3. The Silence Of The Lambs - 1991
Winner, winner, cannibal dinner. Only one year removed from one of the greatest Oscar travesties, the Academy could use a gimme, an easy one - and The Silence Of The Lambs delivered. Jonathan Demme took what was a good book by Thomas Harris and injected an extra dose of vivacity, creep, grime, tension and panache. This film cooks. Right from the outset you know you're in for something totally different than you're used to. The performances were equally outstanding with Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster taking home statues for their performances as Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, respectively. Jonathan Demme himself was awarded a statuette for best director as did Ted Tally for his adaptation of Harris' novel. All in all Silence took home all five major awards and escaped into legend. It was the first film labeled as a horror film to win best picture and only the third film in history to capture those five major oscars. This isn't to say there was no competition that year. Disney's Beauty And The Beast was a wonderful family film, Bugsy was entertaining enough and Oliver Stone's JFK certainly had people talking but in the end they couldn't measure up to Demme's masterpiece. It puts the awards in the basket, it does what it's told.