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Some of the most overlooked personalities in the film industry are the men and women who sit in the director’s chair. While most of the public is content with engaging themselves with the off-screen antics of actors and actresses, it is often the directors who outshine their fellow artists in terms of eccentricities and sheer craziness.
This list takes a look at ten of these fascinating personalities. It includes the brave, the arrogant, the mentally ill, and the obliviously insane- gathered and ranked based on three criteria. The first is the nature of their work. Those willing to engage in difficult, bizarre, and dangerous projects are ranked higher on this list. The second is the demands that they place on their production crews and actors. The more demanding a director and the more outrageous their requests, the higher they will score. And the third and final criterion involves their lives when they are not sitting behind a camera. Many directors have behavioral ticks, idiosyncrasies, phobias, and habits that influence their work. When these three factors are combined, we get a list of the top ten craziest film directors who ever made a movie.
10. Akira Kurosawa
The Career
Akira Kurosawa was simply one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His thirty films established genres and influenced countless filmmakers. His most famous work, Seven Samurai (1954), is a masterpiece that established the modern action/adventure genre as we know it and is frequently cited as one of the greatest movies ever made. His Rashomon (1951) was one of the first Japanese films to gain international attention at foreign film festivals and pioneered a brand new narrative structure that is known as “the Rashomon effect.” His film Ikiru (1952) is beloved as a humanist response to It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). The Hidden Fortress (1958) inspired the story and many of the characters in George Lucas’ Star Wars. And finally, his Yojimbo (1961) virtually established the “man with no name” character archetype that was later used most famously by Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy.
The Crazy
Kurosawa was known as a stern taskmaster and a devoted perfectionist. His nickname was “Tenno,” which is Japanese for “Emperor,” reflecting his dictatorial control and command over his projects. There are many stories about the lengths that Kurosawa would go to in order to get the perfect shot. For a scene in Rashomon where there was a great rainstorm, he had water mixed with ink sprayed from fire trucks onto the set so that it would show up on the camera lenses. In Throne of Blood (1957), a Japanese retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Kurosawa didn’t use fake arrows when the main character is executed by a firing squad of archers. He literally had professional archers fire at the main character as he ran around trying to dodge them. At any moment he could have easily been killed.
He also was known for building gigantic sets. One of the largest was the shantytown built for Red Beard (1965) that cost a fortune to build and ended up in only one or two short shots. Another infamous set was a castle built on the slopes of Mt. Fuji in Ran (1985) which was then set on fire and burned to the ground for a single scene.
Kurosawa was also known to be demanding, and sometimes cruel, to his cast. He had one technique where he would choose one actor in particular from a cast and berate and insult him especially. The idea was that seeing him abuse one cast member would motivate the other actors and actresses to give their best performances. An example was Yoshio Inaba who played Gorobei in Seven Samurai. Although his methods were extreme, they did result in some of the finest films ever made.
9. Lars Von Trier
The Career
This Danish filmmaker is one of the most controversial artists currently working in the industry. He began to make films when he was 11 years old and has never stopped. He is noted for making extremely cerebral and graphic films, such as the serial killer drama The Element of Crime (1984) and his most recent Anti-Christ (2009). His film Europa (1991), the final film in a series of films known as the Europe-trilogy, won the Prix du Jury at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. He was also one of the founders of the avant-garde film movement called Dogme 95, which seeks to purify filmmaking by refusing expensive special effects and other gimmicks.
The Crazy
Where do we begin? His films are notorious for unbelievably graphic images, including unsimulated sex in such films as The Idiots (1998) and Anti-Christ. His company, Zentropa, also was the world’s first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornography. He frequently has his actors and actresses engage in full frontal nudity on camera.
Despite all this, he is a devout Catholic. His conversion to Catholicism was one of the turning points of his life, inspiring him to establish Dogme 95 so he could pursue a more honest style of filmmaking. This is where the crazy really gets interesting. Being a member of Dogme 95 means that you have to prescribe to certain rules while making a film, such as only filming on location, only using hand-held cameras, and not giving the director any credit. Von Trier’s roots in the movement have led him to pronounce obscene handicaps on his own work. For instance, Europa was filmed entirely in sepia. His film Dogville (2003) was filmed entirely on a sound stage with no set.
He only uses digital cameras, making some projects difficult to shoot. An example is Dancer in the Dark (2000), a musical where the musical sequences were shot simultaneously with over 100 digital cameras. But even when he isn’t working on a film, Von Trier has many odd idiosyncrasies, including several crippling phobias. The worst phobia is his fear of flying which has resulted in him shooting most of his films in either Denmark or Sweden, even ones that are supposedly set in countries like America. When his films premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, he drives all the way to France and back from Denmark.
8. Orson Welles
The Career
Widely considered to be one of the most important and influential film directors who ever lived, Orson Welles’ filmography reads like a greatest hits collection. His first two films, Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) are frequently cited as two of the greatest films ever made. His Othello (1952) won the Palme d’Or. Touch of Evil (1958) is also considered to be one of the greatest film noir/thrillers ever made. Finally, his Chimes at Midnight (1965) laid the groundwork for how battles would be choreographed and filmed for decades, inspiring battle scenes in films such as Braveheart (1995) and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 – 2003). But Welles’ genius was not limited to the director’s chair. He was also a fantastic Shakespearean actor and radio personality.
The Crazy
The career of Orson Welles is the stuff of Hollywood legend. While he was easily one of the greatest talents the industry has ever seen, he also sported one of its biggest egos. He was so audacious that his first film Citizen Kane was basically a biopic of William Randolph Hearst, one of America’s most powerful newspaper magnates- so powerful that he almost succeeded in completely suppressing the film. It is said that if it wasn’t for Hearst, Citizen Kane probably would have won all eight of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. Instead, Hearst’s opposition was successful enough that it basically established Welles as an enfant terrible, making it almost impossible for him to get his films financed within the United States.
This was compounded by his notorious reputation for being difficult to work with. He demanded total control in his projects. He also had a nasty habit of being unreliable, frequently missing his own engagements and showing up late for important events. In his later years, he would have to rely on starring in commercials to support himself and his film career. Even then he was famous for being impossible to control and work with. Check out his famous “Frozen Peas” commercial (above) for a taste of his ego. To really get an idea of Welles was like, watch the film Me and Orson Welles, a historical look at his time as owner of the Mercury Theater and their production of Julius Caesar. Bombastic, and narcissistic, Welles established a legacy of being one of the world’s greatest, and most intriguing, artists.
7. John Waters
The Career
Shocking, disturbing, and graphic, John Water’s 1970s transgressive cult films have been horrifying and delighting audiences for decades. He started out by making campy exploitation films with his regular troupe of actors, known as the Dreamlanders. Some of his earliest films include the degenerative classics Mondo Trasho (1969), Multiple Maniacs (1970), and the infamous Pink Flamingos (1972). He would later move on to more mainstream work, the most famous being Hairspray (1988), which would later be adapted into an award winning Broadway musical and then remade into a movie (2007).
The Crazy
John Waters is easily the one of the filthiest filmmakers alive, a title which would no doubt delight him. His films frequently deal (rather explicitly) with issues such as homosexuality, gender issues, and the counterculture. He is notorious for his casting decisions which include real-life convicted criminals (like Liz Renay and Patricia Hearst) and porn stars. His most famous regular actress was Divine, a drag queen who became one of the leading icons of the counterculture movement. In Pink Flamingos, Waters even made her eat real dog poop. This keeps with Waters’ habit of constantly trying to shock his audiences. His films frequently have full frontal nudity, unsimulated sex acts, and realistic-looking violence (in the case of Pink Flamingos there is a scene where police officers are killed with an axe and then cannibalized).
In contrast, Waters is a distinguished, sophisticated personality off-screen, who makes regular appearances on the late night talk show circuit. He is known for taking equal pleasure in high-brow art films and schlocky exploitation films. He was once quoted as saying, “I love Bergman and I Dismember Mama.” He is also famous for his No Smoking short film that plays before feature films at art houses.
6. Stanley Kubrick
The Career
Most directors are only able to excel in one or two genres of film. Stanley Kubrick is the definitive exception to that rule. Working in multiple genres, his films have become infamous milestones that continue to inspire filmmakers to this day. He directed the war films Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987). He has made two of the most influential science fiction films ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1972). His film The Shining (1980) is considered to be one of the definitive horror films. Dr. Strangelove (1964) is widely cited as one of the greatest comedies of all time. And finally, he excelled at making period pieces like Spartacus (1960) and Barry Lyndon (1975), the latter of which was named the greatest film of all time by Martin Scorsese.
The Crazy
Kubrick has gone down in history as being one of the most difficult directors to work with and one of the biggest obsessive-compulsive perfectionists of the industry. While he was known as a loving family man, he was inconsiderate and rude to the people that he worked with. He was disrespectful to his actors and never complimented any of his coworkers, fearing that it would make them “complacent.” Kirk Douglas was quoted as saying that he was unwilling to compromise with anyone, had an out-of-control ego, and considered his personal vision of a film to be more important than the collaboration of fellow artists.
He was infamous for doing countless takes of every single shot. During the shooting of The Shining, he supposedly made Shelley Duvall redo a single shot 127 times and elderly cast member Scatman Crothers redo a scene 148 times, which is a world record. The stress was so great for Duvall during shooting that her hair began to fall out.
Kubrick was also notorious for engaging himself with every step in the making of his films, including writing, directing, sound track work, and editing. He would often visit random theaters to confirm that his films were being shown with the proper lighting. In addition, when his films were released in foreign countries, he would have control over the dubbing casts and the translation of the script into other languages. Since his death, no new voice translations have been authorized for his films.
5. Cecil B. DeMille
The Career
Before Spielberg and before Wyler, there was Cecil B. DeMille. One of the earliest directors to start working in Hollywood (his first film was made in 1913), he would direct some of the earliest, and best, big budget epics in film history. In a career that spanned several decades, his work would include silent pictures, talkies, and some of the earliest usages of the primitive two-strip Technicolor process. Many of his films were adaptations of biblical stories, such as The Ten Commandments (1923), The Ten Commandments remake with Charlton Heston (1956), The King of Kings (1927), and Samson and Delilah (1949). His knack for working with large groups of extras, gigantic set pieces, and colossal stories would establish DeMille’s work as the prototype for Hollywood blockbusters for decades to come. He also was one of the first directors to become famous in his own right, paving the way for filmmakers, and not just actors and actresses, to become household names.
The Crazy
Like many of the directors on this list, DeMille was a stern taskmaster. Actually, that is an understatement- he was essentially a tyrant on the set of his films. He demanded absolute commitment from everybody involved in his films. For example, in order to preserve the “spiritual nature” of the film King of Kings he made his stars enter into contracts that prohibited them from doing anything “unbiblical” for five years, including going to ball games, night clubs, and even riding in convertibles.
DeMille also demanded that his actors and actresses take physically dangerous risks on film. If they refused, DeMille would despise them. In one scene in Samson and Delilah, actor Victor Mature gained his hatred when he refused to wrestle a live lion (even though it happened to be tame and toothless). During his production of The Crusades (1935), several stuntmen were hurt and several horses were killed in one particular scene. DeMille’s was so cavalier about their safety that one of his expert archers opened fire at him. And one story about DeMille says that during the filming of a huge battle sequence he joked that he would use live bullets as a way to cut down on the cost of extras. He was apparently aware of his reputation as a tyrant on set as he would frequently wear big leather boots and carry a whip.
4. Harmony Korine
The Career
Harmony Korine is one of the most bizarre and obscure directors on this list. His debut was in 1995 with Kids (1995), an NC-17 look at the life of several Manhattan teenagers during the AIDS crisis. He has since gone on to direct several other strange and unusual projects, such as Gummo (1997), a fragmented look at life in an Ohio town in the 1970s after it was hit by a tornado; and Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), a film that proscribed to the self-imposed rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto. His work is frequently centered on dark humor and absurdism. Some of his favorite themes are dysfunctional childhoods, mental disorders, and poverty. He is very unconventional in his approach to narrative with several of his films employing surrealist, non-linear experimental structures. Widely accepted as an underground artist, he has nonetheless gained wide support in several circles, including the international film festival scene, having won prizes at both Venice and Rotterdam. Some of his fans include famous directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Gus Van Sant, and Werner Herzog.
The Crazy
Harmony Korine is no stranger to controversy as his films contain many explicit and vulgar images. During Gummo, there is a scene where a cat is drowned on camera. Kids features multiple scenes of teenage drug abuse and sexuality. His 1998 film The Diary of Anne Frank Pt II was a three-screen collage of a boy burying his dog, various kids in satanic outfits vomiting on a Bible, and a man doing a minstrel show in blackface.
Setting Korine apart from other crazy directors are the lengths he will go to for his profession. Korine has professed that he wishes to die for the cinema. This is a wish that has frequently almost come true. The most obvious would be his project entitled Fight Harm where he would film himself engaging random people in actual street fights. Korine described the project as a cross between “a Buster Keaton vehicle and a snuff film.” After only six fights he was so injured that he was hospitalized and forced to abandon the project. So Korine is a triple threat: his work is bizarre, he requires great (and ridiculous) commitment from his performers, and he is willing to put himself in the line of danger for his work.
3. John Ford
The Career
The only man in history to win the Academy Award for Best Director four times, John Ford is a filmmaker of legendary proportions. While some of his best work includes adaptations of 20th century novels such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940), he is best remembered for practically inventing the Western genre. Working for over fifty years and making over 140 films, Ford was making Westerns as far back as 1917. Over time, he would come to pioneer many of the archetypes that distinguish the Western genre. One of his most famous Westerns, Stagecoach (1939), elevated the genre into an art form. It was one of the first times that a Western was taken seriously and not delegated to the realm of cheap B-movies.
Ford established the careers of many famous actors, including almost single-handedly making John Wayne into a star with his breakthrough role in Stagecoach. Over the years, Ford and Wayne would collaborate on some of the most beloved and influential Westerns ever made, including The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Fort Apache (1948).
He helped establish and popularize many important film techniques, such as long shots, the use of Expressionistic style, and tracking shots. He was also one of the pioneers of on-location shooting, frequently setting and filming his movies in Utah’s Monument Valley.
Easily one of the most influential filmmakers, he was named by both Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman as one of the greatest directors who ever lived. Akira Kurosawa, who you will remember from earlier on this list, tried to model his entire career and film making methods on the techniques and personality of John Ford.
The Crazy
Like many early Hollywood directors, John Ford was known as a stern and at times overbearing man to work with- but Ford’s personality went farther than that. He was just a mean old cuss. The best way to summarize Ford’s personality is that he is said to be the only person who ever made John Wayne cry. Let me repeat that, he made John Wayne cry. He was infamous for how hard he would treat and work his actors. He would often mock and bully them.
Not only was Ford a tough man who demanded the best from his actors, he also but great strains on his production crews. When he would shoot on location (remember that he was one of the first directors to do so), he would frequently make the entire cast and crew live out of stagecoaches. John Ford was as tough as his beloved Western terrain and just as demanding.
Ford was just as demanding on himself as a filmmaker. One of his greatest exploits was storming Omaha Beach on D-Day and filming the invasion. Not only did he capture the events on film, he was cited by his superiors for bravery. Apparently, during the invasion he filmed from a position where he was “an obvious and clear target.” He didn’t stop filming, even while getting wounded in the process. As if storming Omaha Beach armed with a video camera wasn’t ballsy and suicidal enough, he was also wounded while filming a documentary of the Battle of Midway.
Underneath his tough exterior, Ford was a kind and sentimental man. One example of this is how he paid for a former Universal actor’s wife’s operation. When the actor asked Ford for help, he publically assaulted the man and insulted him. However, when the actor left the studio, Ford’s business manager gave him a check for $1,000.
2. Howard Hughes
The Career
Yes, we are talking about that Howard Hughes, the famous American aviator, engineer, and industrialist. When he wasn’t innovating the field of aviation, he gained prominence as a genius filmmaker from the late 1920s. His first two films, Everybody’s Acting (1927) and Two Arabian Knights (1928) were huge successes, the latter even snagging the first Academy Award for Best Director of a Comedy Picture. He would then go on to make several controversial big budget films, like Hell’s Angels (1930) and The Outlaw (1943). He would also go on to produce the famous Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932), directed by Howard Hawks.
The Crazy
As you may notice from the short career bio, Howard Hughes was not the most influential of filmmakers. Sure, his work was important for its time. But overall, his career was too short to have any kind of outstanding impact on the industry. The reason why he is number two on this list is because of his incredible obsessive-compulsive disorder. The intensity of his illness makes him perfectly suited to be positioned so high on this list. While there are many stories about Hughes’ various neuroses, this list will only dwell on those involved with him as a filmmaker.
For starters, one of the earliest quirks about Hughes as a director concerned Jane Russell’s blouse in The Outlaw. He believed that the fabric bunched up to create the appearance of two nipples on each breast. He was apparently so upset that he wrote detailed instructions to his crew on how to fix it. He was so frustrated that eventually he designed a special bra just for Russell to wear in the film. While on set he would be plagued by massive mood swings that impeded production of his films. The most famous incident in Hughes’ life concerning film was his 1947 episode where he locked himself in a screening room for four months. He lived off nothing but chocolate bars and milk and stored his urine and feces in empty bottles and containers. During this time, he would watch film reels all day while completely naked. The entire time he was in the screening room, he didn’t bathe. He would also spend time meticulously stacking and rearranging dozens of Kleenex boxes. The last famous incident of Hughes’ behavior concerning the cinema was his obsession with the 1968 film Ice Station Zebra, which he ran on a continuous loop in his home. It is reported that he watched the film 150 times. Despite all this, Hughes is really only fit for the number two spot on this list because his idiosyncrasies were dictated by an untreated mental disorder. This is different from the number one entry who supposedly had full control of his senses throughout his entire career. Which leads us to…
1. Werner Herzog
The Career
In his nearly fifty year long career so far, Werner Herzog, originally part of the New German Cinema movement, has established himself as one of the world’s leading film directors. He has inspired countless filmmakers with his amazing films.
Known for shooting both documentaries and regular films, Herzog made his first few movies on a 35 mm camera that he stole from the Munich Film School. From there he has filmed some of the most eclectic, engaging, and hypnotic films ever made. His film Fitzcarraldo (1982) won the Best Director Award at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. It’s about a rubber baron who pulls a steamship over a mountain to gain access to rich rubber territory, so he can achieve his dream of building an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian rainforest. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), the story of Spanish soldier who leads a group of conquistadores down the Amazon River in the hope of finding El Dorado, gained international attention and accolades.
Herzog has made pictures all over the world, from Greece (Last Words), the Sahara Desert (Fata Morgana), Antarctica (Encounters at the End of the World), Africa (Cobra Verde), Australia (Where the Green Ants Dream), to the American mid-West (Stroszek). He has proven himself time and again to be willing to travel to the ends of the earth in order to tell a story and make a great film.
Recently, Herzog has been working in Hollywood. Unlike many foreign directors whose work begins to decline under the influence of Hollywood, Herzog is still going strong. Some of his work in America includes the famous documentary Grizzly Man (2005), the Christian Bale vehicle Rescue Dawn (2007), and the criminally underappreciated Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans (2009), starring Nicolas Cage.
The Crazy
This entire list could easily have been made up of the crazy things that Herzog has done throughout his career. Suffice to say, it is a miracle that he is still alive. Herzog has long had a habit of choosing to direct films that purposely require next to impossible and life-threatening shoots. During the filming of Aguirre, he had the cast and crew live on rafts on Amazon River tributaries for five weeks, dodging life-threatening rapids and barely missing getting drowned in a massive flood. In Fitzcarraldo, he put the lives of hundreds of natives in danger by making them pull a 320-ton steamship up the side of a mountain. At any moment, the cables could have broken and killed the workers. At one point, his cast was even attacked by unfriendly locals from the neighboring forests. Then there was the time that Herzog risked the lives of his entire crew (himself included) by filming a documentary on the side of a volcano that was ready to erupt at any minute. Included in the film is a scene where the crew is shown escaping from poisonous fumes leaking from the volcano. The end result, entitled La Soufrière (1977), was only thirty minutes long.
His madness doesn’t end with the shoots themselves. Herzog also tends to work with strange, eclectic, and difficult casts. His film Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) had a cast comprised purely of little people. Two of his greatest films, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) and Stroszek (1977), featured Bruno Schleinstein in the lead roles. Bruno, who went by the name of Bruno S., was a self-taught musician who had spent most of his life in mental institutions and had been a street performer before Herzog casted him. His unfamiliarity with performing in front of the camera made shooting Bruno very difficult, sometimes requiring Herzog to “listen to” him for several hours on the set before he could work up the nerve to perform. But his most infamous partnership was that with Klaus Kinski. Known as being a raving madman, the five films that Herzog made with Kinski can all be considered miracles for having been made at all. As shown in Herzog’s My Best Fiend (1999), a documentary detailing their relationship, they were constantly at each others’ throats while on set. During the shooting of Fitzcarraldo, Kinski became so out-of-control that the local natives offered to kill him for Herzog. Despite their tumultuous relationship, they considered each other close friends. It’s a blessing that they didn’t kill each other.
In fact, as I have already said, it is a miracle that Herzog is still alive. Pushing the boundaries of film making and directing to worlds previously unheard of, there is no limit to Herzog’s audacity, bravery, and brilliance in the face of danger and hardship.
Bonus: David Lynch
The Career
David Lynch has established himself as one of America’s greatest cinematic auteurs. His films are bizarre, avant-garde excursions that have pioneered different methods of narrative filmmaking. His first film, Eraserhead (1977) quickly established itself as a cult classic. He would go on to create some of the best, and most peculiar, films ever made. These include the Academy Award nominated The Elephant Man (1980), the disturbing Blue Velvet (1986), the Palme d’Or winning Wild at Heart (1990), and Mulholland Dr. (2001), a film which remains an enigma to many to this day. He also was the co-creator of Twin Peaks, a television show that has gone on to become a cult favorite. In addition to the aforementioned Palme d’Or, Lynch has received two César Awards for Best Foreign Film, a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival, three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director, and the French Legion of Honor.
The Crazy
Those familiar with Lynch may be surprised that he appears on this list. The truth is, while Lynch’s work may be bizarre and incomprehensible, on set and in his private life he is pretty normal. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have his fair share of odd idiosyncrasies. He has been a fervent supporter of Transcendental Meditation since 1973. He doesn’t allow cooking to take place in his home because he can’t stand the smell. But other than those few little ticks, Lynch is a regular man. It is his work that establishes his personality as an unusual fellow and warrants his entry on this list.
This list takes a look at ten of these fascinating personalities. It includes the brave, the arrogant, the mentally ill, and the obliviously insane- gathered and ranked based on three criteria. The first is the nature of their work. Those willing to engage in difficult, bizarre, and dangerous projects are ranked higher on this list. The second is the demands that they place on their production crews and actors. The more demanding a director and the more outrageous their requests, the higher they will score. And the third and final criterion involves their lives when they are not sitting behind a camera. Many directors have behavioral ticks, idiosyncrasies, phobias, and habits that influence their work. When these three factors are combined, we get a list of the top ten craziest film directors who ever made a movie.
10. Akira Kurosawa
The CareerAkira Kurosawa was simply one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His thirty films established genres and influenced countless filmmakers. His most famous work, Seven Samurai (1954), is a masterpiece that established the modern action/adventure genre as we know it and is frequently cited as one of the greatest movies ever made. His Rashomon (1951) was one of the first Japanese films to gain international attention at foreign film festivals and pioneered a brand new narrative structure that is known as “the Rashomon effect.” His film Ikiru (1952) is beloved as a humanist response to It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). The Hidden Fortress (1958) inspired the story and many of the characters in George Lucas’ Star Wars. And finally, his Yojimbo (1961) virtually established the “man with no name” character archetype that was later used most famously by Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy.
The Crazy
Kurosawa was known as a stern taskmaster and a devoted perfectionist. His nickname was “Tenno,” which is Japanese for “Emperor,” reflecting his dictatorial control and command over his projects. There are many stories about the lengths that Kurosawa would go to in order to get the perfect shot. For a scene in Rashomon where there was a great rainstorm, he had water mixed with ink sprayed from fire trucks onto the set so that it would show up on the camera lenses. In Throne of Blood (1957), a Japanese retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Kurosawa didn’t use fake arrows when the main character is executed by a firing squad of archers. He literally had professional archers fire at the main character as he ran around trying to dodge them. At any moment he could have easily been killed.
He also was known for building gigantic sets. One of the largest was the shantytown built for Red Beard (1965) that cost a fortune to build and ended up in only one or two short shots. Another infamous set was a castle built on the slopes of Mt. Fuji in Ran (1985) which was then set on fire and burned to the ground for a single scene.
Kurosawa was also known to be demanding, and sometimes cruel, to his cast. He had one technique where he would choose one actor in particular from a cast and berate and insult him especially. The idea was that seeing him abuse one cast member would motivate the other actors and actresses to give their best performances. An example was Yoshio Inaba who played Gorobei in Seven Samurai. Although his methods were extreme, they did result in some of the finest films ever made.
9. Lars Von Trier
The CareerThis Danish filmmaker is one of the most controversial artists currently working in the industry. He began to make films when he was 11 years old and has never stopped. He is noted for making extremely cerebral and graphic films, such as the serial killer drama The Element of Crime (1984) and his most recent Anti-Christ (2009). His film Europa (1991), the final film in a series of films known as the Europe-trilogy, won the Prix du Jury at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. He was also one of the founders of the avant-garde film movement called Dogme 95, which seeks to purify filmmaking by refusing expensive special effects and other gimmicks.
The Crazy
Where do we begin? His films are notorious for unbelievably graphic images, including unsimulated sex in such films as The Idiots (1998) and Anti-Christ. His company, Zentropa, also was the world’s first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornography. He frequently has his actors and actresses engage in full frontal nudity on camera.
Despite all this, he is a devout Catholic. His conversion to Catholicism was one of the turning points of his life, inspiring him to establish Dogme 95 so he could pursue a more honest style of filmmaking. This is where the crazy really gets interesting. Being a member of Dogme 95 means that you have to prescribe to certain rules while making a film, such as only filming on location, only using hand-held cameras, and not giving the director any credit. Von Trier’s roots in the movement have led him to pronounce obscene handicaps on his own work. For instance, Europa was filmed entirely in sepia. His film Dogville (2003) was filmed entirely on a sound stage with no set.
He only uses digital cameras, making some projects difficult to shoot. An example is Dancer in the Dark (2000), a musical where the musical sequences were shot simultaneously with over 100 digital cameras. But even when he isn’t working on a film, Von Trier has many odd idiosyncrasies, including several crippling phobias. The worst phobia is his fear of flying which has resulted in him shooting most of his films in either Denmark or Sweden, even ones that are supposedly set in countries like America. When his films premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, he drives all the way to France and back from Denmark.
8. Orson Welles
The CareerWidely considered to be one of the most important and influential film directors who ever lived, Orson Welles’ filmography reads like a greatest hits collection. His first two films, Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) are frequently cited as two of the greatest films ever made. His Othello (1952) won the Palme d’Or. Touch of Evil (1958) is also considered to be one of the greatest film noir/thrillers ever made. Finally, his Chimes at Midnight (1965) laid the groundwork for how battles would be choreographed and filmed for decades, inspiring battle scenes in films such as Braveheart (1995) and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 – 2003). But Welles’ genius was not limited to the director’s chair. He was also a fantastic Shakespearean actor and radio personality.
The Crazy
The career of Orson Welles is the stuff of Hollywood legend. While he was easily one of the greatest talents the industry has ever seen, he also sported one of its biggest egos. He was so audacious that his first film Citizen Kane was basically a biopic of William Randolph Hearst, one of America’s most powerful newspaper magnates- so powerful that he almost succeeded in completely suppressing the film. It is said that if it wasn’t for Hearst, Citizen Kane probably would have won all eight of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. Instead, Hearst’s opposition was successful enough that it basically established Welles as an enfant terrible, making it almost impossible for him to get his films financed within the United States.
This was compounded by his notorious reputation for being difficult to work with. He demanded total control in his projects. He also had a nasty habit of being unreliable, frequently missing his own engagements and showing up late for important events. In his later years, he would have to rely on starring in commercials to support himself and his film career. Even then he was famous for being impossible to control and work with. Check out his famous “Frozen Peas” commercial (above) for a taste of his ego. To really get an idea of Welles was like, watch the film Me and Orson Welles, a historical look at his time as owner of the Mercury Theater and their production of Julius Caesar. Bombastic, and narcissistic, Welles established a legacy of being one of the world’s greatest, and most intriguing, artists.
7. John Waters
The Career
Shocking, disturbing, and graphic, John Water’s 1970s transgressive cult films have been horrifying and delighting audiences for decades. He started out by making campy exploitation films with his regular troupe of actors, known as the Dreamlanders. Some of his earliest films include the degenerative classics Mondo Trasho (1969), Multiple Maniacs (1970), and the infamous Pink Flamingos (1972). He would later move on to more mainstream work, the most famous being Hairspray (1988), which would later be adapted into an award winning Broadway musical and then remade into a movie (2007).
The Crazy
John Waters is easily the one of the filthiest filmmakers alive, a title which would no doubt delight him. His films frequently deal (rather explicitly) with issues such as homosexuality, gender issues, and the counterculture. He is notorious for his casting decisions which include real-life convicted criminals (like Liz Renay and Patricia Hearst) and porn stars. His most famous regular actress was Divine, a drag queen who became one of the leading icons of the counterculture movement. In Pink Flamingos, Waters even made her eat real dog poop. This keeps with Waters’ habit of constantly trying to shock his audiences. His films frequently have full frontal nudity, unsimulated sex acts, and realistic-looking violence (in the case of Pink Flamingos there is a scene where police officers are killed with an axe and then cannibalized).
In contrast, Waters is a distinguished, sophisticated personality off-screen, who makes regular appearances on the late night talk show circuit. He is known for taking equal pleasure in high-brow art films and schlocky exploitation films. He was once quoted as saying, “I love Bergman and I Dismember Mama.” He is also famous for his No Smoking short film that plays before feature films at art houses.
6. Stanley Kubrick
The CareerMost directors are only able to excel in one or two genres of film. Stanley Kubrick is the definitive exception to that rule. Working in multiple genres, his films have become infamous milestones that continue to inspire filmmakers to this day. He directed the war films Paths of Glory (1957) and Full Metal Jacket (1987). He has made two of the most influential science fiction films ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1972). His film The Shining (1980) is considered to be one of the definitive horror films. Dr. Strangelove (1964) is widely cited as one of the greatest comedies of all time. And finally, he excelled at making period pieces like Spartacus (1960) and Barry Lyndon (1975), the latter of which was named the greatest film of all time by Martin Scorsese.
The Crazy
Kubrick has gone down in history as being one of the most difficult directors to work with and one of the biggest obsessive-compulsive perfectionists of the industry. While he was known as a loving family man, he was inconsiderate and rude to the people that he worked with. He was disrespectful to his actors and never complimented any of his coworkers, fearing that it would make them “complacent.” Kirk Douglas was quoted as saying that he was unwilling to compromise with anyone, had an out-of-control ego, and considered his personal vision of a film to be more important than the collaboration of fellow artists.
He was infamous for doing countless takes of every single shot. During the shooting of The Shining, he supposedly made Shelley Duvall redo a single shot 127 times and elderly cast member Scatman Crothers redo a scene 148 times, which is a world record. The stress was so great for Duvall during shooting that her hair began to fall out.
Kubrick was also notorious for engaging himself with every step in the making of his films, including writing, directing, sound track work, and editing. He would often visit random theaters to confirm that his films were being shown with the proper lighting. In addition, when his films were released in foreign countries, he would have control over the dubbing casts and the translation of the script into other languages. Since his death, no new voice translations have been authorized for his films.
5. Cecil B. DeMille
The CareerBefore Spielberg and before Wyler, there was Cecil B. DeMille. One of the earliest directors to start working in Hollywood (his first film was made in 1913), he would direct some of the earliest, and best, big budget epics in film history. In a career that spanned several decades, his work would include silent pictures, talkies, and some of the earliest usages of the primitive two-strip Technicolor process. Many of his films were adaptations of biblical stories, such as The Ten Commandments (1923), The Ten Commandments remake with Charlton Heston (1956), The King of Kings (1927), and Samson and Delilah (1949). His knack for working with large groups of extras, gigantic set pieces, and colossal stories would establish DeMille’s work as the prototype for Hollywood blockbusters for decades to come. He also was one of the first directors to become famous in his own right, paving the way for filmmakers, and not just actors and actresses, to become household names.
The Crazy
Like many of the directors on this list, DeMille was a stern taskmaster. Actually, that is an understatement- he was essentially a tyrant on the set of his films. He demanded absolute commitment from everybody involved in his films. For example, in order to preserve the “spiritual nature” of the film King of Kings he made his stars enter into contracts that prohibited them from doing anything “unbiblical” for five years, including going to ball games, night clubs, and even riding in convertibles.
DeMille also demanded that his actors and actresses take physically dangerous risks on film. If they refused, DeMille would despise them. In one scene in Samson and Delilah, actor Victor Mature gained his hatred when he refused to wrestle a live lion (even though it happened to be tame and toothless). During his production of The Crusades (1935), several stuntmen were hurt and several horses were killed in one particular scene. DeMille’s was so cavalier about their safety that one of his expert archers opened fire at him. And one story about DeMille says that during the filming of a huge battle sequence he joked that he would use live bullets as a way to cut down on the cost of extras. He was apparently aware of his reputation as a tyrant on set as he would frequently wear big leather boots and carry a whip.
4. Harmony Korine
The CareerHarmony Korine is one of the most bizarre and obscure directors on this list. His debut was in 1995 with Kids (1995), an NC-17 look at the life of several Manhattan teenagers during the AIDS crisis. He has since gone on to direct several other strange and unusual projects, such as Gummo (1997), a fragmented look at life in an Ohio town in the 1970s after it was hit by a tornado; and Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), a film that proscribed to the self-imposed rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto. His work is frequently centered on dark humor and absurdism. Some of his favorite themes are dysfunctional childhoods, mental disorders, and poverty. He is very unconventional in his approach to narrative with several of his films employing surrealist, non-linear experimental structures. Widely accepted as an underground artist, he has nonetheless gained wide support in several circles, including the international film festival scene, having won prizes at both Venice and Rotterdam. Some of his fans include famous directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Gus Van Sant, and Werner Herzog.
The Crazy
Harmony Korine is no stranger to controversy as his films contain many explicit and vulgar images. During Gummo, there is a scene where a cat is drowned on camera. Kids features multiple scenes of teenage drug abuse and sexuality. His 1998 film The Diary of Anne Frank Pt II was a three-screen collage of a boy burying his dog, various kids in satanic outfits vomiting on a Bible, and a man doing a minstrel show in blackface.
Setting Korine apart from other crazy directors are the lengths he will go to for his profession. Korine has professed that he wishes to die for the cinema. This is a wish that has frequently almost come true. The most obvious would be his project entitled Fight Harm where he would film himself engaging random people in actual street fights. Korine described the project as a cross between “a Buster Keaton vehicle and a snuff film.” After only six fights he was so injured that he was hospitalized and forced to abandon the project. So Korine is a triple threat: his work is bizarre, he requires great (and ridiculous) commitment from his performers, and he is willing to put himself in the line of danger for his work.
3. John Ford
The Career
The only man in history to win the Academy Award for Best Director four times, John Ford is a filmmaker of legendary proportions. While some of his best work includes adaptations of 20th century novels such as The Grapes of Wrath (1940), he is best remembered for practically inventing the Western genre. Working for over fifty years and making over 140 films, Ford was making Westerns as far back as 1917. Over time, he would come to pioneer many of the archetypes that distinguish the Western genre. One of his most famous Westerns, Stagecoach (1939), elevated the genre into an art form. It was one of the first times that a Western was taken seriously and not delegated to the realm of cheap B-movies.
Ford established the careers of many famous actors, including almost single-handedly making John Wayne into a star with his breakthrough role in Stagecoach. Over the years, Ford and Wayne would collaborate on some of the most beloved and influential Westerns ever made, including The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Fort Apache (1948).
He helped establish and popularize many important film techniques, such as long shots, the use of Expressionistic style, and tracking shots. He was also one of the pioneers of on-location shooting, frequently setting and filming his movies in Utah’s Monument Valley.
Easily one of the most influential filmmakers, he was named by both Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman as one of the greatest directors who ever lived. Akira Kurosawa, who you will remember from earlier on this list, tried to model his entire career and film making methods on the techniques and personality of John Ford.
The Crazy
Like many early Hollywood directors, John Ford was known as a stern and at times overbearing man to work with- but Ford’s personality went farther than that. He was just a mean old cuss. The best way to summarize Ford’s personality is that he is said to be the only person who ever made John Wayne cry. Let me repeat that, he made John Wayne cry. He was infamous for how hard he would treat and work his actors. He would often mock and bully them.
Not only was Ford a tough man who demanded the best from his actors, he also but great strains on his production crews. When he would shoot on location (remember that he was one of the first directors to do so), he would frequently make the entire cast and crew live out of stagecoaches. John Ford was as tough as his beloved Western terrain and just as demanding.
Ford was just as demanding on himself as a filmmaker. One of his greatest exploits was storming Omaha Beach on D-Day and filming the invasion. Not only did he capture the events on film, he was cited by his superiors for bravery. Apparently, during the invasion he filmed from a position where he was “an obvious and clear target.” He didn’t stop filming, even while getting wounded in the process. As if storming Omaha Beach armed with a video camera wasn’t ballsy and suicidal enough, he was also wounded while filming a documentary of the Battle of Midway.
Underneath his tough exterior, Ford was a kind and sentimental man. One example of this is how he paid for a former Universal actor’s wife’s operation. When the actor asked Ford for help, he publically assaulted the man and insulted him. However, when the actor left the studio, Ford’s business manager gave him a check for $1,000.
2. Howard Hughes
The CareerYes, we are talking about that Howard Hughes, the famous American aviator, engineer, and industrialist. When he wasn’t innovating the field of aviation, he gained prominence as a genius filmmaker from the late 1920s. His first two films, Everybody’s Acting (1927) and Two Arabian Knights (1928) were huge successes, the latter even snagging the first Academy Award for Best Director of a Comedy Picture. He would then go on to make several controversial big budget films, like Hell’s Angels (1930) and The Outlaw (1943). He would also go on to produce the famous Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932), directed by Howard Hawks.
The Crazy
As you may notice from the short career bio, Howard Hughes was not the most influential of filmmakers. Sure, his work was important for its time. But overall, his career was too short to have any kind of outstanding impact on the industry. The reason why he is number two on this list is because of his incredible obsessive-compulsive disorder. The intensity of his illness makes him perfectly suited to be positioned so high on this list. While there are many stories about Hughes’ various neuroses, this list will only dwell on those involved with him as a filmmaker.
For starters, one of the earliest quirks about Hughes as a director concerned Jane Russell’s blouse in The Outlaw. He believed that the fabric bunched up to create the appearance of two nipples on each breast. He was apparently so upset that he wrote detailed instructions to his crew on how to fix it. He was so frustrated that eventually he designed a special bra just for Russell to wear in the film. While on set he would be plagued by massive mood swings that impeded production of his films. The most famous incident in Hughes’ life concerning film was his 1947 episode where he locked himself in a screening room for four months. He lived off nothing but chocolate bars and milk and stored his urine and feces in empty bottles and containers. During this time, he would watch film reels all day while completely naked. The entire time he was in the screening room, he didn’t bathe. He would also spend time meticulously stacking and rearranging dozens of Kleenex boxes. The last famous incident of Hughes’ behavior concerning the cinema was his obsession with the 1968 film Ice Station Zebra, which he ran on a continuous loop in his home. It is reported that he watched the film 150 times. Despite all this, Hughes is really only fit for the number two spot on this list because his idiosyncrasies were dictated by an untreated mental disorder. This is different from the number one entry who supposedly had full control of his senses throughout his entire career. Which leads us to…
1. Werner Herzog
The CareerIn his nearly fifty year long career so far, Werner Herzog, originally part of the New German Cinema movement, has established himself as one of the world’s leading film directors. He has inspired countless filmmakers with his amazing films.
Known for shooting both documentaries and regular films, Herzog made his first few movies on a 35 mm camera that he stole from the Munich Film School. From there he has filmed some of the most eclectic, engaging, and hypnotic films ever made. His film Fitzcarraldo (1982) won the Best Director Award at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. It’s about a rubber baron who pulls a steamship over a mountain to gain access to rich rubber territory, so he can achieve his dream of building an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian rainforest. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), the story of Spanish soldier who leads a group of conquistadores down the Amazon River in the hope of finding El Dorado, gained international attention and accolades.
Herzog has made pictures all over the world, from Greece (Last Words), the Sahara Desert (Fata Morgana), Antarctica (Encounters at the End of the World), Africa (Cobra Verde), Australia (Where the Green Ants Dream), to the American mid-West (Stroszek). He has proven himself time and again to be willing to travel to the ends of the earth in order to tell a story and make a great film.
Recently, Herzog has been working in Hollywood. Unlike many foreign directors whose work begins to decline under the influence of Hollywood, Herzog is still going strong. Some of his work in America includes the famous documentary Grizzly Man (2005), the Christian Bale vehicle Rescue Dawn (2007), and the criminally underappreciated Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans (2009), starring Nicolas Cage.
The Crazy
This entire list could easily have been made up of the crazy things that Herzog has done throughout his career. Suffice to say, it is a miracle that he is still alive. Herzog has long had a habit of choosing to direct films that purposely require next to impossible and life-threatening shoots. During the filming of Aguirre, he had the cast and crew live on rafts on Amazon River tributaries for five weeks, dodging life-threatening rapids and barely missing getting drowned in a massive flood. In Fitzcarraldo, he put the lives of hundreds of natives in danger by making them pull a 320-ton steamship up the side of a mountain. At any moment, the cables could have broken and killed the workers. At one point, his cast was even attacked by unfriendly locals from the neighboring forests. Then there was the time that Herzog risked the lives of his entire crew (himself included) by filming a documentary on the side of a volcano that was ready to erupt at any minute. Included in the film is a scene where the crew is shown escaping from poisonous fumes leaking from the volcano. The end result, entitled La Soufrière (1977), was only thirty minutes long.
His madness doesn’t end with the shoots themselves. Herzog also tends to work with strange, eclectic, and difficult casts. His film Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) had a cast comprised purely of little people. Two of his greatest films, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) and Stroszek (1977), featured Bruno Schleinstein in the lead roles. Bruno, who went by the name of Bruno S., was a self-taught musician who had spent most of his life in mental institutions and had been a street performer before Herzog casted him. His unfamiliarity with performing in front of the camera made shooting Bruno very difficult, sometimes requiring Herzog to “listen to” him for several hours on the set before he could work up the nerve to perform. But his most infamous partnership was that with Klaus Kinski. Known as being a raving madman, the five films that Herzog made with Kinski can all be considered miracles for having been made at all. As shown in Herzog’s My Best Fiend (1999), a documentary detailing their relationship, they were constantly at each others’ throats while on set. During the shooting of Fitzcarraldo, Kinski became so out-of-control that the local natives offered to kill him for Herzog. Despite their tumultuous relationship, they considered each other close friends. It’s a blessing that they didn’t kill each other.
In fact, as I have already said, it is a miracle that Herzog is still alive. Pushing the boundaries of film making and directing to worlds previously unheard of, there is no limit to Herzog’s audacity, bravery, and brilliance in the face of danger and hardship.
Bonus: David Lynch
The CareerDavid Lynch has established himself as one of America’s greatest cinematic auteurs. His films are bizarre, avant-garde excursions that have pioneered different methods of narrative filmmaking. His first film, Eraserhead (1977) quickly established itself as a cult classic. He would go on to create some of the best, and most peculiar, films ever made. These include the Academy Award nominated The Elephant Man (1980), the disturbing Blue Velvet (1986), the Palme d’Or winning Wild at Heart (1990), and Mulholland Dr. (2001), a film which remains an enigma to many to this day. He also was the co-creator of Twin Peaks, a television show that has gone on to become a cult favorite. In addition to the aforementioned Palme d’Or, Lynch has received two César Awards for Best Foreign Film, a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival, three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director, and the French Legion of Honor.
The Crazy
Those familiar with Lynch may be surprised that he appears on this list. The truth is, while Lynch’s work may be bizarre and incomprehensible, on set and in his private life he is pretty normal. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have his fair share of odd idiosyncrasies. He has been a fervent supporter of Transcendental Meditation since 1973. He doesn’t allow cooking to take place in his home because he can’t stand the smell. But other than those few little ticks, Lynch is a regular man. It is his work that establishes his personality as an unusual fellow and warrants his entry on this list.
Performing their annual duty of counting celebrity money, the magazine has compiled their list of highest earning actresses 2010 taking into account the money from movies, back-end payments, advertisement deals from June 2009 to June 2010.
So here are top 10 best paid actresses of 2010
10. Kristen Stewart, $12 million
To my surprise, Twilight young star Kristen Stewart, 20, has made it to the top 10 best paid actresses with $12 million in her pocket. Last year apart from New Moon and Eclipse, Kristen also starred in The Runaways, playing Joan Jett.
9. Meryl Streep, $13 million
Love Maryl Streep. In 2009 she enjoyed box office success with two movies Julie & Julia and It’s Complicated that earned as much $350 million at the global box collectively.
8. Drew Barrymore, $15 million
Her directorial debut Whip It and the movieshe produced He’s Just Not That Into You let her join the prestigious top 10 of highest paid actresses this year.
7. Angelina Jolie, $20 million
Though not releasing any movies from June 2009 to June 2010, Jolie is back to big screen with two new flicks this year – Salt and The Tourist.
6. Julia Roberts, $20 million
Once the highest earning actress of all time, Julia Roberts only manages to secure the #7 spot this year. Her new film Eat Pray Love is coming out next week.
5. Sarah Jessica Parker, $25 million
Mother of three is damn good at time management. Her new movie Sex And The City 2 was released in May. Between changing diapers and checking homework, Sarah finds time for launching perfume and designing for Halston. Keep it up!
4. Jennifer Aniston, $27 million
She’s media favorite (but not for cinematographic reasons, though) and she doesn’t let bad box office reports affect her life. $27 million made last year include pay checks from Love Happens, The Bounty Hunter, upcoming Just Go With It and re-runs of Friends, as well as her endorsement deal with Glaceau Smartwater.
3. Cameron Diaz, $32 million
Cameron’s income comes from her involvement in such projects as Shrek, Knight & Day and upcoming Bad Teacher.
2. Reese Witherspoon, $32 million
It’s been a while since we saw Reese on big screen. In case you miss her, get ready for the holiday season and her new movie How Do You Know? Or just enjoy her pretty face in Avon commercials.
1. Sandra Bullock, $56 million
Aside from media frenzy over her douchebag husband and quick divorce, Sandra has been doing really well this past year. Just think about it: her first Oscar, new baby Louis and $56 million on her bank account. Both movies she’s made, The Proposal and The Blind Side, have been quite successful at the box office grossing $650 million collectively.
Congrats, Sandra!
So here are top 10 best paid actresses of 2010
10. Kristen Stewart, $12 million
To my surprise, Twilight young star Kristen Stewart, 20, has made it to the top 10 best paid actresses with $12 million in her pocket. Last year apart from New Moon and Eclipse, Kristen also starred in The Runaways, playing Joan Jett.
9. Meryl Streep, $13 million
Love Maryl Streep. In 2009 she enjoyed box office success with two movies Julie & Julia and It’s Complicated that earned as much $350 million at the global box collectively.
8. Drew Barrymore, $15 million
Her directorial debut Whip It and the movieshe produced He’s Just Not That Into You let her join the prestigious top 10 of highest paid actresses this year.
7. Angelina Jolie, $20 million
Though not releasing any movies from June 2009 to June 2010, Jolie is back to big screen with two new flicks this year – Salt and The Tourist.
6. Julia Roberts, $20 million
Once the highest earning actress of all time, Julia Roberts only manages to secure the #7 spot this year. Her new film Eat Pray Love is coming out next week.
5. Sarah Jessica Parker, $25 million
Mother of three is damn good at time management. Her new movie Sex And The City 2 was released in May. Between changing diapers and checking homework, Sarah finds time for launching perfume and designing for Halston. Keep it up!
4. Jennifer Aniston, $27 million
She’s media favorite (but not for cinematographic reasons, though) and she doesn’t let bad box office reports affect her life. $27 million made last year include pay checks from Love Happens, The Bounty Hunter, upcoming Just Go With It and re-runs of Friends, as well as her endorsement deal with Glaceau Smartwater.
3. Cameron Diaz, $32 million
Cameron’s income comes from her involvement in such projects as Shrek, Knight & Day and upcoming Bad Teacher.
2. Reese Witherspoon, $32 million
It’s been a while since we saw Reese on big screen. In case you miss her, get ready for the holiday season and her new movie How Do You Know? Or just enjoy her pretty face in Avon commercials.
1. Sandra Bullock, $56 million
Aside from media frenzy over her douchebag husband and quick divorce, Sandra has been doing really well this past year. Just think about it: her first Oscar, new baby Louis and $56 million on her bank account. Both movies she’s made, The Proposal and The Blind Side, have been quite successful at the box office grossing $650 million collectively.
Congrats, Sandra!
The depth of our collective history has countless stories, including some that we have yet to find the ending to. These mysteries have been puzzling scholars for years and many still remain unsolved:
10. The Mystery of Stonehenge
Built in three sections over 6,400 years by the Neolithic inhabitants of Salisbury Plain in Southern England, Stonehenge has captivated visitors for thousands of years. The site contains 30 sarcens (upright stones) weighing 26 tons and 30 lintels (horizontal top stones). Each stone weighs 6 tons and was carved from bluestone from a location several miles away. The Neolithic builders were able to create a monumental that has perplexed humanity for thousands of years using only stone tools, and without using draft animals. Even after all these years, nobody really knows why Stonehenge was built. The other mysteries surrounding Stonehenge are its construction and the significance of the giant blue stones used. Also mysterious: the people who built Stonehenge (we know very little about them because they left no written history).Theories
The theories about Stonehenge’s construction range from glaciers moving the enormous bluestones to ropes and timbers, to aliens. As for its purpose it has been said to be a temple, a secular calendar, and that the bluestones themselves have healing powers. As a result of the recent discovery of a vast number of burials around the site, a new theory has emerged, one that states that Stonehenge was a place to celebrate the lives of the dead.
9. The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was shot once in the back and once in head while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a Presidential motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested 45 minutes after the shots were fired. After hours of interrogation, in which none of the proper procedures were followed, he was accused of murder. He was killed by Jack Ruby in the garage of the police building on November 24 in front of hundreds of journalists. On November 29, President Lyndon B. Johnson created the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination. It was headed by Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the United States, and found that Oswald was the lone shooter and that he did it from the sixth floor of the Schoolbook Depository Building with an Italian Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.Theories
Many of the conspiracy theories that surround the assassination began the day that the Warren Commission’s results were released. The most prominent theory is that there was more than one shooter, either somewhere else in Dealey Plaza or on the grassy knoll. Other conspiracy theories include cover-ups by the Federal Reserve, the CIA, the Secret Service, Cuban exiles, CIA agent E. Howard Hunt, the Mafia, Lyndon Johnson, the American Fact-Finding Committee, the Soviet Bloc and the Israeli government.
8. The Crystal Skulls
Gaining recent popularity with the release of the newest Indiana Jones movie, the mystery of the Crystal Skulls goes all the way back to 1881 when the first two skulls were found by Mexican mercenaries. Thirteen crystal skulls have been found throughout Central and South America. Possibly the most famous skull ever found is the Mitchel-Hedges Skull, claimed to be found by seventeen year old Anna Mitchel-Hedges while accompanying her father Frederick Albert Mitchel-Hedges on an expedition to what is now Belize. It was later revealed that Mitchel-Hedges bought the skull at an auction at Sotheby’s in London in 1943. The Mitchel-Hedges skull is unique in that it is an anatomically correct representation, complete with a removable mandible. The other famous skull is the British Museum skull, possibly bought by a mercenary in Mexico and then sold to an artifact trader named Eugene Bodan, who sold it to Tiffany’s, who in turn sold it to the British Museum. Other notable crystal skulls include the Paris Skull (which was found at the same time as the British Museum Skull), the Smithsonian Skull, the Mayan Skull, the Amethyst Skull, the Texas Skull (nicknamed Max), the ET Skull (given the nickname because of its pointed cranium and exaggerated overbite), the Rose Quartz Skull, and the Brazilian Skull. (Image: the Mitchell-Hedges Skull.)Theories
The Crystal Skulls were thought to be carved by the Mayans or the Aztecs for a long time. However, more outlandish theories have emerged over the years. Some theories: that they were created by aliens, that they came from Atlantis or Lemuria, or even that they were left behind by a society that now lives in the hollow center of the earth. Claims that they were carved with technology well beyond the reach of the Mayans and Aztecs have added to their mystery.
7. The Tomb of Vlad Dracula
Most famous as Bram Stoker’s vampire character, Count Dracula, the real Dracula was actually a prince of Wallachia (now part of Romania). A defender against the Turks, he has been portrayed as both a patriotic hero and a ruthless villain. Vlad Dracula was a merciless ruler who impaled and tortured between 40,000 and 100,000 of his enemies, both Turks and fellow countrymen who posed a threat to his power. After three separate reigns, he was killed in battle against the Turks near Bucharest in 1476. The Turks cut off his head and sent it to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed II. The final resting place of the rest of his body is unknown.Theories
The most widely accepted theory about Vlad’s tomb is that he was buried at the island monastery of Snagov. However, after several archeological excavations of the island, Vlad’s body was not recovered. The other speculation is that Vlad’s body may have been originally buried at the Comana Monastery, however, the monastery was rebuilt in the seventeenth century and no body has ever been found there, either. Another option comes from superstition, because of tales of vampires running rampant in Wallachia at the time- Vlad could have been moved anywhere to protect the monks from being killed in their sleep.
6. The Amber Room
Originally built in 1701 for the first King of Prussia, it was soon moved to Russia as a gift to Peter the Great, only to be moved again to the Winter Palace by Tsarina Elizabeth. The room covered more than 55 square meters and it took 10 years to construct out of six tons of Baltic amber. When Hitler’s army was encroaching on the Soviet Union, curators tried moving the room once more, but the amber had become brittle, so they hid it behind plain wallpaper. However, the Nazis knew where to look for the famous work of art and soldiers disassembled the room so it could be sent to Konigsberg. Konigsberg Castle was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force later in the war and was further destroyed by the advancing Soviet Army. Despite some reports eventually getting out that stated that the Amber Room had survived the war, it has never been seen again.Theories
Some people believe that the Amber Room was destroyed by the bombing and lost forever. However, several other theories have been formulated: that it is still hidden in an underground bunker at Konigsberg, that it is buried in a mine in the Ore Mountains or that it was aboard a submarine or ship in the Baltic Sea that was sunk by the Soviet Navy. In 1997, one stone mosaic that had decorated the room was discovered in Western Germany, in the hands of a family of a soldier who had helped disassemble the Amber Room. The rest of it has never been found, despite several claims to the contrary.
5.The Riddle of the Sphinx
When one thinks of the Sphinx, they immediately think of the Great Sphinx at Giza, but the Sphinx was a powerful symbol in Greece, Phoenicia and Syria as well. In fact Riddle of the Sphinx originates in Greek legend. According to the ancient Greeks, if a man crossed its path the Sphinx would ask, “What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three in the evening?” If they couldn’t answer, the Sphinx would devour them; however, if they answered correctly, the Sphinx would destroy itself. The only person said to survive an encounter with the Sphinx was the Greek hero Oedipus who answered “man.”Despite the riddle being solved, the Great Sphinx still poses many questions. How old is it? Who built it? And what was the purpose of the passageways?
Theories
Archeologists have heavily contested the age of the Great Sphinx. Conventional science believes the Sphinx was carved around 2500 BC by the Pharaoh Kafre. However, in 1989, author John Anthony West and geologist Robert M. Schoch determined that it was much older and that Kafre had it remodeled into his likeness. As for the passageways, three have been found already and several non-evasive exploration techniques have uncovered anomalies in the Sphinx that could either be man-made chambers or natural faults in the rock.
4. Jack the Ripper
One of the oldest unsolved murder cases in the world, Jack the Ripper instilled fear into the heart of Victorian London and still captures our imagination today. Between August and November 1888, five prostitutes were murdered in Whitechapel, an area in the East End of London. Despite the wealth of Victorian London, the East End was a very impoverished area of the city- home to many Jewish refugees from Russia, Poland and Romania. Whitechapel also had the highest crime rate in the city. Everything about the murders seems to be shrouded in mystery, from the identity of the killer to the letters that were sent to the police. Even the number of victims is under scrutiny. It is generally accepted that there were five victims of Jack the Ripper: Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols (Aug. 31, 1888), Annie Chapman (Sept. 30, 1888), Elizabeth Stride (Sept. 30, 1888), Catherine Eddowes (also Sept. 30, 1888) and Mary Jane (Marie Jeanette) Kelly (Nov. 9, 1888). However, some sources say there were only four victims, while others say there were as many as nine. As for the matter of the letters, it is commonly believed that they were a hoax despite containing graphic details of the murders. Recently it has been thought that Tom Bulling, a journalist from the Central News Agency, wrote the letters. However, some still believe that all, or at least some, of the letters actually were written by the killer, particularly the letter that was sent to George Lusk with half a human kidney. The story of Jack the Ripper had a real effect on, not only the rest of London, but also the entire British Empire. The legend played on the fears that poverty, crime, disease and social unrest were at their doorstep, and Jack the Ripper became the personification of all these evils.Theories
For the last 120 years the case of the Whitechapel Murderer has been unsolved and this has led to many theories including hundreds of Victorian Londoners. The most accepted suspects are Montague John Druitt, Michael Ostrog, Aaron Kosminski, George Chapman, Thomas Cutbrush and more recently Dr Francis J. Tumblety. Other theorized suspects include Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward (who would later become King Edward VII), author and mathematician Lewis Carroll, Dr. T. Neil Cream, criminal Frederick Deeming, Walter Sickert, poet Francis Thompson and even an unknown woman who was dubbed Jill the Ripper.
3. The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant has fascinated people since it was first mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 25. God instructed Moses to construct a Tabernacle where the Israelites could worship God, and inside it would be a special room called the Holy of Holies where the Ark would be placed. Made from acacia wood covered in gold, it was topped with two cherubs whose wings covered what was called the Mercy Seat. It contained three precious artifacts, the two stone tablets that contained the Ten Commandments, the Rod of Aaron and a golden pot of manna. It has also been said that God himself resided between the wings of the two cherubs on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yum Kippur. The Ark was not only the center of the Israelite faith, but it also had supernatural powers and was able to defeat their enemies.Theories
The main question we have to ask when talking about the Ark of the Covenant is did it ever really exist. The Ark was supposedly kept in the Temple of Solomon until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and has never been seen again. Then, if it did really exist to begin with, did the Babylonians destroy it or was it moved or captured? The Second Book of the Maccabees and the Book of Revelation state that the Ark no longer exists but there have been claims that it is hidden away in: Mount Nebo in Jordan, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Languedoc in France, Herdewyke in the UK, the Hill of Tara in Ireland and the limestone caves under Mount Tsurugi in Japan.
2. King Arthur
Did one of the most famous kings ever really exist or was his legend just a way to inspire English troops? One of the first times he is mentioned is by a Welsh cleric named Nennius in his Historia Brittonum in the 9th century. However, the most comprehensive account that is known is Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, which dates back to the 12th century. Monmouth claimed that Arthur was unsurpassed in power and diplomacy, a great warrior king who ruled Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Brittany, Normandy and Gaul. Mounmouth’s supposed history is completely false, but that didn’t stop the world from falling in love with and continuing the Arthurian legend.Theories
While Arthur is a truly mythical king, his legend could have been based on several real people from history. One on the strongest theories was that Arthur was really a Roman commander named Lucius Artorius Castus who led 5,500 Sarmatians in Britain at the end of the second century. Despite the lack of historical evidence, some still believe that King Arthur once ruled Britain and that his tomb is still out there to be found.
1. The Lost Island of Atlantis
One of the oldest mysteries in the world, the legend of Atlantis has mystified humanity since ancient times. According to the Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis was a large island somewhere west of the Pillars of Hercules (the Rock of Gibraltar) and the home of an incredibly advanced civilization known as the Atlanteans. Plato described Atlantis as a place of immense beauty with a palace compound in the center of three ringed canals. He said that every king that inherited the palace would add to it, trying to surpass his predecessor and by doing so they made it a palace that surpassed any other in both beauty and wealth. The Atlanteans themselves were blessed with wealth but at the same they were incredibly ambitious, constantly seeking power. Atlantis is said to have met its end when it was hit by a giant earthquake and swallowed by the sea. But is any of this the truth or is the story of Atlantis just a myth?Theories
It seems that everyone who has ever studied Greek history has a theory as to Atlantis’ location. Also, many other cultures have stories of a great flood and even the name Atlantis isn’t exclusive to the Greeks: the Basques have Atlaintica, the Vikings have Atli, the Northern Africans have Attala, the Aztecs have Aztlan and on the Canary Islands there are legends of Atalaya. Proposed locations of Atlantis: Santorini in Greece, the Bermuda Triangle, the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Tunisia, the Azores archipelago (Portugal), Greece’s Crete and even Sweden. It has also been said that some Atlanteans survived and went on to settle in England (Druids), Hellenic Greece, the New World (Mayas and Incas) and Egypt.
Google is amazing (please thank me for this amazing revelation). There are some things you probably didn’t know Google can do. Take your time and read the information below. You’ll likely learn a few tips and tricks that will make you appreciate Google even more.10. Find a beautiful wallpaper for your desktop resolution with Google images
Here’s how you do it:
- Go to Advanced Image Search
- Next to “Exact size” click on “Use my desktop resolution”. Then, next to “Content types” select “Photo content.”
- Enter some words. If you want to find cows, enter beautiful cows
Let’s see the results:
Notice that many of the images in the results are from wallpaper sites. Google Images makes it very convenient to go through these types of sites and browse them like a gallery instead of going to each gallery site separately. Yes, I hear you say: Wow, I didn’t know Google could do this.
9. Create unlimited disposable email addresses with Gmail
Take the following example:
That’s right, you can add one or more dots ANYWHERE between your username and send messages to that ‘new’ email. All of those messages will arrive to your old (without dots) email. Hard to explain without a picture. But somehow Google did find a way to do it…
Sometimes you may receive a message sent to an address that looks like yours but has a different number or arrangement of periods. While we know it might be unnerving if you think someone else’s mail is being routed to your account, don’t worry: both of these addresses are yours.
Gmail doesn’t recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they’ll all go to your inbox, and only yours. In short:
- homerjsimpson@gmail.com = hom.er.j.sim.ps.on@gmail.com
- homerjsimpson@gmail.com = HOMERJSIMPSON@gmail.com
- homerjsimpson@gmail.com = Homer.J.Simpson@gmail.com
All these addresses belong to the same person. You can see this if you try to sign in with your username, but adding or removing a dot from it. You’ll still go to your account.
Yep, this is an explanation from Google itself. Now that you understand this, let’s keep going.
8. Search videos durations using Google Video
I’ve noticed there’s not a single video site that allows you to search videos by duration. Let’s say I want to learn Spanish and I want comprehensive videos for that (longer than 20 minutes.) To search, I go to Google Advanced Video Search page and select “Long” next to “Duration”. Here’s what happens:
Now all that’s left is to get some free time and watch those…
7. Want to find an iPad alternative using Google Search?
Sure, you can write ‘iPad alternative’ in Google but that won’t give you the best results. Instead, try this:
Using “better than product” where product=any product will give you not only alternatives but better alternatives to a particular product. Very cool.
6. Detect any unknown language with Google Language Detector
I have a big problem:
What’s the solution? Google language detector.
Another good way to detect and also translate is to use Google Translate and the “Detect Language” option:
5. See what the Dutch haven been searching for recently using Google Insights
Google is the most popular search engine in almost any country in the world. Google Insights (like the name suggests) gives you ‘insights’ of what people have been searching for around the world. For example, Netherlands:
Hyves is a Dutch portal and social network. Weer seems to be a weather portal.
4. When did Google become more popular than Microsoft? Google Trends has the answer
Google Trends helps you discover the trends on various topics and see what people have been searching for over time. In this case, you can see when people started searching for Google more than Microsoft in early 2005.
3. Hate opening PDF files? Google Docs is the solution
So you’ve been searching on Google for a particular topic and found a PDF file:
Instead of opening the file in Adobe Reader (which is a painful process), you can click on “Quick View” and open the file in Google Docs! It takes seconds to open and it’s way more flexible. If you choose later, you can always save the file as PDF by choosing the export option in Google Docs.
2. Scan and Read your RSS feeds like email messages in Google Reader
You probably know how easy it is to open and read email messages in Gmail thanks to the list view. Well, you can do the same in Google Reader:
The default view in Google Reader is ‘expanded’ which makes the items pretty difficult to scan and read. If you change the view from expanded to ‘list’, then it becomes WAY easier to SCAN items and pick what you like.
1. Google can tell you the answer to life and the universe
I wish it was so simple
Let’s face it; in a world that is heavily reliant upon technology, especially the Internet, none of us are entirely safe from running into an online scam. There are literally thousands of them, and even though you may consider yourself “e-smart,” the people who set up these scams may be looking to target those who consider themselves to be too educated to ever fall for a scam, as they are the least likely to put up their walls and push the scammer away. According to scambusters.org, “being smart is NOT enough to protect yourself from Internet scams.”
According to Internet World Stats about 1,802,330,457 people use the Internet. That’s a huge number, and with large numbers of people, there is always a few “bad apples” in the bunch. Since the Internet is so widely available, it’s no surprise that people would attempt to scam others out of money and sometimes their identity. Scams are so prevalent in today’s world that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has said that over 560 million dollars have been lost to internet scams and fraud. In 2009 alone, the number of people who made a complaint about a scam online increased by 20% to a whopping 336,655 complaints.
Below is a list of 10 of the most successful Internet scams. Some are extremely popular these days while others have taken the backburner to more seemingly successful scams. If you ever run into something you believe is a scam, remember the old phrase: “if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.”
While your presence online can expose you to Internet scams, you can also use the Internet to protect yourself. Onguardonline.gov invites you to stop and think before you click, while providing useful resources to help you guard against scams. US readers: don’t forget to report attempted scams to the FBI’s Internet Complaint Center. You can also report complaints for cross-border scams at econsumer.gov.
Have you ever received an email stating that you’ve won the lottery in some other country, usually with a total of a few million dollars? If so, you know all about lottery scams. These scams target people with the promise of millions of dollars, which will be deposited into their bank accounts after completing a few easy steps. However, the catch is that you must pay thousands of dollars ahead of time before you receive your promised millions. Sadly, once you hand over your thousands, your lottery win is nowhere to be found, and you’re out money. Though it seems silly, what’s a few thousand dollars compared to a couple million?
What’s the attraction?
Money. In the world we live in today, money is the way of the world. Money is power, and people are always looking for a way to get rich quickly. Sadly, these opportunities are very far and few between. Many people will jump at the chance to get their hands on millions of dollars without thinking that it could be a scam that will inevitably leave them empty-handed. It’s a case of leaping before you look, and victims of lottery scams end up in debt or out of a lot of money.
9. Disaster Relief
Recently, disaster relief scams have been on the rise. In a country’s time of need, money is usually the best donation to provide, and scammers have become well aware of this. Generally, these scammers will send out emails with a link to a fake donation website that asks you to make a donation, usually by using your debit or credit card online. However, by providing this information, such as your card number, the scammers have access to your information which could then provide them access to your money. In the end you’re out of money, some scammer has your information, and you never really donated to the real cause. Make sure you donate your money to a reliable organization, at the correct web address. If your request for a donation came through email, it’s probably a phishing scam. Take the time to research a real relief fund before you donate money.
What’s the attraction?
Many like to believe that most of the world’s population is caring and wants to be of assistance in the time of a disaster or crisis somewhere in the world. When a large amount of people die in a country or many are left homeless due to a natural disaster, many people come together and decide to donate money, usually through online programs to help relief efforts. With disasters in New Orleans, Haiti, New York City, China, Chile, and many other locations, disaster relief scams have become extremely popular. The fact is that people want to help, but sometimes scammers are able to take advantage of the sympathetic nature of some people to benefit for themselves.
8. Online Dating
Today, online dating websites have become extremely popular. Participants set up a dating profile on one of the online dating websites that promise to give you access to hundreds of potential partners. Be warned, that this also gives online scammers access to you! For example, let’s say one of the fellow members messages you, and over time the connection grows and becomes pretty strong. The member has led you to believe that he or she is pretty well off. Next, your online boyfriend or girlfriend tells you that he/she is out of the country doing business and needs your assistance with a few things. The scam starts when that person wants you to cash a money order and wire the money. Those who fall for the scam are hurt both emotionally and financially.
What’s the attraction?
Internet dating can be great for people who find it challenging to find dating partners in their daily life. Cashing a money order and wiring the money for someone else doesn’t seem to alarm many people, because people fall for this scam regularly. Perhaps the victim believes that the bank won’t cash a counterfeit or altered money order. In fact, it can be several weeks before their bank gets this information from the bank that issued the item and when this happens they want their money back. Or, perhaps when you’ve made a connection with someone, the trust level is high enough to believe that the transaction is legitimate. When the person you’ve been talking to for months seems promising, it’s hard to differentiate between lies and a true scam.
7. Rogue Software
Have you ever been to a legitimate website and had a sudden pop-up that says something along the lines that your computer if infected with viruses and worms and needs to be cleaned ASAP? This is another popular scam today as many people will fall for the pop-up and then download the rogue software, usually software that looks like it is legitimate anti-virus software that promises to clean your computer of all of the viruses. Though many times this rogue software is free, there are times when the program does cost money, and people do fall for it. While many people generally aren’t out of money with this scam, their computer is infected with even more viruses, Trojans, worms, and other things that can not only ruin the computer, but can have their private information exposed to the scammers.
What’s the attraction?
Some people who see an alert that their computer is infected, panic and go to extremes to ensure that the computer is fixed right away. Scammers know that many people will fall for rogue software simply because the software is right there, and there is no need to go out and buy a program or search the internet for another program that may work. This rogue software looks just like real anti-virus software, so people don’t even know the difference. It’s always best to have anti-virus software already installed on your computer. Never download software from an unfamiliar website.
6. Travel and Vacation Scams
It’s safe to say that in today’s world, many people are cutting out their yearly vacation in order to make ends meet at home. And while people are giving up their travels, it doesn’t mean that they necessarily want to, and it surely doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t take a vacation deal if someone offered it to them. This is why scammers who run travel and vacation scams are cashing in each day. Unknowing consumers will seek out a vacation deal, usually one that is seriously too good to even begin to believe. Something like a trip to Disney, all expenses paid, you just give us a few hundred dollars. Who would believe that? Sadly, some people do. These scams aren’t as popular as before, as people have smartened up, but at the same time they’re also on the rise, as more and more people are looking for ways to continue their normal lifestyles, and that usually comes in the form of saving money and attempting to find any type of deal that may be out there to enjoy.
What’s the attraction?
Scammers are highly aware of today’s financial situation in many countries. They know that people don’t have as much money sitting around as they did before. They know that people are choosing to give up their yearly vacation in order to make sure that all of their bills are paid. They also know that people are looking for a way out and seeking things that are often too good to be true. Anyone who plans a yearly vacation knows just how nice it is to take a week or so off work and just relax and leave things behind for a few days. Scammers know this too, and they know that if they offer someone a good deal on a vacation, many will take it. Who wouldn’t want to go on a trip for a lot less than it would generally cost? With people seeking deals, scammers are looking for steals. In the end it all boils down to money, and usually by the end of this type of scam, the scammer comes out the winner.
5. Fake Auctions/Sales
With the popularity of places such as eBay, Craigslist, and other auction websites growing each day, it’s no surprise that fake auctions and fake sales would start to become an issue online. Many people use these websites on a daily basis to obtain items at a discounted price; and where you find people with money, you will also usually find scammers trying to take it off their hands. At first, it looks like an opportunity to save money, but in the end many people are left empty-handed and out some bucks. These fake auction and sales scams usually happen pretty frequently and in the blink of an eye. It’s simple. The scammer creates an ad or auction on a website, stating that he has a certain item for sale, usually something that is pretty expensive to begin with, for a very low price. The scammer knows that people will jump all over this “deal,” without even stopping to think that it could be fake and just a luring act for money. Plenty of people fall for it, making this particular scam a huge success.
What’s the attraction?
Saving money. Who doesn’t want to be able to save a few bucks on an expensive item? Coupons are good, but coupons aren’t always offered on the newest electronics, so people will look at other ways to save. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll look in the Sunday paper and find a coupon for Apple’s iPad or Sony’s new Playstation console; it just doesn’t happen. Craigslist and eBay have become the perfect websites to go to if you’re looking to buy items for cheaper than they’d cost in the store. However, the amount of scamming that goes on is unbelievable and many people end up regretting their decision. Sometimes it’s best to fork out a few extra dollars and buy the product in a store, but this doesn’t mean that every auction or online sale you find is a scam. If the deal seems like a ’steal’, remember you may be the one getting ripped off.
4. “Free” Trial
We’ve all seen the ads and pop-ups on certain websites that promise a free trial of some sort of product: weight-loss pills, a colon cleanse, or dieting pills. We all know how expensive these products can be, so many people will fall for the free trial scam. While many do get the free product they were promised, the scam starts when you have to provide your banking information to pay for shipping and handling fees. With the information you provide, the company can then charge you each month for not canceling your free trial. Usually the cancellation notice is in a very fine print that most people pay no attention to. However, after not canceling your free trial within 15 or 30 days, your debit or credit card is billed monthly. Sometimes even after canceling, the company who has your banking information will sell it to an affiliate company who can then use it as they please.
What’s the attraction?
Free stuff! Who doesn’t like free stuff? Free is good. Free means no money is spent and free means you get to try something without providing any sort of money for the product itself. The catch is that when you provide your banking information to pay for shipping, you’re giving this company access to take out amounts of money each month for your “free trial.” Most people don’t remember to cancel, so in the end you could be out money for a product that was never free at all. Thankfully if you contact your bank, many times the bank will cover these fees and ensure that you are safe from the company taking more money out of your account.
3. Working from Home
Not only do these scams mean you’re out of money, but it could mean that your computer is left nothing short of…ruined. These scams usually have a situation where you are given the opportunity to work at home, making your computer a “money-making machine” by doing very simple things. However, you aren’t told what these things are and how to locate them on the Internet without paying a few dollars. The catch is that you’re paying for information that you often don’t receive, or that often has nothing to do with working from home. Often times you are guaranteed that within 24 hours you’ll have full access to information and programs that allow your computer to make money for you, without much effort on your part. But this is just another scam and you’ve provided your banking information, and many times you’ve installed rogue software that will only ruin your computer.
What’s the attraction?
Who wouldn’t want to work in their pajamas and slippers all day while sipping a cup of hot coffee? Many people would love to be able to have a job like this, and this is why people get sucked into the work at home scams. Working at home is easy and requires less energy than it does to work outside of your home. Paying a measly $5 seems like nothing when you can have the great opportunity of not having to drive to work each day. But many times you get nothing in return from the $5 that you put out, and you’re left with the same early morning routine.
2. PayPal
Many times with these PayPal scams, one is scammed when they have someone respond to an online ad they have placed on Craigslist or some other similar site. The scammers will usually respond to the ad, stating that they are interested in the product that is being sold and that the product will be sent to a friend or family member within the U.S. Many times these scammers are people from a foreign country who are promising to pay more money than what the seller asked for in the first place. After shipping the item and after the seller pays, you’ll realize that soon enough, PayPal has taken the money from your account, and that you’re out of the item you were trying to sell. Many times the “buyer” will contact PayPal saying that they never received the item, or in even worse cases, the scammer will be using a fake PayPal address or a stolen account.
What’s the attraction?
When you’re desperately trying to get rid of an item, you are probably pretty impatient and anxious to get rid of it. So when someone responds you probably don’t think twice about the possibility that the person on the other side is a scammer that is trying to get your item without paying for it. People fall for it simply because many times the scammer is giving them more money that what was asked for and because they really just want to get rid of the item and have money to spend elsewhere.
1. Nigerian 419
Most people today have an email account that they use for various purposes. Of course there are the occasional spam emails that many of us just put into the junk folder, but on some days, we get an email that is really shocking. If you’ve ever received an email, usually from a Nigerian member of a family that comes from a lot of wealth stating that they are attempting to get a very large amount of money out of the country, you were a possible-victim of the Nigerian 419 scam. Usually these emails call out for your help in order to get this money moved into the U.S.
But, these emails are nothing less than a scam. It is said that over $32 billion has been lost. The Nigerian 419 scams are one of the most popular today, and the number of scammers who use this tactic continues to grow. It is said that there are about 300,000 of these scammers in the world today, but the number is steadily increasing.
What’s the attraction?
Of course like many scams on this list, the Nigerian 419 scams seem too good to be true, but somehow people fall for them. Simply, people like money. If you were given the opportunity to receive half of a million dollars for simply helping to transport money from another country, it might be very tempting, particularly if you are unaware that this is illegal. People fall for this scam each year: the promise of such a large amount of money is sometimes enough to make a gullible Internet-user fall for a huge scam.
