New York in the Movies

Posted on July 3, 2017 at 8:00 am

It’s often said that New York City is a character in the movies set in its five boroughs. It’s a lot of fun to get a glimpse of some of its many portrayals, especially seeing iconic images like Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge show up in different genres and times.

New York in Cinema – Supercut from Sergio Rojo on Vimeo.

Sergio Rojo included these films:

The Apartment (1960)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
West Side Story (1961)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
The Godfather (1972)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Warriors (1979)
Hair (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
Fame (1980)
Escape from New York (1981)
Tootsie (1982)
Annie (1982)
Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Crocodile Dundee (1986)
Wall Street (1987)
Big (1988)
Oliver and Company (1988)
When Harry met Sally (1989)
Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
Ghost (1990)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Teen Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Léon: the Professional (1994)
Men in Black (1997)
Godzilla (1998)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Stuart Little (1999)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
American Psycho (2000)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Serendipity (2001)
Gangs of New York (2002)
Phone Booth (2002)
Daredevil (2003)
The Terminal (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Hellboy (2004)
Rent (2005)
King Kong (2005)
Madagascar (2005)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Night at the Museum (2006)
I Am Legend (2007)
Across the Universe (2007)
Enchanted (2007)
Cloverfield (2008)
27 Dresses (2008)
Bolt (2008)
Precious (2009)
Watchmen (2009)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Black Swan (2010)
Devil (2010)
Eat, Pray, Love (2010)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)
Shame (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
The Great Gatsby (2013)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
Begin Again (2014)
Birdman (2014)
Brooklyn (2015)
The Walk (2015)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Collateral Beauty (2016)
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Music: “Jennifer Lawrence” by Nova and the Experience.

Smile of the Week: New York Sings “Tomorrow” from “Annie”

Posted on October 3, 2014 at 12:00 pm

#anniemovie

The Taking of Pelham 123

Posted on November 3, 2009 at 8:00 am

This third version of the story of a hijacked New York subway car may be superfluous but it still delivers some zip thanks to Tony Scott’s music-video flash and even a bit of heft thanks to Denzel Washington.

The 1974 version had Robert Shaw (“Jaws,” “The Sting”) as the leader of a group of trigger-happy thugs and a bitter ex-subway motorman and Walter Matthau as the transit cop working for the safe return of the hostages. The film’s great strengths were its nicely twisty plot, its superb cast of character actors (including Jerry Stiller), and its gritty feel for the city at a time of great economic turmoil and municipal decay. Then there was a made-for-TV version in 1998 with Vincent D’Onofrio and Edward James Olmos. This time, it is updated for the era of cell phones, laptops, and failing financial markets. The leader of the hijackers is John Travolta, with a 70’s porn star mustache, a prison neck tattoo, and a whole lot of attitude. He starts out at the top of Mount CrazyAngry and pretty much stays there the whole time. At the other end of the phone is transit guy Garber (Denzel Washington), who has depth of expertise and some complications in his work situation.

Director Tony Scott knows how to deliver a cinematic adrenaline rush, and there are some impressive car crashes and chases. James Gandolfini is superb as the mayor, a cross between Giuliani and Bloomberg, and there are some nice up-to-the-minute touches for the era of cell phones, wifi, and Wall Street collapses. It sacrifices some of the original’s craftiest switch-ups for action but the biggest problem is that Travolta never really connects and Washington’s fully-realized portrayal of the troubled but heroic Garber makes even more obvious Travolta’s struggle to make his character work. Travolta may steal the subway car, but it is Washington who steals the movie.

Related Tags:

Action/Adventure Crime Remake

Nursery University

Posted on September 8, 2009 at 7:29 am

Ingredients:

1. Too many toddlers
2. Not enough preschools
3. Parents who will do anything for their children
4. Parents whose top priority is their children’s education
5. Parents who recognize the substantial social and educational advantages of the few very top Manhattan preschools
6. New York City and its tendency to increase overall stress (meaning both emphasis and pressure)

Result: a sort of combustible insanity as on the day after Labor Day every year some of the most ambitious, aggressive, status-oriented, and very highly motivated people in the world rev up for one of the most cut-throat competitions in America, admission to preschool in Manhattan. You think I’m exaggerating? Then remember that just a few years ago a scandal that brought down some of the biggest names in Wall Street had a top securities analyst changing his recommendation on a company in exchange for a contribution that eased his twins’ entry into a posh preschool. As he noted in his email on the subject, admission was statistically harder than getting into to Harvard. And yes, we are talking about 2 and 3-year olds. As the film-makers put it, “Cue the tears, hysterics and breakdowns–and that’s just the parents.”

“Nursery University” is a frank but not-unsympathetic look at what pretty much everyone agrees is the insanity of the process of applying to preschool in Manhattan, from the pricey consultants to the interviews of both parents and toddlers. The intricacies of pushing without being pushy, of conveying a family’s ability to provide support without sounding like you are name-dropping or trying to buy your way in, the challenges for families who are not wealthy are all here. The focus is on five applicants and their parents, from the speed-dial madness that begins today just to get the privilege of being permitted to apply to those are-they-thick-or-thin envelopes that arrive in the spring.

Bonus features on the DVD include deleted scenes and interviews with the parents and admission experts and even some advice for parents who may be entering this process themselves.

Related Tags:

Documentary Parenting

Bye Bye Braverman

Posted on May 13, 2009 at 3:58 pm

The wonderful Warner Archive has released another movie I remember fondly, Bye Bye Braverman. Director Sidney Lumet, showing the same feel for the city evident in his other films like “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Serpico,” made this film about four New York Jewish intellectuals on their way to a funeral. They bicker, they get lost, they consider the meaning of life. Not much happens, but a lot happens.
It’s not a classic by any means, but it has moments of enormous richness and poignancy and beautiful performances by everyone involved, especially Phyllis Newman, Zohra Lampert, and Godfrey Cambridge in smaller roles. And of course New York City playing the lead.

Related Tags:

Neglected gem