What do the films Casablanca, Blazing Saddles, and West Side Story have in common? Besides being popular, they have also been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," by the Library of Congress and listed on the National Film Registry. These Amazing Shadows tells the history and importance of The Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself. The current list of 525 fil... (Full plot summary below)
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What do the films Casablanca, Blazing Saddles, and West Side Story have in common? Besides being popular, they have also been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," by the Library of Congress and listed on the National Film Registry. These Amazing Shadows tells the history and importance of The Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself. The current list of 525 films includes selections from every genre - documentaries, home movies, Hollywood classics, avant-garde, newsreels and silent films. These Amazing Shadows reveals how American movies tell us so much about ourselves...not just what we did, but what we thought, what we felt, what we aspired to, and the lies we told ourselves.
Leave your thoughts about These Amazing Shadows.
| Boston PhoenixBetsy ShermanIf movies are our kiss-kiss-bang-bang arenas of desire, then this addictive movie-centric documentary from Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton makes the Library of Congress sound like the Playboy Mansion. |
| East Bay ExpressKelly VanceDocumentary has more on its mind than just showing off the riches of America's cinematic heritage. |
| culturevulture.netLes Wrighta long commercial promotion for The National Film Registry |
| Reeling ReviewsRobin CliffordThis is one government-sponsored project that is committed to saving Americana that could have been lost forever. |
| Boston GlobeTy Burr"Shadows'' is a deeply heartfelt, if scattered, effort that plays like an Oscar-night clip show with a mission. |
| Reeling ReviewsLaura CliffordFilm preservation is an important part of our culture and the documentary details exactly why that is. |
| Washington PostJen Chaney"Shadows" is an 88-minute valentine to cinema, a reminder of why we continue returning to the multiplex, and an abiding faith in the power of film to transport us to faraway places. |
| Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)John BeifussEntertaining, but only revealing when the directors visit the Library of Congress film storage vaults in Culpeper, Va., where close to 130,000 rolls of fragile and damaged nitrate motion-picture film are kept in 124 climate-controlled vaults. |
| Filmcritic.comNorm Schragerit's interesting to hear what kind of films are important to Rob Reiner or Wayne Wang but, frankly, we've seen more insightful, emotional responses in any AFI TV special |
| User ReviewThomas WA beautiful ode to The National Film Registry. More than a fluff government project, this is important work that preserves our culture, the good and the bad. |
