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: Big (1988)
New York movies: All About Eve (1950)
New York movies: Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
New York movies: Cruising (1980)
New York movies: Two Lovers (2008)
New York movies: The Cool World (1964)
New York movies: Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
New York movies: Requiem for a Dream (2000)
New York movies: Bad Lieutenant (1992)
New York movies: The Landlord (1970)

New York movies: Big (1988)

Big (1988)

A 12-year-old boy makes a wish and wakes up as 30-year-old Tom Hanks (though still with a child’s mind). Off to the big city he goes, where he turns a Grand Street apartment into a tween’s paradise (trampoline!) and, most memorably, plays “Heart and Soul” on a foot-operated keyboard at FAO Schwarz.—Keith Uhlich

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All About Eve (1950)

Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s peerless backstage Broadway drama uses the bright lights of the Theater District to illuminate a Darwinian world of competition, insecurity and backstabbing—one in which the fan waiting in the alleyway for a chance to meet the star would just as eagerly devour her and take her place as the lead. Not much has changed.—Alison Willmore

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Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)

Subversively, this police thriller is actually a lurid NYC Western that recasts the cops as the cavalry fighting in “a hostile territory.” (The producers later added an apologetic disclaimer.) But seen today, this Paul Newman vehicle offers a period-piece Polaroid of a borough that was struggling to shake off its reputation as a crime-ridden cesspool.—David Fear

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Cruising (1980)

Once protested by the gay community, William Friedkin’s thriller serves as an unintended snapshot of a narrow slice of the pre-AIDS Village scene, with sequences filmed at the legendary leather club Hellfire. Al Pacino serves as the audience’s enigmatic window onto S&M culture, playing an undercover cop who may be repelled by (or drawn to) everything he’s seeing.—Alison Willmore

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Two Lovers (2008)

Disparities of class and temperament are keenly observed in James Gray’s underseen NYC drama, starring a pre-freakout Joaquin Phoenix (never better) as a suicidal Brighton Beach bachelor living with his worried parents. With the arrival of an alluring neighbor with expensive tastes (Gwyneth Paltrow), the movie sets off for swanky midtown locations—and a cautionary shiska romance.—Joshua Rothkopf

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The Cool World (1964)

Taking her camera into Harlem’s streets, independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke (The Connection) turned a story about a tough kid looking to move up a local gang’s hierarchy into a vérité-like view of the neighborhood itself. Few films have captured the area (circa the mid-’60s) with such a keen journalistic eye.—David Fear

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

The Jazz Age comes to thrilling life in Alan Rudolph’s ensemble drama about caustic wit Dorothy Parker. Among the many triumphs of this lovingly detailed period piece are the sequences set at the Algonquin Hotel, where the gabsters gossip around the most famous table since King Arthur and his knights.—Keith Uhlich

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Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Darren Aronofsky’s unsparing adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s rough-edged tale of drug addiction finds seedy poetry in its Brooklyn locales: Brighton Beach has seldom seemed so hellishly sunbaked, Coney Island so unbearably decrepit and the Atlantic Ocean—an alluring nirvana—so entirely out of reach.—Keith Uhlich

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Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Junkie officer Harvey Keitel shakes down punks for stolen cash, sexually harasses teen drivers and just can’t understand why that raped nun forgives her attackers. Abel Ferrara’s incendiary look at a corrupt cop’s Catholic guilt is consummate art-house grindhouse, typifying New York’s wide appetite for cathartic highbrow cinema and Times Square raunch alike.—Stephen Garrett

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The Landlord (1970)

A spoiled Manhattan WASP (Beau Bridges) buys a Brooklyn tenement and learns some hard (but hilarious) life lessons from his primarily black tenants. Director Hal Ashby, making his feature debut, vividly captures the rough-and-tumble neighborhood that was Park Slope, long before it became stroller-mom central.—Keith Uhlich

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(31 ratings)

The wanderers is better than 90% of this list.

Matt About 5 days ago
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Great list but where is "Ghost"? That surely has to be included here!

Louis Lilakos About 8 days ago
Rated as: 4/5
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XRwogannimeieTest About 13 days ago
Rated as: 2/5
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Ghost Dog was filmed in Jersey City. This is a well known fact so why is it in this list? And yes, I'm from Jersey City.

John O'Hara Thu Apr 25
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Where is Scent of a Woman?

casey Mon Mar 25
Rated as: 2/5
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What about "LIMITLESS" and "How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days" ????????????

AM Wed Mar 20
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coming to america Home alone 2 Big Daddy the list here is shi*

Dean Tue Mar 19
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What about Breakfast at Tiffanys? Coming to America? Sister Act? The list goes on. I will say that you guys did a good job of putting "Do The Right Thing" in the Top 10.

Jordan Sun Mar 17
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How could you not include "An Affair to Remember" and even "Working Girl"? aacch!!

liz Sat Mar 9
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Whaaaat? No Die Hard with a Vengeance?!

Creon Thu Mar 7
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