So, I get to this stage in my life where I think, yeah, it's time for me to see "Taxi Driver" because everyone's gotta see DeNiro doing his "You talking to me" schtick and generally losing his mind on the streets of New York, which having lived there, I can confirm it is an easy thing to do.

I wasn't prepared for the pacing of it, I think - it was so much slower than movies are made for the MTV-cut generation today. Once I fell into the pattern of it thogh, I could relax and watch poor Travis melt down. But you're never really sure why - is it PTSD from the war? Is it something else? Has he always had these types of problems? It's never gone into, and I suppose it doesn't have to be; just for me, it felt like a piece of the backstory was missing.

Also - most gratuitous shots of a director in his own movie - ever. And I LIKE Scorcese. Did he just have a low budget? Like you can't find extras willing to work for FREE in NYC?? C'mon! Frustrated actor, Marty, admit it!

I also found hilarious that Travis' social skills are so low that he doesn't realize that taking a date to a porno is not considered suave. Especially on their - I think it was  - second date. Then Albert Brooks (guffaw) plays her gallant protector from ROBERT FRIKIN DeNIRO. Yeah, there's believability. I'm buying a bagel and watching that. (I can't eat popcorn - too many crowns.)

So DeNiro goes home and takes these pills; we're never told if they're aspirin or what, but then he says he has to cut out everything because he's been sitting too much and he's gotten too soft and presumably is going to shoot the soon-to-be-nominee because of the shine-on by Cybill Shepherd. Oooo-kay. He's so skinny in this movie I want to tell him to eat an emergency cheeseburger. But he starts working out like a mad-man (did you like my foreshadowing, there?), purchases an obscene amount of guns that makes you chortle and close your throat in fear at the same time because it IS so obscene and nothing good can come of it.

Travis then develops this obsessive relationship with this teenaged hooker, Easy/Iris (Jodie Foster), and he feels compelled to get her out of this life of sin in this city if dirt and filth. The poor crazy schmuck probably sees himself as some kind of knight in shining armor when in truth, he's the same sort of crazed filth that is fillng the streets. After an abortive attempt at killing the now nominee, Travis - now sporting a snazzy new Mowhawk which just makes him all the more inconspicuous - heads on over to Iris to save her from her life of ill-fated degeneration.

Boom. Bang. Boom. Bang. Bang. Bang. Scream. Bang. Two shots to the temple. And he's a hero. Heh?

Okay. Perhaps it's because I was growing up in NYC when this was taking place and my grandfather was a cop and he would've locked this SOB up as a psychopath and not given him the keys to the city that makes this a little too unbelieveable for me. Scorcese is big on NYC history - hey, tell him to ask the DA's Murder Squad - they would not have treated this fellow like a hero, especially with that last little action he does.

Upon further recollection, I suppose we all need antiheroes in the midst of the dirt and the filth and the grime; maybe that's why we all made a hero out of subway shooter Bernard Goetz who just couldn't take it anymore. We need to believe there are those who can see something shiny beneath that grime, something worth saving. Maybe that's the beauty of Travis - that he could see with different eyes.

And if I look at the movie with that point of view, I can say - I enjoyed it. No more. No less. I saw something shiny.

Scale of 1 - 10, we get a five - WOAH.  Knock 'em dead, Travis. And have a hamburger, on me.

So - I am Alexia, and while I do like occasional "girlie movies" I am more known for the explosions, beat-downs, million-rounds flying,excellent car chases, super special effects, horror (on certain nights), severed horses heads in da traitor's bed, and sci-fi - with a passion. In short, I am a fan boi. Except with this killer fan grrl bod. *shrug* Go figure.

I'll give you a "fer instance": I just got the DVD of 'Transformers'. Had to watch it as soon as it arrived in it's nifty little tear-away Amazon box. (Get off the Amazon, I buy EVERYTHING there, including vitamins. They LOVE me.) So, tear away box, where was I? Oh yeah - had to sit down and watch it. I was filled with trepidation - shaky #1: Shia LeBouf. He's cute in a "I'll forever be the kid who did ET" kinda way but I didn't think he had the chops. Shaky #2: That theme song - how the hell are they gonna update THAT to movedom? Shaky #3: if this isn't done right it's gonna be a big blockbuster floppy disappointment.

From the stars entering into the initial movie-company logo and using some mechanical noise effects instead of the usual traditional theme music, I thought - okay, wow, sound effects a go. Then it just got it's claws into me, from the battle scene in the desert to Frenzy and the Ding-Dong in Air Force One, to Bumblebee's appropriate musical cues ("Baby Come Back" - killed me.), to the eventual unveiling of - wait for it - OPTIMUS PRIME - not only Optimus Prime, but the guy who did the original OP voice!!!!!!!! Peter Cullen! YEAH! Okay, at that point, I would have been bouncing on the couch, had there been bouncing allowed in my house (we're a no bouncing household). John Turturro was so over the top it totally worked; it's extremely obvious he's ad-libbing mostly but he's got the skills, man.

Then we get to Hoover Dam and man-oh-man, that first shot of Megatron in Cryostasis is just - dare I say it - it sends chills down your spine. I worried that they'd brought back the guy who'd voiced the original Megatron - he always seemed so ssssibilantly sssssisssssssy to me. Ssssssorry. I love Turturro's line in the Dam - "Did you see the whoof (hand gesture) - anything's possible!" referring to the All Spark's remarkable shape shift. And who knew Jon Voight was still as spry, right there in the firefight with a gun and barking out orders, never a well-sprayed hair out of place.

Even better for me than the final scene, I think, was the shape-shift in the middle of the highway doing 80mph. Another bouncing moment, had bouncing been allowed. Okay, I think I bounced a little and got frowned at. Autobots and Decepticons essentially roller blading down America's highways and bouncing SUV's out of the way like errant leaves. God it was so thrillingly satisfying, but still story-building as you get to the city of *mumble-mumble* and Megatron makes his appearance....voice over by....HUGO WEAVING!! YEAHHHH! BOUNCE BOUNCE!! Sorry.

Total and utmost props to Shia LeBouf at this point. In the specials, they show that he's actually hooked to the side of a top of a building and screaming dialogue. I...personally...would have been vomiting, but hey, that's just me. Megan Fox does a great job of not just being eye candy but someone who actually uses her "hey do you have a nice stomach - Michael Bay" to get in there and pull her weight by driving a tow truck in the middle of this incredible machine vs. machine battle to aid the crippled Bumblebee so he can continue to fight. She takes a moment to think, 'oh, crap, oh crap, I'm gonna die', but she does it. Character gets kudos. IN SPITE OF THE STOMACH, BAY!!  Men like women with curves, not just nerves.

So, Shia LeBouf pulled it of in an entirely believable way and I feel shamed for doubting it. They never used a remade version of the title song (except on the album which is great..except for that), and they made the movie a really credible 'verse where Autobots and Decepticons could truly exist. Those transitions were just - AWESOME!!! I wanted more of them just for the fun. Do this one, now do this one, okay do this one again...it was just as good as playing with the toys was way back when. And I am so glad Megatron was not a gun. Punky.

I loved it so much I watched it twice in three days. And I will watch it again rather soon, I imagine. So on our scale of pffft (1) to RRRRROOOOOOW (10), I'd give this a definite RRRRROOOOOOOOW. Definite bounce on the couch - if you're allowed - kind of fun. Props to Tyrese for his "Left cheek", and Josh Duhamel is a nice looking good guy. Bay almost earns back points for that one. And watch out for Rachel Taylor, man - gal does the whole thing the boys do in six-inch stilettos. In my book, that makes her a hell of a lot tougher than most of them. And with that sexy Aussie accent to boot. Definite RRROOOOW.


So let's re-cap here: I'll  talk about movies or shows or books or whatever, it doesn't necessarily have to be current, and if it's on your mind you can bring it up, and you guys tell me what you think and it'll be like a dialogue, except I'll be the goddess, because I am the gal with curves and nerves.

Except for heights.