12 Times A Director Went On An INSANE Streak Of Great Movies

3. Martin Scorsese: Six Films From 1973-1982

The Streak: Mean Streets, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy

There were actually a couple of Scorsese runs that could have been chosen for this entry. The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo and The Wolf of Wall Street is a streak of films most other directors would die for, but for my money, his early 70s-80s stint was, somehow, even better.

Mean Streets is the least polished, but that actually awards it with even more charm. Its gangster narrative - starring a younger DeNiro - essentially functions as a dry run for the kind of films that would define the director famous later in his career, but it’s still fantastic in its own right. Taxi Driver is hands-down one of the most influential films to come out of the 70s, with Travis Bickle becoming one of the most famous anti-heroes in the medium’s history. New York New York - while not a critical darling at the time - is one of the Scorsese’s most underrated pictures, while Raging Bull is yet another bona-fide classic.

The King of Comedy is the surprise clincher here though. Scorsese's story of failed, delusional comedian Rupert Pupkin is as funny as it is thrilling, held together by yet another incredible DeNiro performance. Although he's been pigeonholed a little bit now, every time he collaborated with Scorsese during this streak, the actor always transformed - both physically and psychologically - into someone completely unrecognisable.

The fact that Scorsese has been able to pull off two fantastic streaks, decades apart, all in different genres, is just ridiculous. The fact that neither include his best film is just the cherry on the cake.

[JB]