My Rating System

The National Film Registry, as I write this on 28 February 2026, lists over 900 films. That's a lot! I spent much time thinking about how I should categorize them on the blog to make some organizational sense of this massive preservation effort. 

On the face of it, the obvious choice is to classify them by quality and to do so as objectively as possible. However, this runs into the problem of balancing my subjective preferences with more standardized(ish) methods of evaluating film quality (e.g., cinematography, story, acting), not to mention the notion that all of these films are significant to American film history in some way. On top of that, many films that were panned upon their initial release have been reevaluated as being of high quality and, moreover, are films I like (hi there, Ace in the Hole).

Given all this, I decided to forego attempts to be fully objective and instead aim for ratings based on my own preferences (because I'm such a popular tastemaker). While the reviews generally touch upon significance and quality, the final ratings are based on my personal recommendations and nothing more.

Camille's Picks is the highest achievement for a Registry film on this blog. Very few films are graded into this category. These are the films I have in my collection, that I have watched (and will continue to watch) over and over. These are films like Some Like It Hot and Charade, my absolute favorites.

Highly Recommended films are just a step down from Camille's Picks. Think of them as a grade A as opposed to an A+. Still outstanding IMHO, but maybe missing one or two elements that keep them from being a Camille's Pick. This category includes films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Would Watch Again films are just that: films that I would watch again, perhaps even enthusiastically, but that I don't like enough to put into Highly Recommended or Camille's Picks. These are solid B and B+ films, like Star Wars (I know, I know...so sue me) and The Bank Dick.

Neutral ratings mean we're getting into grade B- and C, even bordering on D, territory. This is the broadest category, including films that range from not bad to meh to almost bad. For me, this includes movies like Grease and Blade Runner (again, sue me).

Would Not Watch Again films...well, the category name speaks for itself. There aren't a lot of these (I can usually find some kind of redeeming quality in a film), but these movies are the ones I would never voluntarily watch again. As in, offer me a million dollars and we'll talk. These grade D and F films range from the phenomenally boring to the phenomenally disturbing and include pretty little masterpieces like Annie Hall, Where Are My Children?, and American Me. I don't deny the significance and, in some cases, even quality of films in this category, but these are ones I will just never seek out again without a hard incentive.

Finally, there is a sixth category of movies on this blog that can co-exist with any of the labels above: Required Viewing. This is the smallest group, and it indicates films from any of the first five categories that I think should be required viewing for everyone for one reason or another. Only films like Shoes and 4 Little Girls receive this designation.