2017 National Film Registry

by penchofifteenpolls | created - 31 Dec 2017 | updated - 15 Dec 2019 | Public

The Library of Congress has announced 25 new films that will be added to the National Film Registry for their conservation. Which of them do you consider the one with the most historical or aesthetic value?

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1. Field of Dreams (1989)

PG | 107 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy

57 Metascore

Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.

Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan

Votes: 128,045 | Gross: $64.43M

2. Ace in the Hole (1951)

Approved | 111 min | Drama, Film-Noir

72 Metascore

A frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.

Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall

Votes: 39,104 | Gross: $3.97M

3. Spartacus (1960)

PG-13 | 197 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

87 Metascore

The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.

Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton

Votes: 143,147 | Gross: $30.00M

4. Dumbo (1941)

G | 64 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama

96 Metascore

Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.

Directors: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen, John Elliotte | Stars: Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, Herman Bing, Billy Bletcher

Votes: 142,033 | Gross: $1.60M

5. Die Hard (1988)

R | 132 min | Action, Thriller

72 Metascore

A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson

Votes: 945,400 | Gross: $83.01M

6. Boulevard Nights (1979)

R | 102 min | Crime, Drama

From executive producer Tony Bill comes a gritty and groundbreaking look at Los Angeles gang life in the city’s Mexican-American barrios.

Director: Michael Pressman | Stars: Richard Yniguez, Danny De La Paz, Marta DuBois, James Victor

Votes: 759

7. 4 Little Girls (1997)

TV-14 | 102 min | Documentary, History

88 Metascore

A documentary of the notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement.

Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Maxine McNair, Walter Cronkite, Chris McNair, Fred Lee Shuttlesworth

Votes: 3,578 | Gross: $0.13M

8. The Goonies (1985)

PG | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

62 Metascore

A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure.

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman

Votes: 298,285 | Gross: $61.50M

9. New York Subway (1905)

Unrated | 6 min | Short, Documentary

In one long take, the camera shows us the journey of a subway train as it makes its way from Union Square to the old Grand Central Station.

Director: G.W. Bitzer

Votes: 814

10. Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Romance

A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.

Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm

Votes: 17,771

11. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Drama

63 Metascore

A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.

Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton

Votes: 48,900 | Gross: $56.70M

12. He Who Gets Slapped (1924)

95 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller

A bitter clown endeavors to rescue the young woman he loves from the lecherous count who once betrayed him.

Director: Victor Sjöström | Stars: Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Ruth King

Votes: 4,288 | Gross: $0.19M

13. La Bamba (1987)

PG-13 | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Music

65 Metascore

Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of early rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens who died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.

Director: Luis Valdez | Stars: Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña

Votes: 36,436 | Gross: $54.22M

14. Lives of Performers (1972)

90 min | Drama

A stark and revealing examination of romantic alliances, "Lives of Performers" examines the dilemma of a man who can't choose between two women and makes them both suffer. Originally part of a dance performance choreographed by Rainer.

Director: Yvonne Rainer | Stars: James Barth, John Erdman, Epp Kotkas, Yvonne Rainer

Votes: 80

15. Memento (2000)

R | 113 min | Mystery, Thriller

83 Metascore

A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior

Votes: 1,322,590 | Gross: $25.54M

16. With the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain (1938)

18 min | Documentary, Short

A documentary made to raise funds for the return of wounded American volunteers who fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

Directors: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Herbert Kline

Votes: 57

17. Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Passed | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

86 Metascore

At a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.

Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess

Votes: 15,656

18. Riding a Tricycle (1928)

1 min | Documentary, Short

The Fuentes family gathers in their front yard to watch their youngest son, Antonio Jr., learn to ride a tricycle.

Directors: Josefina Barrera Fuentes, Antonio Rodríguez Fuentes

Votes: 105

The Fuentes Family Home Movies Collection

19. Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988)

PG-13 | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, Music

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.

Director: Charlotte Zwerin | Stars: Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Jimmy Cleveland, Harry Colomby

Votes: 1,313 | Gross: $0.52M

20. Time and Dreams (1976)

51 min | Documentary, History

Images of the filmmaker's newly-integrated Alabama home are juxtaposed with local white southerners' personal reflections on the changes brought by the civil rights movement.

Director: Mort Jordan

Votes: 27

21. Titanic (1997)

PG-13 | 194 min | Drama, Romance

75 Metascore

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates

Votes: 1,280,061 | Gross: $659.33M

22. To Sleep with Anger (1990)

PG | 102 min | Drama

A charismatic old acquaintance drifts into town, stirring up trouble for a mild-mannered family.

Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Danny Glover, Paul Butler, DeVaughn Nixon, Mary Alice

Votes: 2,914 | Gross: $1.16M

23. Wanda (1970)

GP | 102 min | Crime, Drama

Wanda, a lonely housewife, drifts through mining country until she meets a petty thief who takes her in.

Director: Barbara Loden | Stars: Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins, Dorothy Shupenes, Peter Shupenes

Votes: 5,696 | Gross: $0.05M

24. The Sinking of the 'Lusitania' (1918)

TV-PG | 12 min | Animation, Short, War

An animated dramatization of the notorious World War I German torpedoing of the ocean liner, Lusitania.

Director: Winsor McCay | Star: Winsor McCay

Votes: 1,269

25. Superman (1978)

PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

82 Metascore

An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando

Votes: 187,489 | Gross: $134.22M



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