Taxi Driver

[funkster]

Martin Scorsese is the best director of the last 25-30 years. Hands down. Donnie Brasco doesn't come close to the Godfather movies or Casino/Goodfellas.

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=54075:date=Jul 30 2009, 10:04 PM:name=funkster)-->QUOTE (funkster @ Jul 30 2009, 10:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Martin Scorsese is the best director of the last 25-30 years. Hands down. Donnie Brasco doesn't come close to the Godfather movies or Casino/Goodfellas.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No doubt about it. Look at his portfolio.

Mean Streets
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
GoodFellas
Casino
After Hours (totally overlooked and underrated dark comedy)
The Departed
The Aviator
Gangs of New York
Bringing out the Dead
The Last Temptation of Christ
Cape Fear (guilty pleasure type of flick, but really well done for the genre)

Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and GoodFellas were all Oscar-worthy and are on most critics' top 100 lists. I'm not sure if I can think of another director who has been as consistently good as Scorsese.

[Coldneck]

<!--quoteo(post=54186:date=Jul 31 2009, 10:53 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 31 2009, 10:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=54075:date=Jul 30 2009, 10:04 PM:name=funkster)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (funkster @ Jul 30 2009, 10:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Martin Scorsese is the best director of the last 25-30 years. Hands down. Donnie Brasco doesn't come close to the Godfather movies or Casino/Goodfellas.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No doubt about it. Look at his portfolio.

Mean Streets <b>(never seen)</b>
Taxi Driver <b>(good but not classic)</b>
Raging Bull <b>(never seen)</b>
GoodFellas <b>(classic)</b>
Casino <b>(never seen)</b>
After Hours (totally overlooked and underrated dark comedy) <b>(never seen)</b>
The Departed <b>(loved it. fantastic, but not quite classic)</b>
The Aviator <b>(well made, boring as hell)</b>
Gangs of New York <b>(good, not great)</b>
Bringing out the Dead (<b>never seen)</b>
The Last Temptation of Christ <b>(never seen)</b>
Cape Fear (guilty pleasure type of flick, but really well done for the genre) <b>(liked it quite a bit, scare the shit out of me as a teenager)</b>

Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and GoodFellas were all Oscar-worthy and are on most critics' top 100 lists. I'm not sure if I can think of another director who has been as consistently good as Scorsese.
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My thoughts in bold.

[Butcher]

Dude. Please rent Raging Bull and let me know what you think. Casino, as well.

[rok]

Seriously, and set aside time to watch Raging Bull and Casino, as they are quite long and require your undivided attention to truly enjoy. I would also recommend Mean Streets as an intro, just to get a feel for what was to come for Scorsese. That is a very underrated movie IMO, though not a classic. You get to see much of his camera techniques for the first time that were ripped off by other directors as well, which is kinda cool

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=54201:date=Jul 31 2009, 10:18 AM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Jul 31 2009, 10:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Seriously, and set aside time to watch Raging Bull and Casino, as they are quite long and require your undivided attention to truly enjoy. I would also recommend Mean Streets as an intro, just to get a feel for what was to come for Scorsese. That is a very underrated movie IMO, though not a classic. You get to see much of his camera techniques for the first time that were ripped off by other directors as well, which is kinda cool<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mean Streets is amazing, but you have to watch it in a different way, if that makes any sense. I think you alluded to it, though.

[BT]

<!--quoteo(post=54196:date=Jul 31 2009, 10:09 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 31 2009, 10:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Dude. Please rent Raging Bull and let me know what you think. Casino, as well.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Casino was fucking fantastic, but it suffered from it's similarities to Goodfellas. I won't say it was better, because Goodfellas is the same for me, but pretty much whenever I find it on TV, I can't turn it off. I've found lately that I am the same way with The Departed.

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=54302:date=Jul 31 2009, 02:01 PM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Jul 31 2009, 02:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=54196:date=Jul 31 2009, 10:09 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 31 2009, 10:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Dude. Please rent Raging Bull and let me know what you think. Casino, as well.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Casino was fucking fantastic, but it suffered from it's similarities to Goodfellas. I won't say it was better, because Goodfellas is the same for me, but pretty much whenever I find it on TV, I can't turn it off. I've found lately that I am the same way with The Departed.
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Yeah...same cast. And Pesci plays pretty much the same guy. But it is incredible. I love the James Woods character. And even Sharon Stone holds her own.

[rok]

<!--quoteo(post=54315:date=Jul 31 2009, 02:21 PM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 31 2009, 02:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=54302:date=Jul 31 2009, 02:01 PM:name=BT)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BT @ Jul 31 2009, 02:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=54196:date=Jul 31 2009, 10:09 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 31 2009, 10:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Dude. Please rent Raging Bull and let me know what you think. Casino, as well.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Casino was fucking fantastic, but it suffered from it's similarities to Goodfellas. I won't say it was better, because Goodfellas is the same for me, but pretty much whenever I find it on TV, I can't turn it off. I've found lately that I am the same way with The Departed.
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Yeah...same cast. And Pesci plays pretty much the same guy. But it is incredible. I love the James Woods character. And even Sharon Stone holds her own.
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The only problem I have with Casino is that they changed the story from the Chicago mob to the KC mob. In many ways it is a better movie than Goodfellas, but Goodfellas is more entertaining and has the more memorable lines.

[Lance]

I watched Taxi Driver in its entirety not too long ago and I can't remember if I'd ever actually seen the whole thing before. I appreciate the artistry--and I guess the definition of a "favorite" movie varies from person to person. For some, it is the "feel good" factor, for others the quality, etc. For me it is a deeply disturbing film--following someone deeper and deeper into mental illness.

For me, it's probably going to be Godfather II or It's a Wonderful Life--could there be two completely opposite films?

[kbwsb]

I'm kind of like Lance; I've seen Taxi Driver 3-4 times, but I never really groove on it. It's a non-stop two hours of showing the absolute worst in humanity, and it's so filled with hatred and murder that it's hard for me to really embrace it.

So, why do I keep watching it? Two reasons: first is the obvious one (ie, the same reason that people slow down to look at a grisly car accident), and the second is that it's so well-made and well-acted that it's kind of mesmerizing.

BTW, I just saw Casino 2-3 nights ago, and had a similar reaction; it's incredibly well-made, very artistic and highly entertaining. It's the second time I've seen it, and I'll definitely watch it again.
But the final 20 minutes are so sickening that it kind of ruined the whole thing for me.

Two more thoughts: the scene in the desert in Casino where Pesci and DeNiro are screaming at each other is one of the greatest scenes ever.
And After Hours is a tremendous flick. Scorcese should do more comedies.

[veryzer]

i saw "taxi driver" about 10 years ago along with "th french connection." i liked both movies but didn't love either. i kind of felt like i was missing something too. robert dinero is fantastic as is gene hackman, but the movies left me a little wanting. scorsese is a great director but he's not in my top 10. incidentally, i loved "goodfellas" and "cape fear."

another good scorsese flick is "the king of comedy."

as most of you know, i'm a tarantino fanatic. i feel like he was created to make movies just for me.

[rok]

The King of Comedy is great, but to me, it is right along the same lines as Taxi Driver, just without the violence. The Bickle and Pupkin characters have no ability to relate with other people on a personal level, and their lives spiral out of control for different reasons, but they both share a sick fascination with the past, and the simpler times. They are anachronisms in many ways. I think Scorsese directed both movies for basically the same reasons. They share the same soul.

[Lance]

<!--quoteo(post=54607:date=Aug 1 2009, 04:23 PM:name=KBwsb)-->QUOTE (KBwsb @ Aug 1 2009, 04:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Two more thoughts: the scene in the desert in Casino where Pesci and DeNiro are screaming at each other is one of the greatest scenes ever.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I watched this again over the weekend. And I had the exact same thought about that scene--it just doesn't get much better than that on film.

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo(post=54834:date=Aug 1 2009, 11:08 PM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Aug 1 2009, 11:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->The King of Comedy is great, but to me, it is right along the same lines as Taxi Driver, just without the violence. The Bickle and Pupkin characters have no ability to relate with other people on a personal level, and their lives spiral out of control for different reasons, but they both share a sick fascination with the past, and the simpler times. They are anachronisms in many ways. I think Scorsese directed both movies for basically the same reasons. They share the same soul.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
King of Comedy is really good. I can't believe I forgot that on my list...