What is your favorite Scorsese Picture?

I'm torn between "Taxi Driver" and "The King of Comedy," though I also have a certain fondness for "The Big Shave" (which is missing from the list).

JE: Right you are. I didn't include the pre-"Mean Streets" features, "Who's That Knocking at My Door?" and "Boxcar Bertha," and of the shorts I only included "Italianamerican" because it's almost an hour (49 minutes), which is longer than Buster Keaton's "Sherlock, Jr." so I figured it could count as a short feature. "The Big Shave" (or "Viet '67) is only six minutes.

What, no love for Who's that Knocking on My Door or Boxcar Bertha? Of course I will always have a bias for the unseen since 1970 Street Scenes having been part of the NYU crew that made that film.

JE: Sorry, I only had 20 slots! (See above.)

In this order!
1.Taxi Driver!
2.King of Comedy!
3.New York New York!

And I hope that he doesn't win the Academy Award this year!...but then I guess I am wrong! This year is the year of the consolation prize for him!...MJP

Having just watched "The Big Shave" again on YouTube, I realized I had forgotten what a chilling film it is. Its little metaphor is completely unforced and the delivery is so cold-blooded that it cuts to the bone (no puns intended).

Thinking about it, I'd have to put "The King of Comedy" as my favorite. It takes "Taxi Driver's" sense of longing for recognition and pushes it further, implicating more of the audience than the earlier film did. Not everyone thinks of killing a politician for fame, but who hasn't at some point felt a need for legitimacy? The sheer longing for acknowledgment is so intense in the film that it's little wonder Scorsese said of himself and De Niro, "We couldn't go any farther at that time."

Taxi Driver.

Not only is this my favorite Scorsese film, it's my favorite film PERIOD. This film was my first experience in serious cinema. When it was over, I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker.

I hope he doesn't win an Oscar, either, because he deserved it years ago- either for Raging Bull or Goodfellas. Honoring him now would feel like a lifetime achievement award.

It'd be interesting if Marty loses to Clint Eastwood again. It'd be the second time he lost to him, and the fourth time he'd lose to an actor-turned-director (Kevin Costner in 1990, and Robert Redford in 1980).

Damn actors! Why must you direct!

Mason: I probably consider "Taxi Driver" Scorsese's best film, but I can't list it as my "favorite" simply because I find it such a gut-wrenching experience. I saw it for the first time at age 18 or 19 (just getting into Dostoyevsky in college) and no film has tied me up in knots quite like it, before or since. I'm sure I've seen it a dozen times or so (in part to understand how the techniques Scorsese used in the shootout got to me so viscerally), and a few years ago I showed it to some friends who were in their 20s and had never seen it before. By the end of the movie I was wrung out and nauseated (almost as if I were seeing it for the first time -- it retains its power over me, even after I've studied it closely), but my friends, while they thought it was good, were not so deeply affected. Maybe it seems relatively tame to them in the '00s -- but not to me!

I think that Taxi Driver is without question the finest film I've ever seen. It's probably the only movie that can be described as "perfect" in my mind, and I do recall feeling sick during much of it. But the movie is so gripping and thoughtful that the sickness, for me, turned into fascination, regret, laughter, and horror, and by the time the movie was over I somehow was simultaneously aware and unaware of how film had manipulated me into a state of shock and wonder. And mind you, I first saw it this past summer, only a day after my first experiences of Straw Dogs and The Conversation, and two days after my first experience of A Clockwork Orange. I saw Reservoir Dogs for the first time a few weeks later. Needless to say, I was rather "off" for about a month. And if any film makes me feel ill, it's Se7en, a film that I admit is better than Fight Club, but I find almost impossible to watch again. Grave of the Fireflies also makes me feel ill, but for entirely different reasons obviously. And if you can get through Natural Born Killers without a headache, you are a miracle of modern science.

Hi Jim,

I've long considered "The King of Comedy" to be one of Scorcese's best films, it's a shame that it's often dismissed by many critics. Another overlooked one I really treasure is "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". However, I was wondering if you could share some of your thoughts on "New York, New York"... I've heard you mention it before, and you evidently have quite a love for the film. I've always found the movie to be a bit messy... what is it that you love so much about that particular Scorcese film?

Back at ya later

Taxi Driver for me. A truly perfect marriage of screenwriter and director.

I've studied Schrader's screenplay for an essay and was blown away by how much of the tone of that film is on the page. Schrader's poetic introduction of Travis Bickle brilliantly describes De Niro's performance. The man even puts down notes like "(A beat.)" in the middle of spoken sentences to make room for De Niro twitching an eye or something. (Don't get lost in the script, though, or you'll feel just as wrung out and nauseated as Jim did. At least that's the effect it had on me.)

And for all the big-time SNOBS out here who wanted to cast a vote for Boxcar Bertha, this link is for you.

Jim, I can definitely relate to your feelings how gut-wrenching the ending is. For me, this just instills how great a movie it is, and how great an experience it was for me when I saw it. I was about 15 or 16- about 7 or 8 years ago- and I was completetly obsessed with action films (if I were slightly dumber, I'd have considered Michael Bay my favorite director). I heard that this movie from the 70's was bloody, so I was like, "Cool. Let's check it out."

The way the film builds up to the finale just hypnotized me, like listening to "Stairway To Heaven" waiting for that great Jimmy Page solo to kick in at the end. On the way to the conclusion, you grow to feel and understand Travis. I believe everyone can empathize with him, to a degree. We've been there- that is, unless you've lived in a green-grassed town that had rainbows 24/7. I'm not saying we all wanted to kill someone, but I believe Travis is an archetype of the dark side that is within us.

So we sympathize and empathize, and then he guns down the pimp and all of his henchmen. And blood is everywhere! This wasn't the action film I was expecting. Travis isn't a hero. Like you said, he's more of Dostoevsky-esque character, a Raskalnikov.

I think that's the thing that made it painful. You empathize, and then you want to not empathize anymore. This was the first time I realized how effective a movie can be. I've watched Taxi Driver several times, and every time I feel a different emotion.

Trying to vote for "Alice ... " returns an error. I'm sure it will fare poorly anyway, but ... .

Jim: I'd like to get your thoughts on the ending of Taxi Driver. After he drops off Betsy, there is one weird, final shot of Travis looking in his rearview mirror. The soundtack and picture almost seem to be going backward. It is a brief but very strange shot. Do you think that might have been a hint that the "hero Travis" ending was all in his mind, that he was having an "Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" moment and might have died on Iris's couch?

Robert: There was a lot of discussion about that unsettling moment at the end of "Taxi Driver," where Travis glances into the rearview mirror and then disappears into abstract city lights, refracted through glass. I've never wanted to insist on any single interpretation, because I don't think it's that kind of movie. In a way, I think Scorsese (and Schrader) are deliberately trying to undercut any sense of catharsis the audience may have gotten from the massacre. (Original audiences laughed at the letter from Iris's parents -- the irony was so terrible.)

Some of the interpretations I've thought about:

1) As you say, that everything after the shootout is in his head, including the letter and picking up Betsy.

2) That seeing Betsy again causes something to snap within him. He's trying to look back at her, but he can't see her -- he can't go back.

3) That maybe almost everything in the movie is a mixture of reality, memories and imagination, brought on by Travis's insomnia-induced disorientation (and possibly some kind of psychotic state). Maybe he only glimpsed Betsy that first time, and she (and virtually all the other characters) are fantasies about what he fears/wishes might happen if he were ever to act on any of his impulses (like asking Betsy on a date). Travis is, after all, mostly a lonely voyeur (watch the movie's use of windows, TV, mirrors, etc.), passing through other people's lives like an invisible man, not having much effect on anyone. Until he formulates his "mission"...

4) That Travis, after his brief moment of impact (and attention in the press) simply disappears back into anonymity, back into the streets (and sewers) of the city. Maybe he helped to rescue one girl (or maybe he traumatized her for life), but his apocalyptic fury was just a blip in the news cycle. At the end of the movie, he could be any anonymous person on the street, even your taxi driver...

(I tend to favor #4, but that doesn't necessarily exclude consideration of any of the others. I like that those alternative readings still reverberate around in the movie, too...)

When discussing Scorsese's "greatest" or most "important" film, the usual suspects typically appear (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull). When the topic is Scorsese's most "underrated" fim(s), you tend to see titles like King of Comedy and New York, New York... but when the subject is one's "favorite" Scorsese picture, then all bets are off!

Personally, I happen to love Age of Innoncence. I think it is a marvelous, beautiful, subtle, glorious movie... and I would think so were it directed by anyone. The fact that it was directed by Scorsese elevates it even higher in my book because it demonstrates his amazing virtuosity. The man doesn't need to have gangsters, violence, frequent use of the F-word or DeNiro to make a good film.

No Mean Streets fans? I have yet to see Casino, and The Age of Innocence, and honestly I love the rest of them, but Mean Street is so perfect. It's the defining Scorsese picture for me.

From a purely visceral standpoint, I'd go with The Last Temptation of Christ, but you know what? More than anything else right now I love hearing Scorsese talk about movies - his commentaries, both on his own films and on others, feel like intimate chats with a pure film lover.

So, although it's not listed, I also cast a personal vote for A Personal Journey Through American Movies and My Voyage to Italy.

Yeah, favorite in this discussion is hard. If you consider your favorite movie to be the most enjoyable, then I would probably have to say “GoodFellas”, because it is one of the most compulsively watchable movies ever made. As far as Scorsese’s underrated movies, I believe “Bringing out the Dead” and “The Aviator” are both severely underrated. However, I consider my favorite Scorsese movie to be the one that I thought was the best. Right now it is an extremely even argument between “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”. “Taxi Driver” is the most harrowing portrayal of loneliness I’ve ever seen, and “Raging Bull” the most harrowing portrayal of self destructiveness I’ve ever seen. Both are brilliant, both are hard to watch, both are made flawlessly, and both have grown in their greatness in my mind. I wouldn’t argue with anyone saying one was better than the other because for me they are neck and neck with each other and stand so far above the majority of other movies ever made.

Jim, about showing “Taxi Driver” to your younger friends and them not having the same reaction to it that you did, I was the same way. I first saw “Taxi Driver” when I was about 16 I think (I’m 23 now), and I thought it was pretty good, but not great. However, like a lot of great movies (“Dark City” “Psycho” and my favorite movie “The Godfather” among them) “Taxi Driver” wouldn’t leave my mind for weeks after watched it. So I watched it again, and was bowled over by its emotional power. I had the same reaction to “Raging Bull”. I’m reminded of what Paul Sorvino said about “GoodFellas” when he first watched it. He said he thought it was horrible, and was disappointed that his collaboration with Scorsese had turned out so badly. Only when told by his daughter Mira that it was the best thing he’d ever done did he watch it again and believe it was the greatest movie ever made. Saying he was so blown away by it that he was in denial a bit and had to see it again to realize its greatness.

I voted for The King of Comedy as it is my favourite movie of all time. When I was at uni I had to give a presentation for one of my modules and I chose as my subject this film and its remarkable prescience in foreseing the celebrity-obssessed, anything-for-fame culture we now live in. I thought it was a pretty good presentation but it was met by yawning indifference by my fellow students and even my lecturer, none of whom had even heard of the film let alone seen it. Philistines.

I'd be interested to see a poll for which Scorsese film is the most underrated. My vote goes to After Hours. I almost voted for it over Goodfellas just because I knew GF didn't need the help.

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