Prompted solely by the fact that the "Ultimate Director's Cut" of Walter Hill's 70's classic "The Warriors" is released today ("CAN YOU DIG IT?") on DVD, herewith....
Alex in NYC's Top Eleven Favorite Movies Filmed in and Depicting New York City
Now, before anyone gets their film schooled noses out of joint, let me again emphasize that these are my favorite films shot here in NYC and not necessarily the best films shot here in NYC. I've excluded all of Woody Allen's films, brilliant though they are, if only because they're sorely predictable choices. Likewise, "When Harry Met Sally" didn't make the cut as it's become a bit of a trite cliché, nice film though it is, and it paved the way for piles of cinematic offal like "You've Got Mail". Lastly, John Carpenter's otherwise highly entertaining and not-just-a-little stupid classic, "Escape From New York" was left out, but only because most of it was filmed in St.Louis (fact!). Let's get to it, then, shall we?
(11) "Pi" (1998, directed by Darren Aronofsky): Gritty, grainy, and paranoid, Aronofsky's tense, low budget breakout film tells the story of a one-man mathematical think-tank plagued by neuroses, numerology and psychopharmacology. Filmed largely in the protagonist's cluttered, claustrophobic Chinatown tenement, "Pi" offers a brief taste of a Manhattan rarely captured accurately on film. Disturbing, but not nearly as difficult to watch as Aronofsky's next film, "Requiem for a Dream".
(10)"9 1/2 Weeks" (1986, directed by Adrian Lyne): Sure, laugh it up. Despite being a somewhat deservedly maligned soft-core sex romp, "9 1/2 Weeks" does paint a lovingly rendered portrait of Manhattan, showing a side of the city that bears more resemblance to Europe than the Big Apple.
(9)"Marathon Man" (1976, directed by John Schesinger): "Is it safe?" Genius, mid-70's thriller about diamonds, a Nazi war criminal and retribution. I was actually at the filming of the opening sequence's fiery climax (when two cars slam into a gas truck on East 91st street), albeit a lad all of 8 years old at the time. I've always been curious if the water filtering station on the Central Park resevoir really looks that way inside.
(8)""Highlander" (1986, directed by Russell Mulcahy): Yes, it's another slightly silly one, but it makes this list if only for the sword melée on the roof of Queens' Silvercup studios and the lighting of the scene shot in the Peter McManus Tavern on 19th Street and 7th Avenue (it doesn't look anywhere near as atmospheric in real life).
(7)"State of Grace" (1990, directed by Phil Joanou):A loose adaptation of T.J.English's true crime classic, "The Westies," "State of Grace" tells the story of an undercover cop who betrays his boyhood chums by infiltrating the Irish Mob in Hell's Kitchen. One particularly nice shot happens outside of the bar, Puffy's, although the bar in question is actually down in TriBeCa. Best NYC scene: Sean Penn and Gary Oldman committ a bit of arson to a yuppie high rise west of 8th Avenue.
(6) "The Hunger" (1983, directed by Tony Scott): Svelte vampires run rampant on the Upper East Side. Awesome for the niteclub cameo performance of Bauhaus singing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" during the opening credits alone. Other highlights include a host of great Bowie moments and a fabulous lesbian scene between Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon (sorry, but it's true). Best NYC scene: an aging Bowie attempts to claim another victim in the cloistered tunnel at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. Incidentally, the girl Bowie picks up and summarily devours in the first scene is a youthful Anne Magnuson.
(5) "The French Connection" (1971, directed by William Friedkin): This one's a bit of a predictable choice, but there's simply no arguing with it. As also seen in "Serpico", "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Three Days of the Condor", New York City in the 70's was a mad, bad, dangerous place, as also depicted in....
(4) "Taxi Driver" (1976, directed by Martin Scorsese): "You talkin' to me?" Another classic that needs no explanation. The `hood wherein a youthful Jodie Foster turns her tricks is still there (13th Street off Third Avenue), although the corner where Travis shoots Harvey Keitel's Pimp character is now host to a tony French restaurant. Some day a real rain is going to come and wash all the scum off the streets.
(3)"The Warriors" (1979, directed by Walter Hill): "Can You Dig It?" Highly stylized depiction of late 70's gang wars. I remember chomping at the bit to see it based solely on the Kiss-alluding Baseball Furies (who sadly get their asses kicked). Rife with unlikely idiocy, it's a hugely entertaining film, or at least until that awful Joe Walsh song at the end.
(2)"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1974, directed by Jospeh Sargent): Entirely ass-whuppin' crime thriller based around the hijacking of a subway car. Walter Matthau pitted against Robert Shaw. Completely awesome.
(1)"After Hours" (1985, directed by Martin Scorsese): One of Scorsese's less celebrated works (and one of his only comedies, albeit a pitch black one rife with Kafka-esque angst and paranoia), "After Hours" paints the nitemarish picture of a button-downed everyman lost in the bohemian labywrinth of Soho over the course of a neverending night. While it used to be required viewing for any NYC newcomer, I'm sad to say the Soho depicted in "After Hours" is largely no more. I've been unhealthily obsessed with this film since I first saw it upon its release, even going so far as to visit several of its locations . In a similar vein, I'd also recommend (don't laugh) "Desperately Seeking Susan" and Glenn O'Brien's flawed-but-compelling, "Downtown `81".
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