What is a good New York movie for me to rent?

[StellaBlue]

I am going to visit a friend in NYC in eight six weeks, and I have never been there. Can you all give me some titles of Great Films (tm) to see to mentally prep? Like, I haven't seen 'An Affair to Remember'. haha

Thanks! I am so excited!!!

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Ghostbusters, Spiderman, Manhattan, Arthur

those are the ones right off the top of my head that have a lot of shots of NYC.

[EFerrari]

2. New York, New York, On the Town, Manhattan Melodrama

All About Eve, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets.

[liberalitch]

3. Moonstruck....

crossing delancy

[Wcross]

4. Crime movies!

The King of New York, Goodfellas, all the Godfather films.
Wall street.

[datasuspect]

5. bad lieutenant

the panic in needle park

[SlavesandBulldozers]

6. Beat Street, Goodfellas

oh hell, no movie can really prepare you. I went for the first time last year and it's impossible to capture the feel and magnitude.

[CBHagman]

7. Don't forget Woody Allen.

Pick one or more of the following:

Manhattan (especially recommended)
Hannah and Her Sisters (highly recommended)
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Small Time Crooks
Bullets over Broadway (featuring Bronx native Chazz Palminteri and some great dialogue)
Everyone Says I Love You (NYC looks just beautiful)
Deconstructing Harry

Many other Woody Allen films are set in New York.

Not all NYC movies are about sociopaths, the mafia, or tragic love affairs. I second the choices of Crossing Delancey and Moonstruck. Don't forget When Harry Met Sally, The Goodbye Girl, 13 Conversations about One Thing, Cry Terror, and Fame.

It's terribly silly, but Down with Love has a nice retro NYC look, as it recaptures the way things looked in the early '60s.

Have a great trip!

[peekaloo]

11. I'll second 'Manhattan'.

It's a visual love letter to the city.

[elshiva]

27. Manhattan, thirded. Lovely scenery.

[Left Is Write]

8. Breakfast At Tiffany's.

[IcyPeas]

19. Blockbuster DOES NOT rent Breakfast at Tiffany's

I recently wanted to see this movie again (thanks to the movie "Capote" coming out) and went to my local Blockbuster and no luck, then checked the Blockbuster website and not one Blockbuster in my area rents this movie. Why? I ask myself? Is this not weird? What could the reason be?

(I know I could BUY it elsewhere but I really don't want tooo....)

[Left Is Write]

20. How strange...

Do they have something against Truman Capote? Audrey Hepburn? Call girls?

[CanuckAmok]

24. No, they just never carry anything you'd want to rent.

It's their policy.

But they DO carry 65 copies of Elektra.

[IcyPeas]

26. You are right, CanuckAmok.

I went there again tonight (why do I bother?) to look for Love Actually and they apparently have one copy of it, but it was out (of course). And I look around at the wall of new releases and realize I've never heard of 95 percent of the movies...... maybe I'm just out of touch..... but I doubt I'm THAT out of touch. They also never seem to have the British version of "The Office" even though there's an emptly sleeve there. So? Why DO I bother......

HAPPY NEW YEAR.......

[CanuckAmok]

28. How about this:

I went in with what I thought was a pretty reasonable list of relatively mainstream titles:


The House of Yes - House of No. Don't have it

Fear and Loathing in LV - Had it, sold the only rental copy they had

The Office - "Office Space?" No, "The Office" - No, never heard of it

Lair of the White Worm - Nope. Never heard of it.

Starship Troopers - No, but we have the sequel on DVD

Delicatessen - Um.... no.

River's Edge - Is that the one with Merryl Streep? No.

City of Lost Children - Yes! .....no, wait, we don't have it.

Original "Dawn of the Dead" - No.

Original "Flight of the Phoenix" - No.

Original "Get Carter" - Isn't the Stallone version the original?

Curb Your Enthusiasm Series 4, volume 2 - Yes, but there's only one copy, and we can't seem to find it.

Set It Off - No.

The Bad Lieutenant - No. Not allowed to carry it.

Annie Hall - What's the name of the movie? Never mind.


And so-on. It's like the Monty Python Cheese Shoppe of movie rental joints.

Oh, and Princess Bride is in the "Action" section.

[Dees]

9. Fort Apache the Bronx...n/t

[northzax]

10. King Kong, of course

[Radio_Lady]

32. 2005 King Kong will have a place in this list in the future, I'm sure.

The recreation of 1930s Time Square in the current movie King Kong was worth the price of admission for me.

But if you can get the original 1933 and have never seen it, it's worth it, also.

In peace,

Radio_Lady in Oregon (but in Salt Lake City tonight)
Movie reviewer and radio raconteur extraordinaire!

[Burma Jones]

12. Manhattan, King of New York, Taxi Driver, Stuart Little

Moonstruck (wife's suggestion), New York Stories, Do The Right Thing,

To name a few...........

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Both Ghostbusters movies and Taxi Driver

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

34. "Someday a real rain will come

and wash all the slime, ooze and Stay-Puft Marshmellow off the street."

(Or something like that. Good choices!)

[terrya]

14. Practically any Woody Allen film.

His films take place in Manhattan. You can tell he loves the city very much. You get a good feel of what New York is like in his films.

[bigwillq]

15. I agree with Woody Allen.

I would also say some of the mob dramas but if violence isn't your thing, then I would say Woody Allen's the best bet!

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

35. Agree 100%. If nothing else, watch the first 5 minutes of "Manhattan".

[StellaBlue]

16. Wow, thanks for the suggestions!

Don't know where I will start! I've seen some of them already, so I might rent Manhattan and Breakfast at Tiffany's (even though I've seen it - it's a good way to get in the modd, I should think!).

[baldguy]

17. After Hours

another Martin Scorsese film

[Taverner]

18. Midnight Cowboy, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Good Fellas

[CBHagman]

21. Just thought of another.

Sophie's Choice, and you'd better buy a box of tissues.

There's a terrific scene where Kevin Kline drinks a toast on the Brooklyn Bridge.

On the lighter side, I seem to recall that You've Got Mail is also set in New York.

Then there's True Love, Household Saints, and A Bronx Tale, though the latter was filmed in Queens, if I recall correctly.

And Spike Lee is as devoted to New York as Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese are, frankly, even if they may choose other locations (Italy, for example, in Scorsese's case, and London in Woody Allen's).

[Twillig]

22. Yeah, Spike Lee's "25th Hour"

was a great use of the city, If sad. nevermind the story, which I liked.

[WCGreen]

23. Next stop, Greenwhich Village......

The Pope of Greenwhich Village...

Both capture a time and place of New York that is no longer there but was so important to the perception of New York to the rest of the world...

[CanuckAmok]

25. My fave "New York" movie: Scorsese's "After Hours".

Also, King of New York, Annie Hall, Mighty Aphrodite, Summer of Sam...

[kevsand]

29. The Warriors

Or, on a lighter note, the original version of The Out-of-Towners.

[kevsand]

33. davsand just suggested "Escape From New York."

Don't know how I could have overlooked that. Of course, it was filmed in St. Louis.

Actually, my favorite New York film is probably "Fail Safe."

[0007]

30. Jaws

[Sub Atomic]

31. The Warriors

It's pretty scary, but it will make you appreciate New York for what it is today.

[tjdee]

36. Woody Allen films, Working Girl,Sex and the City reruns, and Kal Ho Na Ho.

Okay, I know you won't see that last one, but it's a Bollywood film set in NYC and it makes me miss NYC SO much when I watch it. It is one of the absolute best in showcasing NYC, I guess because it's from a visitor's perspective. Very, very nice.

As everyone says, any Woody Allen film is perfect. I think he more than anyone captures the day to dayness of Manhattan.

Sex and the City is always nice too.