Best New york city Movies
Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of new york city cinema — measured across 17,153 indexed frames from 218 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.
New york city films over-index on fedora, neon sign and streetlamp — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.
- 1
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Alexander MackendrickDP James Wong HoweIMDb 8.0TMDB 7.6See in full on FrameThrower →
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.
- 2
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
Jon M. ChuDP Peter DemingIMDb 6.4TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →
Jesse Eisenbergas J. Daniel Atlas
Mark Ruffaloas Dylan Rhodes
Woody Harrelsonas Merritt McKinney / Chase McKinney
One year after outwitting the F.B.I. and winning the public's adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, The Four Horsemen resurface for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate. The man behind their vanishing act is none other than Walter Mabry, a tech prodigy who threatens the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet. Their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all.
- 3
Carlito’s Way (1993)
Brian De PalmaDP Stephen H. BurumIMDb 7.9TMDB 7.8See in full on FrameThrower →
A Puerto Rican ex-con pledges to stay away from his former drug dealing ways but finds himself being dragged back by his past connections and the naive machinations of his lawyer and best friend. Hoping to raise enough money to get away from New York, Carlito Brigante takes on the job of running a nightclub, renews an affair with a dancer but old associates and old instincts suck him back into a world of violence and mistrust.
- 4
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Sidney LumetDP Victor J. KemperIMDb 8.0TMDB 7.8See in full on FrameThrower →
Based upon a real-life incident which occurred in August 1972 in which a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York, was held siege by Sonny, a Vietnam veteran turned bank robber determined to steal enough money ($2500) for his "wife" (Leon, a man; the two, were, according to an onscreen TV news report, married in a church by a priest who was defrocked shortly after, although Leon says to the police that Sal is "married and has children") to undergo a sex change operation. (The real life character upon whom Leon is based did, in fact, get the operation.) On a hot summer afternoon, Sonny and two cohort, Stevie and Sal, go to rob the (fictional) First Savings Bank of Brooklyn. Stevie soon gets nervous and flees. Although the bank manager and female tellers agree not to interfere with the robbery, Sonny finds there is not much to steal, as most of the cash has been picked up for the day. Sonny then gets an unexpected phone call from Captain Moretti of the NYPD, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city's entire police force. Having few options under the circumstances, Sonny nervously bargains with Moretti, demanding safe escort to the airport and a plane out of the country in return for the bank employees' safety.
- 5
Goodfellas (1990)
Martin ScorseseDP Michael BallhausIMDb 8.7TMDB 8.5See in full on FrameThrower →
Henry Hill recounts his life in the mob, from his teenage years to his eventual downfall. Immersed in organized crime, he experiences wealth, power, and violence alongside friends Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito. The film blends crime, drama, and dark humor, exploring loyalty, ambition, betrayal, and the consequences of criminal life. Themes of family, morality, and the fleeting nature of power underpin the story.
- 6
David YatesDP Philippe RousselotIMDb 7.2TMDB 7.3See in full on FrameThrower →
In mid-1920s New York, Newt Scamander, a British young activist wizard, arrives in the city, holding a mysterious leather suitcase that shelters diverse and magical creatures that exist among us. Amid an already fragile equilibrium of secrecy, and the increasing disasters ascribed to the dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald, Newt's precious suitcase goes missing, and to make matters worse, several creatures manage to escape. Before long, this unforeseen complication catches Senior Auror Percival Graves' attention who targets Newt, against the backdrop of an invisible, devastating, and utterly unpredictable menace that still wreaks havoc on 5th Avenue. In the end, is there a hidden agenda behind Graves' intentions? Moreover, what will happen to the remaining fantastic beasts that are still on the loose?
- 7
North By Northwest (1959)
Alfred HitchcockDP Robert BurksIMDb 8.3TMDB 8.0See in full on FrameThrower →
Madison Avenue advertising man Roger Thornhill is thrust into the world of spies when he is mistaken for a man named George Kaplan. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his henchman Leonard try to eliminate him, but when he tries to make sense of the case, he is framed for murder. Now on the run from the police, he manages to board the 20th Century Limited bound for Chicago where he meets beautiful blonde Eve Kendall, who helps him evade the authorities. His world is turned upside-down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Nothing is as it seems, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore.
- 8
American Gangster (2007)
Ridley ScottDP Harris SavidesIMDb 7.8TMDB 7.6See in full on FrameThrower →
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.
- 9
Killer’s Kiss (1955)
Stanley KubrickDP Stanley KubrickIMDb 6.5TMDB 6.3See in full on FrameThrower →
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
- 10
Angel Heart (1987)
Alan ParkerDP Michael SeresinIMDb 7.2TMDB 7.1See in full on FrameThrower →
A down-and-out Brooklyn detective is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.
What new york city films are made of
How much more often each element appears in a new york city frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — fedora is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.
- fedora1.8×
- neon sign1.7×
- streetlamp1.7×
- tie1.6×
- suit jacket1.6×
- brick wall1.6×
- sofa1.6×
- necktie1.5×
How new york city films are shot
Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate new york city from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.
- 86%eye levelvs 69% baseline
What breaks the pattern
The Witch (2015) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.
Method
Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 17,153 frames from 218 films carrying the new york city label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.
Machine-readable: /api/list/new-york-city
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