Imagine you were born in the mid 90’s. If you watched a fair amount of new films from then on and were of the opinion that movies older than you held no interest, you’d have to think that Robert DeNiro was some kind of an aging comedian of sorts. Another Rodney Dangerfield? Surely you would have watched the Meet The Parents trilogy, his satirical turn in Machete, other oddball entries like Grudge Match, a few dramas with Jennifer Lawrence, but yet have some sense of an idea that he has a quality within him to play it tough judging by his roles in Showtime, Analyze This and That as well.
Should you come upon a youngster of such beliefs, please enlighten them to what once was with an obvious nod to Martin Scorsese for so many of these films are ones that have influenced my viewing habits from my teen years to the present.
Trying to keep it clean here so mind the quotes……..
As Johnny Boy………….”I hate that lady with a passion… with a vengeance. “
As Travis Bickle …… “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talking… you talking to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the F…. do you think you’re talking to? Oh yeah? OK. “
As Monroe Stahr ……. “I don’t think I have more brains than a writer, I just think that his brains belong to me “
As Michael….. “You wanna play games? All right, I’ll play your f…… games. “
Winning an Oscar as Jake LaMotta ….. “You didn’t get me down, Ray. ” ………… “You’re very smart, Joey. You’re giving me a lot of answers, but you ain’t giving me the right answer. I’m gonna ask you again: did you or did you not? “
As Rupert Pupkin, this one gets better with every viewing. “Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime. “
As Noodles …….. “Today they asked us to get rid of Joe, tomorrow they ask me to get rid of you. Is that okay with you? ‘Cause it’s not okay with me! “
As Al Capone …. “I want you to get this f… where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES! ”
As many great films as DeNiro has done, his turn as Jack Walsh might be the best for pure entertainment. “I can’t keep you cuffed on a commercial flight, and I gotta check my gun with my luggage, but you f… with me once and I’m gonna break your neck. ” ……………. “I’ll tell you what: if you don’t cooperate, you’re gonna suffer from “fistophobia”.”
As Jimmy Conway …… “I’m not mad, I’m proud of you. You took your first pinch like a man and you learn two great things in your life. Look at me, never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut. “
As Ace Rothstein …. “Listen to me very carefully. There are three ways of doing things around here: the right way, the wrong way, and the way that *I* do it. You understand? “
As Neil McCauley ….. “There is a flip side to that coin. What if you do got me boxed in and I gotta put you down? Cause no matter what, you will not get in my way. We’ve been face to face, yeah. But I will not hesitate. Not for a second. ” ………… “I do what I do best, I take scores. You do what you do best, try to stop guys like me. “
As Louis ………. “Well… that’s what I want to tell you. She was being such a pain. She made us late for the pickup because she locked herself in your bathroom for hours with her bong getting high. She was nagging and complaining… so strung out. She wouldn’t shut up, so… I shot her.”
I do have a number of these originals here at home in “the vault” but I do not have that Taxi Driver one sheet. What I have is the alternative release for it and though I won’t give it up, it’s just not as colorful. On the flip side, the image does seem to suit the character.
Mike's Take On the Movies 
Funny, I had a conversation like this a little while back with a friend of a friend who only knew DeNiro from his comedy work. Let’s say he got an education from a few online sources and a weekend of watching movies with his wife. nyway, I’ve always liked that B+W Taxi Driver poster over the painted one thanks to it being a photo from the Times Square area of NYC, a place guaranteed to be pretty freaky at that point in time.
A timely posting. Not to know of is early work makes for discovering some great movie experiences. The backdrop in that poster looks to be a pretty seedy part of town. The location and isolation of the character on that pic really suits the story’s backdrop.
I knew De Niro worked with Scorsese, but I never realized just how many films they’d done together. And I’ll have to go with the b&w Taxi Driver poster as well…it’s the one I was first introduced to, and the one I always think of when the film is mentioned. And how many of us have seen the Christmas short ‘Raging Rudolph’?
I had to hit youtube for Raging Rudolph and yes, forgot it even existed but did see it years ago I guess. I bought that Tax Driver poster close to thirty years ago with about 150 other titles from a local drive in that went out of business. Was my greatest score ever. Countless 70’s classics for $150 in total. That’s Canadian lol.