Where Is This Vault Filled With Movies, Anyway?

[Seil]

Now there's this crazy YouTube clip that my brother showed me last night that I can't stop watching. It contains a bunch of memorable lines from both the classic - and not so classic - points in the film industry.

However, one clip stuck out in my mind; the "I coulda had class." I looked into it, and after hours of extensive researching (note: five minutes on IMDB) I found the title of the flick - "On The Waterfront." This movie had Marlon Brando in his younger days, citing a line you've probably heard misquoted and out of context more times than you've seen a movie:

Originally Posted by Mr. Brando

You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.

Now, I looked into this on some of the hardest hitting sites on the net (note: Wikipedia) and found that On The Waterfront

Originally Posted by Some Of The Hardest Hitting Sites On The Web

was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It is also on the Vatican's list of 45 greatest films of all time, compiled in 1995.

Now, I know the "registry" doesn't sound like much, but I'm imagining this huge underground bunker. When the apocalypse happens, be it zombie or otherwise, all of those pompous, high-browed government officials are going to hunker in their bunkers watching these movies. Or, y'know, someone just has a copy of them somewhere on a shelf.

But that got me thinking - what other films are there in that registry? Heck, we're griping about ABBA being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, what's going into this vault that's defining our generation? Well, this stuff is.

So what about it? Do these films deserve it? Are the culturally significant? Who's deciding this? Congress? Why are we letting the same people who're helping to govern us choose t he movies deemed "most important?" Isn't that a bit dictatorial? What films should go on this list?

And for that matter, since when did the Vatican have an "All Time Greatest Film" list, and is Jesus Christ Superstar on it?

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The taxi cab scene where he delivers that line is possibly the greatest film acting I've ever seen.

[Aerozord]

Reading that list I realize "defining" isn't the same as "good". They actually have Duck and Cover on that list which while probably the most defining piece of animation from the 50's really seems out of place next to The Godfather

[Magus]

On The Waterfront was a great movie, you can get it on Netflix if you wanna watch it.

On the other hand, Mean Streets ended abruptly and was pointless, its fine and dandy to put Taxi Driver on there but Mean Streets? Bullshit. Scorsese =/ Gold, just look at The Departed. If you want a movie with Harvey Keitel in it put Bad Lieutenant or City of Industry or Reservoir Dogs on there, none of which are on there (I think a film has to be around for like fifty years before it gets put on there).

And yeah cultural relevance matters. Except The Deer Hunter isn't on there so I don't know what the fuck.

EDIT: Oh, sorry, it is. Listed as "Deer Hunter, The". Damn you search function.

Needs Casino (and some of those Harvey Keitel movies I mentioned) on there, there are lots of other films but the only one that seems out of place is Toy Story, just because it's so recent. Everything else seems like it's from at least back to the '80s.

[DarkDrgon]

Originally Posted by Magus

(I think a film has to be around for like fifty years before it gets put on there).

Toy Story is on the list.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by DarkDrgon

Toy Story is on the list.

Yeah, it just met the criteria:

Originally Posted by Wiki

To be eligible for inclusion, a film must be at least ten years old.

[Magus]

I was being hyperbolic when I said 50 years. I also mentioned it was weird Toy Story was put on there, but I as Tev mentioned it barely met the criteria.

You know what movie should be on here? Robocop. Scads of cultural commentary. If Alien (why not Aliens, one wonders) deserves to be on there for referencing a faceless mega-corporation that rules the future as part of its back story, the up-front satire of Robocop bears its inclusion out. In any case, at least one Paul Verhoeven film needs to be on there, and I don't think they'd ever put Starship Troopers on there.

[Tev]

Originally Posted by Magus

and I don't think they'd ever put Starship Troopers on there.

Which is really too bad. I liked Starcraft: The Movie.

[G.I.R.]

The Library of Congress Film Archives is near where my gf lives in Culpeper, VA. It's built into the side of a mountain, self sustaining with solar power, it's pretty bad ass. It was, at one time, before becoming the Film Archives, one of the many underground Presidential Bunkers. You can bring a group in to see the films they show every weekend for like... 5.00 a carload.

[Aerozord]

Originally Posted by G.I.R.

The Library of Congress Film Archives is near where my gf lives in Culpeper, VA. It's built into the side of a mountain, self sustaining with solar power, it's pretty bad ass. It was, at one time, before becoming the Film Archives, one of the many underground Presidential Bunkers.

thats a suprisingly epic library. It's like the kind of library Duke Nukem would go to

Originally Posted by G.I.R.

You can bring a group in to see the films they show every weekend for like... 5.00 a carload.

and thats a suprisingly good deal