Pre-Giuliani NYC
Movies shot in a grittier, sometimes more dangerous, but overall less costly, less rabidly-gentrified New York. Filthy, X-rated, pre-Disney Times Square. Old Yankee stadium, pre-Sex in the City tour buses and cupcake ATMs. Redbird subway cars, coffee in Anthora paper cups, rattling radiator pipes, peeling lead paint, roaches, and those elevators with the gates on them. (Oh, and the garbage barge.) For better or worse, take it or leave it. But if you miss it sometimes, here's what to watch. Suggestions appreciated.
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- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJeff DanielsMelanie GriffithGeorge 'Red' SchwartzA free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.(just in the beginning)
- DirectorLeslie HarrisStarsAriyan A. JohnsonKevin ThigpenEbony JeridoWith hopes of becoming a doctor and not a product of her environment, a Brooklyn teenager is faced with numerous challenges that threaten her dreams.
- DirectorAdrienne ShellyStarsAdrienne ShellyTim GuineeRoger ReesDonna witnesses identical murders on the same street on different days. Is this a supernatural conspiracy or is she merely cracking up?(Yes, technically Giuliani had been in office almost 2 years by then, but I'm gonna say this is still old enough to count.)
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsEddie MurphyPaul BatesGarcelle BeauvaisAn extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsAl PacinoKitty WinnAlan VintFollows the lives of heroin addicts who frequent "Needle Park" in New York City.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsBilly CrystalMeg RyanCarrie FisherHarry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.In spirit: not exactly, but some good background shots. Definitely a yuppie UWS story.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanLaurence OlivierRoy ScheiderAfter the shocking murder of his older brother, a New York history student finds himself inexplicably hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayDan AykroydSigourney WeaverThree parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
- DirectorPaul MazurskyStarsLenny BakerShelley WintersEllen GreeneThe ups and downs of life as experienced by a group of aspiring young artists in the early Fifties New York.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsMichael BeckJames RemarDorsey WrightA street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.
- DirectorTony BillStarsJodie FosterTim RobbinsTodd GraffA psychotic young man returns to his old neighborhood after release from prison. He seeks out the woman he previously tried to rape and the man who protected her, with twisted ideas of love for her and hate for him.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
- DirectorSam Henry KassStarsHolt McCallanyMichael BadaluccoNicholas TurturroLes is making a film about his old neighborhood in Brooklyn. One-eye Jimmy goes missing and Les switches to making a film about Jimmy and the people searching.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
- DirectorTony SilverStarsDemonKase 2Eric HazeA documentary that exposes the rich growing subculture of hip-hop that was developing in New York City in the late '70s and early '80s, specifically focusing on graffiti art and breakdancing.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJeffrey WrightMichael WincottBenicio Del ToroThe brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
- DirectorStan LathanStarsRae Dawn ChongGuy DavisJon ChardietAn aspiring DJ from the South Bronx and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and the local culture.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsWalter MatthauRobert ShawMartin BalsamFour armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
- DirectorJohn BadhamStarsJohn TravoltaKaren Lynn GorneyBarry MillerAnxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.
- DirectorTed WildeStarsHarold LloydAnn ChristyBert WoodruffHarold "Speedy" Swift, a fan of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees, saves from extinction the city's last horse-drawn trolley, operated by his girlfriend's grandfather.
- DirectorLarry PeerceStarsTony MusanteMartin SheenBeau BridgesLate one night, two young toughs hold hostage the passengers in one car of a New York subway train.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsGene HackmanRoy ScheiderFernando ReyA pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
- DirectorMatthew RobbinsStarsHume CronynJessica TandyFrank McRaeAliens help a feisty old New York couple in their battle against the ruthless land developer who's out to evict them.