GoodFellas
Drama Noir 1990
Based on the experiences of real-life mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), director Martin Scorsese’s spectacular, irreverent picture explores Mafia mores from the perspective of an admiring insider gradually making his way up the chain. The funny, knowing script by Scorsese and journalist Nicholas Pileggi (whose book Wiseguy was the film’s basis) emphasizes the insularity of Mafia society and its perverted moral values. Read the rest of this entry »
Bernardo Bertolucci
The grandchild of a revolutionary who grew up loving the fine arts and literature, Bernardo Bertolucci revolutionized the art of cinema with his frank films about politics and sexuality. The Italian director has made some of the landmark films of the modern era, earning international recognition and industry accolades along the way. Read the rest of this entry »
Taxi Driver
Drama 1976
John Hinckley’s unfortunate admiration for Jodie Foster’s performance in Taxi Driver (he claimed he shot President Reagan to impress her) has somewhat obscured the film’s brilliance as a quintessential expression of seventies alienation. Screenwriter Paul Schrader created one of the period’s most emblematic characters in Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle, the antisocial loner [...]
Raging Bull
Drama 1980
Robert De Niro went all out to make boxer Jake La Motta — the raging bull of the title — a living, breathing, immortal figure in the minds of moviegoers. Director Martin Scorsese, doing some of the best work of his already breathtaking career, gives him ample room, and draws greatness out of him. [...]
Martin Scorsese
I just wanted to be an ordinary parish priest.
— Martin Scorsese
MARTIN SCORSESE has been one of America’s most critically acclaimed filmmakers for more than 20 years, and he achieved cinematic success with movies that reflect his own Italian-American Catholic upbringing. Scorsese was an asthmatic youngster who spent a great deal of time in movie theaters.
Robert De Niro
There is a certain combination of anarchy and discipline in the way I work.
— Robert De Niro
ARE you talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?” Robert De Niro taunts himself in a mirror. He is Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Travis Bickle is trying to become a tough guy, a somebody. De Niro is trying [...]
Sleepers Mismatches Sordid Tale, Mushy Style
John Hartl
Director–Barry Levinson
Starring -Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Patric, Robert De Niro
This is a big, schmaltzy, star-studded, old-fashioned Hollywood movie about . . . well, if you were thinking The Sound of Music, forget it.What it’s about, actually, is a gang of depraved reform-school guards who thoroughly enjoy raping, torturing and occasionally murdering the [...]
Tipping the Scales
Sean Means
Director–Barry Levinson
Starring-Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Patric, Robert De Niro
By every empirical measure, Sleepers should be a great movie. It’s got a stellar cast — topped by Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman, Vittorio Gassman and Brad Pitt — working at the top of their individual games. It has a sharp writer-director, [...]
Foul Tip
Sean Means
Director–Tony Scott
Starring-Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes
Maybe it’s the absence of his best collaborator, Martin Scorsese, but Robert De Niro’s psycho routine doesn’t feel the same in The Fan. In this forced, steroidal thriller, De Niro in a rage is just another scream in the cacophony.
De Niro plays Gil Renard, a hunting-knife salesman who [...]
Bright Lights, Dark Motives
Sean Means
Director–Martin Scorsese
Starring -James Woods, Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone
In Casino,’ Martin Scorsese is on familiar turf, chronicling the rise and fall of a group of gangsters in ’70s Las Vegas. He’s working with some of his “GoodFellas” collaborators, such as Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and writer Nicholas Pileggi.The results are [...]
