Max's Kansas City

List creator: terryogara Created on: March 20, 2004 - 3:10 PM PST Description: Like the legendary counter culture Manhattan club - Max's Kansas City - the hyper-gritty New York City depicted in these films is fast disappearing, for better and worse, because of changing trends, urban renewal and a constantly evolving skyline.

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	movie title	related list	average rating	MPAA rating	watch	rent	buy
	Liquid Sky (1982)
This is why I moved to NYC: hole-in-the-wall clubs; performing artists with more attitude than talent; transvestites; tiny flying saucers - what more could a teenage burnout ask for?
	Downtown 81 (2000)
New Wave New York when the East Village was a war zone.
	Times Square (1980)
Used to be you could go to Times Square, get great Chinese food; see a peep show; get a lap dance; score illicit substances; hang out with runaways in the bus station. Now folks just go online for kicks & it takes all the humanity out of it.
	The Warriors (1979)
You'll never know how disappointed I was when I finally moved to New York and found out gangsters didn't wear matching Halloween costumes but simple bandanas and T-shirts. How absolutely uncreative.
	The Basketball Diaries (1995)
East Village chic just before the rents went up and the hustlers were forced to pick up and move to LA.
	Gia (1998)
Beautiful girl hooked on heroin gets AIDS and dies. Sounds trite, but that used to be a way of life. A little Made-For-TV-ish but still a nifty morality tale for your model wannabe daughter.
	54 (1998)
Saturday Night Fever captured the glamour. 54 captures the skanky underside, which means, the way it really was.
	I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)
	Basquiat (1996)
A protrait of the artist, Basquiat -and the East Village when a 400 Sqr. foot roach infested 'apartment' went for a 'cheap' $500/mo instead of a 'steal' at $2,500/mo.
	Hell Up In Harlem (1973)
	Superfly (1972)
Another consolation prize for anyone born after 1972. But it's all here on film for anyone who still needs to crib notes on cool.
	Mean Streets (1973)
	Taxi Driver (1976)
No one loves New York like Scorsese, except maybe Woody Allen. But Woody's Upper East Side universe is a little too neat for my taste. Double Feature Recommendation: Mean Streets & Taxi Driver
	Summer of Sam (1999)
The summer the lights went out in New York City; a dog talking serial killer stalks the streets; punk rock collides with disco. Spike gets it right like a pop documentarian.
	Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Small apartments. Poverty. Slummy living. Intense relationships. The city as a living work of noir. And those were the good old days.
	The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)
Are the realistically portrayed small time hoods depicted in this film now : A) Dead of suspicious causes? B) Convicted felons serving time upstate? C) Columbia grads with MBA's and jobs on Wall Street?
	The Naked City (1948)			Not Rated
Classic New York Noir
	Sid & Nancy (1986)
Chelsea used to be a dangerous place on the cutting edge of freakdom where broke, impotent rock star punks could OD in peace. Now everyone goes to the gym; sips bottled water; owns million dollar apartments; and the corner drug dealers peddle Viagra.
	New York: A Documentary Film (Disc 1 of 7) (1999)			Not Rated
Be sure to watch all 7 Episodes of this serial documentary
	Midnight Cowboy (1969)
	Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
Not just recommended for gay viewers. A brilliant screenplay by any standard. Filmed in '87/'88 but it may as well have been yesterday.
	Across 110th Street (1972)
One of the best films of the genre. Crime is down; rents are up -but actually, Harlem as it is captured here (clothing and car fashions aside) looks pretty much the same. Make it a Superfly/110th Street night.
	Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Bringing out the Dead accurately captures the look and feeling of NYC in the late '80's and early '90s. It's like one last love letter to the grime we all now wax nostalgic about.
	25th Hour (2002)
Spike Lee and Scorsese are two sides of the same dirty coin. 25th Hour captures an existential and beautiful if wounded NYC in the immediate wake of 911.