Why is the 1991 American film The Silence of the Lambs considered one the 1000 best films?

Apart from the fact it’s well written, well directed and well acted, “Lambs” completely changed the way we thought about horror films.

In the past, horror films involved an antagonist that was scary because they were violent for no well defined reason, except maybe they didn’t like teenagers having sex. They were silent monsters without a thought in their brain except to kill, kill, kill. They were also really, really ugly.

(Typical horror movie antagonist - Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a good film in its own right).

“Lambs” gives us two antagonists in its “plot within a plot” format (which itself created an innovative storytelling technique), The first is our “main” antagonist:

Meet “Buffalo Bill”. Bill isn’t a homicidal maniac, but he is a killer. He’s not crazy, just deeply disturbed. Bill thinks he’s transsexual, but he isn’t. He doesn’t use a chainsaw, he uses a couch to lure in his victims and a pit to finish them off. Bill’s actions aren’t random - he wants to make a suit out of human skin which he can wear to look like a woman. He picks his victims very carefully - overweight young women who he starves so their skin will be easier to harvest. He’s also fairly smart.

However, he’s picked the wrong victim. The FBI is after him, and they have chosen this young agent to help hunt him down - she’s our protagonist.

Meet Clarice Starling - a pretty young FBI agent straight out of the academy. She soon realizes she’s a pawn in the FBI’s game, but she’s damned if she’s going to let this career opportunity go to waste. She’s been chosen to try to manipulate another killer, and here is where the horror genre is blown out of the water.

Hannibal Lecter. Possibly the scariest character in movie history. Currently serving multiple life sentences in a specially constructed cell which he never leaves. He was a psychiatrist who was obsessed with killing people and eating them. He would have gotten away with it too if some FBI agent hadn’t lucked out. The agent barely survived his encounter with Lecter. However, despite being extremely dangerous he’s also incredibly intelligent, outwardly charming and supremely manipulative. He’s our secondary antagonist.

Hannibal has information the FBI needs. They hope Clarice will appeal to him and he will give up the identify of Buffalo Bill. Bill’s case is well known to Hannibal, but the FBI thinks that Hannibal knows his identity.

But Hannibal’s problem isn’t with Clarice, it’s with this butthead:

Doctor Frederick Chilton. Hannibal’s pretty much at the mercy of this butthead, who takes delight in torturing Hannibal for his own purposes. He’s also trying to help out the FBI and thinks he can do it by putting pressure on Hannibal. He’s our secondary protagonist. Essentially, it’s a race between him and Clarice to get the information out of Hannibal. However, Chilton’s primary motivation is to make Lecter’s life a living hell.

Let’s just say that nothing goes to plan and examine some of the other ways the story is told.

The entire theme of the movie is manipulation, with each character at some point trying to manipulate one of the others to get their way. Even Clarice gets into the act, offering Hannibal the chance to actually spend some time in the “real world” on a beach on an island. Manipulation and counter manipulation run rife as when a character realizes they are being manipulated, they often manipulate back (Hannibal knows they won’t let him out of his cage).

The movie also allows the audience to be engrossed in the story at several points, allowing them to get inside Hannibal’s mind at several points. Not to give too much away, watch for the scene where Chilton can’t find his pen (don’t worry, you will know exactly where it is) and one where they find a dead guard in the elevator shaft (yeah, you will figure out what’s going on right away then too).

And like any good horror movie, the move implies more horror than it actually reveals, and keeps you on the edge of your seat sometime waiting for something bad to happen.

Why do some films choose to shoot scenes spontaneously in crowded areas like NYC without getting permits?

 Getting the permits necessary to shut down New York City streets and other public areas can be extremely expensive. And if your film does not have a budget for that, you simply film your scene the best you can while New Yorkers go about their lives.

To give you an idea how expensive we’re talking, during the filming of Vanilla Sky it cost $1 million to seal off Times Square for three hours and film a single scene there.

(Times Square, all closed off for the filming of Vanilla Sky, one Sunday morning in November.)

Now Times Square is a much bigger lift than other places in the City, but it helps put things in perspective.

To shut a street down completely, you will need a plan to deal with the traffic problem you’re about to cause, permits to do so and the NYPD to do all the work of traffic control and pedestrian diversion for you. And you can bet you’re paying for the NYPD officers to block the street off.

Because this is a major pain in the neck for New York City, and you will pay through your nose for the privilege.

Instead, you can simply go out and film right on an open street, no permits necessary. But this does mean you will deal with the crowds and the traffic whether you like it or not.

And trust me, this can be an issue.

(“Hey, I’m walking here.” Though the real incident behind this scene wasn’t used in the film, the production recreated it using a rented cab with an extra behind the wheel to get a better take a bit more safely.)

One of the most famous scenes in film history was improvised after a real life taxi nearly ran down Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman as they crossed a busy New York street during the filming of Midnight Cowboy.

What are some mind-blowing facts & trivia about Indian Film Industry ?

 1. Shilpa Shetty was interested in ramp modeling as a teenager. After passing 10th standard, she built her portfolio (photographs). She went to an audition but got rejected because she was considered short and was told to lose weight. The photographs that she had left at the audition were noticed by a filmmaker Dilip Nair, who later cast Shilpa in his film. That film got shelved but opened doors for her. She was cast in Baazigar (1993), and became a star.

2. Anil Kapoor’s wish was to become a film producer and his elder brother Boney Kapoor’s to become an actor, but the opposite happened instead, Anil became an actor and Boney a producer.

3. Juhi Chawla and Shahrukh Khan worked together for the first time in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992). By then, Juhi was an established actress with a Filmfare award win + 3 nominations. Shahrukh was a new-comer and Juhi had absolutely no clue who he was. Vivek Vaswani (co-producer and friend of Shahrukh) told her that Shahrukh looked just like Aamir Khan! and she should definitely work with him.

4. During school, Shahrukh was a part of a 5-member gang called C Gang, which was inspired by other ‘gangs’ trying to appear cool. C Gang even had a logo and identity cards.

5. Shahrukh was a sportsman before appearing on TV. Once he had got injured and was feeling low. Around that time, theater director Barry John was directing a play and looking for boys and girls. Shahrukh went for the audition and got selected. Barry John cast him as the main dancer and also assigned him a dialogue. Barry considered Shahrukh a good singer and dancer.

6. Abbas-Mustan revealed how Shilpa’s death scene was shot in Baazigar. The first choice was CGI, but Shilpa was willing to perform the stunt instead. She was suspended from a rope above a green screen and the background was added in post-production. Shilpa had completed the shot perfectly despite sustaining injuries.

7. D Ranganathan (Shahrukh’s friend from his theater days) revealed that once he and Shahrukh were returning from a play in a car. Due to security reasons, they were stopped by the police. A policeman had asked, “What’s in the trunk” and Shahrukh had replied, “2 AK-47 rifles and a dead body”.

8. Before they got married, Shahrukh had been to Mumbai (from Delhi) to look for Gauri. He took his friend Thomas with him and stayed at somebody’s flat. Both had to leave the flat early and spend a night at the railway station. Thomas revealed that Shahrukh had said at Marine Drive that he’d rule the city one day!

9. When Shahrukh was working for Barry John (helping him with stuff, not acting), former’s mother was checking a house, which was being shown by Kamal, the son-in-law of RK Kapoor (director of serial Fauji). She told Kamal that her son was an actor working for Barry John and he’d check the house after returning. That’s when Kamal suggested that his father-in-law was creating a TV serial (Fauji) and Shahrukh should meet him.

10. The maternal grandmother of Rani Mukherjee had wished for Rani’s mother Krishna to become an actress, but the latter wasn’t interested. This is one of the reasons why Rani was driven towards acting career by her mother.

11. Salim Khan was very keen to cast Rani. He had offered her a film when she was in 10th standard. Rani was a bit scared of being offered a film so early. It was only after 12th standard that she started considering acting.

12. There was absolutely no plan of casting Rani as Tina in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). Director Karan Johar was willing to cast Twinkle Khanna for that role. He had met Twinkle, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon, and Karishma Kapoor, but none of them accepted the role. It was only then that Rani was roped in.

13. Rani’s first ever film was actually a Bengali romantic film called Biyer Phool (1996) which was produced, written and directed by her father Ram Mukherjee. It earned average to positive reviews from critics & audience.

14. Shilpa’s mother is an astrologer and had predicted her daughter’s fortune. She had told Shilpa’s father about the same but he wasn’t in favor of modeling or acting career. When Shilpa shared her desire to become a model, her father assumed that her’s mother might be right. He let Shilpa model but with one condition, she must complete her education.

15. Before Hema Malini’s birth, her mother was confident that she’d give birth to a girl. She even had decided to name her “Hema Malini” and predicted that Hema would become an excellent dancer.

16. Anil Kapoor had met Yash Chopra and begged for a role in Parampara (1993). Without knowing the role, he insisted Chopra let him in. Chopra finally signed him. But, Anil ran away before the shoot because the role was of the father of Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan. Vinod Khanna played the role.

17. In 1994, Shahrukh was listening to a qawwali at a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan concert in London. He loved it and thought of using it in his film. All the rights were bought from NFA Khan and the preparation of a full song was going on. Before the idea could be floored, Akshay Kumar’s Mohra (1994) released with the same tune in the song “Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast”.

18. Ajay Devgn and Raveena Tandon worked together in Divya Shakti (1993) and started dating. Two years later, Karishma Kapoor (allegedly) dated Ajay, which made Raveena angry. In an interview, she claimed that Ajay had betrayed her. Ajay warned her not to spread lies. She accused Karishma of being insecure and snatching many roles from her. Then Ajay suggested Raveena get treated from a psychiatrist. This all ended when Raveena found a new attraction, Akshay Kumar.

19. Shambhu Nath had a dream, to see his son Sanjay Mishra becoming an entertainer. He sent Sanjay to NSD. Sanjay tried hard but could achieve more than average success. In the midst of all this, his father died. Sanjay was so traumatized that he decided never to continue acting career. He hid from the public view and started working at a small food stall. But, Rohit Shetty found him. Rohit encouraged Sanjay to return to films. That’s how Sanjay Mishra returned to the film industry.

20. Punjabi actor Veerendra was Dharmendra’s cousin. Veerendra had started his film career in the Punjabi film industry after seeing his cousin becoming a star in Hindi cinema. Within a decade, Veerendra achieved great success. He was shot dead in 1988. It is believed that other members of the Punjabi film industry were jealous of him and someone among them had contracted his killing.

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Sources of Information: Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai & Suhana Safar With Annu Kapoor.

Why do talented actors like Achyuth Kumar and Ram Kumar remain underrated in Kannada cinema despite their skills?

 Achyuth Kumar is very overrated Kannada actor and not loyal to Kannada film industry. I don't think he is underrated. He is one of the worst actors ever and often overacts.

Even Tulu actors who are lucky to have landed in Kannada Film industry like Rakshit Shetty, Rishab shetty and Raj B Shetty are very bad actors and known for overacting and poor expressions.

Ram kumar is a product of nepotism and not underrated. His father is a producer. He came to the film industry under the influence of his father in law senior actor Rajkumar

Navarasa Nayaka Jaggesh is the most underrated Kannada actor. He is the best Kannada actor till now presently active. No present Kannada actor can come close to him in terms of acting skills.

Is there a film that drives you crazy when they get the science wrong?

 The Core is pretty wild.

The main characters drill to the center of the Earth and magically survive insanely high pressure and heat that would give Superman fits.

But I suppose it’s still entertaining if you can look past all the ridiculous mental gymnastics a scientist would have to do while watching it.

There’s also Lucy.

It operates on this assumption that we only use 10% of our brain and that we can unlock that other part of our brain and, with it, incredible potential.

Contrary to this myth, we already use most of our brains. If we used all of our brain at the same time, it would be really really bad. You’d likely have an ugly seizure.

How did they manage to make Superman fly in the first 1978 film?

 Director Richard Donner knew the film would only work if Christopher Reeve could convincingly fly. He therefore asked his team to invent a new method to achieve this challenge, as nothing that existed before would be suitable.

The person who found the solution to the problem is Zoran Perisic. This optical effects specialist, who had worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey , invented a process for the occasion, called Zoptic .

In short, without going into too much technical detail, it's a complex device that projects a film of a landscape (for example, a New York City backdrop filmed from a helicopter) onto a large screen in front of which the actor stands. This device also includes a camera that films the actor in front of the screen. So far, nothing exceptional. What is exceptional about this setup is that the camera filming the actor is synchronized with the projector displaying the background, so that the camera filming the actor can, for example, zoom in on him without affecting the background.

Thus, to give the impression that Superman is accelerating, the camera can zoom in on him without zooming in on the background. That's the secret of this optical illusion.

The two images are superimposed, but one can act on the foreground without affecting the background.

This system also allows the camera to rotate around the actor without the background moving, giving the impression that Superman is spinning around.

Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder lying on a pedestal that will not be seen on screen.

Nevertheless, this method proved very time-consuming to implement. Five months were needed to film the flight sequences for the movie…

Note that for all landing and takeoff sequences, Christopher Reeves was simply held by cables and attached to a crane that lifted him off the ground.

What are the photos and news about new film productions?

 1- New images from the movie “Barbie” starring Margot Robbie in the lead role and Ryan Gosling as “Ken”.

2- This moment went unnoticed by many people, but it is the "redemption" of the Scarlet Witch:

3- It was precisely at this scene that many fans jumped off the couch:

4- Doctor Strange's newest employee:

5- The most wasted group of all time:

6- Tom Holland smoking a cigarette during a break on the set of the series "The Crowded Room," which takes place in the 70s!

7. Will it be even crazier than the first movie?

What are some mind-blowing facts & trivia about Indian Film Industry ?

 Here are some mind-blowing facts & trivia about Bollywood -

• Raj Kapoor is the face of optimism in Russia, as his smile in the movie Awara conquered the hearts of all the folks after the war with Germany.

• Bollywood’s first production which was a short film was produced in the the year 1899 – that is 11 years before the first Hollywood movie was released.

• Kalki Koechlin’s great grandfather happens to be the Chief Engineer of Eiffel Tower and was also in charge of construction of Statue Of Liberty. This is the picture of Maurice Koechlin.

• Lagaan was the first Indian film to be released in China.

• The entire film of ‘Ra One’ cost $27 million, making it the most expensive movie ever produced in Bollywood.

• Do Aankhein Baraah Haath is the first Indian film to have won the Golden Globe award under the Samuel Goldwyn category

• After ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ was released, there was a 32% increase in Indians visiting Spain.

• Jeetendra started his career as a body double for a female actor Sandhya for the movie Navrang. We don’t who was more embarrassed in this case.

• Ghajini was the first film to have crossed 100 crores in the Box Office.

• The Indian film with the most number of songs- Indira Sabha, featured 71 songs and made its first appearance in 1932

• Sunil Dutt holds the Guinness World record for the being the only actor in a 113 minutes long feature film Yaadein.

Thanks For Reading!

Source:

• 26 Interesting Facts About Bollywood That Are Bigger Than Any BlockBuster!
• 10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BOLLYWOOD YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW
• 15 Interesting Facts About Bollywood You Probably Didn't Know
• Image Source: Wikipedia - Maurice Koechlin.
  Google Images - Lagaan, Ra One & Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.