Jurassic Park, Brokeback Mountain added to National Film Registry

Jurassic Park and Brokeback Mountain are getting their due, along with 23 other films joining the National Film Registry this year.

Each year the Library of Congress inducts 25 films for their “cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage,” ensuring that each pick will be preserved for all time.

Aside from Steven Spielberg’s walk with the dinosaurs and Ang Lee’s impactful LGBTQ film, other more well-known titles joining the ranks include Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Martin Ritt’s Hud, and George Cukor’s My Fair Lady.

“The National Film Registry turns 30 this year and for those three decades, we have been recognizing, celebrating and preserving this distinctive medium,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said. “These cinematic treasures must be protected because they document our history, culture, hopes and dreams.”

2005’s Brokeback Mountain, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys who share a forbidden love, becomes the most recent film to join the registry.

“I didn’t intend to make a statement with Brokeback Mountain,” Lee said in a statement. “I simply wanted to tell a purely Western love story between two cowboys. To my great surprise, the film ended up striking a deep chord with audiences; the movie became a part of the culture, a reflection of the darkness and light — of violent prejudice and enduring love — in the rocky landscape of the American heart. More than a decade has passed since Brokeback Mountain was released, but I hope that this film, a small movie with wide open spaces, continues to express something both fresh and fundamental about my adopted country.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Film Registry and the public can watch Turner Classic Movies tonight (Dec. 12) at 8 p.m. ET to view a selection of the latest inductees. Select films from the registry’s past 30 years will also be available online for free at the National Screening Room.

Here’s the full list of new additions in alphabetical order.

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Broadcast News (1987)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Cinderella (1950)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Dixon-Wanamaker Expedition to Crow Agency (1908)
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
The Girl Without a Soul (1917)
Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People (1984)
Hearts and Minds (1974)
Hud (1963)
The Informer (1935)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Monterey Pop (1968)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Navigator (1924)
On the Town (1949)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Rebecca (1940)
The Shining (1980)
Smoke Signals (1998)
Something Good – Negro Kiss (1898)

Related content:

• Titanic, Die Hard, The Goonies enter National Film Registry
• Top Gun, Ghostbusters, The Shawshank Redemption added to National Film Registry
• Jake Gyllenhaal on Heath Ledger’s death: It affected me in ways I can’t put into words

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