i like goodfellas but taxi driver is my all time favourite scorsese movie. i saw it for the first time in one of my cinema classes on a big projection screen and it was just awesome.
i saw casanova the other night with my friend who wanted to go to the movies and see something light hearted and that wouldn't require much effort to watch. anyway, so i agreed to go, mainly because i was bored and felt like getting out of the house, but i did tell her that i was fairly sceptical about the director's decision to cast heath ledger as casanova. heath, although, yes, does admittedly possess some charm and is a good actor, overall just didn't seem like he would have been the right choice to me. i would have much preferred to have seen someone like johnny depp play it as he's just got that special something in his eyes that can't be acted out.
...plus i think he's hotter :D
the movie was set and filmed in venice which was nice because i've been there so it was cool to be able to re-visit places and be able to go 'yes, i know where that is, but how the hell did they manage to get rid of all the freakn' pigeons'

overall the movie was alright but nothing special. i'd probably give it 3/5 stars, in that it's enjoyable enough to watch so you won't be screaming for your money back but at the same time you don't want to be expecting too much from it either (as i'd imagine most people wouldn't be).
and finally to answer your question, mp, about brokeback mountain - i think that it's very true as you say that the more you can identify with the characters in a movie that the more you will feel emotionally drawn to it and hence appreciate it; and since i'm not a guy, and therefore can't literally identify with a guy loves guy sort of love, that will naturally prevent me from being able to associate with that particular aspect. however something that i am able to identify with is the universal
love story element, which imo is the most important part as that is what it's essentially about. and although i thought that both heath and jake did good jobs individually at acting out their characters roles in this movie, in the end i just felt like there wasn't enough on-screen 'chemistry' or 'spark' or something between them which was preventing me from ever really being able to feel that apparent overwhelming love that they both felt for eachother. i don't know, i mean maybe that's a load of bollocks, but i hope that it's not as i'm really trying to be as objective as i can be
all in all i thought that the movie was very good but not great, so i give it 4/5 stars.
and if you end up seeing it post up your thoughts mp, cos i'm very intrigued to see what more people here thought of it
