Taxi Driver

The nitty gritty New York streets are captured and shown pretty nicely in the film "Taxi Driver." You follow the depressing and very odd life of Travis Bickle, your everyday normal psychopath with a big sleeping disorder. He feels like he has to accomplish something big in life and he is determined to figure out what that is. The man is far from social acceptable, bringing dates to porno's and stalking them when they leave. He also fantasizes about shooting someone, like the man running for Senator, and want to help a prostitute from her pimp. Mentally unstable is really being nice about this mans state of mind.

Overall the story is captivating enough to keep you entertained through the whole film. Watching as the man becomes a hero makes you a little uneasy as you see the life he lead up to that point and you find that you almost don't want him to be the hero because of all the things that he tried before killing the pimp. Even killing the pimp was a less then heroic act, as it was more selfish and him wanting to make a name for himself. He didn't even plan on living. But the way the director made you choose how you felt about it made the ending that much more compelling.

The random women he puts in his life is another aspect of the movie that shows us how unstable he is and his real motives in life. The first girl he meets he is actually trying to date. Unfortunately for him he does not know what to do on a date, so he kills that relationship before it really even began. Then the next girl he finds is a hooker that is only a kid. He wants to help her but the only life she knows is as a prostitute and relying on her pimp to supply. The movie ends with him helping out in the only way he knows how. That is by killing everyone and hoping she can find her way back home. As a war vet he seems to be unsure of how to handle himself and I feel that this was the only way he knew how to take care of any problems he had. Point and shoot.

Jaws!!!!

An easy movie to recognize with and one that almost anyone has heard of even if they have not seen it. Jaws is a great classic of the 70's and for many good reason. The film played off a sense of fear that everyone inherently has. The fear of something bigger getting to you, and a fear of the unknown.

Jaws has many good qualities to it like the main role who wants to help the town, but is terrified of the water. So he seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for the whole movie. You remember the main people in this story because they are all memorable with small little quarks like this one. This movie also has a huge sense of irony throughout. Like the sea captain and how he lived through all the horrors, even lived when the boat when down in the navy and had to watch sharks eat all his friends. He ends up getting eaten by the shark and that is how he ends his long and difficult life.

I think the best part of the film is probable the one aspect that has made it timeless, and that is the music track. It has become associated with any type of impending attack. whether joking around in the pool or what ever else you could be doing. This song has taken the movie and made it classic just because everyone knows that song, and knows what it means. For any movie or any song, that is a huge deal because it means that it will always be remembered.

The Conversation

We continue our theme of sabotage and death in the film "The Conversation" with Harry being the best at what he does; a private eye of sorts. He can record any conversation at any location and make it work very well. When peoples lives are at stake he starts to worry and wonder what has he done.

In this film you see the continuing trend of paranoia that has been growing throughout this era. Now this film does not attack people fear that the government is trying to screw them. This one harps on the fears that no conversation you are having is safe. That things like your phone, your floor, and even a walk in the park, can be bugged, monitored, and recorded to be used against you later.

In the film people make a living out of this and even have new gadgets and such that they can implement to help them in spying on the seemingly innocent. Also within the film it brings to light that almost knowing something is not quite enough, and that jumping to conclusions will only make your head spin and get you in a load of trouble. He thought that the husband was the one that was going to be killing but it turned out the other way. With this shocking twist Harry is left high and dry and utterly confused and even a little used.

In the end the film shows that even the best can not get away from the bugging and probing of their lives and that they to can be put under a microscope. But what is more problematic is the fact that he has lived a lonely life on purpose to help him separate from people, and now he is all alone with no one to turn to as he tears his house apart to try and get back the one thing he has always pretended to have; control.