NYC Movie Marathon – Part One

So we were walking on the periphery of Central Park. It was mid afternoon on probably our 6th day there. I was knawing on a stale and not-salty-enough pretzel as we pondered the cloudy sky. Our feet hurt. We’d gotten past the initial discomforts of blisters and had moved on to a stage where the padding on the bottom of our feet was inflated and sore with every step. We were walkers, though, and we still had stuff we wanted to see.

Sky mentioned a short scene from “The Age of Innoncence” (the movie) in which we see Mrs. Mingott’s huge mansion out in the wilds of Central Park. We started talking about the movie which led to more talk of New York movies, and thus our Movie Marathon was born. We came home and immediately rented and watched “Gangs of New York.” The idea behind the marathon is to extend our vacation/experience there and to see the New York we saw in different contexts and time periods.

Criteria for our movie marathon selections
1. it has to be a movie one of us hasn’t seen or neither of us has seen for a long time (i.e. remember the plot really faintly)
2. must focus on scenery and specific places in New York
3. not comtemporary — eras of highest interest: 70s and 80s

Films we’ve seen so far:
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
West Side Story (1961)
The Naked City (1948)
They All Laughed (1981)
Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)

On the roster:
Working Girl (1988)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
Escape from New York (1981)
Wall Street (1987)
Trading Places (1983)
Party Monster (1998)
Rose of the Tenements (1926)

So far the most rewarding has been “The Naked City” because I was able to spot a lot of places we visited – most notably the Essex Street Market, where we had an amazing breakfast* at Shopsins General Store during our trip. There was a chase scene through it in the movie and I recognized the surrounding area (the movie is notable for using real locations) and the windows looked so familiar.

* They have the best menus I’ve ever seen – you just have to be able to read it fast and order with confidence because they don’t tolerate a lot of waffling