Every year, the Library of Congress selects 25 films for induction into the National Film Registry, which preserves and celebrates our cinematic heritage. On Wednesday, 2022’s picks were announced—the full list is below—and while all of them certainly meet the registry’s standard of having “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance,” a few stand out for also having extremely re-watchable scenes that already have been preserved on YouTube.
Herein, a few of our favorites:
Carrie
This adaptation of the Stephen King horror novel captures the cruelty of teenage bullying, culminating in a prom scene that still stands out as one of the most disturbing—and weirdly cathartic—payoffs in film history:
Hairspray
A cult classic that later become a Broadway musical with its own film and live TV adaptations, this comedy from Baltimore favorite son John Waters is kinda sorta about a teenage girl (played by 1990s daytime talk queen Ricky Lake!) who integrates a racially segregated TV dance show, and mostly about what Roger Ebert once described as “a bubble-headed series of teenage crises and crushes, alternating with historically accurate choreography of such forgotten dances as the Madison and the Roach.” Oh, and it also features Deborah Harry’s hair exploding, which really ought to be more of a meme:
House Party
Proof that John Hughes didn’t have a monopoly on Gen X teen hijinks, this 1990 comedy features a shockingly deep cast, Platonically ideal hightop fades, and an epic dance battle that still holds up:
Iron Man
The movie that launched the mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe doubles as the ultimate defense contractor fantasy, at least in this heavily-memed scene:
When Harry Met Sally
We’ll have what she’s having, too:
The Little Mermaid
Thank you, Disney animation, for inspiring this:
Films Selected for the 2022 National Film Registry
Mardi Gras Carnival (1898)
Cab Calloway Home Movies (1948-1951)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
Charade (1963)
Scorpio Rising (1963)
Behind Every Good Man (1967)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Mingus (1968)
Manzanar (1971)
Betty Tells Her Story (1972)
Super Fly (1972)
Attica (1974)
Carrie (1976)
Union Maids (1976)
Word is Out: Stories of Our Lives (1977)
Bush Mama (1979)
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)
Itam Hakim, Hopiit (1984)
Hairspray (1988)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Tongues Untied (1989)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
House Party (1990)
Iron Man (2008)
Pariah (2011)
Patrick Hruby joined the magazine in 2022. He previously worked as an editor or writer for ESPN, VICE, Sports on Earth, Global Sport Matters, and The Washington Times, and has contributed to publications including The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post.
