As part of a downsizing project eight years ago I purged most of my pre-recorded VHS tape collection. I've never been a big collector of movies -- my DVD library is fairly small -- but the fact is I had accumulated around 70 tapes:
Taxi Driver (1976) Stunning filmmaking; all departments, including: Direction (Martin Scorsese), Script (Paul Schrader), Cinematography (Michael Chapman), Music (Bernard Herrmann), Editing (Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro), Acting (Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and more), etc.
I remember seeing Taxi Driver for the first time on late night television. Few film viewings have had such a grip on me.
Final Note: Check out the VHS tape's box front above. "Jodie Foster is delightful." She certainly is terrific. The 'critic' -- Liz Smith from Cosmopolitan magazine -- was not incorrect, but for such a quote to end up as the box front's representative critical notice tells me that someone at Columbia Pictures Home Video was not doing his or her job.
I can imagine: "Hey, honey, you like romantic comedies. This looks like it might be fun, and something the kids could watch." (Until they turn the box over to read the back....)
2 comments:
Ha! I remember that cover.
TAXI DRIVER can be praised with a lot of adjectives, but “delightful” is not one that immediately comes to mind. I guess they were targeting the PRETTY WOMAN crowd. I would have loved to see those people's faces…
I remember seeing on late night tv as well...CITY I think. I was around 12 at the time and the ending hit me like a brick to the forehead. "Delightful" indeed!
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