Manhattan (1979), directed by Woody Allen, and starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton (VIDEO)

Watch the trailer for Manhattan, directed by Woody Allen, and starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton; No. 5 on our list of the 100 best New York movies.

By David Fear Tue Jul 3 2012

New York movies: Manhattan (1979)

When you walk daily through crowded streets and rub elbows with fellow agitated citizens, it’s easy to take the titular borough for granted. Woody Allen’s love sonnet to the city he calls home reminds you what a gorgeous, grand sight this island really is from the moment that Gershwin-scored opening kicks in: the fish markets and basketball courts, the Fifth Avenue boutiques and Broadway theaters, the high-rise dwellers and lowlifes. “He adored New York,” says Allen’s nasal narrator. “He idolized it all out of proportion.” By the end of that celebrated montage, every viewer is equally dazed and drawn into the filmmaker’s vision—an everyday NYC transformed into a bustling dream metropolis straight out of the movies.—David Fear

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