Lifetime Movies: 1991

No debate right? 1991 belonged to The Silence of the Lambs...I mean, my recollection was that this film was released in real early 1991. I got to see it in the theater, same theater I saw Terminator 2 in with your very own Frank...This film blew me away, and still does, I own the Criterion Collection which I recommend, it has great commentary by the real life director of Behavioral Science at the FBI (now retired John Douglas). Frank was right...what happened to Demme? I really like Something Wild, and I kinda liked Philadelphia...that's it...so maybe it was the screenwriter (Ted Tally he's done nothing), maybe the source material...maybe the acting...sure the acting is outstanding...overall how did this make such a great movie? Thomas Harris the writer has really made just a few books, mostly getting rich over crappy Hannibal Lecter sequels. But I do declare that I still love the BOOK "Hannibal" and see the ending in the book as great, and a cliffhanger...Random House rushed the book out and he gave us a cliffhanger that I believe in my gut will eventually have a sequel to wrap up the Clarice Starling story.

So now what?...it's the best for what reason?...There are other great films...but this one has stuck with me, it scares the life out of me, Hannibal on the loose is not as much fun as Hannibal in the cage...it's an iconic role and a great film.

Others:

T2: Amazing...I remember being disappointed that Arnold would be a "good guy", but it works...the CGI is great,,, but look back at the tin foil looking bullet holes hanging by a thread on the T-1000...doesn't look so good

Barton Fink: Movie about writing...John Goodman is great, the Coens are genius...great companion piece to Se7en...heck I just gave away the ending

JFK: "Back and to the left"...O is that in the film or the political stance of Director Oliver Stone? Great film

See you suckas again when I graduate in the year 1992

Lifetime Movies: 1991

Winner: The Silence of the Lambs

A box-officee smash and a sweep at the Oscars leaves no doubt about the defining film of this year. While the character of Hannibal Lecter was created by author Thomas Harris, it was Anthony Hopkins' performance that elevated "The Cannibal" to the top tier of all-time great villains. Hopkins has said he was inspired by the cool, calculating homicidal computer HAL from 2001. All that's great, but he wasn't the first choice to play Lecter. Who was, you ask? Sean Connery. Think of that film.

And whatever happened to director Jonathan Demme? He's still making movies, but he obviously peaked here.

Films of Note:

Boyz N the Hood: A great film and a great example of a director (John Singleton) bursting on the scene with an emotional, personal story and then having nowhere to go but down. The scene set to The Five Stairsteps' "Ooh Child" is still one of best uses of a song I've seen.

Cape Fear: DeNiro chews his lines up and lets them drip from that wicked Southern drawl. Amazingly, the best scene in the film--DeNiro and Juliette Lewis in the school auditorium--was ad-libbed and nailed in one take. And in more alternate casting world news, Spielberg was originally set to direct this, not Scorsese, and he wanted Bill Murray to play DeNiro's role.  Something tells me he wouldn't have gotten down to 3& body fat.

Showdown in Little Tokyo: My favorite late night cable action movie. From Dolph Lundgren leaping over a moving car to the naked sushi to the emergence of Brandon Lee as a future superstar. Bittersweet now, of course.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day: A huge James Cameron spectacle, bigger than the original in every way. Robert Patrick steals the show as the relentless new liquid metal Terminator. One of the greatest action movies of all time. And that G n' R song still rocks.