Why should a film made by a bunch of limeys be on the National Registry?

It would be like going on a quest with only one half of a coconut shell.

Does the National Film Registry do foreign films (which Monty Python would be)? Doing a very quick scan of the list I'm not seeing much representation.

Looking at the 50 tiles added in 2007 and 2008 all are American films.

Maybe the law creating this board figures the Brits can preserve their own damn films.

And I don't take the National Registry seriously as a guide to great movies (though a lot of them are). They're primary purpose is funding and promotion of film preservation and there are many factors beyond simple entertainment in deciding what needs that spotlight.

I heard that Thriller is the first music video to make the list - I guess because it's in 35 mm.

Lots of awesome films on the list. I'm intrigued by Quasi at the Quackadero. Netflix doesn't have it! :(

If Thriller made the list, then there's an argument for "I Want My MTV" to make the list too. Blocky though it is, it was edgy computer animation at the time of its release.

But it's not film.

Going forward I'm assuming they will have to broaden the term 'film' to include all digital formats as more feature 'films' bypass film and are shot directly in a digital format.

Depends on how much they're adding movies to the list because they're simply good films and how much it is related to film preservation. Digital certainly needs maintenance but it'll be interesting to see what "preservation" really means in a few decades since it'll be more about making sure digital copies are kept in readable formats and not so much a worry about degradation of original "stock."

You can buy a DVD of Sally Cruikshank's films at her website. Meanwhile, here's Quasi on YouTube.

I spent a week attending a young animator's workshop given by Sally Cruikshank way back in 1981, when I was 16. She guided a group of about 15 people, myself included, in producing our own 30 second shorts. She was delightful, and I love the weird, kinda retro style of her work.

Maybe someday I will be able to post my short from that long ago workshop. It's on Super 8 film.

You mean "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits :)

"I want my MTV" was already a catchphrase coined by MTV and used in their advertising to get people to call their cable providers and demand that the fledgling channel be added to lineups.

Agreed with Alex. There are thousands of other music videos which need to be preserved as milestones, but I don't think this will be the agency to do that.