New York movies: The 100 best films set in New York City

From King Kong's spire down to the scummiest subway tunnel, TONY ranks the definitive list of the 100 best New York movies: crime dramas, romantic comedies, documentaries and more.

By David Fear, Stephen Garrett, Joshua Rothkopf, Keith Uhlich and Alison Willmore Tue Jul 3 2012

New York movies: Click to the next image to see our 100 best films set in New York City
New York movies: C.H.U.D. (1984)
New York movies: Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! (2006)
New York movies: Black and White (1999)
New York movies: Hi, Mom! (1970)
New York movies: God Told Me To (1976)
New York movies: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
New York movies: Wolfen (1981)
New York movies: Man Push Cart (2005)
New York movies: Hamlet (2000)
New York movies: Three Days of the Condor (1975)

New York movies: Click to the next image to see our 100 best films set in New York City

Paradise and prison, bustling metropolis and the loneliest place on earth: New York City has a cinematic identity that infuses all walks of life. Even as we write our own narratives in this most famous of locations, we walk alongside fictional characters (and sometimes real ones, too, if we’re lucky).

In selecting the 100 most essential New York movies, we kept the city’s boldness in mind. TONY Film staffers David Fear, Joshua Rothkopf and Keith Uhlich teamed up with movie experts Stephen Garrett and Alison Willmore to gather titles from all genres and eras—the widely known and the obscure—in pursuit of a complete picture of NYC on film.

Our only parameter: The movie had to be set in New York City, not Metropolis (sorry, Superman fans), Oz (ditto, you Wiz diehards), nor anywhere else. Dive in, jostle politely, find your seat or ride standing: Please tell us what we’ve missed. It’s a big town.—Joshua Rothkopf, senior Film writer

100

C.H.U.D. (1984)

More funny than scary, this schlock-horror Z flick articulates a primal NYC fear harbored by anyone who’s ever peered down a sewer grate: Who (or what) is living below? Not the homeless, not alligators, but cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers. As the poster of a shimmering Manhattan skyline warned, “They’re not staying down there, anymore!”—Joshua Rothkopf

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Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! (2006)

An essential New York band plays a landmark NYC venue (MSG) as 50 fans capture the event for posterity; only the Beastie Boys could turn a crowdsourced concert movie into a time capsule, a tour of the city’s musical styles (hip-hop, punk, Latin funk) and a tribute to the power of Gotham’s DIY spirit. RIP, MCA.—David Fear

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Black and White (1999)

James Toback’s giddy ensemble drama transforms the city into an urban playground where rich white kids play-act ghetto fabulousness, criminals consort with moguls and Brooke Shields sports dreadlocks. It’s a bold think piece on the malleability of class and race in NYC, spiced with the single most sizzling sex scene ever set in Central Park.—David Fear

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Hi, Mom! (1970)

Brian De Palma’s darker-than-dark comedy stars Robert De Niro as a XXX-rated filmmaker wanna-be who peeps on his neighbors. The no-budget film captures porn-theater-era New York at its seediest; it also features an astonishing sequence satirizing downtown experimental theater, in which a white-bread audience is viciously humiliated (and they love it).—Keith Uhlich

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God Told Me To (1976)

Larry Cohen’s sci-fi chiller about a detective investigating murderers who claim to be carrying out God’s will is the surreal B-side to Taxi Driver: a nightmare vision of the city’s repressed rage that starts with cameoing Andy Kaufman gunning down the St. Patrick’s Day parade and ends with our hero becoming what he was trying to stop.—Alison Willmore

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Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s polarizing swan song takes place in a Manhattan of the mind, specifically the sexually frustrated brain stem of Tom Cruise’s upper-crust physician. The film’s fantasy Greenwich Village, populated by taunting fratboys, a hard-sell hooker and a Lolita-like teen is especially weird—and disquieting.—Keith Uhlich

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Wolfen (1981)

Long before it was cool to go green, Woodstock director Michael Wadleigh helmed this environmentally conscious (though still pretty damned scary) werewolf movie. The South Bronx provides some memorably decayed, practically postapocalyptic terrain, and a number of vertigo-inducing scenes are shot atop the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.—Keith Uhlich

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Man Push Cart (2005)

Indie filmmaker Ramin Bahrani provides an eloquent, empathetic backstory to a pushcart vendor so street-corner standard, he’s all but invisible to passersby. Bahrani explores the fictional man’s past as a Pakistani rock star and his lonely, lowly present in a New York that’s both beautiful and coolly indifferent to his Sisyphean struggle.—Alison Willmore

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Hamlet (2000)

Michael Almereyda transposes William Shakespeare’s seminal tragedy to the world of high finance as Ethan Hawke’s brooding prince goes up against his slick CEO stepfather. The modern-day setting—moving from grungy streets to antiseptic boardrooms and even that cylindrical mousetrap the Guggenheim—adds thematic heft to the greatest of all plays.—Keith Uhlich

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Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Filmed at the peak of Hollywood’s political paranoia, this CIA thriller captures a tense, spy-saturated NYC that would reappear in The Bourne Ultimatum. Choice local touches include Robert Redford’s clandestine office on 77th Street at Madison, a quiet Brooklyn Heights getaway (occupied by sultry Faye Dunaway) and a WTC window overlooking the intrigue.—Joshua Rothkopf

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(31 ratings)

What about Die Hard With A Vengeance or Spiderman?

Alan Mon Jul 23 2012
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No "I am Legend" hmmm

tony Sun Jul 22 2012
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an affair to remember should be on this list................how could you miss this......

mike Sat Jul 21 2012
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This list is a joke. No Gangs of New York? And the 1974 King Kong, not the last one?? Please...

Anthony Sat Jul 21 2012
Rated as: 1/5
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je suis pour toi

chanceelysee@gmail.com] Fri Jul 20 2012
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je suis pour toi

chanceelysee@gmail.com] Fri Jul 20 2012
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je suis pour toi

chanceelysee@gmail.com] Fri Jul 20 2012
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RUMBLE IN THE BRONX Does not appear to be listed; I expected it ATLEAST in the 100-71 range; Come on now; the movie that made Jackie Chan an icon in the United States of America!

Kenneth Spaziani Fri Jul 20 2012
Rated as: 2/5
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The Godfather coming in at number 40 is a shame. It's one of the greatest films of all time let alone one of the greatest set in New York City. And what about Marathon Man and Godfather Part II, those deserve to be at least in the top 20 if not the top 10.

WC Fri Jul 20 2012
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Hello?!?! No Ghostbusters?!?! What about Moonstruck, Working Girl and You've Got Mail. These might not be classics, but I'd find room for One Fine Day, Men in Black, and Die Hard With A Vengeance. Lastly, what's better than Christmas in NYC, so why not include some NY Holiday movies like Miracle on 42nd Street and Elf!!

Nando Thu Jul 19 2012
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