When I think of movies, from an artistic standpoint, some of my favorites are "American Beauty," "The Godfather" (Part One and Two), "Saving Private Ryan," and "The Silence of the Lambs."  However, I think that from the same standpoint, my favorite would have to be "Taxi Driver."  This is one my absolute favorite movies.  It is one of those movies that I think has stood the test of time and is still a classic, and always will be a classic.  This is director Martin Scorcese at his best, and may be my favorite De Niro movie (or Godfather II).  "Taxi Driver" is a movie that shows how terrible society really is, and it probes into the mind of a person going crazy.  Robert De Niro does an awesome job as Travis Bickle, a lonely man who can't sleep at nights, thus becoming a cab driver.  He frequently visits porn theaters as well.  Driving around every night in his taxi, he sees that the scum of the earth comes out at night and walks the streets, in the form of criminals, pimps, hookers, etc.  He feels that the streets need to be washed clean of the dirt that contaminates them.  Amidst all the horror of society and the city, he meets a woman named Betsy (Cybill Shepard), and is very much attracted to her.  He attempts to take her on a date, but not knowing much about movies, he takes her to a porn movie, and she rejects him.  After Betsy continually avoids him, Travis gets hurt by this.  Then he comes across a twelve-and-a-half year old prostitute named Iris, who he sees doesn't like what she does and wants to get out of it.  As all of this happens, Travis starts to get sick of the loneliness, and the rejection, and the trash that walks the streets, and he slowly goes crazy.  Then he gets a hold of some guns and a combat knife, and decides to "clean the streets."  The action sequence toward the end of the movie is very realistic and very graphic, and it is possibly the greatest and most intense shoot-out ever filmed.  The film has great directing and acting, and is a magificent movie, though somewhat shocking and disturbing.  If you're looking for a classic, then "Taxi Driver" is not to be missed.