Critics Club II: 04 - Robert De Niro

[Neon Ignition]

Are you lookin' at this thread? Are you lookin' at this thread?

I don't see any other threads 'round here...

Robert De Niro gets the CCII treatment this time. Vote for the movie you feel is their best

Whilst also discussing their other work, your reasons for voting and thoughts on what is their weakest.

Some will have very long lists so some trimming will be required to focus on the key entries but broadly the main selection will be available each time.

[Dogg Thang]

These are all old people! Most of their classics are before we were 10 years old, and I'm not a young guy. Let's have Zac Efron or Will Smith's kid next.

[Neon Ignition]

Effron, bah! The true icons of our time are the likes of Sean William Scott and Matthew Lillard!

[Dogg Thang]

Actually, yes, I guess that would include some of the cinematic classics such as Hackers, Scooby-Doo and probably what I can assume is called American Pie 6: American Rehash.

[Atticus]

I'd have to go with Taxi Driver. Maybe swayed by the fact it's one of my favourite films.

It's a strange career he's had after the incredible work he did with MS (and others). Almost like he got bored of being great and just wanted to fool around instead.

Hoping for a return to form with The Irishman. It's very possible too. I didn't think Casino could ever match Goodfellas but it totally did.

[QualityChimp]

I've not seen enough De Niro. I've never seen The Deerhunter or Raging Bull, which are deemed cinematic classics.
Neither synopsis has ever interested me though.

It is quite funny how these days he's really not bothered in quality and will happily get a paycheque for The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle. That old bank robbers one looks fun though.

The same as Atticus, I've voted for Taxi Driver as that's a film that keeps on giving.
I can't imagine the film with another actor and for all the "yoo lookin' at me?" spoofs, the actual scene is really tense as you see Bickle embracing the start of his downward cycle. You don't know which way he's going to spin off at from then on.

I think it's a combination of factors that make the film so great, but I particularly love some of the shots in this that don't just frame the character, but help make the viewer feel on-edge too. Like the shot of Travis on the phone apologising to Betsy for blowing their date (by taking her to a porno movie!) and the camera pans across to the empty corridor.

It's open to interpretation, but it's pretty symbolic of his isolation and separation from his grip on reality and it's not long after he's shaving his head and going after Sport the pimp.

[Atticus]

Raging Bull

Amend your to-do list forthwith

[Finsbury Girl]

So much dross mixed in with absolute gems. I cannot possible pick 1, I have a soft spot for some of the less critically acclaimed films such as Mad Dog & Glory, Midnight Run and love his character in Back Draft. Of course Godfather 2, Taxi Driver, Once Upon a Time in America, The Deer Hunter are absolute classics. QC I'd definitely recommend The Deer Hunter, it is a superb film.

Edit. Forgot to mention The Untouchables, if only for baseball bat scene......

[QualityChimp]

[MENTION=4034]Atticus[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4146]Finsbury Girl[/MENTION], yeah yeah. I know. A cineaste such as myself should have seen such classics.

I love The Untouchables, but I wouldn't say it's great because of De Niro.

I hate Meet The Parents, by the way.
If I were Ben Stiller's character, I would have split up with my girlfriend about 20 minutes into the film.
There's no way I'd hang around getting bullied and if she doesn't want to support me, at all, then there's no way I'm going to be bending over backwards to gain acceptance from her family.

[Atticus]

I'm not saying you should have, Chimp, just recommending

I still haven't seen Casablanca or Lawrence of Arabia ... I'll get round to it one day.

[QualityChimp]

Me neither.

I'm a joke!

[Blobcat]

Yet another legend I have not actually seen many of the films he is in.

Only film that jumps out at me is Awakenings which left an impact on me when I had to watch part of in RE at school so much so I rented it out.

Deer hunter was a great film but Awakenings I remember more for some reason.

[monel]

I think he started doing crappy films to fund his film festival or something. Can't remember the exact details there was more than one reason not sure if it involved a divorce. I think I'm the only person who really likes Analyse This and Analyse That. Most film fans and critics never mention those films but I genuinely like them.

Everything QC wrote about Taxi Driver is spot on. What's sad is that Deniro really picked on Cybill Shepherd when they were making the film. The story is really very dark and I feel bad for the main character. He does try to reach out to that one colleague but he gets brushed off. Funnily enough thats another film where some people say the ending could be a dream.

I love Midnight Run as mentioned above. That's probably my favourite of his. Once upon a Time in America is brilliant and although I didn't originally like Heat I began to love it after a rewatch many years later.

[teddymeow]

These are all old people! Most of their classics are before we were 10 years old, and I'm not a young guy. Let's have Zac Efron or Will Smith's kid next.

Or even Will Smith himself.
Brad Pitt
Tom Cruise
George Clooney
Sandra Bullock
Keanu Reeves

Oh, and Cape Fear is the correct answer to this one.

[Dogg Thang]

And Miss Congeniality is the correct answer to Sandra Bullock.