The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?
THE SUMMARY: An FBI agent trainee seeks the help of a serial killer to find another serial killer who turns out to be a tranny who skins fat chicks, and the first serial killer escapes in the process. It’s a much deeper move than that in the details, but even just on the surface, it’s a unique, memorable thriller that was ahead of its time in questioning the sanity of… certain lifestyles.
NO MOVIE-PICKER COMMENTARY: The Silence of the Lambs was the vote selection of random IMDb top-rated nominees for the fifth Sunday in June. It currently ranks #23 on the top 250.
JAMIE AND JEANNE’S AI FACESWAP ART:
The killer would have had plenty of skin just from the nose.
I always knew she was a fed.
The real Caesar went to a place far worse.
Okay but I wouldn’t eat the feds though.
Is it a hate crime if a tranny brings the rope?
I always loved the word 'rube.'
THE BEST:
Anthony Hopkins as Lecter: It’s an unforgettable performance of an unforgettable character. I can see why they tried to revive that success with so many sequels/prequels, though it sounds like none lived up to the original (I haven’t seen them, because they are movies, of course).
The writing of the Lecter lines is great - it’s very professorial, but clever, and with a big vocabulary, which is the point: his intelligence is part of what makes him so scary. But it’s Hopkins’ delivery that solidifies the character. It’s smirky and calm, but exactly the sort of smirky calm where you know something big is coming. And then he eats a guy’s face off.
In many ways, this performance reminded me of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker: the same mannerisms, the the same calm before the chaos, indeed, even Lecter’s bloody face looked a lot like final form Phoenix Joker. I have to think Lecter inspired that performance, but I’ve seen no official confirmation of it.
Transgenderism is actually crazy: Take me back to when this was commonly understood. Can we acknowledge that thinking you are actually another gender, and taking physical steps to try to realize it, and demanding that all of society accommodate that delusion up to and including, in this case, outright murder and skinning human bodies in pursuit of it… is crazy?
These days, a critical mass will insist that the murder and skin suit stuff is the only crazy part, not the gender delusion, which is accckshually no delusion at all. They’re wrong. When you reject fundamental truth about the world, like men are men and women are women, it’s a very easy step to reject baseline moral truth too, like you shouldn’t kill people. If there is no reality, and there is only how you personally perceive and define it, all of these things are possible.
And that’s why people, no matter how ‘accepting’ they claim to be, find this movie irresistibly creepy: because they know there’s something inherently wrong with a man trying to become a woman.
Now I know why I hate moths: All my life I’ve hated moths, inexplicably. When I was younger, if one landed on me, I’d freak out like it’s a rattlesnake trying to bite me or something. They’re harmless, but they terrify me. Maybe fear is the wrong word - more of a repulsion, I guess. They’re just so disgusting I can’t stand their presence, let alone touch.
Now I know why - as Buffalo Bill deploys them, they represent transformation. They are nature’s metaphor for tranny nonsense. Fuck moths.
Now I understand the Dumb & Dumber reference: Everyone knows (and many dispute) my opinion that Dumb & Dumber is one of the greatest, or maybe the greatest comedy ever made. Until now, I never understood that weird thing Harry and Lloyd do at the charity fundraiser event in Aspen. Ohhhhh - it’s a Hannibal Lecter reference.
An unforgettable character.
Lipstick and dresses lead to dungeon pits.
THE WORST:
Pass on Jodie Foster: I don’t get it, John Hinkley - I don’t understand what you see in this chick. I don’t get what anybody does. The fact that she won best actress for this performance baffles me. She’s boring, she lacks charisma, she has no energy… she’s not even hot. I think almost any Hollywood-level actress could have subbed in for her and this movie would have been the same. It’s carried by Anthony Hopkins and the tranny actor, Ted Levine. Jodie Foster is just… there. Like she was in Contact, which was another good movie despite her.
I really didn’t need to see that: It doesn’t help to watch Jodie Foster take a faceshot, either. I get it - the plot point is important in that it inspires sympathy from Lecter, who provides a clue, that ultimately leads to finding Buffalo Bill, but… isn’t there another way to achieve this storyline?
Lecter’s attack is cheese: Even though I appreciate how Lecter’s character creates such tension until he finally gets violent, the actual violence is pure cheese. It’s laughably fake-looking, the cops don’t fight back at all, and the blood effect on Lecter’s face is quite bad, looking more like some kid’s finger paint than actual gore. The whole scene is unintentionally funny, not scary. In fairness, Lambs was released in 1991, so barely out of the ‘80s. In fact, I bet some of the filming happened in the ‘80s. So I guess some residual cheese is to be expected.
Preposterous. The guy who flung his juice on her face is more deserving.
Even if you love this movie, you know you laughed at this scene, and you aren't supposed to.
THE RATING: 4/5 Wickies. It’s thrilling, it challenges degeneracy and delusion that certainly need more challenge now, and Hopkins creates one of the most memorable characters in movie history. Certainly worth the time, even if Jodie Foster is involved.
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NEXT WEEK: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
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