‘Breakfast Club,’ ‘Thelma & Louise’ added to film registry

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

While not usually regarded as a golden age of American cinema, the 1980s produced plenty of popular classics – and a few more of them have been added to the prestigious National Film Registry.

The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that “The Breakfast Club,” “The Princess Bride” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” are among the 25 movies tapped for preservation this year. They join three other more obscure 1980s titles on this year’s list.

The national library also picked a few more recent favorites, including “Thelma & Louise,” Disney’s “The Lion King” and “Rushmore.”

The library selects movies for preservation in its audio-visual vault in Culpeper, Va., because of their cultural, historic or artistic importance. This year’s picks bring the total number of films in the registry to 700. The choices have become increasingly diverse and eclectic since the registry began in 1989.

Still, the library always makes room for some crowd-pleasers.

Considered a feminist landmark for its portrait of women who stand up to abusive partners and find liberation on a crime spree, “Thelma & Louise” achieved a rare distinction when its co-stars, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, were both nominated for the best-actress Oscar. (Jodie Foster won that year, for “The Silence of the Lambs.”)

It’s the third movie directed by the prolific Ridley Scott to join the registry, following “Alien” and “Blade Runner.”

This year’s other ’80s selections are “The Atomic Cafe” (1982), a compilation of clips about the threat of nuclear war; “The Decline of Western Civilization,” director Penelope Spheeris’ 1981 documentary about the hard-core punk rock scene in Los Angeles; and “Suzanne, Suzanne,” a 1982 documentary short about a black woman’s struggles with addiction.