Each December, the United States National Film Preservation Board chooses up to 25 films they deem worthy of taking special action to preserve in the Library of Congress. It’s a new year, and that means 25 more films are welcomed in the vault of the National Film Registry. Three of the 2008 picks can be viewed on Internet Archive as well as nearly 40 picks from years past.
posted by stbalbach on Jan 6, 2009 - 57 comments

What's the relationship between the rise of film noir and the national mood of post-war (WWII, that is) America? "Was noir simply a way of reanimating the tired conventions of the pre-war crime film? Or did we need melodramatic illusions potent enough to overcome whatever disillusions strayed briefly into our minds as we surrendered to the mighty engines of prosperity? Or was it one of those cycles - like biopics, westerns, sci-­fi, etc. - that Hollywood mysteriously embraces and then just as mysteriously abandons?" Via.
posted by amyms on Aug 15, 2007 - 8 comments

Jean-Luc Godard's Histoire(s) du cinéma was recently released on DVD.
posted by RogerB on May 15, 2007 - 15 comments

Josie Hayes' Great Moments in Film History. "Being a series of pictorial essays on some of the defining moments in cinema...at least the way I see it." [Not unsafe for work, but perhaps unwise]
posted by wobh on Jan 5, 2005 - 4 comments