10 Movies In Which New York Is A Character

In John Carpenter’s world, New York City is a dystopian prison, a crumbling metropolis that doesn’t feature any of the glitz and glamour of its former life (and Carpenter used St. Louis, Missouri as its film double). Set in the then near-future of 1997, the city luckily escaped the bleakness that Carpenter predicted for it by the time Disney came to town. [Where to stream Escape From New York]

New York City in the late ’70s was already starting to feel like a real dystopian nightmare, and this surreal, Greek myth-inspired adventure film follows the titular gang from Coney Island as they try to make it home from the Northern tip of the Bronx — encountering all kinds of obstacles along the way, from the police to rival gangs.

[Where to stream The Warriors]

Set to the tune of a Gershwin soundtrack, Woody Allen’s comedy is perhaps more devoted to his city than his previous effort with co-star Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning Annie Hall. Manhattan fully encapsulates the nerdy, neurotic nature of New York City hiding under the grit and grime. [Where to stream Manhattan]

Everyone wants to fall in love in New York — even if they’re already in love with New York. Nora Ephron’s 1998 romantic comedy features as many loving shots of the director’s city as it does of feuding booksellers Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s irresistible, quirky chemistry. [Where to stream You’ve Got Mail]

New York City is an aspirational wonderland for plenty of people who flea to the city from the rest of the country in the hopes of making their dreams come true. In this iconic portrait of one such New Yorker, Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly does what she can to hide the struggle with making it in the city with layers of fashion, charm, and gumption. [Where to stream Breakfast at Tiffany’s]

Most of us who come to New York for the first time have a wide-eyed, childlike fascination with the city’s overwhelming sights and sounds. Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister represents the inner child of any adult who wanders around the city and takes in the spectacles around them. [Where to stream Home Alone 2: Lost in New York]

There’s a darkness to New York City — that’s a natural occurrence when you have a few million people of various backgrounds, philosophies, and wealth squeezed into a small space, of which they’re all lobbying for control. And it’s easy to go by unnoticed here — that is until your crazy mutterings are actually heard by the people riding the subway with you. Remember: we’re all just about two more microaggressions away from turning into Travis Bickle. [Where to stream Taxi Driver]

Any New Yorker knows that finding the perfect apartment is a brutal struggle from the depths of Hell. Once you find the sprawling two bedroom place of your dreams, you’re still going to have to deal with your nosey neighbors who may or may not be Satan-worshipping witches. [Where to stream Rosemary’s Baby]

Anything can happen in New York City: you might see a lamb strolling through the Lower East Side, or a frog starring in a Broadway show. It’s a magical place, one that can be as rewarding as it is frustrating — or at least the kind of place that wants you to believe that hard work will get you anywhere. [Where to stream The Muppets Take Manhattan]

New York is a melting pot: people have come from all over the place to try to create a life for themselves, and they’re often doing so right on top of other people who are drastically different. And when the heat goes up, passions in that melting pot rise. Spike Lee’s seminal film shows how complicated New York (particularly Brooklyn) can be, and it’s one of the most honest portrayals of the joyous and morose aspects of the city. [Where to stream Do the Right Thing]

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