Fun news today in the movie world.  25 films have been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation including some of my personal favorites.  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Saving Private Ryan, Will Wonka and the Chocolate Factory would certainly be on my short list of favorite films.  Many of the choices I have not seen so I better get on it.

Neat too that Luxo Jr is being archived as it started Pixar in their artistry and vision.  House of Wax is also a lot of fun for a campy old school horror movie and you can’t beat Vincent Price in a scary movie.  I must own I have not seen The Big Lebowski because of the language but I know many love it or hate it.  Seems a very divisive movie.

The thing I love about Ferris Bueller is someone told me that the whole point was to save Cameron’s life and  the whole movie had more meaning to me. It could be fan fiction but if you think of the day and how it all leads to Cameron confronting his father and the car it kind of makes sense.  It turns from a silly comedy to something with real heart. But even that aside it has great style and laughs.  Look at this scene and remember this kind of heart is in a comedy. Great writing and acting.

Saving Private Ryan is such an immersive experience.  It feels like you are on D-Day with the invasion storming the beach.  Spielberg is so great at those big moments but there are also the intimate moments with great actors like Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.  Some movies we watch for entertainment and others are to help us empathize with the human race and understand our history.  Saving Private Ryan helped me do all of that.

Willie Wonka is still the best Roald Dahl adaptation.  His books are so hard to adapt because he has a darkness to his stories that can come off as too scary and mean spirited on film.  I don’t mind any of the film adaptations especially Witches with Angelica Houston but Wonka is still the best.  It’s magical, dark, nuts, strange and has terrific songs.  If anything the Tim Burton disaster showed us how great the original was.  It’s also emblematic of the 70s  in fashion and film, which is fun.

The rest of these I need to get on it and see! What about you?  What have you seen and what do you think?

13 Lakes

“Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day” (1913)

“The Big Lebowski” (1998)

“Down Argentine Way” (1940)

“The Dragon Painter” (1919)

“Felicia” (1965)
“Saving Private Ryan” (1998)

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986)

“The Gang’s All Here” (1943)

“House of Wax” (1953)

“Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport” (2000)

“Little Big Man” (1970)

“Luxo Jr.” (1986)

“Moon Breath Beat” (1980)

“Please Don’t Bury Me Alive!” (1976)

“The Power and the Glory” (1933)

“Rio Bravo” (1959)

“Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)

“Ruggles of Red Gap” (1935)

“Saving Private Ryan” (1998)

“Shoes” (1916)

“State Fair” (1933)

“Unmasked” (1917)

“V-E + 1” (1945)

“The Way of Peace” (1947)

“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971)