My Favorite Movies

Scorses's masterpiece; an unflinching glimpse and meditation on the post-Nixon era in New York City where the political climate is as tense as the neurosis of it's inhabitants. The film's technique in bringing the viewer into the mind of Travis Bickle is effective in creating a viscereal experience while watching it; it's as though you are morphing into him, but not really. It's a great psychological case study of madness with the eventual redemption of reclaiming one's sanity as the footnote to vigilante prediliction; a hero is but a saint whose fall from grace is as tragic as the victim whom he saves.

This movie is the standard upon which all reality-based film-making today should be compared to -- nothing comes close to it. It was s-o-o ahead of it's time. The lead women characters / actresses are stunningly beautiful and embody that classical Hollywood beauty of old. But what stood out most for me about this film is the purity of substance in theme; of what is deemed as "a good time"; which consists of nothing more than people's company, some booze, and the non-existence of access to the internet.

The peak solliquy to the heady and bawdy times of the post-Vietnam War era; "free your mind and your mind will lead you to your past". This is an important film; well-conceived, smart, and boundlessly intriguing. By mixing plausible science with some of the fantastical musings of a very spaced-out hippie (a brilliant hippie albeit), the notion of being able to travel through time through one's consciousness never felt more compelling to chance. Ken Russell's cinematic-gawdiness actually fares well in this film, although nothing like his ultra-realistic film, Whore, which starred his then-wife, Rebecca Di Mornay, Altered States is a science-fiction film that shocks the senses with it's bold and sometimes, disturbing cut-sequences. Other works similar to this, I recommend, Lair of the White Worm, which also carries the trademark Ken Russell tangential-tendency to accentuate narrative with provocative imagery.

This cult classic is a nostalgic time-capsule for those who lived in that suburban bubble of an existence during the 1970's; a dog, two cars, sprawling backyard, pool, & with of course, the omni-present atmosphere of rebellious teenagers roaming the barren streets of sequestered communities tucked away in the smoldering dusty plains of the San Fernando Valley. This nostalgia is what I value most about the movie over the plot, or story, or anything to do with the cinematic experience, because the insight into youth culture provided by this film is a revelation on many levels. THE SOUNDTRACK IS GREAT. Cheap Trick's single, Surrender, never resonated so deeply with me, with such meaning and relevance, than when watching that scene with the lead character rocking out on his bed with his headphones while contemplating his future. Although the film harks on drug abuse and rebellion, there's a lot of significant commentary on the social consequences of suburban life, which comes off as an isolated hell; or, a utopia where nothing ever happens. Jus' love that basement party scene where Van Halen;s You really got me, is blaring in the background. "ooh, ahh, ohh, ahh, ahh, ohh, ahh, Giirrrl..ohh ahh aaa...you really got me now...oohh, ahh...lol.