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Monday, February 14, 2011

A&E / Culture

Happy Birthday, Hannibal

Posted By on February 14, 2011, 9:53 AM

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Valentine's Day 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most unlikely Oscar winners -- and equally unlikely Valentine's Day weekend movies -- in cinema history. ---

The Silence of the Lambs, an adaptation of Thomas Harris' second Hannibal Lecter novel by screenwriter Ted Tally and director Jonathan Demme, made it's debut on Feb. 14, 1991. It instantly became a pop-culture phenomenon, with an iconic performance by Anthony Hopkins as the culturally-refined, brilliant cannibal who helps FBI profiler Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) track down a serial killer. But it was hardly the kind of movie that one generally associates with Academy Awards success. A horror movie, getting the imprimatur of respectability from the tradition-bound Academy?

Yet not only did Silence earn a Best Picture win, it became only the third film in history -- and the most recent -- to sweep the Big Five categories of Picture, Director (Demme), Screenplay (Tally), Actor (Hopkins) and Actress (Foster). So in recognition of its accomplishments, celebrate your romantic dinner with that special someone tonight by offering a menu of liver, fava beans and a nice Chianti.

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Scott Renshaw

Scott Renshaw
Bio:
 Scott Renshaw has been a City Weekly staff member since 1999, including assuming the role of primary film critic in 2001 and Arts & Entertainment Editor in 2003. Scott has covered the Sundance Film Festival for 25 years, and provided coverage of local arts including theater, pop-culture conventions, comedy,... more

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