Nobody mentioned After Hours or King of Comedy yet? Both are minor classics in my book. What about Mikey & Nicky vs. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie? Tough call there.
Sorry dude, I totally dig what you're saying, and being an LA native I'd love to side with you. But check the arguments there. There are just some things that are too classic. I love the LA films you've listed below, but you almost prove your NY list just ethers your LA list...
Collectively, I think movies about LA are better than movies about NY. Discuss.
Good movies about LA (in which LA plays a prominent role or is critical to the movie)
- LA Confidential - Heat - Chinatown - Boyz in the Hood - Training Day - L.A. Story - Magnolia - Beverly Hills Cop
Good movies about LA
- Taxi Driver - Manhattan[/b] - Escape from New York - Do the Right Thing[/b] - Wall Street[/b] - The Godfather[/b] - French Connection - Big - Saturday Night Fever[/b]
BTW, it took a lot of self-conrol to not bold "Big" as well. Josh Baskin = thug life.
I guess it's a thin line between movies about a city and movies set in a city...while Scorcese is a New York director through and through, could King of Comedy have been set in another major city and still worked? I am asking in seriousness. I love that movie and have never looked at it that way til now.
I would ask the same of Magnolia.
Never mind the situations, but is it that the characters in these two movies are personifications of those cities and can only be from there?
I don't think King of Comedy could have been set any where else, just because at that point in time the late-night talk shows was one of the few places where a career in comedy could be launched, and folks from all over the place flocked to them like magnets. It was before cable TV really took off and wasn't it also before stand-up comedy clubs came in vogue?
I don't think King of Comedy could have been set any where else, just because at that point in time the late-night talk shows was one of the few places where a career in comedy could be launched, and folks from all over the place flocked to them like magnets. It was before cable TV really took off and wasn't it also before stand-up comedy clubs came in vogue?
Not to mention, I think, how important the idea of isolation and loneliness in the urban setting is so central to the film. I think that, in the mind of a lot of people in North America, New York probably epitomizes the hostile big city, thus making it pretty much the perfect setting. In that sense, it could have been set somewhere other than NYC, but I don't think that it would have had as much resonance.
As for being the "pinnacle of the crime thriller genre," that statement is laughably false.
See Huston's "Asphalt Jungle" or Kubrick's "The Killing" for examples of crime thrillers that schitt on "Heat" from dizzying heights.
I am certainly no expert on the genre, and my statement was overly hyperbolic for sure. It's just weird how polarizing any discussion about "Heat" is - I know there's other SS threads devoted on the subject on why it's great/why it sucks -- so won't get into that here.
Y'all dudes just hate the genius that is Michael Mann.
I don't hate it--I just think it drags on for about an hour longer than necessary. I'm mystified by people who ride so hard for it.
And this is coming form someone who thinks Mann's Miami Vice film is an under-recognized classic.
Miami Vice was a total fraud. I'm a fan of the series. (Yes it's silly. But it's great in its own way and is a fun whos-who of later Hollywood stars in their early years. And later cop shows from the 90's to the present nearly ALL owe a debt to this series).
But the movie had nothing whatsoever to do with the series. The characters had the same names. That was it. No matching backstories; no matching character traits, nothing. They were cops in Miami with the same names. That's it. I was basically tricked into seeing a movie totally unrelated to the series that happened to have the same name. And it wasn't even that great as a stand-alone cop movie (not horrible, but unremarkable IMO).
Heat has some iconic LA shots; the best I've seen in a movie. Chinatown and LA Confidential capture the 20's LA noir thing very well, but Heat is the modern equivalent. Training Day was sorta silly as a movie, but also had some great LA shots.
Mann has been sliding downhill since the Heat era, like big-time. Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Insider >> Ali >> Collateral >> Vice = Public Enemies...
I might need to revisit it (only saw the movie when I was a young teen) but the fact that L.A. Story is included in the list pretty much deads the argument.
You NEED to revisit it!! LA Story is one of my favorite comedies of all time, but then again I don't fit the typical Soulstrut hipster model towards entertainment... i.e. I can laugh at dumb things.
I just saw BK's Finest and thought it was pretty bad. Both Training Day and BK's were over-the-top in their action scenes and in the total improbability of their plots, but at least TD had the cool LA locations and a more focused story (TD focused on the relationship btwn Denzel and Hawke, vs. BK's Finest which was a rudderless amalgam of Hawke/Gere/Snipes/Cheadle and a million other semi-unrelated/related clusterfucking story lines going on).
Fanboys of the Wire (myself included) will appreciate Omar and Wee-Bey appearances in BK's Finest, but TD had Dre and Snoop, so advantage TD...
I'm not even sure how one can try to answer this film especially since a lot of the films mentioned are not films ABOUT either city but merely take place there. Not exactly the same thing.
And if we're going on that criteria, I think films where NY is an inherent part of the film's identity and character are likely to trump LA if only because the cinematic vision of LA so easily veers into the superficial (because people think of LA as superficial).
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather. Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction.
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather.
very probably.
Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction.
please be serious? you rate PF over Chinatown? (Im not even saying Chinatown is GOAT LA movie, just the first obv-better-than-PF flick that comes to mind....
As for being the "pinnacle of the crime thriller genre," that statement is laughably false.
See Huston's "Asphalt Jungle" or Kubrick's "The Killing" for examples of crime thrillers that schitt on "Heat" from dizzying heights.
I am certainly no expert on the genre, and my statement was overly hyperbolic for sure. It's just weird how polarizing any discussion about "Heat" is - I know there's other SS threads devoted on the subject on why it's great/why it sucks -- so won't get into that here.
Y'all dudes just hate the genius that is Michael Mann.
I don't hate it--I just think it drags on for about an hour longer than necessary. I'm mystified by people who ride so hard for it.
And this is coming form someone who thinks Mann's Miami Vice film is an under-recognized classic.
Miami Vice was a total fraud. I'm a fan of the series. (Yes it's silly. But it's great in its own way and is a fun whos-who of later Hollywood stars in their early years. And later cop shows from the 90's to the present nearly ALL owe a debt to this series).
But the movie had nothing whatsoever to do with the series. The characters had the same names. That was it. No matching backstories; no matching character traits, nothing. They were cops in Miami with the same names. That's it. I was basically tricked into seeing a movie totally unrelated to the series that happened to have the same name. And it wasn't even that great as a stand-alone cop movie (not horrible, but unremarkable IMO).
I don't think I would have cared for it if it resembled the TV series, which I find unwatchable.
I'm not even sure how one can try to answer this film especially since a lot of the films mentioned are not films ABOUT either city but merely take place there. Not exactly the same thing.
And if we're going on that criteria, I think films where NY is an inherent part of the film's identity and character are likely to trump LA if only because the cinematic vision of LA so easily veers into the superficial (because people think of LA as superficial).
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather. Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction.
Debate/discuss.
Pulp Fiction, while influential, isn't actually that good.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather Half Baked. Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction Karate Kid.
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather.
very probably.
Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction.
please be serious? you rate PF over Chinatown? (Im not even saying Chinatown is GOAT LA movie, just the first obv-better-than-PF flick that comes to mind....
Looking at IMDB movie ranking by users it's correct.
Not that I agree. Just saying.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather Half Baked. Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction Karate Kid.
Debate/discuss.
Harvey, the Karate Kid took place in the Valley. That's a whole 'nother genre/grouping of movies. Not the same at all as the LA joints.
I was clearly joking on those...but seriously IMO, the best movie ever set in LA (actually Malibu) was Big Wednesday.
But that does actually speak to one of my points in joking about Karate Kid, in that LA to me is more a suburban, outdoor place than an urban, underbelly place.
Comments
What about Mikey & Nicky vs. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie? Tough call there.
!!!!!!
Thank You!
BTW, it took a lot of self-conrol to not bold "Big" as well. Josh Baskin = thug life.
Sucks. Real talk.
What?
This movie is great.
BAN
And lest us not forget Spike Lee's venturing into genre land with Inside Man. 25th Hour anyone?
Didn't Quentin Tarantino direct a couple movies about L.A.?
I pretty much can't stand Cassavetes.
I would ask the same of Magnolia.
Never mind the situations, but is it that the characters in these two movies are personifications of those cities and can only be from there?
Nothin is fuskin w/ THE WARRIORS.
I'm glad SOMEBODY said it.
And yeah, LA movies are dope but come on nothing is f*cking with that real NY shit on the movie tip.
Not to mention, I think, how important the idea of isolation and loneliness in the urban setting is so central to the film. I think that, in the mind of a lot of people in North America, New York probably epitomizes the hostile big city, thus making it pretty much the perfect setting. In that sense, it could have been set somewhere other than NYC, but I don't think that it would have had as much resonance.
Shit that comes to mind
Panic In Needle Park
Downtown 81
Annie Hall
The Wiz
King Kong OG version
Glitter...
LA Flicks that come to mind
Two Days In The Valley
Cool Blue
I actually have to side with NYC on this one...
Once Upon a Time in America
A Bronx Tale
The Wanderers
Gangs of New York
Miami Vice was a total fraud. I'm a fan of the series. (Yes it's silly. But it's great in its own way and is a fun whos-who of later Hollywood stars in their early years. And later cop shows from the 90's to the present nearly ALL owe a debt to this series).
But the movie had nothing whatsoever to do with the series. The characters had the same names. That was it. No matching backstories; no matching character traits, nothing. They were cops in Miami with the same names. That's it. I was basically tricked into seeing a movie totally unrelated to the series that happened to have the same name. And it wasn't even that great as a stand-alone cop movie (not horrible, but unremarkable IMO).
Heat has some iconic LA shots; the best I've seen in a movie. Chinatown and LA Confidential capture the 20's LA noir thing very well, but Heat is the modern equivalent. Training Day was sorta silly as a movie, but also had some great LA shots.
Mann has been sliding downhill since the Heat era, like big-time. Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Insider >> Ali >> Collateral >> Vice = Public Enemies...
You NEED to revisit it!! LA Story is one of my favorite comedies of all time, but then again I don't fit the typical Soulstrut hipster model towards entertainment... i.e. I can laugh at dumb things.
I just saw BK's Finest and thought it was pretty bad. Both Training Day and BK's were over-the-top in their action scenes and in the total improbability of their plots, but at least TD had the cool LA locations and a more focused story (TD focused on the relationship btwn Denzel and Hawke, vs. BK's Finest which was a rudderless amalgam of Hawke/Gere/Snipes/Cheadle and a million other semi-unrelated/related clusterfucking story lines going on).
Fanboys of the Wire (myself included) will appreciate Omar and Wee-Bey appearances in BK's Finest, but TD had Dre and Snoop, so advantage TD...
The amount of movies filmed in Toronto & Vancouver which are suppose to take place in NYC (Or any other American city) is a pretty big list.
And if we're going on that criteria, I think films where NY is an inherent part of the film's identity and character are likely to trump LA if only because the cinematic vision of LA so easily veers into the superficial (because people think of LA as superficial).
In any case, the greatest film ever set in NY = Godfather.
Greatest film ever set in LA = Pulp Fiction.
Debate/discuss.
The R in the B example is esp funny though because there are some embarrassing/obvious shots with snow-covered mountains in the background, etc.
very probably.
please be serious? you rate PF over Chinatown? (Im not even saying Chinatown is GOAT LA movie, just the first obv-better-than-PF flick that comes to mind....
I don't think I would have cared for it if it resembled the TV series, which I find unwatchable.
Pulp Fiction, while influential, isn't actually that good.
Harvey, the Karate Kid took place in the Valley. That's a whole 'nother genre/grouping of movies. Not the same at all as the LA joints.
I never thought that Pulp Fiction was distinctly LA.
b/w
Plaese to rep your local Gimp experience.
Looking at IMDB movie ranking by users it's correct.
Not that I agree. Just saying.
I was clearly joking on those...but seriously IMO, the best movie ever set in LA (actually Malibu) was Big Wednesday.
But that does actually speak to one of my points in joking about Karate Kid, in that LA to me is more a suburban, outdoor place than an urban, underbelly place.