, 2015, for adding to the existing and growing archive, and in creating this list, taking into account that a film must be at least 10 years old and be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

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1. After Hours (I) (1985)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

89 Metascore

An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong

Votes: 81,423 | Gross: $10.60M

2. All the Real Girls (2003)

R | 108 min | Drama, Romance

71 Metascore

Small-town love story of a young man with a reputation for womanizing and his best friend's sister.

Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Zooey Deschanel, Paul Schneider, Patricia Clarkson, Shea Whigham

Votes: 11,032 | Gross: $0.55M

3. American Psycho (2000)

R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Horror

64 Metascore

A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.

Director: Mary Harron | Stars: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage

Votes: 715,721 | Gross: $15.07M

4. Barton Fink (1991)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller

69 Metascore

A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner

Votes: 128,981 | Gross: $6.15M

5. Being There (1979)

PG | 130 min | Comedy, Drama

83 Metascore

After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.

Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden

Votes: 77,660 | Gross: $30.18M

6. Big Fish (2003)

PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

58 Metascore

A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange

Votes: 458,947 | Gross: $66.26M

7. Blood Simple (1984)

R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

84 Metascore

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh

Votes: 105,294 | Gross: $2.15M

8. Boogie Nights (1997)

R | 155 min | Drama

86 Metascore

Back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzmán

Votes: 282,110 | Gross: $26.40M

9. Boys Don't Cry (1999)

R | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

86 Metascore

A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.

Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III

Votes: 103,299 | Gross: $11.53M

10. The Brig (1964)

Not Rated | 68 min | Drama

A ultra-realistic depiction of life in a Marine Corps brig (or jail) at a camp in Japan in 1957. Marine prisoners are awakened and put through work details for the course of a single day, ... See full summary »

Directors: Jonas Mekas, Judith Malina | Stars: Warren Finnerty, Jim Anderson, Henry Howard, Tom Lillard

Votes: 303

11. Burden of Dreams (1982)

Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary

A documentary following German auteur Werner Herzog as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather and getting a boat over a mountain, all in an effort to make his film Fitzcarraldo (1982).

Director: Les Blank | Stars: Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards

Votes: 8,135

12. But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)

R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

39 Metascore

A naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.

Director: Jamie Babbit | Stars: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Michelle Williams, Brandt Wille

Votes: 41,244 | Gross: $2.21M

13. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama

77 Metascore

An ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Bill Bernstein, Claire Bloom

Votes: 60,800 | Gross: $18.25M

14. Crumb (1994)

R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy

93 Metascore

An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.

Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb

Votes: 21,594 | Gross: $3.17M

15. Dazed and Confused (1993)

R | 103 min | Comedy

82 Metascore

The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.

Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane

Votes: 199,611 | Gross: $7.99M

16. Downtown 81 (2000)

Unrated | 72 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

54 Metascore

After being released from the hospital, the artist Jean Michel Basquiat wanders around Manhattan trying to sell art to make money and find a place to stay.

Director: Edo Bertoglio | Stars: Jean Michel Basquiat, John Lurie, Richard Weigand, Cyndy Schneidau

Votes: 1,623 | Gross: $0.10M

17. The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, History, Music

93 Metascore

A look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.

Director: Penelope Spheeris | Stars: Eugene Tatu, Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline

Votes: 4,868

18. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

R | 101 min | Crime, Drama

82 Metascore

A pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.

Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James Le Gros, Heather Graham

Votes: 40,633 | Gross: $4.73M

19. Flaming Creatures (1963)

45 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror

An experimental film that features graphic sexual imagery, an earthquake, and a lipstick commercial.

Director: Jack Smith | Stars: Francis Francine, Sheila Bick, Joel Markman, Mario Montez

Votes: 1,663

20. Gates of Heaven (1978)

Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary

A documentary about a pet cemetery in California, and the people who have pets buried there.

Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Lucille Billingsley, Zella Graham, Cal Harberts, Dan Harberts

Votes: 6,293

21. George Washington (2000)

Not Rated | 89 min | Drama

82 Metascore

A group of children, in a depressed small town, band together to cover up a tragic mistake one summer.

Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Candace Evanofski, Donald Holden, Damian Jewan Lee, Curtis Cotton III

Votes: 8,666 | Gross: $0.24M

22. Ginger Snaps (2000)

Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

70 Metascore

Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf.

Director: John Fawcett | Stars: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Mimi Rogers

Votes: 52,302 | Gross: $0.00M

23. Ghost World (2001)

R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama

90 Metascore

Two eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.

Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro

Votes: 126,845 | Gross: $6.22M

24. Heartworn Highways (1976)

Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary, Biography, Music

The best music and the best whiskey come from the same part of the country.

Director: James Szalapski | Stars: Peggy Brooks, Guy Clark, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell

Votes: 939

25. Hollywood Shuffle (1987)

R | 81 min | Comedy

74 Metascore

An actor limited to stereotypical roles because of his ethnicity, dreams of making it big as a highly respected performer. As he makes his rounds, the film takes a satiric look at African American actors in Hollywood.

Director: Robert Townsend | Stars: Robert Townsend, Craigus R. Johnson, Helen Martin, Starletta DuPois

Votes: 6,380 | Gross: $5.23M

26. In the Year of the Pig (1968)

Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary, History, War

A documentary chronicling the background to, and history of, the Vietnam War.

Director: Emile de Antonio | Stars: Harry S. Ashmore, Daniel Berrigan, Joseph Buttinger, William R. Corson

Votes: 1,917

27. Junebug (2005)

R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama

80 Metascore

A dealer in "outsider" art travels from Chicago to North Carolina to meet her new in-laws, challenging the equilibrium of this middle class Southern home.

Director: Phil Morrison | Stars: Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, David Kuhn, Alicia Van Couvering

Votes: 23,431 | Gross: $2.68M

28. Magnolia (1999)

R | 188 min | Drama

78 Metascore

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Votes: 328,544 | Gross: $22.46M

29. Marjoe (1972)

PG | 88 min | Documentary, Biography

This Oscar-winning documentary explores the life of one-time child evangelist and faith healer Marjoe Gortner. The son of professional evangelists, Gortner was preaching on the Southern tent-revival circuit by the age of 3.

Directors: Sarah Kernochan, Howard Smith | Stars: Agnes Benjamin, Marjoe Gortner, Vernon Gortner, Sarah Kernochan

Votes: 1,745

30. Mulholland Drive (2001)

R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

86 Metascore

After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.

Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates

Votes: 383,911 | Gross: $7.22M

31. The New World (2005)

PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History

73 Metascore

The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.

Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale

Votes: 89,890 | Gross: $12.71M

32. Opening Night (1977)

PG-13 | 144 min | Drama

69 Metascore

A renowned actress teeters on the edge of a breakdown as she counts down the days toward a big Broadway opening.

Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Joan Blondell

Votes: 12,214

33. Paper Moon (1973)

PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

77 Metascore

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman

Votes: 52,467 | Gross: $30.93M

34. Ray (I) (2004)

PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music

73 Metascore

The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.

Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell

Votes: 157,414 | Gross: $75.33M

35. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

R | 102 min | Drama

71 Metascore

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..

Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans

Votes: 898,905 | Gross: $3.64M

36. Schizopolis (1996)

Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery

44 Metascore

Fletcher Munson, the lethargic employee of a pseudo-religious self help company, and his doppelganger, the friendly but dull dentist Dr. Jeffrey Korchek.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Steven Soderbergh, Scott Allen, Betsy Brantley, Marcus Lyle Brown

Votes: 6,052 | Gross: $0.01M

37. Scorpio Rising (1963)

28 min | Short, Music

A gang of Nazi bikers prepares for a race as sexual, sadistic, and occult images are cut together.

Director: Kenneth Anger | Stars: Ernie Allo, Bruce Byron, Frank Carifi, Steve Crandell

Votes: 5,707

38. The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Romance

When his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor.

Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts

Votes: 42,479 | Gross: $12.00M

39. Sister Helen (2002)

Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary

64 Metascore

In this emotionally compelling documentary, Sister Helen opens a private home for recovering addicts and alcoholics in the South Bronx after the death of her husband and two sons.

Directors: Rebecca Cammisa, Rob Fruchtman

Votes: 279

40. Star Spangled to Death (2004)

402 min | Documentary, History

Star Spangled to Death is a 2004 experimental film directed by Ken Jacobs, consisting almost entirely of archive footage, depicting the history of the United States in film.

Director: Ken Jacobs | Stars: Jack Smith, Jerry Sims, Gib Taylor, Bill Carpenter

Votes: 173

41. The Straight Story (1999)

G | 112 min | Biography, Drama

86 Metascore

An old man makes a long journey by lawnmower to mend his relationship with an ill brother.

Director: David Lynch | Stars: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Jane Galloway Heitz, Joseph A. Carpenter

Votes: 97,484 | Gross: $6.20M

42. Titicut Follies (1967)

Unrated | 84 min | Documentary

Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater where people stay trapped in their madness.

Director: Frederick Wiseman

Votes: 5,109

43. True Stories (1986)

PG | 89 min | Comedy, Musical

67 Metascore

A small but growing Texas town, filled with strange and musical characters, celebrates its sesquicentennial and converge on a local parade and talent show.

Director: David Byrne | Stars: David Byrne, John Goodman, Annie McEnroe, Jo Harvey Allen

Votes: 7,497 | Gross: $2.55M

44. Twin Peaks (1990–1991)

TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.

Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook

Votes: 215,455

45. The Virgin Suicides (1999)

R | 97 min | Drama, Romance

77 Metascore

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents in suburban Detroit in the mid 1970s.

Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods, Kathleen Turner

Votes: 169,235 | Gross: $4.86M

46. Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997)

Not Rated | 165 min | Documentary, History

A reassessment of the tragedy at Waco that left 76 members of the Branch Davidian religious sect dead.

Director: William Gazecki | Stars: Dan Gifford, Jim Cavanaugh, Dick DeGuerin, Clive Doyle

Votes: 3,733

47. Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama

83 Metascore

An awkward seventh-grader struggles to cope with inattentive parents, snobbish class-mates, a smart older brother, an attractive younger sister and her own insecurities in suburban New Jersey.

Director: Todd Solondz | Stars: Heather Matarazzo, Christina Brucato, Victoria Davis, Christina Vidal

Votes: 37,183 | Gross: $4.77M

48. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

PG-13 | 118 min | Drama

73 Metascore

A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.

Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen

Votes: 254,124 | Gross: $9.17M

49. Wise Blood (1979)

PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama

84 Metascore

Fresh out of the army, Hazel Motes attempts to open the first Church Without Christ in the small town of Taulkinham.

Director: John Huston | Stars: Brad Dourif, John Huston, Dan Shor, Harry Dean Stanton

Votes: 6,466

50. The Woodsman (2004)

R | 87 min | Drama

72 Metascore

A child molester returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.

Director: Nicole Kassell | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Yasiin Bey, David Alan Grier

Votes: 35,394 | Gross: $0.04M



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