Want to Beat the Heat? How About a Nice Cold Movie Setting? Here are Ten Suggestions

Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush (1925)

We’re in the middle of a three-day heat wave here in the Bay Area so naturally I was thinking of how best to cool off and combining that with my love of film. Simple enough really. Just watch a good movie set in freezing climes, preferably with some snow. I’ve compiled ten candidates and am graciously sharing them with you the general public. You’re welcome. (I’ve excluded Christmas movies, as we want to save those for December.)

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) Altman. By the end of the movie actors are wading through waist-high snow. Everyone is bundled up and more snow is falling. It’s all the better because the snow was real and the actors didn’t have to act cold. Warren Beatty and Julie Christie are the title characters in Robert Altman’s revisionist western set in the Pacific Northwest. (Does that make it a PacificNorthWestern?)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Gondry. It’s February in New York. Brrr. A frozen river plays a prominent role in the picture. The beach is visited and a north eastern seaboard beach in Winter is mighty cold. You get chilly just watching. It is one of the most unusual love stories of all time starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.

Winter Light (1963) Bergman. The title tells you a lot. The great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman made most of his movies in the summer (who can blame him?) but this — one of my all-time favorites — is an exception. The weather is as cold and forbidding as the main character — and God’s silence. 

Fanny and Alexande (1982) Bergman. Another Bergman film much of which is set during lovely Summer weather. But the opening scenes take place at Christmas. It’s a particularly picturesque yule. Not quite a Christmas film despite the opening scenes that include sleighs, snow and celebrations.

The Ice Storm (1997) A. Lee. Again here the weather forecast is self-evident. There’s something particularly forbidding about an ice storm. It’s not gentle like snow. It brings cold and danger and here one character is a fatal victim of it. The coldest scenes in the movie are between the married couple played by Kevin Klein and Joan Allen. It’s a brilliant film with chilliness indoors and out.

The Shining (1980) Kubrick. Famously cold especially at the end. Set in the Rockies during the Winter you’re bound to have tons of snow and below zero temperatures. Jack Nicholson stars along with Shelley Duvall in a brilliant performance. 

The Gold Rush (1925) Chaplin. The Alaskan Gold Rush in winter with the Little Tramp. It’s great fun in the snow of which there is A LOT. So much, in fact, that our hero gets snowed into a cabin with a fellow prospector. Hunger sets in and cannibalism is considered. Once out of that jam there’s still plenty of snow — there’s about as much of it as there are laughs.

Fargo (1996) Coens. Despite the title much of the film is set in Minnesota. No matter. Either locale is as cold as all get out in the winter. There are scenes in the snow, one in particular features our heroine, Marge (Frances McDormand). The film that put the Coen Brothers on the cinematic map.

The Ascent (1997) Shepitko. Dear me this is maybe the coldest movie of them all and no one is sitting in front of a fire in a cozy room under a quilt with a hot chocolate. Nope. They’re outdoors and at war. Freezing temperatures and enemy bullets — delightful. It’s Russia during World War II which was famously cold.

Groundhog Day (1993) Ramis. February in Pennsylvania is bound to be cold and here we have characters stuck in a town because of a storm. Of course the premise here is that a man is re-living the same day over and over and over again and it’s a damn cold one. Bill Murray’s best film is one whose title deservedly become part of the lexicon. The weather is cold, the love story heart-warming. 

The Big Apple in Film: Ten Terrific Films That Capture Different Times and Parts of New York

Manhattan

Regular readers of this blog (I’m looking at you Goliath McGillicuddy of Comptche, California) may recall that one month ago on this day I wrote a post highlighting ten great films set in Los Angeles. In said post I noted that New York has had far more excellent films as its setting. In fact I’d suggest that there are more good films set in New York than in all other American cities combined (prove me wrong). Here I offer some proof. I have not set out to merely list my ten favorite pictures set in the Big Apple. Instead I’ve come up with different types of films set in different parts of New York at different times. As you will note, there’s not a stinker in the bunch. As further evidence of how many excellent films have been set in the city that never sleeps, I conclude by listing another seventeen movies worth considering. Please enjoy. 

Manhattan (1979) Allen. The most beautiful iteration of New York on film. The opening shots — in glorious black and white —- will make you fall in love with the city. The rest of the movie will enrich that love. A lot of the indoor shots, like of Zabars and the Natural History Museum and Elaine’s further add to the film’s stylistic and visual appeal.

Taxi Driver (1976) Scorsese. This is the gritty (why not say, ugly?) side of New York in its not so fabulous seventies as in the 1970’s. It’s stark, it’s real and the rainswept streets at night are somehow mesmerizing. 

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) Coens. Early Sixties New York, much of it in Greenwich Village at the time of the beats, folk music and the emergence of a man named Bob Dylan. It evokes guitars cigarette smoke, and times that were a changing.

Do the Right Thing (1989) Lee. Hot Summer Harlem. It’s one of those films that practically make you sweat just watching it. One of its biggest pluses is seeing a not-often-depicted part of New York, specifically where people of color live.

The Age of Innocence (1993) Scorsese. Again Martin Scorsese helps us explore this amazing city though in this case we’re time traveling to the 1880s seeing New York Edith Wharton style. This is a not fully developed New York but a fascinating one featuring the old money rich and their luxurious abodes.

Sweet Smell of Success (1956) Mackendrick. New York in the 1950s and mostly at night. Night clubs, bars, offices and the streets feature. Men in suits, women in dresses, everyone smoking and drinking cocktails, catching cabs, lying and scheming. The scenery is class, the people, not so much.

My Man Godfrey (1936) La Cava. Depression era New York replete with Hoovervilles and the plush homes of the wealthy. It’s mostly a classy New York with sophisticated banter but the “home” of the forgotten men is not to be forgotten.

Radio Days (1987) Allen. New York during the second world war with the radio always in the background. Middle class homes, nightclubs, gorgeous movie theaters, amusement parks, radio shows, this is a film rich in its period. So much so that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t filmed in the forties.

The Naked City (1948 Dassin. Not a great film but a very good one and excellent as a police procedural. The pursuit of the suspects takes audiences all over late forties NY and in a vivid black and white. Shot on location documentary style. It’s a great way to visit New York in a specific time in the past.

Saturday Night Fever (1977) Badham. Another look at New York in the Seventies but this time it’s mostly Brooklyn and it’s with a disco beat. Saturday Night Fever is a darker film than most people realize and does little to glamorize its world, except perhaps for the discotheque where one can experience night fever.

Others to consider: Annie Hall, Dog Day Afternoon, Requiem for a Dream, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Landlord, The Producers, Birdman, Three Days of the Condor, Mean Streets, The King of Comedy, The Thin Man, The Apartment, Goodfellas, Serpico, The French Connection, Uncut Gems and Midnight Cowboy.

It's Time Again For Your Favorite Feature: Films I've Watched Lately, Some of Which I've Loved Greatly

The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth (1937) McCarey. A classic of the screwball comedy genre that is highlighted by one scene. Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are going through a divorce that’s about to become final. Masquerading as Grant’s sister, Dunne shows up at Grant’s fiancé’s mansion, where there is a formal yet intimate gathering. What ensues is comedy gold. The brilliance is that Dunne never overplays it. She acts just unhinged enough to create maximum discomfort while remaining completely committed to the performance. Grant's reactions are priceless—he's trying desperately to maintain his dignity while watching his carefully constructed world collapse around him. The timing between them is immaculate. While Dunne steals the scene, it doesn’t work without Grant as something of a straight man.

Wonder Boys (2000) Hanson. One thing I love about Wonder Boys is that it feels so much like a February weekend—especially the Sunday scenes. How does a movie do that so well? Create the feeling of a specific day? Wonder Boys blends meloncholy, humor, and a deep affection for its characters. Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr. and Tobey Maguire are brilliant, interesting and a bit lost. Katie Holmes and Frances McDormand do nothing but add to the film’s charms. Wonder Boys is less interested in plot than in spending time with people who, even if we can't relate to them, we at least enjoy spending time with. As someone who flatters himself to be a novelist, I particularly relate every time I see it. 

No Country For Old Men (2007) Hanson. A perfectly made film, masterfully directed by the Coens. So many memorable scenes that stay with you. Like the coin toss. It's interesting that in that scene the Coens didn't do the usual thing of making Anton a nice sort when he wasn't killing people. He was a jerk at all times. I also liked when the manager of the trailer park stood up to him and refused to tell him Llewelyn's workplace. There was nothing he could do. Every scene with Tommy Lee Jones is excellent. He's something like the moral centerpiece of the film. The sanity within. After this viewing I moved NCFOM into my top twenty on my all-time favorites list.

La piscine (196) Deray. My second viewing and I now regard it as a masterpiece. A love triangle starring Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Maurice Ronet. Added to the mix is the young daughter of Ronet’s character played by Jane Birkin. It would be easy to overlook her given her three co-stars all of whom were excellent (not surprisingly). But Birkin as an actress had quiet confidence in this film and so did her character. The first time she opens up and speaks is when the movie became really interesting to me, I can't exactly tell you why, but perhaps it announced that she wasn't merely decorative and thus the whole movie was going to be deeper than I'd imagined. What La piscine does so well is build. It’s not a film that announces itself in the first minute — that’s too easy. It asks our patience and then pays off. I can’t wait to watch it again.

Lancelot du lac (1974) Bresson. I hated this movie. I’m baffled as to why it’s so highly regarded. Usually when I don’t like an acclaimed film I can at least see why others do. Not with this one. Part of it is that I’m not a big fan of Robert Bresson. I thought A Man Escaped, Diary of a Country Priest and Pickpocket were good films but I hardly consider them classics. But this iteration of the Arthurian legend — I was bored to death.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Ford. Jimmy Stewart is far too old to be playing the lead character, just as in Vertigo and Bell, Book and Candle. For one thing he’s twenty-two years older than Vera Miles who plays his wife. Why did they continually cast Stewart in roles for younger actors? The film itself is fine though if I were making a list of my favorite John Ford films, there would be at least a dozen Ford films ahead of it. TMWSLV is not as visually interesting as other Ford films, it was shot mostly on studio lots. Liberty Valance is almost cartoonishly evil. I like the political/historical themes but they weren't at all subtle.

Wagon Master

Wagon Master (1950) Ford. Somehow I’d never seen this John Ford film, given that I knew little about it, I wasn’t expecting much. I got a lot. What a wonderful film. I liked Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr. as the wagon masters and always enjoy Ward Bond when he has a juicy part. Also fun to see Alan Mowbray. Beautiful film to look at and interesting that the film starts before the opening credits, which I was initially confused by. I suppose by Ford standards it’s a modest film but by any standards it’s a terrific one and typically beautiful to look at with equal respect to the characters and the scenery. 

Shampoo (1975) Ashby. One thing that particularly struck me from this viewing is what an empty person Warren Beatty's character, George is. He has no interior life and nothing profound to say. Other than wanting his own shop he's directionless. Today he'd probably be classified as a sex and love addict. Overall the film is excellent. Hal Ashby directed a string of really good movies that I love in the seventies like The Landlord, Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo and Being There. Shampoo is set on election eve 1968 but was filmed at the heart of Watergate. An interesting combination. A great cast that includes Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie, Carrie Fisher (first film role), Lee Grant (gorgeous at fifty) and Jack Warden. Warden graced many a great film including From Here to Eternity, Twelve Angry Men, All the President’s Men, Being There, Heaven Can Wait and The Verdict. He made all those films and Shampoo better for his presence.

Dersu Uzala (1975) Kurosawa. I greatly appreciate films that combine technical mastery with deep compassion for their characters. This is a perfect example. Dersu Uzala is an odd one in a sense because here we have the great Japanese director directing a film set in Russia with Russian actors speaking Russian. It’s one of his later pictures but retains so many Kurosawa touches while being distinct from most of his other work. I really liked the title character who is a native hunter helping Russian soldiers on early 20th century surveying missions. It’s a day later and many of the film’s scenes still live vividly in my memory. Few directors have filmed nature better than Kurosawa and this is a classic man versus nature film with a heart-warming friendship and two richly drawn characters at the heart of it.

Chat GPT Analyzes My Cinematic Tastes and Does a Very Good Job

His Girl Friday (1940) Hawks

Like many people I’m wary of ChatGPT and other forms of AI. But I do find it helpful in research and I’ve also had some interesting “conversations” with it. Yesterday I fed it my top 100 films and asked what these films taken together say about my tastes in film.*

It replied: “You’ve put together a serious cinephile list—and it’s unusually coherent. A lot of  ‘Top 100’ lists wander stylistically, but yours reveals several very clear preferences about storytelling, tone, and cinematic tradition.”

I took that as a compliment. But of course there was more: “You Strongly Prefer Director-Driven Cinema. This may be the single most obvious pattern.Many directors appear multiple times:

Ingmar Bergman – 6 films

Woody Allen – 5 films

Federico Fellini – 4 films

Alfred Hitchcock – 5 films

Scorsese – 4 films

Kubrick – 3 films

Coen Brothers – 3 films

Ford – 3 films

Tarantino – 3 films

Rossellini – 2

Chaplin – 2

De Sica – 2

Kaurismäki – 3

This tells me something important: You don’t think of movies as isolated works—you think in terms of a director’s worldview. That’s how critics and serious film lovers tend to watch films. You are basically practicing auteur cinema appreciation.”

Still spot on. What else? 

“You Value Moral and Existential Seriousness. Your list leans heavily toward films wrestling with: moral responsibility, guilt, faith, existential loneliness and historical trauma.

Examples:

Winter Light

The Seventh Seal

Persona

Through a Glass Darkly

Come and See

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Battle of Algiers

Taxi Driver

Raging Bull

A Woman Under the Influence

You clearly like films where characters face spiritual or ethical crises, not just plot problems. This aligns perfectly with your admiration for Bergman, Scorsese, and Dostoevskian themes.”

You’re nailing it. Tell me more.

“A surprising amount of your list has a bittersweet or mournful tone. Examples:

The Last Picture Show

Inside Llewyn Davis

Manhattan

Drive My Car

The Ice Storm

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Barry Lyndon

Umberto D

Bicycle Thieves

Local Hero

Even your comedies are melancholy comedies. This is extremely characteristic of people who love:

Bergman

Allen

Kaurismäki

Antonioni

You like films where life feels fragile, fleeting, and slightly sad.”

Couldn’t agree more. But do go on….

“You Love Classic Hollywood Craft. Despite loving art cinema, you deeply appreciate the golden age. Major presence of:

Hawks

Ford

Wilder

Capra

Hitchcock

Sturges

Cukor

Curtiz

And films like:

His Girl Friday

Casablanca

The Lady Eve

Holiday

The Big Sleep

This tells me something key: You’re not an elitist art-house viewer. You appreciate great storytelling regardless of era or prestige.”

Okay, let’s have the rest of it:

“You Favor Character Studies Over Plot Machines Notice what is largely absent:

superhero films

spectacle franchises

puzzle-box movies

action blockbusters

Instead you love films where the entire movie is about a person. Examples:

Raging Bull

Taxi Driver

Barry Lyndon

A Woman Under the Influence

Inside Llewyn Davis

Drive My Car

Umberto D

Persona

Your taste says:

Character psychology is more important than narrative mechanics.

You Love European Cinema A massive portion of your list is European. Especially:

Sweden

Bergman

Troell

Italy

Fellini

Rossellini

De Sica

France

Malle

Denis

Kassovitz

Finland

Kaurismäki

Poland

Polanski

Russia

Tarkovsky

Germany

Murnau

You gravitate toward philosophical cinema rather than purely narrative cinema.

You Appreciate Humor With Intelligence Your comedy choices are very telling:

Duck Soup

Sullivan’s Travels

The Lady Eve

My Man Godfrey

His Girl Friday

The Big Lebowski

Rushmore

These are fast, literate comedies. You prefer:

wit

irony

social observation

over broad humor.

You Are Comfortable With Slow Cinema Your list includes films that many viewers struggle with:

Stalker

L’Eclisse

Beau Travail

Drive My Car

Barry Lyndon

This means you value:

mood

visual language

pacing

You don’t need constant plot movement.

You Like Films About Artists or Storytellers Another subtle pattern. Examples:

8½

Inside Llewyn Davis

Manhattan

Sunset Boulevard

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

These are films about creative people trying to understand their lives.

Not surprising given you’re a novelist.

You Like Moral Ambiguity Many of your favorite films center on ethically compromised characters:

Goodfellas

Chinatown

Taxi Driver

Match Point

No Country for Old Men

Barry Lyndon

You seem drawn to stories where: The line between right and wrong becomes blurry.

That’s very consistent with the themes you’ve discussed in your own writing.

One Particularly Interesting Thing Your list balances three traditions beautifully:

1. Classic Hollywood craft
(Hawks, Ford, Wilder)

2. European philosophical cinema
(Bergman, Antonioni, Tarkovsky)

3. American New Hollywood
(Scorsese, Coppola, Ashby)

That combination is the core canon of serious film culture.

If I Had to Summarize Your Taste in One Sentence

You favor director-driven films that explore moral, psychological, and existential questions through strong characters, often with a tone of melancholy and intelligence.”

The discussion went on from there but I’ll add one more observation from my artificially intelligent friend: 

“One more thing I noticed that’s fascinating about your list:

Your #1 film — His Girl Friday — is tonally the opposite of almost everything else in your top ten. Yet it actually reveals something deep about your taste.

If you want, I can explain why that choice makes perfect sense psychologically with the rest of your list. It’s actually quite revealing.

Your choice of #1 — His Girl Friday initially looks like an outlier. Most of your top films are serious, contemplative, or tragic. Hawks’s film is the opposite: fast, funny, cynical, and light on the surface.

But when you look more carefully, it actually fits your taste perfectly.

Here’s why.

1. You Like Intelligence Above Everything

The defining trait of His Girl Friday is intelligence.

The dialogue moves faster than almost any film ever made. Characters succeed through:

wit

verbal dexterity

quick thinking

That same trait appears throughout your list:

Chinatown

The Big Lebowski

Annie Hall

Rushmore

Your films often feature sharp, observant protagonists navigating complicated worlds.

2. Cynicism Mixed With Humanity

His Girl Friday is deeply cynical about institutions:

politics

journalism

the justice system

That worldview runs all through your list:

Chinatown

Taxi Driver

No Country for Old Men

The Battle of Algiers

You clearly like films that say:

The world is flawed, but human beings still struggle within it.

3. Dialogue as Music

You respond strongly to language-driven cinema.

Many of your favorites are talk-heavy films:

My Dinner with Andre style filmmaking (even though it’s not on your list)

The Last Picture Show

Manhattan

Drive My Car

His Girl Friday is essentially pure dialogue cinema.

4. Moral Ambiguity

Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is charming—but ethically slippery.

That morally complicated protagonist appears constantly in your list:

Barry Lyndon

Match Point

Goodfellas

You seem fascinated by people who are brilliant but morally questionable.

5. It’s the Pure Joy Film on Your List

Almost all great cinephile lists contain one film chosen for sheer delight.

For you, that appears to be His Girl Friday.

Even viewers who love:

Bergman

Tarkovsky

Antonioni

often keep a few films around that simply make them happy every time.”

Thank you very much for your insights ChatGPT. You’ve affirmed a lot of what I thought of myself as a film lover and also given me insights into why I revere certain films, certain types of films and particular directors. Good chat!

*(Please note my comments in italics are for this blog post and were not included in the actual chat.)