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How 'Taxi Driver' ruined acting
The Economist ^ | 5/6/2016 | TOM SHONE

Posted on 05/06/2016 1:56:29 PM PDT by Borges

“Every day, for 40 f%^&% years, one of you has stopped me on the street and said, ‘You talkin’ to me?’” groused Robert De Niro at a recent Q&A at the Tribeca Film festival reuniting the makers of “Taxi Driver”. Martin Scorsese, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster, Cybil Shepherd and screenwriter Paul Schrader all swapped anecdotes, and De Niro led the audience in one last rendition of his most famous line, in an effort to expunge the ghost. He’s not the only one haunted by the role, which remains the template for every young Hollywood actor eager to put the lucre of blockbuster dollars behind them with a walk on the indie wild side: Christian Bale in “The Machinist”, Ryan Gosling in “Drive”, Sam Rockwell in “Seven Psychopaths”, in which he plays an actor who believes himself to be the illegitimate son of Travis Bickle. They all believe that. “‘Taxi Driver’ is the ultimate independent-movie performance,” Leonardo DiCaprio has said. “Playing a character like Travis Bickle is every young actor’s wet dream.”

(Excerpt) Read more at 1843magazine.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: acting; cinema; cybilshepherd; deniro; film; harveykeitel; hollywood; jodiefoster; martinscorsese; moviereview; movies; paulschrader; rileykeough; robertdeniro; taxidriver; travisbickle
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To: rlmorel
I know DiCaprio is a liberal weenie, but I thought his portrayal of Howard Hughes in “The Aviator” was pretty well done.

As long as the actor is good, I ignore his politics.

41 posted on 05/06/2016 3:03:38 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: Borges

One, not necessarily #1.
Home from the Hills. Four great actors and one great actress. One great plot.
Just saying.


42 posted on 05/06/2016 3:04:11 PM PDT by GOYAKLA ( Pick-up the pace, I'm eighty!)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

When he stuck his finger in the girl’s mouth, it was threatening and surprising to the point I couldn’t believe anyone could had scripted it.


43 posted on 05/06/2016 3:04:31 PM PDT by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: sparklite2

*SHUDDER*

I’m going to go put Caddy Shack in the player to wash that scene OUT of my head, LOL!

Nice to know someone else appreciated the performance as much as I did.

Again...*SHUDDER*


44 posted on 05/06/2016 3:07:09 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
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To: Billthedrill

Yup. Although, Billy Bob Thornton still gives great bad.


45 posted on 05/06/2016 3:07:27 PM PDT by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: GOYAKLA

You can’t compare old Studio System stuff like ‘Home from the Hill’ to New Hollywood films like TD. Actually, Scorsese was quite influenced by Vincente Minnelli’s color sceheme. VM made HFTH.


46 posted on 05/06/2016 3:14:57 PM PDT by Borges
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To: doorgunner69

Yep. All that Jazz was just horrible when I saw it as a teenager.


47 posted on 05/06/2016 3:15:55 PM PDT by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: Jim 0216

Please don’t be humor or sarcasm impaired. It’s the only way we can keep our sanity around here, sometimes.

Beer (or your adult beverage of choice) works too. :-)


48 posted on 05/06/2016 3:28:14 PM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: needmorePaine

NYC was so bad they shot a lot of NYC movies in Toronto.


49 posted on 05/06/2016 3:59:41 PM PDT by rhoda_penmark
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To: Borges

Early Clint Eastwoods, The Mechanic (original), Most Coen Brother’s


50 posted on 05/06/2016 4:01:17 PM PDT by gr8eman (Don't waste your energy trying to understand commies. Use it to defeat them!)
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To: Borges

"Yeah, I'm talkin' to YOU...punk."

51 posted on 05/06/2016 4:09:08 PM PDT by PLMerite (Compromise is Surrender: The Revolution...will not be kind.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

“As long as the actor is good, I ignore his politics. “

It’s hard with the ones who won’t shut up.


52 posted on 05/06/2016 4:11:54 PM PDT by rhoda_penmark
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To: AnotherUnixGeek
Ever seen City by the Sea? One in a long line of movies in which James Franco plays a feckless doper, he plays DeNero's son. In one scene, he looks down, and OMG...he becomes Travis Bickle. Blew me away.
53 posted on 05/06/2016 4:23:09 PM PDT by gundog (Help us, Nairobi-Wan Kenobi...you're our only hope.)
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

“DiCaprio trying to play Travis Bickle at any age.”

Word is he’s playing Tony Montana in the Scarface remake.


54 posted on 05/06/2016 4:24:01 PM PDT by moehoward
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To: AFreeBird

I’ll try not to be.

Humor is basically how I get through life with a smile.

:)


55 posted on 05/06/2016 4:42:59 PM PDT by Jim W N
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To: gundog

TRAVIS BICKLE,,,

How could You Not Love the Guy?


56 posted on 05/06/2016 4:50:11 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: Snickering Hound

With Those Angry Puppies !?!


57 posted on 05/06/2016 4:53:43 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

I try hard to, but I have to draw the line when they get really outspoken. There are some actors I simply won’t watch the movie any more. Samuel L. Jackson is one of them.


58 posted on 05/06/2016 5:07:00 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Irrational violence against muslims" is a myth, but "Irrational violence against non-muslims" isn't)
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To: gr8eman

What do you consider a great film?


59 posted on 05/06/2016 5:23:17 PM PDT by atc23 (The Confederacy was the single greatest conservative resistance to federal authority ever)
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To: needmorePaine; boop; Borges; rlmorel; rhoda_penmark
"I guess it was hard to mask the reality of NYC in the 70s and early 80s."

Mask the reality - they reveled in it! That was one of the knocks against filming in places like Toronto - it wasn't "gritty" enough, and therefore couldn't come across as authentically "New York."

It's hard to overstate what Giuliani accomplished in turning the city around.

60 posted on 05/06/2016 5:27:32 PM PDT by free-in-nyc (Freeping from the heart of the occupation)
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