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After what feels like years and years of anticipation, Martin Scorsese's latest film is finally arriving in theaters this week. Yes, Shutter Island, the movie whose trailer appears to be contractually obligated to be placed in front of every movie over the past eight months (and half of the TV shows I watch, too), is coming out this week. It's a testament to the power and talent of Scorsese, along with his lead actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, that I'm still interested in the movie, despite having read the novel and feeling like the previews have all but spelled out the big surprises. Granted, Scorsese being the director is pretty much a guarantee that I'm going to want to see the movie (and the same could be said of many film buffs). Still, it's not just him that draws me near.

Yes, I'm coming out here as a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio's acting. Sure, back in 1997, he was just a bland heartthrob, but over the past decade, he's built up a solid list of performances, and has managed to work with some very talented and unpredictable directors, from Ridley Scott to Sam Mendes to his upcoming starring role in Christopher Nolan's Inception. But DiCaprio's leap from matinee idol to actor is largely and correctly attributed to Martin Scorsese. Scorsese and DiCaprio have worked on four films together in the past eight years, from Gangs of New York to The Departed. Even though it seemed an unlikely collaboration, this duo has been favorably compared to Scorsese and Robert De Niro for the last few years, and it's hard to argue it.

No, DiCaprio hasn't delivered consistently amazing performances on the same level as De Niro did in films such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, but he's emerged out of each movie as a stronger and smarter performer. Though Scorsese is well-known for his collaborations with various actors, he's only one such director. This week's A-List, in honor of the continuing partnership between Scorsese and DiCaprio, is all about some great and lasting actor/director collaborations, old and new. It's become more noticeable in the last couple of decades that certain directors are known for favoring certain actors; there are cases where it doesn't pay off (M. Night Shyamalan would do well to not feature, in The Last Airbender, a cameo from M. Night Shyamalan), but the people on this list are strong arguments in favor of such collaborations.

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro

And where better to start than with this dynamic twosome? As I mentioned above, Scorsese and De Niro have worked together on, most notably, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, the latter of which garnered an Academy Award for De Niro. However, these two men worked on eight films together, also including Casino, GoodFellas, Mean Streets, and The King of Comedy. The persona that De Niro has spent a good portion of the decade mocking or destroying - that of the quiet, repetitive bruiser who's less interested in talking than kicking your ass - was created by these two men. Decades and decades of would-be actors and directors were inspired by the timeless scene in Taxi Driver, in which De Niro faces his mirror image, asking "You talkin' to me?" For better or worse, this is one of the most influential film partnerships of the past 50 years.

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