Definitive New York Jam / Film
pimlicosquirrel
772 Posts
What single film and/or song encapsulates New York city the best?......for you, or by whatever yard stick you choose to measure.
Comments
Taxi Driver and Rakim New York
Taxi Driver was the first thing to come to mind but its very questionable.
Get that Frank Sinatra shit outta here.
Jam: Take the A Train
Restaurant: Gray's Papaya (Recession Special)
Ace Frehley "Back in the New York Groove"
He used Gershwin as the quintessential NY melody (Rhapsody in Blue).
Most or all the music above I think works just as well or better.
I think Inside Man also did a great job of capturing NY, even though it was just a tiny downtown setting. If you took all of Spike's NY films and all of Woody's NY Films you would get an interesting view of the city.
Even Moonstruck gives me a major New York vibe.
But I would think Manhattan would get the most votes (Cept for Taxi Driver).
For tracks. I have no idea why. But Summertime (Miles version) always makes me feel NYC. No idea why. It's not like it's NYC related. Just a feeling.
Recently tho...
But the cartooning of the gang visuals offsets the realness for me.
all encompassing. 2 boroughs, clubs, small hardware shops, short order coffee shops that barely exist anymore, disco, rainstorms, ethnic tension, religious tension, crime, accents, cheeseburgers, the subway, grandma, hospitals, fights, suicide, the 70's. it has it all.
aside from any woody or spike films which all center here.
the warriors is fun but it doesn't encapsulate new york, too mythological.
It's funny, when we were in New York, I was drunk and taking photos on the street. I was shooting a family and they were curious why an Australian was so excited to be in New York and I told them about the diet of dubbed Red Alert, Mr Magic and Latin Rascals tapes, shitty copies of Style Wars and being shook about the bridge wars. They started in on "Manhattan keeps on makin it, Brooklyn keeps on takin it, Bronx keeps creatin it, and Queens keeps on fakin it" and I was drunk so I'm going along word for word and this family is just falling out laughing.
I'll try and find some of the photo's, cause they are looking at me mad shady in the shots, before we got to talking.
I understand your point. And I agree in part.
But for me, the plot of the movie and the city are inseparable. And it gives it something unique that most NYC related films are lacking IMO. I must admit the directors cut release took away some love of the film for me with the comic book campiness crap.
I wonder if Tony Scott is still working on releasing his LA update of the flick...
For me the cartoon version is unwatchable but the original version is one of my favorite movies and it's the reason I had to take the trip to Coney Island when I was in NY.
Yeah, it's like an 80s version of Taxi Driver. Those two are among my favorite NY films, incidentally.
The plot is cool but gangs just didnt look like that in 79. That the only thing that hampers its definitive nyc rating for me.
but shit all that subway footage is extra realness points.
i think brooklyn needs its own thread cause a gang of great nyc films have been shot there.
summer of sam is honerable mention.
Anyways... I wish there was an HD version of the OG. The bluray was a major letdown for me.
Agree on Summer of sam. And 25th Hour...
For this NYC native After Hours is way up on the list. The NYC in that movie is the NY that I remember from my young teen years when downtown was this crazy, vibrant, semi dangerous place. Desperately Seeking Susan captures some of that vibe as well, in a less seedy way.
As far as music, nothing captures the intensity of the city like the Cro-Mags "Age Of Quarrel". That record could have come from nowhere else.
Real gangs were recruited for the Van Courtland Summit. They were mixed in with the makeup wearing cats.
The multi-culti Warriors is a bit of a stretch.
I own the OG on VHS or DVD and did cop the Directors Cut on bluray. He fucked his own classic up.
Miroslav Vitous - New York City
Abel Ferrara - Bad Lieutenant
Kindly,
parallax
Sayin'. Always loved the dialogue in this movie too.
Not really, this is a Guiliani era product. IMO the definitive New York movies are Dinkins era and before. Although this is a fine film and it totally captures a part of how it was here at that exact time.
Cosine on:
Especially the part about torrential rain. So true. And that opening sequence of him walking under the EL to the beat. Who hasn't walked the streets of NY feeling like Tony Manero?
Kids is a very good call. I cant think of a NY film that shows teens that way. Their actions could have been from any post war decade.
Only the Aids plot marks its date.
I hear u takin points off from Gulliani, but despite the changes made by his era, this still was on some dirty NY shit.