tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post6442957705307330660..comments2023-03-31T06:55:42.398-07:00Comments on Dinner With Max Jenke: Why Silence Is Still GoldenJeff Allardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265550466781988388noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-72023238588012940742009-09-14T21:33:41.871-07:002009-09-14T21:33:41.871-07:00Hey FF, I'm sure it's hard for a younger g...Hey FF, I'm sure it's hard for a younger generation that has seen Hannibal, Red Dragon, and Hannibal Rising to really appreciate Silence on its own merits, and not as part of a horror franchise. Still, as far as I'm concerned, the movie is still the gold standard for contemporary psychological horror.Jeff Allardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04265550466781988388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-63904486374682620442009-09-14T11:33:01.658-07:002009-09-14T11:33:01.658-07:00I remember taking a Crime & Mystery Fiction co...I remember taking a Crime & Mystery Fiction course in college, and our professor had us read The Silence of the Lambs (this was spring of 1990). He then proceeded to tell us that there was a movie being made of the book starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins.<br /><br />That's nice, I thought, but there's no way they'll be able to effectively film this subject matter to do the book justice.<br /><br />Uh-huh.<br /><br />Silence is one of my top 25 favorite films of all time, and it was sweet vindication for horror buffs worldwide when, on Oscar night, it swept the top 5 big prizes (picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay).<br /><br />Hannibal Lecter is largely either spoofed or treated as a punchline these days, but we can't (and won't) ever forget the impact this film made.FilmFatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16572370403623288465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-44387106095066777212009-09-14T04:22:40.613-07:002009-09-14T04:22:40.613-07:00Hey Bob, I think you're on to something. The r...Hey Bob, I think you're on to something. The rise of directors schooled in music vidoes is likely a big factor in why characterization has suffered in recent years. I also think that somewhere along the way, it was discovered that men and women just like seeing women kick ass onscreen. <br /><br />Ripley in Alien and Sarah Conner in Terminator may have been the start of that but I think once we got to Trinity in The Matrix, a whole generation had come of age waiting to see girls be on an equal - if not a greater - footing than boys. Now it's usually the guys who are second banana to the female hero - as in Buffy, Tomb Raider, Underworld, Doomsday or Resident Evil. <br /><br />Unfortunately, the price that's come with that is that female heroes who show some vulnerability - like Clarice Starling - have become all but extinct.Jeff Allardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04265550466781988388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-86937042042275760762009-09-13T22:24:24.479-07:002009-09-13T22:24:24.479-07:00Good blob, Jeff. 'Silence' is indeed an e...Good blob, Jeff. 'Silence' is indeed an excellent film. As to why female leads in these kind of movies don't have the same depth or weaknesses that Jodie Foster did, I think some of it has to do with where the new crop of directors are coming from. Demme and many other directors starting out in the seventies started working on features for Roger Corman, who let them do pretty much whatever they wanted as long as there was enough action and T&A in the finished product. Many directors now start out working on music videos where the only concern is making the subjects look cool and/or coming up with eye catching imagery. Emotion and character don't really figure into it, so these guys don't get a chance to hone their skills in that area. I'm sure there are other factors, but I think that's a big one.Bob Igniziohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03630416222197419152noreply@blogger.com