Ten Movies I Wish I'd Never Seen: Taxi Driver (#2)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86949)
United States
August 31, 2018 8:38am CST
It's Friday! Better, it's a three-day weekend! And, even better than that, I'm almost done remembering these movies I wish I'd never seen. This one might be the most controversial on the list....of course, I've said that about three or four other "classics" and ended up with a lot of people agreeing with me. That streak will probably end today, with this one. Here it is.
#2: Taxi Driver
Not even the Kris Kristofferson reference can save this one for me. Maybe after seeing The Piano I should take solace in the fact that Harvey Keitel was not naked in this one. 
Yeah, I know, Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro's character), "You talkin' to me??", director Martin Scorsese's cameo as a passenger, great movie, blah blah blah. No, thank you. And John Hinkley has nothing to do with it.
I simply didn't "get" this movie. To me, it's like there were halves of two different movies stuck together. Yeah, I realize Bickle has mental issues, and that's why he's preaching about the filth and smut while going to porn movies every night (and thinking nothing of taking Betsy [Shepherd's character] to a porn flick the way anyone else would take a date to a romantic comedy).
I enjoy DeNiro (loved him when he teamed up with Scorsese again for 1982's The King of Comedy), but this movie did nothing for me.
Taxi Driver
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Released in 1976
The Kristofferson song that Cybill Shepherd's character quotes:
Yeah, I know, Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro's character), "You talkin' to me??", director Martin Scorsese's cameo as a passenger, great movie, blah blah blah. No, thank you. And John Hinkley has nothing to do with it.
I simply didn't "get" this movie. To me, it's like there were halves of two different movies stuck together. Yeah, I realize Bickle has mental issues, and that's why he's preaching about the filth and smut while going to porn movies every night (and thinking nothing of taking Betsy [Shepherd's character] to a porn flick the way anyone else would take a date to a romantic comedy).
I enjoy DeNiro (loved him when he teamed up with Scorsese again for 1982's The King of Comedy), but this movie did nothing for me.
Taxi Driver
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Released in 1976
The Kristofferson song that Cybill Shepherd's character quotes:
from "The Silver Tongued Devil and I" the second album released in 1971 on Monument Records
6 people like this
5 responses
@thislittlepennyearns (68246)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
31 Aug 18
Look another one I've never watched.
I'm so sheltered. 
3 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
31 Aug 18
You young people need to broaden your education!
2 people like this
@thislittlepennyearns (68246)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
31 Aug 18
@JohnRoberts I have no desire to watch it.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
31 Aug 18
Here is where we massively disagree. Taxi Driver is one of my all time favorite movies. The grit and grime of NYC before Rudy cleaned it up. Jodie Foster as Iris. Bernard Herrmann's score. Michael Chapman's cinematography. The only decent performance by Albert Brooks. Peter Boyle as Wizard. Well, a lot of people hated it.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86949)
• United States
31 Aug 18
@JohnRoberts -- a friend of mine gushingly recommended Barfly. I'd rather watch Taxi Driver again. Even Roger Ebert's review admitted there was nothing to Barfly, and I concur (with the exception of extreme grunginess that seeped through the VCR at me).
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
31 Aug 18
@FourWalls I didn't care for Barfly. Scroungy Mickey Rourke and the thrills of a movie set in a dingy bar. People love the drunk poet Charles Bukowski though.
1 person likes this
@CinnamonGrl (7086)
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
31 Aug 18
Well you seem to be picking the same movies that I also found tough to watch. I watch movies to see incredible performances, so I do end up watching a lot of things I might regret later, lol. Side note, that song The Pilgrim is a favorite of mine. Known so many guys like that.
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
19 Sep 18
I also loved De Niro in The King of Comedy. Jerry Lewis playing a non-comedic role was a brilliant performance. I actually think the character he played is similar to Lewis's real personality. De Niro's intensity in a role is infectious. He just demands your attention! A great job of casting for sure
Taxi Driver is summed up in one sentence: "You talkin to me, Well I'm the only one here." The best scene of the movie... The rest is just a blur to me.
Taxi Driver is summed up in one sentence: "You talkin to me, Well I'm the only one here." The best scene of the movie... The rest is just a blur to me.1 person likes this
