Taxi Driver is 50 years old but it’s still one of cinema’s most definitive portraits of urban paranoia and societal detachment.  Travis (played by Robert De Niro) obsesses on the city that he harshly judges even though he’s as much a part of New York as those who he wishes will be washed away.

This scene features Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Schrader at their definite best.  I imagine that, for a lot of people, this is one of those scenes that solidified their opinions on New York City.  For the record, the last time I was in New York, everyone was fairly pleasant.  They weren’t exactly friendly but I also didn’t get my bag stolen.  (Those of us who don’t live in New York tend to assume that we’ll get mugged as soon as we leave JFK.)