There were so many great candidates all vying for the Best ing Actor award this year. It ultimately went to Robert Downey Jr. for his role in Oppenheimer, meaning legendary actor, Robert De Niro left the ceremony empty-handed last night. 5si6t

Has Robert De Niro won an Oscar before? 682l3w

Missing out on the award on Sunday night for his role in Killers of the Flower Moon probably wasn’t that much of a big deal for the Taxi Driver star. He’s been in countless brilliant films, from The Godfather Part II, to Goodfellas, If you’ve seen any of his greatest films you’d probably expect that he’s won an Oscar for at least one of them.

What roles has Robert De Niro won Oscars for? 1t5x70

De Niro has two Oscar awards in total. His first came in 1975 for Best ing Actor in The Godfather Part II, his second came six years later when he won the Best Actor award for Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. All in all, the actor has been nominated nine times since 1975, five times for Best Actor, three times for Best ing Actor and once as a producer. His nominations for Best Actor were for Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, Awakenings, Cape Fear, his nominations for Best ing Actor were for The Godfather Part II, Silver Linings Playbook, and Killers of the Flower Moon, and he picked up a Best Picture nomination for The Irishman.

So whilst he may have missed out on an Oscar this year, let’s not forget, few actors have as many awards and nominations as De Niro. And besides; Robert Downey Jr. was long overdue for some recognition from the academy.

Hollywood is littered with the skeletons of dead franchises. Some had a one box office failure and execs slammed on the brakes of future movies, others were stymied by their creative teams losing interest, and some just don’t seem particularly relevant anymore.

But, with the entertainment obviously hungry for reviving old IP (see Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Beetlejuice 2, even Mean Girls), let’s pitch seven sequels that could (and should) enter development immediately.

Back to the Present 5b123

It’s 2023 and Marty McFly’s son twenty-something son George is watching the news in his tiny apartment. It’s the usual bad news: the ice caps are melting, the economy is in ruins, the environment is falling apart and somehow Donald Trump has a very real chance of being President once again. His phone buzzes to remind him to pay his student loan debt, and an unpaid medical bill lies open on the table.

Searching through his Dad’s old stuff he discovers a key to a storage locker containing the very dusty DeLorean. One test drive later and he’s traveled back in time 30 years to the much more optimistic 1990s. He tracks down that era’s Doc Brown, only to discover that he’s grown up in a “wrong” nightmare future that was never supposed to happen — our world! Should he fix things and erase his own timeline?

Uber Driver 23567

It’s 2013 in New York City and the fire inside the 63-year-old Travis Bickle has long since subsided. His brief vigilante fame is over and he’s still a solitary cab driver eking out an anonymous existence in a rent-controlled Brooklyn apartment.

Then Uber arrives in town. Bickle has to sign up, work harder, and follow the app’s routes. One night he stops to rescue a young woman who’s been spiked, who vomits in his car. Soon after he’s forced to pick up another ride. Due to the smell, that enger gives him a one-star rating, booting him from the app. With his only source of income and pleasure gone the old Bickle returns, and soon he’s lingering outside Uber headquarters and staring menacingly into the mirror.

Up: Down 2f3x4p

In an achingly painful opening montage Carl Frederickson finally dies of old age in his home surrounded by pictures of his beloved Ellie. He travels towards the light but arrives in the world of Soul, where he immediately becomes grumpy and curmudgeonly, causing istrative chaos. As a result, the wrong form is filed and Carl is sent to hell to be tormented for eternity.

Back on Earth Russell is still earning merit badges, choosing “Exorcism” as his final one. While studying he realizes Carl has mistakenly been sent to hell, and resolves to travel through the underworld to get him to heaven where he belongs. Dug is along for the ride, eventually falling in love with a surprisingly upbeat hellhound voiced by Melissa McCarthy and has a litter of adorable flaming puppies.

Good Will National Treasure Hunting 6s272d

After a long and glittering career, Matt Damon’s Will Hunting has returned to his home city and is now director of the Boston Museum of Science. He aims to encourage interest in higher education among disadvantaged students, though the snobbiness of Harvard dons means he can’t get the funding. One night, while working late, he hears a mysterious sound from the exhibit room, discovering that Nicolas Cage’s Ben Gates has broken in.

Gates explains to a skeptical Hunting that if the treasure map he has is correct, the museum is sat atop millions of dollars of buried Revolutionary War gold, more than enough to fund his educational program. Unfortunately for both men, the soldiers who left the gold there placed a supernatural ward on it that has… unforeseen consequences for the museum exhibits.

Home Rule 35701c

In late 1800s Dublin we follow Patrick Connor (Barry Keoghan), a young man with a criminal record due to his ionate campaigning for Irish independence and home rule from the British. Patrick has a growing reputation as a troublemaker and is keenly sought after by the Royal Irish Constabulary working for the British. But, while he can evade them easily enough, there’s one mysterious man after him who seems impervious to all attacks.

Eventually, Patrick is cornered and takes a wild swing at the stranger with an axe. He doesn’t go down, but the wound reveals… a glowing red eye and an all-too-familiar metal endoskeleton! (dundun dun dundun). Patrick Connor is the great-grandfather of John Connor! From here it’s all-out war: Fenians versus the English versus the Terminator as Patrick tries to escape the city while trying to comprehend a distant future he barely understands: “I know one thing though, oppression is oppression whether it’s by the Crown or by this Skynet bastard!”

Austin Powers: No Time to Shag 4f3h3w

Austin Powers’ time-travelling days or over… or so he believes. Now firmly retired, he spends his days in a quiet English village that feels stuck in its own time warp, playing in the local cricket team, with his only ‘mission’ figuring out who’s putting their trash in his recycling bin.

Then one day he gets a summons from an unlikely source. Dr. Evil is now redeemed and is now E, the head of the British Secret Service, and the world once again needs Austin’s help. Now Austin must travel back to 1995 and the events of the first movie to team up with his younger (digitally de-aged) self to set things right. But will the younger Austin ever “be-have!” – and can the older Austin shake off the cobwebs and get his groove back?

E.T. Invasion… Earth! 5s154f

For Earth, it’s been four decades since E.T. phoned home. For him, just weeks. On returning to his home world E.T. is interrogated about his treatment on this mysterious planet, with his warlike people concluding from his story of being experimented on and persecuted that this dangerous planet must be invaded and subdued.

E.T. flees back to Earth to warn his friends, discovering they’re all now decades older due to time dilation. His only useful ally is Drew Barrymore’s Gertrude, who was inspired by her childhood experience to become a military analyst on alien affairs. Together they prepare the world for an all-out interstellar war, with E.T. split between his allegiance to his own people and his friends on Earth. Can he find a way to make peace between the two planets?

Producers with fat wallets — you know where to find me.

Although his movies are most closely associated with two themes – the culture of New York and the trappings of organized crime – Martin Scorsese’s career as a director now spans half a century and over 40 films of all types. Anyone wondering where to start with his voluminous filmography will therefore be spoiled for choice! Here are 10 of his very best.

10. The Departed 36c5n

The film for which Scorsese finally received an Academy Award for Best Director pitted Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon against one another as police informant and inside man in a Boston organized crime gang. Although it has been criticized for its occasionally on-the-nose direction – some critics scoffed at the final shot, which showed an actual rat traversing a window ledge in a not-so-subtle nod to DiCaprio’s character’s role – The Departed is solid Scorsese fare, with good turns from Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, and Alec Baldwin, and Jack Nicholson’s Whitey Bulger-esque character proving as unpleasant (and violent) as any Mafia main man in Goodfellas.

9. After Hours 3i82v

New York yuppiedom proved fertile ground for comedy in the 1980s, with the Crocodile Dundee franchise, Big, and others poking fun at the self-obsession and inflated sense of importance that went with the territory. Scorsese duly got in a few blows of his own with this tightly plotted 1985 farce, in which An American Werewolf in London star Griffin Dune’s beta male, Paul, has the worst of nights in New York, involving lost money, the death of an acquaintance, and being chased by punks. Scorsese did better work in the comedy genre, not least 1983’s The King of Comedy, but the laughs stand up today, and Rosanna Arquette is delightful as Paul’s would-be hookup.

8. The Wolf of Wall Street 5u573d

This 2013 adaptation of New York stockbroker-turned-fraudster Jordan Belfort did huge box office, raking in a cool $400 million across all markets, making it by far Scorsese’s most successful movie at the time. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Belfort, but Matthew McConaughey packs just as heavy a punch as his mentor, a broker whose up-and-at-’em approach gives Belfort inspiration, and Jonah Hill makes hay as the originator of a “dump and dump” racket. The general debauchery of the lifestyle described in the memoir is at times painful to watch – it’s not so much the excesses, but the height from which Belfort has to fall that generate the unpleasantness – but discovering precisely how he fell from grace is worth the price of ission, and Margot Robbie is unmissable in her breakout role as his wife.

7. No Direction Home 5i6l6z

He may have returned to the subject of Bob Dylan’s career in 2019’s Rolling Thunder Review, but Scorsese’s original 2005 documentary about Dylan’s early years as a 1960s Greenwich Village folk singer is the pick of the two, and arguably his finest documentary feature to date. Over three hours in length, Scorsese approaches his subject matter at a leisurely pace, and gathers a remarkable collection of interviewees: Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Allen Ginsburg all contributed with memories of Dylan from his emergence in 1961 to his much-criticized adoption of electric instruments in 1966. A must-see for fans of 60s music.

6. Raging Bull 5m3t2u

Robert De Niro won his second Academy Award for his depiction of boxer Jake LaMotta in this 1980 classic. It is, perhaps, just as well that Scorsese opted to shoot in black and white; some of the fight scenes are nothing short of eviscerating, as a washed-up LaMotta absorbs punch after punch on the ropes, all the while protesting his ability to take punishment from his opponent, Sugar Ray Robinson. But Raging Bull’s more compelling drama can be found out of the ring, as LaMotta’s jealousy sees him accuse his wife Vickie (played here by Cathy Moriarty in an Academy Award-nominated performance) of infidelity. The film also saw De Niro’s first work onscreen with Joe Pesci, who plays LaMotta’s brother and manager Joey in only his second film appearance.

5. The King of Comedy v5z3t

This 1983 film was one of Scorsese’s rare box office bombs, but amply repays a rewatch. Robert De Niro shows his range as a borderline delusional would-be comedian, Rupert Pupkin, who bumps into an actual famous comedian (Jerry Lewis) and becomes obsessed with him. De Niro has a ball as Pupkin, with his cheap suit and shiny shoes, hatches a preposterous plan to kidnap his quarry and achieve the only sort of fame it seems he is capable of – notoriety. As a critique of the American obsession with celebrity, The King of Comedy can hardly be bettered; in a curious inversion of roles, De Niro would go on to channel Lewis’ character opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Pupkin-esque Arthur Fleck in 2019’s Joker.

4. Taxi Driver 4ft5l

The movie that brought Scorsese to the attention of the wider public is disturbing and compelling in equal measure, and earned its stars – Robert De Niro and a 14-year-old Jodie Foster – Academy Award nominations. The story traces the life of Travis Bickle (De Niro), a depressed loner who drives a taxi around the streets of New York at night, and predicts, as the famous line has it, that “someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets”. Weaving together a story including a slick political candidate, Foster’s child prostitute character Iris, and her pimp (played by a grimly manipulative Harvey Keitel), it also marks one of the first collaborations between Scorsese and Hollywood’s greatest composers. For Taxi Driver, Scorsese secured the services of Academy Award winner Bernard Herrmann, whose experimental jazz score perfectly complements Travis’s deteriorating mood as the film progresses. Herrmann never lived to see the finished product, or to receive the BAFTA he was awarded for his score, dying of a heart attack the day after the score was recorded.

3. Gangs of New York 4w1uk

There is more than a touch of artifice about this 2002 historical epic, but what it lacks in verisimilitude is more than made up for in stylishness. Scorsese tapped Leonardo DiCaprio for the pair’s first collaboration to play the part of Amsterdam, a young man living in 1850s New York whose father (Liam Neeson) was killed in a brutal gang riot by Bill “The Butcher” (Daniel Day Lewis) years previously. Unaware of Amsterdam’s true identity, Bill allows the young man to his organization, leaving the viewer to wonder: will Amsterdam get revenge? ed by a fabulous cast including Cameron Diaz as the pickpocket Jenny, Jim Broadbent as a corrupt Tammany Hall politician, and Brendan Gleeson as a would-be challenger to Bill’s position, Gangs of New York was lent additional poignancy by the lingering final shot of the World Trade Center over the modern-day New York skyline: a commentary on the nature of violence in the Big Apple that landed differently in a post-9/11 world.

2. The Aviator 1l35q

This 2004 biopic is a lavish evocation of America between the wars, and fully deserved the five Academy Awards it received. Leonardo DiCaprio is effortless as the legendary filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, whose obsession with getting his war epic Hell’s Angels into cinemas results in massive budget overruns, a lot of ruffled feathers in Hollywood – and a massive box office hit. Before long, Hughes has drawn the attention of Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett); but the compulsions for which he became infamous were by then already beginning to take their toll, and much of the second half is devoted to an exploration of his declining mental health, all set against the backdrop of his quest to build the world’s biggest plane, the Spruce Goose, and prove its flying capabilities. Look out for pitch-perfect ing turns from Ian Holm, Alan Alda, and Brent Spiner.

1. Goodfellas 3b3j72

Scorsese was overlooked for the Academy Award for Best Director for his impeccable 1990 gangster epic, which relates the rise and fall of Henry Hill and the Mafia mob to which he attaches himself in 1950s New York. Covering a span of 25 years, Goodfellas depicts in lurid fashion both the glamor and grunginess of gangster life, and benefits from career-defining performances from Ray Liotta as Hill, Robert De Niro as Jimmy the Gent, Joe Pesci as Tommy, and Paul Sorvino as Paulie, the Mafia high-up they work for. From Henry’s rapid rise through the ranks to his romancing of his soon-to-be-complicit wife Karen (played first with giddiness and then with bitterness by Lorraine Bracco), Goodfellas shows Scorsese in the form of his life. Shots that might come across as tricksy in the hands of lesser directors, such as the glacially slow dolly zoom in the diner during the final act, or the famous single-camera scene in which Hill leads Karen into a nightclub through the kitchen, are pulled off with adroitness. It’s no wonder that, a third of century after its release, Goodfellas continues to top critics’ list as one of the greatest movies of all-time, and spawned countless imitators.

If you’re the sort of person who likes to watch lighthearted films for escapism and wholesomeness, then this is not the list for you. However, if you prefer watching a movie that will get the heart pumping, then we think you’ll adore this collection of flicks that will send you so far to the edge of your seat you’ll practically be floating. If you love feeling the adrenaline pump, whether it be thanks to big scares or the horrifying, crushing nature of consequences coming for a character you’ve grown to know and love, then check out our list of the 10 most intense movies of all time!

10. One Hour Photo 15b2f

Famous funnyman Robin Williams showed off his disturbing side in this unbelievably tense film about a disturbed photo printing worker who becomes obsessed with a family who have their pictures developed at his store. The creep factor is dialled up to eleven throughout, and as Williams interacts with the oblivious victims of his obsession, you’re hooked like a caught fish. The movie devolves alongside his Williams’ character’s mental state, and when reality jars with the picture-perfect vision of the family he’s constructed in his head, we see him unravel in a terrifying way. We’ll be surprised if you have any fingernails left after this one.

9. Get Out 2b675n

Few films have captured the complex nature of liberal racism as well as Jordan Peele’s phenomenal debut, Get Out. Starring Brit Daniel Kaluuya (with an exceptionally good American accent), the tension starts to build early, with all the classic hallmarks of a horror film, including a dead animal, and a fist-clenching scene involving a Black man being stopped by a cop while a white woman argues with the officer. Though there is comedy sprinkled throughout the film (which makes sense, considering Peele’s history as a sketch show writer and performer), it’s infused with a darkness and uncertainty that perfectly represents what it’s like to be a person of color in an ultra-white world. An explosive ending does leave us on a happy note, although there was an alternative one that Peele chose not to release after the trauma of Trump’s election in 2016, meaning that there is at least some light at the end of the tunnel.

8. Taxi Driver y6n4i

A film that’s grittier than a building site, Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver is a masterclass in keeping you on the edge of your seat. Robert De Niro plays a Vietnam vet who spends his evenings driving around an increasingly depraved New York City as his PTSD and insomnia infuse to destroy his mental state, leading to some truly brutal outcomes. As De Niro’s violent behavior slowly escalates, he starts to become the very things he seems to hate, while also providing us with some of the most iconic shots and lines of all time, including the infamous scene where De Niro’s character talks to himself in a mirror while fantasizing about a scenario in which he’d get to pull his gun on somebody. Smart, violent, and tenser than steel, this film is as enthralling as it is hard to watch.

7. Audition f555x

From Seven Samurai to Rashomon, Japanese film has a long history of making it big in the West, and this dark psychological thriller belongs in that pantheon of great movies from the land of the rising sun. Audition begins with what could be a classic romcom plot: a lonely man pretends to be casting for a film, but is actually on the lookout for a new wife, using the audition process to find a woman who he can spend the rest of his life with. For the first half of the movie, it feels a bit like he’s the villain, lying to these actresses in the hope of finding love, but during one pivotal scene things take a turn for the truly disturbing. From then it’s wall to wall intensity, with fear and panic practically crashing through the screen until a horrific climax. This film will make you never want to talk to a stranger again, because you never know what secrets somebody is hiding.

6. Uncut Gems 256n6r

The looming threat of violence combines with a stark but realistic portrayal of gambling addiction in this Adam Sandler film that fast became a critical hit. The movie follows a jeweller who is always chasing his next big score, and even as we see him succeed, he can’t seem to help but continue to wager his future on a bigger win. Sandler is genuinely phenomenal in this thriller, and when it came out, the film was a huge reminder that the man has talents beyond the ability to convince Netflix executives to let him and his friends create mediocre films in exotic locations. If you want to feel truly anxious, then Uncut Gems will get you there.

5. No Country for Old Men 205m

Although the Coen Brothers are widely known for the dark comedies, this gripping adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel is probably their best movie, and despite its sparse nature, the two hour runtime flies by. Javier Bardem plays one of film’s most iconic and horrifying villains, and alongside his fellow leads (Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin), they turn this story about a man trying to keep a stolen bounty he stumbled across in the desert into an unforgettable piece of cinema. Painfully intense until the last, this epic will both haunt you yet make you wish you could watch it again for the first time.

4. Requiem for a Dream 5y1m3l

Depressingly dark doesn’t even begin to cover Requiem for a Dream, a psychological drama that delves into the horrors of addiction in all its forms. Delusion and desperation mark this movie, which veers between beautiful aesthetics and some of the most brutal scenes in all of film history. As our main characters all spiral deeper into their own increasingly disturbed minds, it can feel like there’s no respite to the intensity of it all, and that’s because there really isn’t. If you’re looking for something that will remind you there’s some beauty left in the world, this film is not it.

3. The Thing 465t4a

Nobody does horror like John Carpenter, and his infamous 1982 classic about a group of isolated researchers deep in the Arctic tundra who come across an ancient alien is one of his best, and probably his most intense. The Thing redefined the horror genre in so many ways it’s almost impossible to truly parse out its legacy, but the way it builds paranoia and suspense is second-to-none. Strangely enough, the film was criticized heavily at the time of its release, but that was likely as a result of the movie’s nihilism and the fact critics simply weren’t ready for something so innovative and intriguing. Thankfully, it’s now earned its place in the pantheon of great thrillers, and that’s why it’s so high on this list.

2. Se7en 5h3p26

There are few scenes as iconic as the dramatic culmination of this thriller about two cops on the hunt for a sadistic serial killer driven by a set of warped morals, so much so that Brad Pitt asking Morgan Freeman “What’s in the box">Sigourney Weaver. Following a space crew who come across an abandoned ship, what seems like a simple mission to discover what happened fast turns into one of the most intense hours or so in cinema history. Combining horror, sci-fi, and thrills, Alien still resonates to this day, remaining a timeless masterpiece in how to get an audience gripped.

The greatest joy of dramatization lies in the fact that you can take just about any scenario, be it brushing one’s teeth, digging a hole, or eating a piece of pie, and, through the magic of blocking and dialogue, turn it into something delightfully entertaining; some of us would gladly sit through an hour and a half of two characters talking about socks, provided someone like Tarantino provided the script.

It’s truly the historic bread and butter of movie magic, and in honor of the many unforgettable moments that have cropped up because of it, r/movies is picking out the some of cinema’s most entertaining scenes that stemmed from a mundane activity.

The initiating poster kicked us off by pointing out how 1960s Psycho included a shower scene that would go on to be known as “the shower scene,” the phrase now synonymous with that foreboding silhouette.

Going back to Tarantino, one recalled one of the first scenes from the director’s staple film Pulp Fiction, in which Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) talk at length about the differences between American cheeseburgers and international cheeseburgers, all while managing to keep the audience engaged almost effortlessly.

Another blamed American Beauty and Ghost for mutating their emotional response to rogue plastic bags and pottery wheels for the foreseeable future.

One other responder pointed out Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver scene in which Travis simply talks to himself in the mirror, which we’re all guilty of whether we it to it or not.

Indeed, there’s something mesmerizing about movies who make something so memorable with a scene premise that’s so forgettable; when was the last time you being entertained by a conversation about hamburgers? Probably not since your last viewing of Pulp Fiction.

Fans of the accomplished director will be excited to count in the new year becau se Martin Scorsese‘s Taxi Driver is hitting streaming giant Netflix on January 1st.

The 1976 film is one of Scorsese’s most famous pieces of work and is recognized as one of the most realistic and poignant depictions of radicalization. It follows Travis Bickle, a mentally unstable veteran who works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City. After witnessing firsthand the scum society has produced, he decides to save an underage prostitute from her pimp in an effort to clean the city of its corruption.

What makes the film so incredibly special is the design of Bickle as a flawed protagonist that is expertly portrayed by Oscar winner Robert De Niro. Bickle is a lonely man who seeks recognition but in a society obsessed with violence, Bickle will only be rewarded if he commits violent acts.

Much of the script is narrated from a first person point of view which puts you inside the mind of Bickle. This is one of the most terrifying devices because hearing Bickle’s thoughts makes you sympathize with him. He’s charming, despite being a loner who hates society. You can only respect his honest outlook on the world around him and the character has a certain charm you can’t help but fall for. De Niro improvising the iconic “you talkin’ to me” line sells the character even more.

That is until the illusion is shattered and viewers see Bickle for who he truly is. But by this point it is already too late, you have already made excuses for Bickle’s behavior and you now understand he was always a monster. He didn’t become this way over the course of the film, no. He was always like this but you chose to ignore the warning signs.

The film is a perfect reflection of how society ignores the warning signs of people who are radicalized every single day right within your community. It’s no surprise the film was nominated for four Oscars and is still to this day considered one of Scorsese’s best pieces of work. You can re-live the poignant experience in just a couple more days when it’s available on Netflix.

“You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Oh… Well, what if I told you my really cool idea for a Taxi Driver sequel? Would you talk to me then">The Guardian, it’s a pretty accurate paraphrasing. It appears that De Niro is furtively glancing at his cinematic past through a rearview mirror, perhaps struck with a paranoia that his best days are behind him. This isn’t the first time he has raised the idea, but it is an idea that no one else involved with the original movie seems particularly interested in. Screenwriter Paul Schrader called De Niro’s proposed sequel “the dumbest idea that I’ve ever heard.” Obviously that was before he was pitched the idea of directing The Canyons, which became the new dumbest idea he’d ever heard, but unfortunately he did not realize that fact in time to not direct The Canyons. Director Martin Scorcese was not any more receptive to the idea, saying in an interview, “That came and went.” No one has yet asked Jodi Foster if she would want to reprise her role as a 12 year-old prostitute, but chances are good that she’d say “Thanks but no thanks.” So that leaves poor Bobby De Niro all by himself holding the banner of Taxi Driver 2. What would the plot have been like if it had been made? No details have been provided, but it’s easy to imagine the sequel taking place in modern times, decades after the events of the first film. Travis Bickle is now a national hero, having saved the President from being assassinated and then going on to run for President himself. He gets elected, of course, and ends up a two-term President. But he hasn’t forgotten his roots, so the whole time he’s running the country he’s also still driving a taxi on nights and weekends. And it’s while driving that taxi that he overhears a plot. A plot to kill the President. A plot to kill him. You can probably guess where it goes from there, with Bickle fighting terrorists and assassins and saving prostitutes in distress. But unfortunately that blockbuster hit will only ever play in the theater of your mind. The Taxi Driver sequel remains but a humble actor’s fondest dream, mumbled to any erby with a press badge and a few minutes to kill.

The 1970s are typically regarded as a period of Renaissance for the American movie industry. Financially, Hollywood was struggling, unable to match the heyday of the previous decades of the 40s and 50s, with television on the rise and new restrictions on the major studios. This resulted in a greater willingness for those with the big bucks to take chances on young filmmakers, many who had been studying film for their entire lives, and had been influenced by the evolving styles seen in Europe, in particular. A new generation of directors were able to foster in a new era of box office and critical successes, and this led to a wave of new voices and new visions being given the opportunity to have their work shown to a massive audience. These were movies that deviated pretty significantly from what was previously the Hollywood mainstream of musicals and wholesome Westerns. It gets romanticized quite a lot, and there are surely comparable advances constantly occurring in the world of cinema, even and perhaps especially today. But any decade that witnesses the arrival of the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas is worthy of some serious respect. Here are 7 key movies that are essential to understanding what the 1970s were all about in the film world. It’s a list meant to serve as a taste rather than an exhaustive summation of a remarkable decade. Continue reading on the next page…

us in our decade-based film retrospective, as we delve backwards all the way from 2009 to 1910. Most decade-based best movie lists grant you a whooping 50-100 entries, which makes perfect sense given all the years you have to take into consideration. But what if you were defining a decade in just ten films? Which movies would you recommend to somebody who might only watch a handful from a given decade? This week, we look back at the Seventies. The seventies holds a reputation for being the best period for a working writer/director, a time when those young kids fresh out of film school – kids like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese – began to take over the multiplexes. These were kids who had grown up watching and learning from the motion pictures of the past, and they were ready to express their love of cinema through the process of making their own films. Gone were the days of the “director for hire” – now it was personal. This great period of freedom would end with Michael Cimino and his overblown flop Heaven’s Gate, when studios became scared out of their wits and took back the free rein they’d granted their directors. But there was an entire decade of miraculous, inventive and gritty cinema to be had. Seventies movies were cool, after all – slick, adventurous and leaning on a more realistic approach to storytelling, often mirroring the aesthetic qualities of documentary filmmaking. Here, too, was where the blockbuster was born in Spielberg’s Jaws, a motion picture that would change the face of cinema forever. Here’s our pick of the best 10 films of the seventies – though you’re certainly sure to have a list of your own personal favorites.

2011 has been yet another impressive year for Blu-Ray. With each New Year comes Blu-Ray’s slow takeover as the dominant home video format. Market shares are increasing and awareness is increasing. 2011 gave way to classic titles making their first appearance on the high def format like Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars, Jurassic Park and many many more. 2011 also marked for the introduction to 3D Blu-Ray; a technology that is still slowly catching on. As we’re drawing closer to the New Year, I’ve put together this list of my personal favorite Blu-Rays of 2011. I’ve broken them down into separate categories that I thought would help give the viewers a better idea of why I chose a particular disc. I must note that hundreds of Blu-Ray discs came out over the year and I wasn’t able to check out all of them, so this list shouldn’t act as the absolute list of 2011, but more so my personal selections of 2011. Best Picture Quality – The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick‘s incredibly bold film The Tree of Life is hands down the best looking Blu-Ray disc of 2011. It’s one of the most beautifully shot films of all-time and Fox transferred it to Blu-Ray without a single flaw. His use of nature and simple details of life to tell a story in a non-linear way might not be for everybody, but The Tree of Life‘s stunning imagery is worthy of celebration. The film features a wide array of color, from the dark and cold colors of space to the warm and bright colors of the O’Brien’s front yard. This is a reference disc that is sure to please anyone looking to take Blu-Ray to maximum capacity. Best Audio Quality – Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Michael Bay‘s latest Transformers flick might not have been a good quality movie, but it sure sounds amazing on Blu-Ray. The 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio mix is one of the best tracks ever released on Blu-Ray. Everything about the track is so loud, clear and pristine. The last hour specifically is the ultimate treat for any high def junkie, but even the films quieter moments impress. Dialogue is never a problem and environmental detail is extraordinary. Every single piece of broken glass can be heard as well as every piece of broken building towards the ending climax. The audio track is an all-out war of explosions and power. Best Animated Film – Rango While I didn’t particularly care for the film in general I think it’s hard to deny Rango this award. The film’s quality combined with the video and audio easily make it the best animated film released on Blu-Ray in 2011. The film itself sort of dragged in quality for a good half hour, but the natural detail is so sharp and colorful. Let it be noted that Rango is a Paramount release and not Disney, yet it looks just as good as any Pixar production. The characters are creatively designed and displayed with a realistic visual approach that adds detail like dirt, sweat and lifelike wear and tear. Rango holds up as one of Johnny Depp‘s better efforts and one of Paramount’s only films that can truly rival Disney and their Pixar films. Best Catalog Release – Pulp Fiction The film that we’ve all been waiting for has finally hit Blu-Ray. Pulp Fiction easily wins as best catalog release of 2011. For those of you that don’t know catalog release simply means a title that was previously available to own on a past format like DVD or VHS. Lionsgate gives Quentin Tarantino‘s cult-classic the utmost respect when they transferred it over to Blu-Ray. The disc is loaded with detailed special features and it looks and sounds better than ever. Watching the film on Blu-Ray was like watching it for the first time all over again and it still holds up as one of the best films ever made. Best Box Set – Jurassic Park

I might take some heat for not picking Star Wars for this category, but I honestly thought Universal’s release of the Jurassic Park trilogy was far superior to Fox releasing George Lucas‘ epic sci-fi trilogy (and their horrible prequels). Star Wars fumbled onto Blu-Ray with new butchered cuts by Lucas. The theatrical cuts were nowhere to be found, which made the disc go from great to good. The video, audio and special features for the Star Wars package were good, but the lack of the original cuts made it become something already in need of a double dip. The Jurassic Park trilogy on the other hand comes with all three films and a wide array of special features, including a never before seen six part documentary. Each film looks better than ever with full 1080p video transfers and the 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks are all full of range and detailed effects. The first film still remains the best of the series, but I think the second one holds up well while the third feels a little too warn out and tired. Watching this trilogy set on Blu-Ray brought back the kid in me who was awed by Steven Spielberg‘s entries in the series. The dated special effects hold up well with the universal stories being told. Best Replay Value – Take Me Home Tonight This category is reserved for a personal favorite film of mine from 2011. Michael Dowse‘s Take Me Home Tonight had a long bumpy road trying to get a theatrical release, but in 2011 that goal was finally achieved. I still think the film is one of the most entertaining films of the year despite its imitation of classic films like American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused. Topher Grace, Dan Fogler and Teresa Palmer all provide funny, yet down to earth performances in this coming-of-age story set in the 80’s. The Blu-Ray disc features a grainy video transfer that replicates the film experience and a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that rocks due to the film’s great soundtrack. I’ve probably watched the film on Blu-Ray over 10 times, including all of the special features. It’s one of the most overlooked films of 2011 and I’m glad the Blu-Ray disc is such a winner. Best 3D Blu-Ray Release – TRON: Legacy Like I mentioned above, 2011 marks for the release of Blu-Ray 3D on the home video format. Until this year only a few titles got 3D treatment and most were “fake” 3D. Disney started to pump out classic titles like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast while Paramount and Sony jumped on the bandwagon with The Smurfs and How to Train Your Dragon. The biggest 3D release, Avatar, has still yet to receive a wide 3D release (it can be purchased with specific 3D Blu-Ray player bundles). Each and every studio started releasing their library in hopes to capitalize on this latest 3D craze and I found one particular title to be the best one in of 3D video, 2D video and audio. Disney’s live-action TRON: Legacy is a dark visual treat for 3D fans. The 3D transfer contains tons of depth and impressively rendered special effects that make the disc worthy of a purchase. The film might have been a stinker in theaters, but the experience it provided cannot be ignored. It took the 3D craze and turned it on itself providing you with a world of dark colors and a base heavy techno score. TRON impressed me because it managed to go in the opposite direction of Avatar in of visuals, which provided it with a unique set of visuals I’ve only ever seen once before in the original TRON. Everything was dark and lifeless in the high-tech futuristic world of s and programs. The 3D Blu-Ray perfectly represents the theatrical experience of the film with a layered 3D transfer, a sharply slick 2D transfer and an absorbent 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track.

2011 was without a doubt one hell of a year for Blu-Ray technology. Traditional 2D films have been equally selling when compared to their DVD counterparts and 3D combo packs have been slowly making a dent. With the slow decline in theater revenue the home video market has been flourishing and it’s great to see every day buyers invest in Blu-Ray. There’s been hundreds of worthy titles released on Blu-Ray both classics and new releases and the continued success will only mean more for the future. I wish I could cover every Blu-Ray disc that I really enjoyed, but there are just too many out there. I’d like to close my article mentioning a few more titles that are worthy of viewing. Titles like The Social Network, Attack the Block, Source Code, Fast Five, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class were all great films that received great Blu-Ray transfers in 2011. They might not have been named best PQ or AQ in my book, but the films themselves are really good and the Blu-Ray packages are top quality. Here’s to the great job studios did on 2011 Blu-Ray titles (even though they messed up a fair share of titles too) and here’s to 2012 and what Blu-Ray titles it brings for us! I’m personally looking forward to the Indiana Jones collection and more Alfred Hitchcock titles. I’m sure we’ll see even more noteworthy titles released in 2012 as the format slowly settles in for the long haul!

Thanks to cinephile Youtube Mewlists and The Daily What, we have a fun video montage of the 25 greatest unscripted scenes in movies, and a little nod to talented actors working off the cuff. Now most of you can probably think of a few scenes that didn’t make this video, but for what it is, it’s pure viewing pleasure for the true movie fan. It’s also a great reminder of the improvisation and other off-the-script shenanigans that end up in film, no matter what genre. And since these scenes can be the most memorable (“Game over, man…game over!”), it’s fantastic to see the best of the best brought together. It’s also rather interesting as I’m sure a lot of you had no idea that some of these scenes were unscripted. Check it out below and tell us what you think.

With all that director Martin Scorsese already has on his plate, it’s possible that he may be adding yet another with The Comedian. It’s been written by producer Art Linson (Fight Club), who wants Scorsese to direct and Robert De Niro to play an “insult comic described as Don Rickles meets Joan Rivers.” This wouldn’t be the first time that De Niro took on such a role. You may that Scorsese also directed The King of Comedy that had De Niro starring as a comedian. The role, which is being described as “a serious role with Oscar potential,” could be De Niro ticket back to the top after flat performances in bad films such as Little Fockers and Stone. The two-time Oscar winner used to be Scorsese’s regular go-to guy as the two worked together for many years on such classics as Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. Scorsese’s next film, Hugo Cabret, is coming out this December. He then plans to make his Jesuit drama Silence next, and possibly a biopic of Frank Sinatra after that. If this reteaming doesn’t happen though, there is also Scorsese’s planned return to gangster films with The Irishman which would include De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, and possibly Harvey Keitel. On top of all that, he also has his remake of The Five Obstructions with Lars von Trier. It’s good to see that Scorsese is keeping busy. He’s a director who rarely disappoints, and with this list of films, it looks like we have a lot to look forward to. (Source: The Playlist)