May 7, 2025 • 37 mins
Travis Bickle, a lonely Vietnam War veteran working as a NYC taxi driver, descends into violent vigilantism as his mental state deteriorates and his disgust with urban decay intensifies. Martin Scorsese's legendary 1976 character study features an iconic performance by Robert De Niro that continues to influence cinema decades later.
• Robert De Niro's transformative performance as Travis Bickle remains the film's standout element
• Scorsese's portrayal of 1970s New York City creates a character of its own through gritty, atmospheric cinematography
• Bernard Herrmann's jazz-influenced score perfectly enhances the film's sense of isolation and brewing violence
• The film's ambiguous portrayal of its protagonist has led to controversial interpretations over the decades
• Travis Bickle's character has influenced numerous films about isolated, disturbed individuals, most notably 2019's "Joker"
• The "You talkin' to me?" mirror scene has become one of cinema's most referenced and parodied moments
• Modern viewers may find the pacing deliberately slow compared to contemporary films
Letterbox'd Synopsis: A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feed his urge for violent action.
🔻You can find all important links for the podcast over at https://linktr.ee/waitforitpodcast 🔺
🔻BACKGROUND MUSIC PROVIDED BY:
"Extenz - Gravity" is under a Creative Commons license
Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: https://bit.ly/extenz-gravity
🔺
Enjoyed the episode? Have something to tell us? Text us here!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment Wait
for it Gaming, wait for it AnimePLUS ULTRA.
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil theFilipino.
Yeah, they've got you coveredand all you gotta do is wait for
it.
This is the Wait For it Podcast.
(00:33):
Hey, everyone, welcome back tothe Wait For it Podcast.
I'm your co-host, phil Barrera,aka Phil the Filipino.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And I'm your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty, and
for this edition of Late to theParty, we are talking about a
film that we have yet to see,that, in film circles, is talked
about quite a lot.
In fact, when we started makinga list of movies we hadn't seen
, this is probably one of thebiggest ones that we've yet to
(01:01):
arrive to as far as an episodegoes.
Phil, we are here to talk aboutTaxi Driver.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, taxi Driver is on.
Pretty much every film you needto see before you die list
Films that everyone has seen.
When you scroll through theletterbox, everyone talks about
Taxi Driver and obviouslymentions Martin Scorsese.
Now we've done a Martin Scorsesefilm here on the series, which,
(01:29):
of course, was Goodfellas, oneof my favorite films of all time
.
Eric did enjoy it, but not asmuch as I did.
So we're revisiting the MartinScorsese film and I know for a
lot of people that can be a bitof a mixed bag, so very
interested to see how this filmyou know how we felt about this
film because I want to speakvery carefully about this and
(01:55):
how I arrived at my score andit's going to be an interesting
conversation regardless, Eric,because this is a very, I think,
polarizing movie.
The farther away we've gottenfrom 1976, which is when it came
out, and traditionally areolder films than us is a very, I
think, polarizing movie.
The farther away we've gottenfrom 1976, which is when it came
out, and traditionally olderfilms and us don't vibe with the
best.
So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, yeah, god forbid that one of us maybe
didn't enjoy it as much as theother, or maybe didn't enjoy it
as much as people in general, soyou gotta stick around to find
out which one of us, which oneof us, is gonna be.
Um, it's me, no, and listen,we're we're going to like it's.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I get it.
I totally get it, because I amthere as well for probably half
of this, and it's not like a.
It's not even like a half oneand half two, it's a.
I like bits and pieces of this.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Didn't like any of that.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I like bits and pieces of that, so it's a really
strange conversation.
So let's, let's just start fromthe beginning.
Let's go with the synopsisfirst, once again.
Taxi driver in 1976, directedby barton scorsese.
On every street in every city,there's nobody who dreams of
being somebody.
Mentally unstable vietnam warveteran works as a nighttime
taxi driver in new york citywhere the perceived decadence
(03:10):
and sleaze need his urge forviolent action.
So first off, eric, it's crazywe didn't see this before.
Watching this and then think,like this is the Joker.
Did he do anything original inthat?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
first movie Between this and another movie we
haven't seen that is referenced.
That is also a De Niro andScorsese film.
The King of Comedy is broughtup a lot.
Did Todd Phillips do anythingoriginal?
Respectfully from what I'veseen clips of from that film and
now watching Taxi Driver, I getthe complaints.
(03:48):
It's going to be tough to hearmy opinion and also know that,
despite the fact that this moviein mine and everybody's eyes,
joker has fallen off a bit withtime and aging, I still like it
as a film.
I still can't deny that Ienjoyed Joker.
So I'm just going to have tolive with the fact that I know
(04:11):
that Joker is a clear ripoff ofnow these two films, one of
which we've seen and one ofwhich that I didn't enjoy nearly
as much.
So I'm putting that precursorout there.
You can save your comments.
I get it.
I can't defend myself.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yep, this is very much a film bro movie.
It's a film that is for peoplewho have studied this craft, who
understand the meaning of shotsthat we cannot comprehend, and
that is okay.
So I want to start off bysaying this is not going to be
like our typical episode.
(04:46):
We cannot go here's the good,here's the bad.
It's just not structured thatway.
It's just impossible.
So this film is not for everyone, and if you're not going to
really dive into, or if you haveno understanding of, kind of
specifically when it comes to,like, displaced veterans, if
(05:10):
that's not a thing that you'rereally entrenched in or have an
understanding for, then you'rereally goingrenched in or have
an understanding for then you'rereally going to just break this
down to a film of a guy who isjust lonely and probably
mentally ill, who becomes very,very violent over time, and
you'll just think about how muchof a.
So that is why I couldn't, Iwouldn't be able to recommend
(05:34):
this to anybody and I'll beupfront with you, eric, even
though I know my score is higher, it's not a movie I want to
watch again either.
So this is going to make for areally complicated conversation.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, and I think it's going to be important to
understand where our ratingscome from.
I get made fun of all the timethat a certain rating of mine
means I don't like a movie, andI'm going to be honest, I'm
around that point.
We'll talk about what my actualscore is because, upon sleeping
on it, phil saw this today as arecording.
I saw this last night as arecording.
(06:07):
This movie is extremely freshon our minds.
On purpose, we're recordingthis like a month ahead as well.
We're getting really ahead onour content.
Congratulations to us.
This is why Because we're goingto need some time to craft our
thoughts and also make sure thatwhen we do these episodes, they
are fresh on our mind, they'replanned out and with this plan
in mind, you know, let's talkabout the film from top to
(06:31):
bottom.
This film is a film from the70s, so I mean, we're going to
talk openly about the plot.
If you have not seen TaxiDriver, this is not the episode
to find out why you should orshouldn't watch it.
We're going to talk freelyabout it.
And, phil, I do want to atleast start with the biggest
positive, which is Robert DeNiro.
Like, the performance, for whatthe character is is excellent,
(06:54):
like Robert De Niro.
You talking to me.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I didn't know.
That's what this was from.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I didn't either I didn't know, I knew it was a pop
culture moment.
I've seen De Niro with themohawk and I've seen that clip,
so again, it was really fun towatch.
In that aspect, it's a lot ofeverything else.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
It's a lot of everything else with this movie
that I have.
Probably.
It was crazy seeing him thatshredded too.
I didn't, I did not.
I was not familiar with robertde niro's game.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure I didn't know he wasever that, that big.
So yeah, goodfellas come outthat was 1990, so it's like 14
years later, so he was alreadylike older and established.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So, like I never knew , he looked like that yeah, and
I mean he was pairing withscorsese the way leo is now like
he was pairing with scorsese alot back in that time frame.
Uh, it's crazy to see, crazy tosee.
But yeah, I mean like,ultimately, what it comes down
to for me is just the moviereally hinges on De Niro's
(07:55):
performance, which is why Ithink a lot of people like it so
much.
Jodie Foster is also in thisand for what we do get out of
her, not bad.
I mean she's 12 in this movie,so there's that as well.
Outside of that film I reallycan't like name any other
standout performances and attimes I don't even know if I
(08:16):
like the dialogue very much.
So I don't really have a lotpositive to say.
But my score is going toreflect very focused on De
Niro's performance and how hisperformance at least kept me
interested somewhat throughoutthe film.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, and I very intentionally wore this shirt
for this episode Because I knowthis character.
When it comes to Travis, thereare a lot of comparisons when it
comes to, you know, the maincharacter of American Psycho,
and there is a reason notPatrick Bateman.
(08:51):
There's a reason like why Idon't go parading, that I'm a
fan of Patrick Bateman and I'mnot a fan of Patrick Bateman and
the things that he does.
I'm a fan in Christian Bale'sperformance of Patrick Bateman
and I think there are a lot ofpeople that feel the same way
about Travis Bickle.
And actually I know that a lotof people feel the same way
(09:11):
because I did a little bit of adeep dive and watched some
videos and it's.
There are plenty of comments ofpeople saying that they
understand how Travis feels,they relate to him, but I also
saw, you know, the moreencouraging comments were like I
related to this person and Isaw the problem in that.
So this film is very much one Ithink is incredibly relevant
(09:32):
today.
So I would recommend it to aspecific audience in hope that
they learn something positive,not that they find Travis Bickle
some sort of hero or idol.
That, I think, is what makesthis maybe a little bit of a
dangerous watch in 2025, knowingwhere we stand now and listen.
There are a lot more peoplethat are way more, way, way more
(09:52):
predative to talk aboutsomething like this than we are,
but we can talk about it from astandpoint that we are men and
that we do know that there is amental health crisis when it
comes to just being open aboutyour feelings and feeling lonely
and I already alluded to youknow, being a veteran and I'm
from a military family and howthose people are displaced.
There's a lot of themes goingon here that are very
(10:14):
uncomfortable and lead to anuncomfortable place, and I can
see how, like in the story thatScorsese grabbed when they got
there but, eric, there's just alot of nothing going on.
Like in between it's like a lotof nothing, but there is
something there.
You know it's fuckingpolarizing, it's all over the
place.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I don't know, polarizing is a word that you
could use.
Listen, if you relate to thismovie, I do think there is a
problem.
I do think, if you relate tothis movie at all, really it is
kind of an issue, because Idon't want to be the guy that's
like this movie, spreading thistype of propaganda and trying to
make things happen.
But this movie did also inspirea real-life assassination.
(10:54):
You know what I mean.
I mean and like that's notsurprising and I hate to keep
bringing up joker, but becausethat movie is essentially a
ripoff of this one and peoplecomplain about it in the same
way.
I don't think joker did that.
I didn't feel that way.
In joker personally, a lot ofsimilar beats happened, but I
thought more was fleshed out asto the whys of the character and
(11:16):
some of the background of thecharacter.
Also, having the Joker IPworked for me In that movie.
So again, it's a differentsituation.
In that sense I can only judgethis character based off of what
the film gave us and like thischaracter is kind of treated
like a martyr by the end, alittle bit right, like I just
(11:37):
don't know how you see the endof the movie Like Joker but
that's what I mean by Joker hadthe IP behind it.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Right If you put him in a mask and you put him in
paint and you add Gotham Cityinstead of New York City.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
we're looking at this differently Because he's
playing a villain.
This is a real person, a realperson who's just kind of an
evil, crazy piece of shit.
Mental health aside, that iswhat is happening here.
This person's a bad person andthere's no redeemable qualities
at all.
You think there is with the 12year old hooker, but not really
(12:14):
Not.
When you kind of dig a littlebit through and you kind of see
are your intentions that pure?
Are you really the savior here?
It doesn't really feel likethat's the case.
So there were a lot of moralthings that took me out of the
movie.
And for a film like this, if thescore is amazing which I know
some people are going to say itis I don't think it is.
(12:36):
I think sometimes it was alittle bit too cheesy, like a
little over the top.
In moments, the violencemoments were a little over the
top.
The score at times was good,great even, and then also over
the top.
And then the cinematography Idon't think is anything to write
home about.
It's hard to say that, though,for a movie that came out in the
(12:58):
70s.
So I'm trying to respect thetime.
I don't want to say I loveScorsese as a director, because
I think when I go over moviesI've seen.
I very half and half.
I'm a little iffy on his moviescompared to other people but,
like I guess I just expectedmore with the name attached to
it and I thought that that wouldcarry the gaps of this movie to
(13:19):
where, even if I didn't morallylike the character or the way
the plot was going, I could atleast, as a film bro, look at
the movie objectively and say,oh yeah, but it was like
perfectly crafted.
Did you feel that way, phil?
How did you feel about theother filmmaking elements that
we typically talk about when itcomes to Taxi Driver?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I definitely like the score more than you, but it's
also something like you said,like I mentioned earlier, that I
don't really have the intent ofgoing back to.
I am always going to be a fanof New York City as a character
itself, just because there areso many different ways to
explore New York, or still, evenall this time later, it's still
(14:00):
very much this kind of likemagical place for so many
different people from alldifferent walks of life to life
together.
And I think anytime that thatis done properly and I think it
was done pretty well here I amgoing to be a fan of it.
And also, like this is toughfor me because really I'm
viewing this to the lens of isthis going to be as good or
nearly as good as Goodfellas,which is never really in like
(14:24):
when it comes to any film.
It's not really fair, but whenit comes to comparing Scorsese,
then yeah, I think I should,probably I should be able to
expect is this as good asGoodfellas, or at least close to
it?
And it certainly was not.
So the other parts of this, youknow, that are being explored.
That kind of did speak to me,was finding some sort of feeling
(14:46):
like your work doesn't matter,or feeling like you're in a job
where you're literally in hiscase, in Travis's case, just
driving around in circles andalso having to spend time with
people that he hates.
He hates everyone.
So, like you said, like thereis no, there's no redemption,
there's no redeeming quality toTravis Bickle.
There's no redeeming quality toTravis Bickle.
And I do agree that if,especially now and where we are
(15:09):
at currently, just society-wise,if you find some sort of solace
in this character, that's aproblem man.
That is an issue that you needto look into.
So that's why I hope that ifsomebody were to watch this for
the first time all these yearslater, like we did, did we're
(15:34):
able to identify those issues.
So it's a really interestingdiscussion.
I really would love to breakthis down with somebody that has
like an understanding of theseold movies, because for us, like
we have talked about, it's beena mixed bag and I want to be
able to understand these filmsbetter than surface level,
without necessarily having to doa new type.
That would be nice, but, yeah,it would be very selective as
(15:59):
far as who I would say who Iwould suggest this to in a
modern day watch.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I'd agree with that.
This is where my rating isgoing to get a little weird,
because I typically will rate itwould be a particular rating if
I still think that someoneshould make their own opinion
about it.
I think this is a movie cateredto a certain people.
You know.
If you felt related to thisfilm or this character or this
plot, I can understand that.
But, like film, the reason Ididn't really have any like
(16:28):
feeling like that, I think isbecause there wasn't enough of a
how we got here.
Like we just are, the actionsare just being taken.
Like you're saying, he didn'tlike the people he worked with,
he didn't like his job.
Okay, well, the solution tothat was to buy a bunch of guns
and try to, you know, sweep awaya child, like that's, and take,
(16:53):
take a girl who for some reasonwas interested in you to a
porno.
Like that's what we got.
And like I just felt like therewasn't enough investment for me
to be able to relate with thecharacter, enough to justify the
actions.
So again, I feel like I in theminority here.
I think this is a movie in atime capsule and if you've
(17:15):
watched it in that time capsuleand it meant a lot to you, for
whatever reason.
Right, maybe it is of its time,cinematically great, but as
someone in his 30s, going backback to watch it from 2025 to
when this was released, it justwasn't my thing.
It just wasn't my thing.
(17:35):
I don't know how else toexplain it.
If you were 30 when this moviecame out and, for some reason,
you're of the age that you'relistening to this podcast, then
you might you might be able totell me off, but otherwise I
need to hear from another 30-ishyear old person in 2025 who
just saw it this year tounderstand me.
(17:56):
I don't know how else to saythat.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, it's weird, man , because my score is going to
reflect positively.
My score is going to reflectpositively because, like I said,
I did find value in the themesand value in watching the film
and it being kind of used asespecially with Travis Bimble
(18:21):
specifically being used as anexample of why we need to do
better and where the problemlies in a lot of things,
specifically when it comes tomental health, we've had the
benefits and the extremeblessing of having people in our
life, specifically a lot ofvery strong women who have
encouraged us to be open, andthis is the opposite of that.
(18:42):
This is what happens whenthere's a very toxic attitude
going on, not towards just women, but just society in general.
So, again, a lot more qualifiedpeople to discuss that than us
here.
But still, this is what theseries is all about Just
visiting these films that peoplehold in this high regard and
kind of try and get anunderstanding of, like, what is
(19:04):
it that draws the big-time filmjunkie to a movie.
So I see I understand why thisis on some of those lists but,
like I said, not something I'mgoing to be visiting anytime
soon.
Eric, are you ready?
We can jump into scores?
Ours are.
I know it's probably notsurprising that they're pretty
high when it comes to a filmpeople think you should see
(19:25):
before you die.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
No, not at all.
No, let's get to our scores andthen, I think, what we're going
to do for this particular film.
Uh, we typically talk aboutsimilar films, so we will do
that here today, but I also willjust bring up martin scorsese's
filmography and deniro Niro,but I think together they're
kind of they're going to be kindof crossing a little bit as far
(19:52):
as similar films, and I want tosee like which ones we like,
which ones we don't.
So you can maybe get an idea oflike where Phil Scorsese
experiences, where mine is, Ithink, with Scorsese
specifically, you have to watchmultiple films of his
filmography, which we have Idon't want to say it's a lot,
but we have and I think, basedoff of those films that you've
(20:13):
seen, maybe you'll have a betterunderstanding of where each of
us are coming from.
I don't know if that'll help.
That's like my last ditcheffort to not be completely shit
on, in my opinion, which ishappening more and more these
days.
But, phil, yeah, I'll do thatafter we go over the reception
of this film and then our scores.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah.
So let's start off with theRotten Tomatoes 89% certified
fresh tomato meter score.
93% popcorn meter score when itcomes.
Oh, we wanted to bring up IMDB.
Hold on a second Taxi driverIMDB.
Let's see.
Here it has an 8.2, god, thatis high IMDB.
(20:54):
And over on Letterboxd nosurprise there, a 4.1 out of 5
rating on Letterboxd.
For me I gave this a 3.5, itstarted off as a 3, I moved it
up just a little bit after doinga little bit of a deep dive.
Moved it up just a little bitafter doing a little bit of a
deep dive into it and getting abetter understanding of the
themes and also re-watching somescenes as well under a
different lens.
(21:14):
You shouldn't have to do thatfor a movie.
I don't admit that.
But I gave it a three and ahalf because I do feel like,
again, a lot of the things thatwere discussed in, that were
mentioned here, did resonatewith a lot of stuff that's going
on now and a lot of stuff thatyou know I think a lot of people
have thought about when itcomes to just where they fit in
in terms of all of this.
(21:35):
So three and a half for me.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Eric richland yeah, so I have been accused of this
thing that I do not like out ofthree.
I did yesterday put it in athree on first watch, but it's
not about liking the movie in athree.
(21:58):
I'm going to put this out therenow and every time I have to
give a movie any reviewer'sfucking rating.
For my brother it's not that Idon't like a movie or like a
movie.
It's objectively out of threewhether or not I liked it.
I obviously didn't like itenough to give it a higher score
.
I didn't dislike it enough togive it a lower score
Objectively.
(22:18):
I can understand why someonewould like this movie.
I can figure it out in my brain, the way my brain works.
You can like this movie La LaLand, totally different movie
but I gotta use it.
I get why you like it.
I get why other people like it.
I get why it was nominated foran Oscar.
I get why you like it.
I get why other people like it.
I get why it was nominated foran Oscar.
I get that I did not enjoy them.
I have a lot of things againstit, but I do know the
(22:41):
cinematography is very good.
I do know that the choreographyis very good.
Emma Stone and Ryan Goslingwhile I didn't like their
chemistry in that, more thanlike Crazy Stupid Love, their
chemistry is unbelievable.
There are things I can call out.
There are things I can call outa lot of things that I can say
(23:01):
objectively, I don't feel thatwith this movie and that's not
to say that my opinion, mysubjective opinion here makes it
objective.
But because I can get like ifsomebody said this is a
perfectly filmed like youprobably have more experience
than me I had to take mypersonal feelings into play a
little bit more on how I feltabout this film and all that to
say my final score I'm givinglittle bit more on how I felt
about this film and all that tosay my final score I'm giving it
is a two and a half.
I couldn't quite give it athree because while I could
(23:24):
understand where you're comingfrom, like you could recommend
this to the right person, Idon't see very much redeemable
about this movie and we've hadharsh opinions before.
If you've been with the podcast, you know our Akira or Akira
opinions.
We know that movie wasgenerational the Shining we're
(23:44):
infamous for.
We know that movie isgenerational.
I can say objectively that Iget why people like those movies
too, but there's somethingextra behind it that made me
dislike the movie to a pointthat I'm pushing that
objectivity to the side, andthat's.
My score is a two and a half,though Down from a three
yesterday.
I slept on it and I not onlyhave no desire to not see this
(24:10):
movie.
I also have no desire to talkto anybody about this movie.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
if I'm being honest, talking about this movie, if I'm
being honest, and a lot of thescores that are closer to where
you have it are newer, are fromlike 2020 on, and I think that
speaks volumes.
Even a person who also gave ita three and a half was this is
let's see, this is a.
This is a very scientific view,this the movie y'all constantly
(24:37):
nutting over, so that kind ofgives you an idea of how people
were feeling.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I did read a couple reviews that stood out to me.
This guy said the score and thecinematography were excellent,
but the rest I don't know.
I truly wish I liked this morethan I did.
You want to be a film pro, sobad, but it's just not working
out.
He gave that a 3.5.
Someone gave this a 4, buttheir comment was Paddington 2
was out on DVD.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I saw that one.
Here's one, I think, thatprobably aligns with this.
It's a 2.5.
We get it, it's objectivelygood, but I had absolutely no
interest in Travis as acharacter and no interest in the
thriller as a progress.
I think men are so boring today.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
One star review At this point.
I think you all forcedyourselves into liking this,
because what the fuck that's?
Speaker 1 (25:27):
the review yeah, the most poignant one from 2021, a
half star.
I don't ever want to beanywhere near men who claim this
as their favorite movie, sothere you go Same yeah.
Same Red flags galore.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, it's unfortunate.
You know I'm open to listeningto people why they like it, but
like I am going to judge you alittle bit as a person, so again
, that's where my rating came in.
I think it would depend on whyyou enjoy it for me.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
If someone comes to me and be like that Travis guy
man.
They're like rubbing theirhands together like plankton,
Get away from me, man, Back upman.
But again, if you enjoy it, Ididn't laugh, I didn't laugh.
But anyway, let's talk aboutsome Scorsese films.
Eric, and also De Niro, what doyou got?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, so sticking with Scorsese to start,
obviously so these are thehighest average ratings on
Letterboxd of movies, some ofwhich I know you've seen, some
of which I've seen, and we'llkind of do a little mini more
like this to start, like, ifyou've seen it, let me know if
you like this better.
And we'll kind of do a littlemini more like this to start,
like if you've seen it, let meknow if you like this better.
You, fellas, obviously Ialready know you like that one.
(26:41):
That's like one of yourfavorite films of all time.
The Departed is a movie thatwe've wanted to watch.
It is on our list.
The King of Comedy I havewanted to watch that.
I have wanted to watch thatRaging Bull, another De Niro
film from Scorsese, I've wantedto watch that.
The Last Waltz I've never seenthat.
Casino.
(27:02):
That seems like something youwould have watched.
I haven't seen that.
No, no, shutter Island I didwatch that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I enjoyed that.
Shutter Island is mentally justa chore, but I would watch
Shutter Island.
Truthfully, I wouldn't watcheither one if I had a choice,
that's crazy, but if I had to go.
Well, no, just because of howfucked up Shutter Island is,
you've got to be in a mood, butI would certainly watch Shutter
(27:32):
Island first.
Yeah, it's understandable.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
There's After Hours which I have not seen.
George Harrison, living in thematerial world, haven't seen
that.
Killings of the Flower Moon.
My voyage to Italy for Kevin'sCity.
It's Wolf of Wall Street.
I enjoy that film.
Phil has not seen it.
I own it, that's crazy Goodwillbaby.
(27:58):
I just named a ton of movieshave you seen?
I have not, okay.
So the real question is likeagain, I've only seen a few
scorsese films and the otherones that I have seen goodfellas
, shutter island, wall street Ido like them.
They're positive sports.
I didn't like this one.
Phil, it seems like you mightnot have as much Scorsese view
(28:20):
as I thought I really don't.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
I thought I, yeah, really, when looking at these.
They're all films that like,like, remember we wanted to see
Killers of the Flower of theYear in 2020, but we just never
got to.
And it's also, isn't it?
Also, three hours long.
So, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah, but no.
So that's Scorsese'sfilmography.
Again, I don't claim to havewatched a lot of his films, and
that's what I'm saying.
I think we have to know howmuch of someone's Scorsese
viewing they've seen, becausemaybe I don't have an
appreciation for his filmmaking,maybe I need to see more films.
But, phil, obviously theGodfather comes up with Robert
(29:02):
De Niro.
You have Goodfellas.
I remember watching Heat likeway back in the day, I don't
know.
I heard it was good.
I think it was good.
It wasn't anything that left animpression on me, it's got a
4.3.
Yeah, these are the highestaverage ratings on his movies
that I think we might have seenor heard of Once Upon a Time in
(29:22):
America.
I didn't see that.
The Deer Hunter, A Bronx Taleyeah, a lot of films here.
I don't think that we have seeneither Silver Linings I we have
seen Silver Linings.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I mean he's a supporting character in Silver
Linings.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, maybe if I change it to popularity,
obviously Joker as well, jackieBrown, I haven't seen American.
Hustle Stop.
It is the out of popular filmson Letterboxd.
It is the 14th film.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
That's upsetting.
I don't want to talk about itanymore.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I didn't see.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
American Hustle, but he's in that Limitless Meet the
Fockers.
Why'd you skip the Intern?
The Intern's a good movie.
I've seen an eighth of it onTikTok.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
It's Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro.
It's also funny because Ibrought this up with my brother
who recently ranked a bunch ofmovies and I was like, hey, is
your algorithm the same as mine?
Because I definitely have seenthose like, yet that's why I
watched them.
So I'm sure he'll have opinionson the intern as well.
There are more De Niro moviesthat I've seen.
I've definitely seen way moreDe Niro.
(30:31):
I've seen Analyze this.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Did you see Dirty Grandpa?
I'm tired of this grandpa.
I forgot he's in Machete.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
I did too, but anyway , yeah, I've definitely seen him
in more films, but out ofpopular or highest ranked, there
are definitely more that wecould have seen.
When we talk about similarfilms to Taxi Driver, I'm going
to name off a couple films, phil, that you've either heard of or
I know you have watched.
(31:00):
So would you rather watch thisor Joker?
We're just going to start withthe easy one, joker.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Have you seen Fight Club?
No, no, it's very upset becauseit's like one of her favorite
movies.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Yeah, more people are going to get upset with you as
well.
Yeah, I would prefer Fight Clubno Country for Old Men.
I would prefer.
Fight Club, no Country for OldMen, I would prefer.
I don't believe you have seenit, but you have seen American
Psycho.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Oh, american Psycho, Absolutely American Psycho.
Could you imagine if I saidTaxi Driver?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
That would have been crazy Taxi Driver or the Dark
Knight.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Eric, come on, keep moving.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
You haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
I personally enjoyed that alittle bit more than this.
I'm worried.
Drive with Ryan Gosling 2011.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
We haven't seen that one.
We talked about it, didn't wedo?
On this?
Yeah, but you would already seeit.
Yeah, I've seen it.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Did you ever watch the uh the machinist with
christian bale where he getslike really scared?
I already have not, I knowyou're talking about that?
Speaker 1 (32:04):
yeah, I enjoyed that.
Uh, scarface, scarface isstupid, but it's a fun time, man
that's really it that I thinkyou might have seen.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I'm gonna go to imdb and see what is here.
I will say, in this area, Ifeel like I do have a little bit
more human experience than youdo.
Django Unchained Did we talkabout that?
I haven't seen it.
No, I haven't seen Django.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Would you prefer Django?
Yeah, but like by default.
I mean Django is another one ofthose I don't think is made.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I I mean Django is another one of those I don't
think is made.
That's still like.
I think Leo's probably stilliconic.
Yeah, that's pretty much it,phil.
If we want to talk about that,one was all over the place.
Sorry guys, we kind of had alittle wrinkle there.
Next time we'll be moreorganized.
But I will tell you that wherethis film ranks in my late to
the party list is at 29 out of35.
Ranked on Letterboxd.
It is behind Tucker and Dale vsEvil, which objectively is not
(33:03):
better than Taxi Driver.
I get that, but I did rank thatat a three.
And then the Menu, which is amovie that I was more
disappointed in.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Yeah, we are in the minority for the Menu, for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Maybe upon a rewatch I'd give it a three.
So again, the bottom of my listother than Lego Ninjago is
questionable, is questionable.
I will read the bottom of mylist from 29.
Taxi Driver, the menu, akira,scott Pilgrim vs the World, shin
, godzilla and the Shining.
Objectively I understand that,subjectively I hate them.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Lego Ninjago why the fuck is that here?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
That is a bad movie.
Yeah, Bill.
Where did it end up on yourlist?
Speaker 1 (33:49):
It's number 22 for me , right behind the Adventures of
Tintin and in front of Spirited.
It is also before Tucker andDale vs Evil, so yeah, but is
also before tucker and daleversus evil, so yeah, but I also
gave it, you know, higher score, so yeah, number 22 for me.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
So that's where we all landed, guys, and um, that's
really all I have to say on thematter.
Like I, I don't think this isgoing to turn out very well for
me, but it is what it is.
This is what I'm going to justsay.
Even if I was to re-watch it, Idon't know that I'd enjoy it
any better.
I do think it's a little bit ofa slog to get through.
I'm glad that I watched it forthe sake that this is one of
(34:26):
those all-time classic filmsthat people bring up and I can
say I have watched it, but I'mdreading that I then have to
follow up.
I've watched it with.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I didn't make it if you were going to recommend a
Scorsese film, like if you werea big time Scorsese fan and you
were to recommend this beforesome of the others.
That would seem questionable,like there's.
There's so many more on thislist that I feel like I would
enjoy more aside from the onesI've already seen.
So you know, that would be aninteresting security tip For
(34:59):
sure.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
And maybe a little telling about you.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
We don't normally judge, but we will.
That's what we think.
But, yeah, hey, everyone.
Thanks for joining us for thisepisode of Late to the Party.
If you'd like to find any of therest of this series, make sure
you check the link in the shownotes of this and each and every
episode.
You can keep up with us a fewdifferent ways.
You can head on over to all ofour primary social media pages,
(35:30):
which include Instagram, TikTok,our growing Discord page.
We do upload videos over onYouTube and we are streaming a
lot over on Twitch, which hasbeen a whole lot of fun, and
we're planning on doing evenmore over there.
If you want to support the show, you can tag us on social media
, let us know that you'relistening, let other people know
that you're listening and headover to Apple Podcasts and
(35:50):
Spotify.
They'll give us those five-starreviews.
All of that is so beneficial tothe life of the podcast and
gets more eyes on the show aswell.
But if you're finding yourselfwanting to maybe have a few more
perks when it comes to the showand become one of our infamous
Weight Watchers here, we'll letyou know about that before
closing us out.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah so maybe you didn't like our take on Taxi
Driver, but there might beanother film out there that you
really like and you want tosupport.
Support the show because Idon't know you like our
personalities or something.
You can go do that on aplatform like Patreon, where
patrons of the show aresupporting us every single month
with their subscriptions.
Shout out to Breyer, stefanT3Kato, vintage Macaroni, corey
(36:31):
from the World is my Burrito,and Nick Casbarro, the author of
the Vidalarium series, who isthe previous episode to this
podcast.
Make sure to check that out.
All of them.
Your support is much appreciatedand if you want to join them
for behind the scenes or earlyaccess to episodes like this one
plus much more, make sure tocheck out our Patreon and
(36:53):
support us there.
But all the free stuff workstoo.
To check out our Patreon andsupport us there.
But all the free stuff workstoo Joining our Discord,
visiting us on a stream, likingour comments, commenting,
listens, engagement, etc.
Etc.
All of that much appreciated.
With that all being said, myname is Mr Eric Almighty.
That is my co-host, phil theFilipino, and please don't
forget, we release new episodesevery Wednesday for the podcast
(37:17):
and all you have to do is waitfor it.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
So I heard you're looking for a go-to source for
entertainment.
Wait for it Gaming.
Wait for it Anime Plus, ultra.
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil theFilipino yeah, they've got you
covered and all you got to do iswait for it.
(37:50):
This is the Wait For it Podcast.
Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment Wait
for it Gaming, wait for it AnimePLUS ULTRA.
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil theFilipino.
Yeah, they've got you coveredand all you gotta do is wait for
it.
This is the Wait For it Podcast.
(00:33):
Hey, everyone, welcome back tothe Wait For it Podcast.
I'm your co-host, phil Barrera,aka Phil the Filipino.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
And I'm your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty, and
for this edition of Late to theParty, we are talking about a
film that we have yet to see,that, in film circles, is talked
about quite a lot.
In fact, when we started makinga list of movies we hadn't seen
, this is probably one of thebiggest ones that we've yet to
(01:01):
arrive to as far as an episodegoes.
Phil, we are here to talk aboutTaxi Driver.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, taxi Driver is on.
Pretty much every film you needto see before you die list
Films that everyone has seen.
When you scroll through theletterbox, everyone talks about
Taxi Driver and obviouslymentions Martin Scorsese.
Now we've done a Martin Scorsesefilm here on the series, which,
(01:29):
of course, was Goodfellas, oneof my favorite films of all time
.
Eric did enjoy it, but not asmuch as I did.
So we're revisiting the MartinScorsese film and I know for a
lot of people that can be a bitof a mixed bag, so very
interested to see how this filmyou know how we felt about this
film because I want to speakvery carefully about this and
(01:55):
how I arrived at my score andit's going to be an interesting
conversation regardless, Eric,because this is a very, I think,
polarizing movie.
The farther away we've gottenfrom 1976, which is when it came
out, and traditionally areolder films than us is a very, I
think, polarizing movie.
The farther away we've gottenfrom 1976, which is when it came
out, and traditionally olderfilms and us don't vibe with the
best.
So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, yeah, god forbid that one of us maybe
didn't enjoy it as much as theother, or maybe didn't enjoy it
as much as people in general, soyou gotta stick around to find
out which one of us, which oneof us, is gonna be.
Um, it's me, no, and listen,we're we're going to like it's.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I get it.
I totally get it, because I amthere as well for probably half
of this, and it's not like a.
It's not even like a half oneand half two, it's a.
I like bits and pieces of this.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Didn't like any of that.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I like bits and pieces of that, so it's a really
strange conversation.
So let's, let's just start fromthe beginning.
Let's go with the synopsisfirst, once again.
Taxi driver in 1976, directedby barton scorsese.
On every street in every city,there's nobody who dreams of
being somebody.
Mentally unstable vietnam warveteran works as a nighttime
taxi driver in new york citywhere the perceived decadence
(03:10):
and sleaze need his urge forviolent action.
So first off, eric, it's crazywe didn't see this before.
Watching this and then think,like this is the Joker.
Did he do anything original inthat?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
first movie Between this and another movie we
haven't seen that is referenced.
That is also a De Niro andScorsese film.
The King of Comedy is broughtup a lot.
Did Todd Phillips do anythingoriginal?
Respectfully from what I'veseen clips of from that film and
now watching Taxi Driver, I getthe complaints.
(03:48):
It's going to be tough to hearmy opinion and also know that,
despite the fact that this moviein mine and everybody's eyes,
joker has fallen off a bit withtime and aging, I still like it
as a film.
I still can't deny that Ienjoyed Joker.
So I'm just going to have tolive with the fact that I know
(04:11):
that Joker is a clear ripoff ofnow these two films, one of
which we've seen and one ofwhich that I didn't enjoy nearly
as much.
So I'm putting that precursorout there.
You can save your comments.
I get it.
I can't defend myself.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yep, this is very much a film bro movie.
It's a film that is for peoplewho have studied this craft, who
understand the meaning of shotsthat we cannot comprehend, and
that is okay.
So I want to start off bysaying this is not going to be
like our typical episode.
(04:46):
We cannot go here's the good,here's the bad.
It's just not structured thatway.
It's just impossible.
So this film is not for everyone, and if you're not going to
really dive into, or if you haveno understanding of, kind of
specifically when it comes to,like, displaced veterans, if
(05:10):
that's not a thing that you'rereally entrenched in or have an
understanding for, then you'rereally goingrenched in or have
an understanding for then you'rereally going to just break this
down to a film of a guy who isjust lonely and probably
mentally ill, who becomes very,very violent over time, and
you'll just think about how muchof a.
So that is why I couldn't, Iwouldn't be able to recommend
(05:34):
this to anybody and I'll beupfront with you, eric, even
though I know my score is higher, it's not a movie I want to
watch again either.
So this is going to make for areally complicated conversation.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, and I think it's going to be important to
understand where our ratingscome from.
I get made fun of all the timethat a certain rating of mine
means I don't like a movie, andI'm going to be honest, I'm
around that point.
We'll talk about what my actualscore is because, upon sleeping
on it, phil saw this today as arecording.
I saw this last night as arecording.
(06:07):
This movie is extremely freshon our minds.
On purpose, we're recordingthis like a month ahead as well.
We're getting really ahead onour content.
Congratulations to us.
This is why Because we're goingto need some time to craft our
thoughts and also make sure thatwhen we do these episodes, they
are fresh on our mind, they'replanned out and with this plan
in mind, you know, let's talkabout the film from top to
(06:31):
bottom.
This film is a film from the70s, so I mean, we're going to
talk openly about the plot.
If you have not seen TaxiDriver, this is not the episode
to find out why you should orshouldn't watch it.
We're going to talk freelyabout it.
And, phil, I do want to atleast start with the biggest
positive, which is Robert DeNiro.
Like, the performance, for whatthe character is is excellent,
(06:54):
like Robert De Niro.
You talking to me.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
I didn't know.
That's what this was from.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I didn't either I didn't know, I knew it was a pop
culture moment.
I've seen De Niro with themohawk and I've seen that clip,
so again, it was really fun towatch.
In that aspect, it's a lot ofeverything else.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
It's a lot of everything else with this movie
that I have.
Probably.
It was crazy seeing him thatshredded too.
I didn't, I did not.
I was not familiar with robertde niro's game.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure I didn't know he wasever that, that big.
So yeah, goodfellas come outthat was 1990, so it's like 14
years later, so he was alreadylike older and established.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So, like I never knew , he looked like that yeah, and
I mean he was pairing withscorsese the way leo is now like
he was pairing with scorsese alot back in that time frame.
Uh, it's crazy to see, crazy tosee.
But yeah, I mean like,ultimately, what it comes down
to for me is just the moviereally hinges on De Niro's
(07:55):
performance, which is why Ithink a lot of people like it so
much.
Jodie Foster is also in thisand for what we do get out of
her, not bad.
I mean she's 12 in this movie,so there's that as well.
Outside of that film I reallycan't like name any other
standout performances and attimes I don't even know if I
(08:16):
like the dialogue very much.
So I don't really have a lotpositive to say.
But my score is going toreflect very focused on De
Niro's performance and how hisperformance at least kept me
interested somewhat throughoutthe film.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, and I very intentionally wore this shirt
for this episode Because I knowthis character.
When it comes to Travis, thereare a lot of comparisons when it
comes to, you know, the maincharacter of American Psycho,
and there is a reason notPatrick Bateman.
(08:51):
There's a reason like why Idon't go parading, that I'm a
fan of Patrick Bateman and I'mnot a fan of Patrick Bateman and
the things that he does.
I'm a fan in Christian Bale'sperformance of Patrick Bateman
and I think there are a lot ofpeople that feel the same way
about Travis Bickle.
And actually I know that a lotof people feel the same way
(09:11):
because I did a little bit of adeep dive and watched some
videos and it's.
There are plenty of comments ofpeople saying that they
understand how Travis feels,they relate to him, but I also
saw, you know, the moreencouraging comments were like I
related to this person and Isaw the problem in that.
So this film is very much one Ithink is incredibly relevant
(09:32):
today.
So I would recommend it to aspecific audience in hope that
they learn something positive,not that they find Travis Bickle
some sort of hero or idol.
That, I think, is what makesthis maybe a little bit of a
dangerous watch in 2025, knowingwhere we stand now and listen.
There are a lot more peoplethat are way more, way, way more
(09:52):
predative to talk aboutsomething like this than we are,
but we can talk about it from astandpoint that we are men and
that we do know that there is amental health crisis when it
comes to just being open aboutyour feelings and feeling lonely
and I already alluded to youknow, being a veteran and I'm
from a military family and howthose people are displaced.
There's a lot of themes goingon here that are very
(10:14):
uncomfortable and lead to anuncomfortable place, and I can
see how, like in the story thatScorsese grabbed when they got
there but, eric, there's just alot of nothing going on.
Like in between it's like a lotof nothing, but there is
something there.
You know it's fuckingpolarizing, it's all over the
place.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I don't know, polarizing is a word that you
could use.
Listen, if you relate to thismovie, I do think there is a
problem.
I do think, if you relate tothis movie at all, really it is
kind of an issue, because Idon't want to be the guy that's
like this movie, spreading thistype of propaganda and trying to
make things happen.
But this movie did also inspirea real-life assassination.
(10:54):
You know what I mean.
I mean and like that's notsurprising and I hate to keep
bringing up joker, but becausethat movie is essentially a
ripoff of this one and peoplecomplain about it in the same
way.
I don't think joker did that.
I didn't feel that way.
In joker personally, a lot ofsimilar beats happened, but I
thought more was fleshed out asto the whys of the character and
(11:16):
some of the background of thecharacter.
Also, having the Joker IPworked for me In that movie.
So again, it's a differentsituation.
In that sense I can only judgethis character based off of what
the film gave us and like thischaracter is kind of treated
like a martyr by the end, alittle bit right, like I just
(11:37):
don't know how you see the endof the movie Like Joker but
that's what I mean by Joker hadthe IP behind it.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Right If you put him in a mask and you put him in
paint and you add Gotham Cityinstead of New York City.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
we're looking at this differently Because he's
playing a villain.
This is a real person, a realperson who's just kind of an
evil, crazy piece of shit.
Mental health aside, that iswhat is happening here.
This person's a bad person andthere's no redeemable qualities
at all.
You think there is with the 12year old hooker, but not really
(12:14):
Not.
When you kind of dig a littlebit through and you kind of see
are your intentions that pure?
Are you really the savior here?
It doesn't really feel likethat's the case.
So there were a lot of moralthings that took me out of the
movie.
And for a film like this, if thescore is amazing which I know
some people are going to say itis I don't think it is.
(12:36):
I think sometimes it was alittle bit too cheesy, like a
little over the top.
In moments, the violencemoments were a little over the
top.
The score at times was good,great even, and then also over
the top.
And then the cinematography Idon't think is anything to write
home about.
It's hard to say that, though,for a movie that came out in the
(12:58):
70s.
So I'm trying to respect thetime.
I don't want to say I loveScorsese as a director, because
I think when I go over moviesI've seen.
I very half and half.
I'm a little iffy on his moviescompared to other people but,
like I guess I just expectedmore with the name attached to
it and I thought that that wouldcarry the gaps of this movie to
(13:19):
where, even if I didn't morallylike the character or the way
the plot was going, I could atleast, as a film bro, look at
the movie objectively and say,oh yeah, but it was like
perfectly crafted.
Did you feel that way, phil?
How did you feel about theother filmmaking elements that
we typically talk about when itcomes to Taxi Driver?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I definitely like the score more than you, but it's
also something like you said,like I mentioned earlier, that I
don't really have the intent ofgoing back to.
I am always going to be a fanof New York City as a character
itself, just because there areso many different ways to
explore New York, or still, evenall this time later, it's still
(14:00):
very much this kind of likemagical place for so many
different people from alldifferent walks of life to life
together.
And I think anytime that thatis done properly and I think it
was done pretty well here I amgoing to be a fan of it.
And also, like this is toughfor me because really I'm
viewing this to the lens of isthis going to be as good or
nearly as good as Goodfellas,which is never really in like
(14:24):
when it comes to any film.
It's not really fair, but whenit comes to comparing Scorsese,
then yeah, I think I should,probably I should be able to
expect is this as good asGoodfellas, or at least close to
it?
And it certainly was not.
So the other parts of this, youknow, that are being explored.
That kind of did speak to me,was finding some sort of feeling
(14:46):
like your work doesn't matter,or feeling like you're in a job
where you're literally in hiscase, in Travis's case, just
driving around in circles andalso having to spend time with
people that he hates.
He hates everyone.
So, like you said, like thereis no, there's no redemption,
there's no redeeming quality toTravis Bickle.
There's no redeeming quality toTravis Bickle.
And I do agree that if,especially now and where we are
(15:09):
at currently, just society-wise,if you find some sort of solace
in this character, that's aproblem man.
That is an issue that you needto look into.
So that's why I hope that ifsomebody were to watch this for
the first time all these yearslater, like we did, did we're
(15:34):
able to identify those issues.
So it's a really interestingdiscussion.
I really would love to breakthis down with somebody that has
like an understanding of theseold movies, because for us, like
we have talked about, it's beena mixed bag and I want to be
able to understand these filmsbetter than surface level,
without necessarily having to doa new type.
That would be nice, but, yeah,it would be very selective as
(15:59):
far as who I would say who Iwould suggest this to in a
modern day watch.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I'd agree with that.
This is where my rating isgoing to get a little weird,
because I typically will rate itwould be a particular rating if
I still think that someoneshould make their own opinion
about it.
I think this is a movie cateredto a certain people.
You know.
If you felt related to thisfilm or this character or this
plot, I can understand that.
But, like film, the reason Ididn't really have any like
(16:28):
feeling like that, I think isbecause there wasn't enough of a
how we got here.
Like we just are, the actionsare just being taken.
Like you're saying, he didn'tlike the people he worked with,
he didn't like his job.
Okay, well, the solution tothat was to buy a bunch of guns
and try to, you know, sweep awaya child, like that's, and take,
(16:53):
take a girl who for some reasonwas interested in you to a
porno.
Like that's what we got.
And like I just felt like therewasn't enough investment for me
to be able to relate with thecharacter, enough to justify the
actions.
So again, I feel like I in theminority here.
I think this is a movie in atime capsule and if you've
(17:15):
watched it in that time capsuleand it meant a lot to you, for
whatever reason.
Right, maybe it is of its time,cinematically great, but as
someone in his 30s, going backback to watch it from 2025 to
when this was released, it justwasn't my thing.
It just wasn't my thing.
(17:35):
I don't know how else toexplain it.
If you were 30 when this moviecame out and, for some reason,
you're of the age that you'relistening to this podcast, then
you might you might be able totell me off, but otherwise I
need to hear from another 30-ishyear old person in 2025 who
just saw it this year tounderstand me.
(17:56):
I don't know how else to saythat.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yeah, it's weird, man , because my score is going to
reflect positively.
My score is going to reflectpositively because, like I said,
I did find value in the themesand value in watching the film
and it being kind of used asespecially with Travis Bimble
(18:21):
specifically being used as anexample of why we need to do
better and where the problemlies in a lot of things,
specifically when it comes tomental health, we've had the
benefits and the extremeblessing of having people in our
life, specifically a lot ofvery strong women who have
encouraged us to be open, andthis is the opposite of that.
(18:42):
This is what happens whenthere's a very toxic attitude
going on, not towards just women, but just society in general.
So, again, a lot more qualifiedpeople to discuss that than us
here.
But still, this is what theseries is all about Just
visiting these films that peoplehold in this high regard and
kind of try and get anunderstanding of, like, what is
(19:04):
it that draws the big-time filmjunkie to a movie.
So I see I understand why thisis on some of those lists but,
like I said, not something I'mgoing to be visiting anytime
soon.
Eric, are you ready?
We can jump into scores?
Ours are.
I know it's probably notsurprising that they're pretty
high when it comes to a filmpeople think you should see
(19:25):
before you die.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
No, not at all.
No, let's get to our scores andthen, I think, what we're going
to do for this particular film.
Uh, we typically talk aboutsimilar films, so we will do
that here today, but I also willjust bring up martin scorsese's
filmography and deniro Niro,but I think together they're
kind of they're going to be kindof crossing a little bit as far
(19:52):
as similar films, and I want tosee like which ones we like,
which ones we don't.
So you can maybe get an idea oflike where Phil Scorsese
experiences, where mine is, Ithink, with Scorsese
specifically, you have to watchmultiple films of his
filmography, which we have Idon't want to say it's a lot,
but we have and I think, basedoff of those films that you've
(20:13):
seen, maybe you'll have a betterunderstanding of where each of
us are coming from.
I don't know if that'll help.
That's like my last ditcheffort to not be completely shit
on, in my opinion, which ishappening more and more these
days.
But, phil, yeah, I'll do thatafter we go over the reception
of this film and then our scores.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah.
So let's start off with theRotten Tomatoes 89% certified
fresh tomato meter score.
93% popcorn meter score when itcomes.
Oh, we wanted to bring up IMDB.
Hold on a second Taxi driverIMDB.
Let's see.
Here it has an 8.2, god, thatis high IMDB.
(20:54):
And over on Letterboxd nosurprise there, a 4.1 out of 5
rating on Letterboxd.
For me I gave this a 3.5, itstarted off as a 3, I moved it
up just a little bit after doinga little bit of a deep dive.
Moved it up just a little bitafter doing a little bit of a
deep dive into it and getting abetter understanding of the
themes and also re-watching somescenes as well under a
different lens.
(21:14):
You shouldn't have to do thatfor a movie.
I don't admit that.
But I gave it a three and ahalf because I do feel like,
again, a lot of the things thatwere discussed in, that were
mentioned here, did resonatewith a lot of stuff that's going
on now and a lot of stuff thatyou know I think a lot of people
have thought about when itcomes to just where they fit in
in terms of all of this.
(21:35):
So three and a half for me.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Eric richland yeah, so I have been accused of this
thing that I do not like out ofthree.
I did yesterday put it in athree on first watch, but it's
not about liking the movie in athree.
(21:58):
I'm going to put this out therenow and every time I have to
give a movie any reviewer'sfucking rating.
For my brother it's not that Idon't like a movie or like a
movie.
It's objectively out of threewhether or not I liked it.
I obviously didn't like itenough to give it a higher score
.
I didn't dislike it enough togive it a lower score
Objectively.
(22:18):
I can understand why someonewould like this movie.
I can figure it out in my brain, the way my brain works.
You can like this movie La LaLand, totally different movie
but I gotta use it.
I get why you like it.
I get why other people like it.
I get why it was nominated foran Oscar.
I get why you like it.
I get why other people like it.
I get why it was nominated foran Oscar.
I get that I did not enjoy them.
I have a lot of things againstit, but I do know the
(22:41):
cinematography is very good.
I do know that the choreographyis very good.
Emma Stone and Ryan Goslingwhile I didn't like their
chemistry in that, more thanlike Crazy Stupid Love, their
chemistry is unbelievable.
There are things I can call out.
There are things I can call outa lot of things that I can say
(23:01):
objectively, I don't feel thatwith this movie and that's not
to say that my opinion, mysubjective opinion here makes it
objective.
But because I can get like ifsomebody said this is a
perfectly filmed like youprobably have more experience
than me I had to take mypersonal feelings into play a
little bit more on how I feltabout this film and all that to
say my final score I'm givinglittle bit more on how I felt
about this film and all that tosay my final score I'm giving it
is a two and a half.
I couldn't quite give it athree because while I could
(23:24):
understand where you're comingfrom, like you could recommend
this to the right person, Idon't see very much redeemable
about this movie and we've hadharsh opinions before.
If you've been with the podcast, you know our Akira or Akira
opinions.
We know that movie wasgenerational the Shining we're
(23:44):
infamous for.
We know that movie isgenerational.
I can say objectively that Iget why people like those movies
too, but there's somethingextra behind it that made me
dislike the movie to a pointthat I'm pushing that
objectivity to the side, andthat's.
My score is a two and a half,though Down from a three
yesterday.
I slept on it and I not onlyhave no desire to not see this
(24:10):
movie.
I also have no desire to talkto anybody about this movie.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
if I'm being honest, talking about this movie, if I'm
being honest, and a lot of thescores that are closer to where
you have it are newer, are fromlike 2020 on, and I think that
speaks volumes.
Even a person who also gave ita three and a half was this is
let's see, this is a.
This is a very scientific view,this the movie y'all constantly
(24:37):
nutting over, so that kind ofgives you an idea of how people
were feeling.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I did read a couple reviews that stood out to me.
This guy said the score and thecinematography were excellent,
but the rest I don't know.
I truly wish I liked this morethan I did.
You want to be a film pro, sobad, but it's just not working
out.
He gave that a 3.5.
Someone gave this a 4, buttheir comment was Paddington 2
was out on DVD.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I saw that one.
Here's one, I think, thatprobably aligns with this.
It's a 2.5.
We get it, it's objectivelygood, but I had absolutely no
interest in Travis as acharacter and no interest in the
thriller as a progress.
I think men are so boring today.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
One star review At this point.
I think you all forcedyourselves into liking this,
because what the fuck that's?
Speaker 1 (25:27):
the review yeah, the most poignant one from 2021, a
half star.
I don't ever want to beanywhere near men who claim this
as their favorite movie, sothere you go Same yeah.
Same Red flags galore.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, it's unfortunate.
You know I'm open to listeningto people why they like it, but
like I am going to judge you alittle bit as a person, so again
, that's where my rating came in.
I think it would depend on whyyou enjoy it for me.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
If someone comes to me and be like that Travis guy
man.
They're like rubbing theirhands together like plankton,
Get away from me, man, Back upman.
But again, if you enjoy it, Ididn't laugh, I didn't laugh.
But anyway, let's talk aboutsome Scorsese films.
Eric, and also De Niro, what doyou got?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, so sticking with Scorsese to start,
obviously so these are thehighest average ratings on
Letterboxd of movies, some ofwhich I know you've seen, some
of which I've seen, and we'llkind of do a little mini more
like this to start, like, ifyou've seen it, let me know if
you like this better.
And we'll kind of do a littlemini more like this to start,
like if you've seen it, let meknow if you like this better.
You, fellas, obviously Ialready know you like that one.
(26:41):
That's like one of yourfavorite films of all time.
The Departed is a movie thatwe've wanted to watch.
It is on our list.
The King of Comedy I havewanted to watch that.
I have wanted to watch thatRaging Bull, another De Niro
film from Scorsese, I've wantedto watch that.
The Last Waltz I've never seenthat.
Casino.
(27:02):
That seems like something youwould have watched.
I haven't seen that.
No, no, shutter Island I didwatch that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
I enjoyed that.
Shutter Island is mentally justa chore, but I would watch
Shutter Island.
Truthfully, I wouldn't watcheither one if I had a choice,
that's crazy, but if I had to go.
Well, no, just because of howfucked up Shutter Island is,
you've got to be in a mood, butI would certainly watch Shutter
(27:32):
Island first.
Yeah, it's understandable.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
There's After Hours which I have not seen.
George Harrison, living in thematerial world, haven't seen
that.
Killings of the Flower Moon.
My voyage to Italy for Kevin'sCity.
It's Wolf of Wall Street.
I enjoy that film.
Phil has not seen it.
I own it, that's crazy Goodwillbaby.
(27:58):
I just named a ton of movieshave you seen?
I have not, okay.
So the real question is likeagain, I've only seen a few
scorsese films and the otherones that I have seen goodfellas
, shutter island, wall street Ido like them.
They're positive sports.
I didn't like this one.
Phil, it seems like you mightnot have as much Scorsese view
(28:20):
as I thought I really don't.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
I thought I, yeah, really, when looking at these.
They're all films that like,like, remember we wanted to see
Killers of the Flower of theYear in 2020, but we just never
got to.
And it's also, isn't it?
Also, three hours long.
So, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yeah, but no.
So that's Scorsese'sfilmography.
Again, I don't claim to havewatched a lot of his films, and
that's what I'm saying.
I think we have to know howmuch of someone's Scorsese
viewing they've seen, becausemaybe I don't have an
appreciation for his filmmaking,maybe I need to see more films.
But, phil, obviously theGodfather comes up with Robert
(29:02):
De Niro.
You have Goodfellas.
I remember watching Heat likeway back in the day, I don't
know.
I heard it was good.
I think it was good.
It wasn't anything that left animpression on me, it's got a
4.3.
Yeah, these are the highestaverage ratings on his movies
that I think we might have seenor heard of Once Upon a Time in
(29:22):
America.
I didn't see that.
The Deer Hunter, A Bronx Taleyeah, a lot of films here.
I don't think that we have seeneither Silver Linings I we have
seen Silver Linings.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I mean he's a supporting character in Silver
Linings.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, maybe if I change it to popularity,
obviously Joker as well, jackieBrown, I haven't seen American.
Hustle Stop.
It is the out of popular filmson Letterboxd.
It is the 14th film.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
That's upsetting.
I don't want to talk about itanymore.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
I didn't see.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
American Hustle, but he's in that Limitless Meet the
Fockers.
Why'd you skip the Intern?
The Intern's a good movie.
I've seen an eighth of it onTikTok.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
It's Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro.
It's also funny because Ibrought this up with my brother
who recently ranked a bunch ofmovies and I was like, hey, is
your algorithm the same as mine?
Because I definitely have seenthose like, yet that's why I
watched them.
So I'm sure he'll have opinionson the intern as well.
There are more De Niro moviesthat I've seen.
I've definitely seen way moreDe Niro.
(30:31):
I've seen Analyze this.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Did you see Dirty Grandpa?
I'm tired of this grandpa.
I forgot he's in Machete.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
I did too, but anyway , yeah, I've definitely seen him
in more films, but out ofpopular or highest ranked, there
are definitely more that wecould have seen.
When we talk about similarfilms to Taxi Driver, I'm going
to name off a couple films, phil, that you've either heard of or
I know you have watched.
(31:00):
So would you rather watch thisor Joker?
We're just going to start withthe easy one, joker.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Have you seen Fight Club?
No, no, it's very upset becauseit's like one of her favorite
movies.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Yeah, more people are going to get upset with you as
well.
Yeah, I would prefer Fight Clubno Country for Old Men.
I would prefer.
Fight Club, no Country for OldMen, I would prefer.
I don't believe you have seenit, but you have seen American
Psycho.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Oh, american Psycho, Absolutely American Psycho.
Could you imagine if I saidTaxi Driver?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
That would have been crazy Taxi Driver or the Dark
Knight.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Eric, come on, keep moving.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
You haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
I personally enjoyed that alittle bit more than this.
I'm worried.
Drive with Ryan Gosling 2011.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
We haven't seen that one.
We talked about it, didn't wedo?
On this?
Yeah, but you would already seeit.
Yeah, I've seen it.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Did you ever watch the uh the machinist with
christian bale where he getslike really scared?
I already have not, I knowyou're talking about that?
Speaker 1 (32:04):
yeah, I enjoyed that.
Uh, scarface, scarface isstupid, but it's a fun time, man
that's really it that I thinkyou might have seen.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I'm gonna go to imdb and see what is here.
I will say, in this area, Ifeel like I do have a little bit
more human experience than youdo.
Django Unchained Did we talkabout that?
I haven't seen it.
No, I haven't seen Django.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Would you prefer Django?
Yeah, but like by default.
I mean Django is another one ofthose I don't think is made.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I I mean Django is another one of those I don't
think is made.
That's still like.
I think Leo's probably stilliconic.
Yeah, that's pretty much it,phil.
If we want to talk about that,one was all over the place.
Sorry guys, we kind of had alittle wrinkle there.
Next time we'll be moreorganized.
But I will tell you that wherethis film ranks in my late to
the party list is at 29 out of35.
Ranked on Letterboxd.
It is behind Tucker and Dale vsEvil, which objectively is not
(33:03):
better than Taxi Driver.
I get that, but I did rank thatat a three.
And then the Menu, which is amovie that I was more
disappointed in.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Yeah, we are in the minority for the Menu, for sure.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Maybe upon a rewatch I'd give it a three.
So again, the bottom of my listother than Lego Ninjago is
questionable, is questionable.
I will read the bottom of mylist from 29.
Taxi Driver, the menu, akira,scott Pilgrim vs the World, shin
, godzilla and the Shining.
Objectively I understand that,subjectively I hate them.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Lego Ninjago why the fuck is that here?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
That is a bad movie.
Yeah, Bill.
Where did it end up on yourlist?
Speaker 1 (33:49):
It's number 22 for me , right behind the Adventures of
Tintin and in front of Spirited.
It is also before Tucker andDale vs Evil, so yeah, but is
also before tucker and daleversus evil, so yeah, but I also
gave it, you know, higher score, so yeah, number 22 for me.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
So that's where we all landed, guys, and um, that's
really all I have to say on thematter.
Like I, I don't think this isgoing to turn out very well for
me, but it is what it is.
This is what I'm going to justsay.
Even if I was to re-watch it, Idon't know that I'd enjoy it
any better.
I do think it's a little bit ofa slog to get through.
I'm glad that I watched it forthe sake that this is one of
(34:26):
those all-time classic filmsthat people bring up and I can
say I have watched it, but I'mdreading that I then have to
follow up.
I've watched it with.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I didn't make it if you were going to recommend a
Scorsese film, like if you werea big time Scorsese fan and you
were to recommend this beforesome of the others.
That would seem questionable,like there's.
There's so many more on thislist that I feel like I would
enjoy more aside from the onesI've already seen.
So you know, that would be aninteresting security tip For
(34:59):
sure.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
And maybe a little telling about you.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
We don't normally judge, but we will.
That's what we think.
But, yeah, hey, everyone.
Thanks for joining us for thisepisode of Late to the Party.
If you'd like to find any of therest of this series, make sure
you check the link in the shownotes of this and each and every
episode.
You can keep up with us a fewdifferent ways.
You can head on over to all ofour primary social media pages,
(35:30):
which include Instagram, TikTok,our growing Discord page.
We do upload videos over onYouTube and we are streaming a
lot over on Twitch, which hasbeen a whole lot of fun, and
we're planning on doing evenmore over there.
If you want to support the show, you can tag us on social media
, let us know that you'relistening, let other people know
that you're listening and headover to Apple Podcasts and
(35:50):
Spotify.
They'll give us those five-starreviews.
All of that is so beneficial tothe life of the podcast and
gets more eyes on the show aswell.
But if you're finding yourselfwanting to maybe have a few more
perks when it comes to the showand become one of our infamous
Weight Watchers here, we'll letyou know about that before
closing us out.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
Yeah so maybe you didn't like our take on Taxi
Driver, but there might beanother film out there that you
really like and you want tosupport.
Support the show because Idon't know you like our
personalities or something.
You can go do that on aplatform like Patreon, where
patrons of the show aresupporting us every single month
with their subscriptions.
Shout out to Breyer, stefanT3Kato, vintage Macaroni, corey
(36:31):
from the World is my Burrito,and Nick Casbarro, the author of
the Vidalarium series, who isthe previous episode to this
podcast.
Make sure to check that out.
All of them.
Your support is much appreciatedand if you want to join them
for behind the scenes or earlyaccess to episodes like this one
plus much more, make sure tocheck out our Patreon and
(36:53):
support us there.
But all the free stuff workstoo.
To check out our Patreon andsupport us there.
But all the free stuff workstoo Joining our Discord,
visiting us on a stream, likingour comments, commenting,
listens, engagement, etc.
Etc.
All of that much appreciated.
With that all being said, myname is Mr Eric Almighty.
That is my co-host, phil theFilipino, and please don't
forget, we release new episodesevery Wednesday for the podcast
(37:17):
and all you have to do is waitfor it.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
So I heard you're looking for a go-to source for
entertainment.
Wait for it Gaming.
Wait for it Anime Plus, ultra.
Mr Eric Almighty and Phil theFilipino yeah, they've got you
covered and all you got to do iswait for it.
(37:50):
This is the Wait For it Podcast.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.