These Amazing Shadows (2011) Reviews

• Fantastic film

  suzannechapot2011-01-24

  I saw this film twice at Sundance in sold out theaters, and the audiences loved it. It has something for everyone who loves movies. It is funny and sad and fascinating with great film clips and interviews. These Amazing Shadows uses the National Film Registry as a platform to show how important films are as a reflection of the our culture and heritage. Twenty-five films are selected each year to the registry for preservation, and we see clips of everything from the music video "Thriller" to "The Rocky Horror Show" to the Zapruder film. I was especially moved by the section on Topaz, the "home movie" about the Japanese internment camps. A movie everyone should see.

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• A movie made by people who love movies for people who love movies

  kevin-miller4472011-09-16

  Despite not having enough of Christopher Nolan and Tim Roth interview to show and the movie feeling longer than it was this is a pure gem for movie lovers like myself. This docu tells the interesting story of the national film registry and how films are picked as well as showing a variety of clips from those movies that have been picked and have made an impact on other people in the business. We get plenty of great interviews from people in the business such as famous director John Singleton and John Lasseter, as well as studio executives, and people who are part of the committee that votes on the films to be put into the registry. We get insight into the job of someone who works hours on end to help preserve films that are extremely old and were not designed to stand the test of time. Knowing that certain films dating back before the 1950s were neglected due to the studios having no use for them once they did their job in making money is quite disturbing and makes me appreciate those films from a long time ago that are available for our viewing pleasures. If you are someone who is addicted to watching movies and remembers when watching movies didn't mean picking out the good from the bad and just being awed by whatever lay on screen or are interesting in going into the business, this is worth watching and is a sure contender for best documentary if the Academy allows it.

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• Very inspiring but WAY too short.

  MartinHafer2011-11-27

  "These Amazing Shadows" is a very inspiring film. You cannot watch it without feeling a strong sense of the importance of film preservation and film as an important part of our history. However, the film suffers from trying to do WAY too much in much to short a time. I could easily see several films or even a series come out of this material and felt the film just went way too fast. The beginning of the film talks about the fragile nature of nitrate film stock (the standard for movies until the mid-1950s). You see how the film tends to stick together or turn to powder--though this is a bit rushed, as they never really talked about how combustible these old films are as well. And then you get to hear some film preservationists from the Library of Congress talk about their love of their work. I LOVED this part of the film and really wished they had just focused on this or perhaps done so a bit longer. The next portion of the film is the biggest problem. A sampling of SOME of the films on the National Film Registry is given and folks say a few blurbs about them and what stands out about these films. Well, considering how important and great these films are, they certainly deserved MUCH more about why they were chosen and why they are so unique. It felt like someone trying to encapsulate the entire Bible or American History in 90 minutes or less! Overall, this is a nice introduction into film preservation and the National Registry, but better films on similar subjects have been made--ones that are more thorough and less episodic--such as "Henri Langlois: The Phantom of the Cinémathèque". Well worth seeing nevertheless.

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• Excellent, Amazing Documentary

  gavin69422013-09-12

  Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself. I was not aware of the history of the registry or how films were chosen to appear on it. Obviously, it makes sense that "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca" were on there, but I found it much more interesting how the obscure and offbeat get on there. And films from the 1990s, which had relatively little time to become historic... After seeing this, I have a new-found respect for the list and will have to make a point in tracking down the titles on it. While I have made a point of looking for old Oscar winners, this might be more representative of real American cinema history.

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• Terrific Look at the National Film Registry

  Michael_Elliott2012-01-06

  These Amazing Shadows (2011) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Wonderfully entertaining documentary taking a look at the National Film Registry, its history and what the group hopes to happen going forward. A brief history is given at the start of the movie but basically in the 1980s Ted Turner bought the MGM library and immediately started colorizing movies. Various Hollywood types including Woody Allen and James Stewart went to Congress to talk about the importance of movies and in 1989 this registry was formed so that we can save future generations movies. The only real negative thing that can be said about this film is that it's way too short even at 92-minutes. I think the most fascinating stuff happens early on when we see the history of the registry and we even get to hear how the twenty-five movies are selected each year. I think this here is the greatest part of the movie because we get to see what type of movies they're looking for and what it takes to get in. There's also an interesting topic going over preservation and why this here is so important and especially when you consider that 80% of silent movies are now lost. Rob Reiner, Christopher Nolan, John Waters, George Takei and Tim Roth are just a few of the famous faces on hand talking about preservation. Many others including people on the board are also interviewed and they talk about some of their favorite films as well as films that they got into the registry. We also have a section devoted to some of the controversial movies including THE BIRTH OF A NATION and THE SEARCHERS. Overall, this is a very entertaining documentary that film buffs are going to love and if you're new to classic cinema this will be a very good place to get some great recommendations.

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