National Film Registry

According to Wikipedia, the NBR, National Film Registry, is a selection of films made by the National Film Preservation Board to be preserved in the United States Library of Congress. The board was established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, which was renewed by Acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008.

The National Film Registry annually selects twenty-five "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" films to be preserved. The annual selections showcase the diversity of American film heritage to raise awareness of the need for its preservation. To be eligible for the registry, a film must be at least ten years old.

Link to National Film Preservation Board Program: http://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/

Link to the movie list, with the release year and the year of inclusion in the registry: http://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/

What is interesting about a registry of this style is that it helps guide us regarding movies we might want to watch, allowing us to search among those that combine qualities that set them apart from the rest—in this case, "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" qualities—which, while still an arbitrary list, possesses a certain legitimacy. By watching a film from the list, we can trust that it conveys a message that we might not have known it had.