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Rob Zombie recommended Taxi Driver (1976) in Movies (curated)

 
Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
1976 | Thriller

"I would say Taxi Driver. First time I saw Taxi Driver as a kid, it f—in’ blew my mind. I’ve always been a huge fan of movies about solitary, sort of loner people. I think that’s what I liked about horror movies as a kid, because the monsters were always portrayed that way. And Taxi Driver‘s obviously the ultimate movie about that. I don’t know. I’m picking very obvious movies that are genius, but they were new to me as a kid when I saw them, and they just made me go, “Oh my god, the genius of movies.” I love Taxi Driver so much; I’ve seen it so many times. It’s probably one of those movies where I could recite the whole movie straight, or I could at one point; I probably can’t any more. But when I moved to New York — I lived in New York in the early 1980s — and I literally went to every location that was in Taxi Driver, and it was all still there: the porno theater, Variety photo place where Jodie Foster runs in front of Travis’ cab, the furnished rooms building where Harvey Keitel’s standing. I actually had a friend who lived in that building, so that was even more exciting. I used to be a maniac; I went everywhere. It was like my walking tour of Taxi Driver, New York. And again, I was like, “It’s Peter Boyle as the Wizard! This is the greatest movie ever made!” I remember seeing Peter Boyle at the Beverly Center once, and I freaked out. It’s like, “Who do you get excited to meet?” “Peter Boyle!”

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Jarhead (2005)
Jarhead (2005)
2005 | Drama
𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. At least 90% surface-level and even more largely reductive - of course it is - but it's also totally incompetent. A 2+ hour torture session slog through a barren wasteland visually (Deakins of course shoots the living hell out of it, so there's some damn fine imagery every now and again but Jesus Christ could we do more than two fucking [mawkish and over-obviously symbolized] colors for this whole thing?) but moreso narratively, where this has absolutely nothing to say. You'd think this intentionally dances right around any sort of gift-wrapped commentary about the Gulf War, toxic masculinity, the late 1980s, the American military for young men, or literally anything at all with how dead and non-thematic this awkward crawl is. It can't even be bothered in exploring its own characters lives, I kept forgetting who these people even were - the movie clearly didn't care about them so why should I? Also has the same problem most of these one-dimensional, pandering, tedious war flicks have where it rushes right through the supposed pivotal moment all of this arduous buildup was clearly meant for when they all return home and it's only like 5 minutes of soap opera-level crap and a cheesy 'mic drop' finisher. At its best when it gets weird and Sam Mendes-y, and I can't say it's without solid moments of haunt - plus Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard, and Foxx keep it marginally more tolerable - but even if it *could* handle its tone (spoiler alert, it can't) this still plays like it was made by complete idiots who only cared about this being would-be Oscar bait.
  
American Made (2017)
American Made (2017)
2017 | Mystery
Biopics can be problematic in their attempt to retell history or use individual perspectives to inform their audience about events that many may already be familiar with. In American Made, Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal, a TWA pilot who is recruited by the CIA to fly reconnaissance missions in Central America. He soon finds himself at the center of drug trafficking, gun trafficking, and as a pawn of several different entities seeking to use his skills and expertise for their own purposes.

The film is ambitious in trying to tell serious historic events as a campy adventure in which Barry is care free despite the consequences of his actions. Nothing about the film seems right. It unfortunately, can make an audience feel uneasy cheering on a drug smuggler who is making inordinate amounts of money for some of the most dangerous individuals on the face of the earth.

A positive effect of the film is that it demonstrates to audiences the complexities of American Foreign policy, drug policy, and corruption that existed in the 1980s and that it shouldn’t be viewed with rose colored glasses. If anything, it may offer another perspective about the period that not too many people may be familiar with and create a desire in them to research more about the period and events.

American Made offers audiences a funny, introspective, personal account of one man’s experience working for the government and drug cartels that allows for a break from some of the more serious and dark portrayals that have typically been featured. Audiences will enjoy reminiscing about the 80s and think back to how complicated the period actually was.