Wherein I Yell at Youth Sports Coaches Who Yell At Kids

My niece was telling me about her son’s middle school flag football coach. He makes the team run sprints so much in practice that some of the get physically ill. Again, this is middle school. It’s important to be in shape and indeed good for you, but at the same time you’re working with twelve and thirteen year-olds who are playing goddamned flag football, not running ultra marathons.

That’s not the worst part. If they lose a game this same coach makes them run extra. That’s right, he punishes children for the sin of losing a game. As a youth coach you know what I did when my team lost a game? I told them not to feel bad about it, learn your lessons and move on. I also told them that I was proud of their effort and that they should be too. By the way, I coached several teams to championships and had a perennial winner and it never occurred to me — not once — to punish players because the other team outscored them.

All my life I’ve seen evidence of youth coaches who get it all wrong and frankly I’ve been appalled. It hasn’t gotten any better since I was a kid. Actually, youth sports in general is in worse shape than it was fifty years ago. There’s a tremendous emphasis on winning, far out of proportion to what it should be. There’s also a proliferation of pay-to-play teams. Economically disadvantaged children (that’s a euphemism for poor kids) miss out. Baseball in particular has become a sport dominated at the youth level by privileged white kids. But that’s a topic for another time.

One of the worst things I’ve seen in the new uber competitive world of youth sports is that in this overwhelming desire to win teams are limiting playing time to their starters while other kids are spending entire games on the bench. Kids — whose parents are often shelling out money for the privilege — busting their little asses to play, going to every practice are sitting on the bench for all or most of games. Kids! Again when I was a coach everybody played in every game — period. Like I said, my teams won championships. Many coaches, and this goes up through college all the way to the pro level, are afraid to use their back ups because they lack confidence. Not in the players but in themselves. 

Another thing is that here we are in the 21st century and we still have youth coaches who chew out their players. I’m not talking about yelling at players to “hustle” or barking instructions, I’m talking about using demeaning language, using profanity, insulting kids. That’s not even acceptable at the professional level let alone with ten-year-olds. What does it say about a forty-five year old man that he screams at a teenager for a mistake made on the playing field? 

It’s not just that. My older daughter was on her high school volleyball team. I attended home games. Once after a game the coach wasn’t happy with the way the team had played, despite the fact that they won. She kept the team on the court after the match and chewed them out in front of us remaining spectators. Seriously. After a match I would send my teams home with a hearty congratulations. If there were problems in their performance I would address it at the next practice with zero people watching. Even after a loss I wanted my players to feel good about themselves and I sure as hell didn’t want to air problems in front of other people.

Even if there were issues to be addressed I would always start practice on an upbeat note and then end it that way. These are young people. They have fragile egos. Many are sensitive. I wanted the experience of being on a team to be a positive force in their lives. I wanted to build their self-esteem while guiding them in being part of a team. My motto: play hard, have fun. If a player was late or someone interrupted me while I was talking the whole team ran to the fence and back (just once, enough to get a message across but not make them throw up). I was teaching them that they were all in it together. No one ever complained.

I was never perfect as a coach, far from it. But I also was not — not even close — a goddamned jerk who thought “punishment” was part of my job. I suppose I had an advantage as a coach because I was also a teacher and thus recognized that coaching and teaching are similar. (When a kid got the year the Civil War started wrong I never made them run until they vomited. Basic principle.)

Youth coaches need to relax, get over themselves and be there for the kids. Support them, nurture them and yes, push them, try to get the maximum out of them. But you don’t need to yell, cuss or name call. A pat on the back is more effective than a kick in the ass.

Reflections of Retiring Again -- Maybe This Time I'll Get it Right

I’m retiring — again. I did this seven and a half years ago but it didn’t stick. I was retired for three months before I returned to work, this time half time. I’ve been teaching mornings since, excepting during the pandemic.

This is not entirely voluntary. I’ve been thinking of hanging ‘em up for awhile now but the fact that there is no work for me has made the decision easier. I was going to be furloughed effective next week but with the prospects for future work bleak I decided to call it a career.

International language schools in the U.S. have seen a severe decline in enrollment recently owing to the fact that people in other countries are increasingly hesitant to come to this country. Let’s call this the Trumpy effect. Also it has become increasingly difficult to get a visa — even a temporary student one. This is another product of the Trumpy effect.

Fifteen months ago the school I’m leaving was running four classes. Next week it’ll be two. I’m the odd man out. 

I’m excited to have so much more time to write never-to-be-published novels (and maybe one or two that will be published). I also rather like the idea of not having to get up quite so early. Getting out of bed at 6:15 instead of 5:30 feels like luxury. I also won’t have to grade any more papers or deal with that goddamned smart board or see students staring at their fucking phones while I’m talking.

But I’ll miss it, especially as I’ve still got a little left in the tank. Yesterday was a terrific day in the classroom, I was in top form and students were appreciative. After class in addition to the usual goodbyes and thank you I got a couple of “great classes.” I’m still innovating too. Even in my last week I’m looking for the new and improved. I’m proud of that.

I’ve been in education for forty years. Most of the time was in public schools with middle schoolers — that’s a strange and wonderful calling. There was a school year I was off to stay at home with our first born and there was nearly two years off during the pandemic but other than that it’s been steady work.

There’s an interesting kind of power to being a teacher. You have a dozen or so people sitting there looking at you waiting for your next words, wondering what’s next on the agenda. But teaching is not what they used to call a “power trip.” It’s all about connections, orchestrating, showing, inspiring, motivating, cajoling, explaining and understanding. With a dash of entertainment mixed in. For me this included humor. It can be a helluva lot of fun and I’m going to miss it.

Is there a chance for another comeback? At 72 that seems highly unlikely. Anyway I’ve got a grandson on the way. I’ve got a wife to hang out with. I’ve got writing to do. It’s a big ole world and some of it exists outside a classroom.

My Obsession With Obsessive Movie Characters

Jake Gyllenhaal in Zodiac

There’s something fascinating to me about film characters who are obsessed. 

I find these characters to be admirable, even in a way worth emulating. They also remind me of my own addictive personality with their inability to control what they’re doing -- but of course for them it's not getting high but the pursuit of something important. They care deeply about something in a way that I find almost moving. It makes me want to find my own obsession but a good one —  an obsession in pursuit of understanding. Thankfully many obsessive characters are depicted in some really good movies.

Let’s look at some of them.

Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith in Zodiac. This is the best example of the obsessed character. He HAS to find out who the Zodiac killer is. This is particularly interesting because he’s not even a detective, no one is paying him to pursue the Zodiac. He gets lured into the case by a cipher the Zodiac has sent to the newspaper where he works. In trying to unlock it he finds he needs to learn more, this was his gateway drug to the unrelenting desire to find the serial killer. His obsession is so great that it ruins his personal life. Graysmith has papers related to the case everywhere. The case consumes him, he neglects family. He bugs the hell out various cops and reporters. He's a goddamned pest. It seems to be all that he can think about. He goes down rabbit holes, barks up the wrong trees. It’s compelling to watch because he’s constantly scratching at the truth, getting closer and closer but never there. Gyllenhaal’s performance is strengthened by the equally good turns by Robert Downey Jr. as the reporter Paul Avery and Mark Ruffalo as detective Dave Toschi. Both of them are interested in finding the Zodiac and pursue the case diligently. But for them it’s a case or a story, not the center of the universe. 

Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison in JFK. I’ve gone through long periods of obsession about the Kennedy assassination so this one is easy to relate to. It’s a puzzle with all manner of clues floating around and many false leads. Digging into the Kennedy assassination, even for a regular bloke such as myself, feels IMPORTANT. After all this was the leader of the free world who was killed, and a popular one at that. It may have been a coup d’etat. In the aftermath of the assassination the government tried to sell the American public on a tome full of bald faced lies, half-truths and incredulities with another tome’s worth of glaring omissions. This is a case that demands our attention and needs a few obsessives digging into it. One can have issues with the real Jim Garrison and probably should but there can be no complaints about Costner’s performance. The need to know. The need to use anything/everything at your disposal to get to the truth. Family becomes secondary because everything is secondary to the just cause. You cannot trust anyone else to do it.

Joe Frady as played by Warren Beatty in The Parallax View. One thing that can really trigger an obsession is to have been initially skeptical. Once Frady starts to dig he can’t let go of the shovel. He’s pursuing a possible conspiracy and the mysterious deaths of witnesses to an assassination. He doesn’t just write and report. He gets involved, he becomes part of the story in a way no one normal would want to. He pays the ultimate price for  his obsession.

Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein in All the President's Men. Woodstein, as they were called, were different in that they were “just doing their jobs.” It’s easy for a reporter to become obsessed with a story. When the story reaches the highest office in the land then that desire for the truth takes on a special importance. These are two obsessives who we admire and appreciate. They’re professionals who are exercising their skills. They are disciplined and are held to certain standards in their work. Obsessives with supervisors.

Gene Hackman’s Harry Caul in The Conversation. An obsession that culminates in a man tearing up his own apartment. Caul is an especially interesting variation because his obsession is partly defensive. He wants control. He wants privacy. He wants to believe that his responsibility ends with making a recording. Yet the more he tries to establish exactly what happened, the less control he has, culminating in that extraordinary image of him dismantling his own apartment.

Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes in Chinatown. Jake is a pretty cool customer and evidently a damn good detective, if a somewhat cynical one. But he gets involved in a case that sucks him in. Deeper and deeper. It starts out as proving an extra marital affair and ends up being about graft on grand scale, the making of fortunes and the veritable building of Los Angeles. Gittes doggedly follows the clues. He ultimately learns the truth but also learns that there’s nothing he can do about it. As we’ve seen obsessions often don’t end with truth and justice prevailing.

Steve McQueen as Frank Bullit in Bullit. No one was cooler than Steve McQueen and Bullit might have been his coolest role. Even his obsession in solving a convoluted case (it never really made sense) doesn’t detract from that. He makes obsession look like cool professionalism. He’s clearly a good cop, mostly trying to stay within the rules but nailing the bad guys is a priority that is becoming and being an obsession.

Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. Another obsessive cop. Maybe the purest example of one. Doyle simply cannot let his target go. His obsession becomes reckless and morally compromising. The final title card makes the whole pursuit feel almost absurdly futile. Doyle's counterpart Buddy Russo isn't obsessed — which actually makes Doyle's obsession more visible. That's often an effective device in these films. Give the obsessive investigator a partner who knows when it's time to go home.

An interesting note about these characters: how many of them “got their man” or “uncovered the truth”? Other than Woodward and Bernstein, none of them did. However, they mostly got to some truths. Certainly Garrison and Graysmith. They paved the way for others. Gittes knew the truth but there was little he could do with it.

Why don’t obsessive characters enjoy more success? Is it because they’re chasing lost causes? Or do we only enjoy watching these stories if there’s no happily ever after ending? They’re often going up against extremely powerful forces, the odds are stacked against them. Maybe that what makes them so interesting. They’re Davids without a sling taking on Goliaths. You can uncover a lot about the Kennedy assassination but can you find the smoking gun? 

I suppose it’s like a lot of things in life in which the journey is what’s most interesting. Especially if you took that trip because — damn it — you really cared.

I Wonder If It's Available in CD? Cassette? Eight Track? Vinyl? Laser Disc? Is There an Accompanying Video?

 

So much to love about this, maybe particularly the hairstyle. 

I found this photo posted on Bluesky by Mrs. Betty Bowers who wrote: "Apparently, on Christian album covers in the ’60s, the only thing worse than the hair was the obliviousness to the lewd double entendres." Amen, sister.

A Slightly Different Version of the Beloved Feature: Films I've Watched Lately Some of Which I Loved Greatly

The Invite

In this edition of Films I’ve Watched Lately….I include more films with slightly less commentary. This may or may not be the start of a trend. But I hope you enjoy more that is shorter.

Farewell, My Lovely (1975) Richards. Robert Mitchum is a good Marlowe and the fact that he’s an older one is fine. The movie itself is perfectly okay but I’m happier with the 1944 version which starred Dick Powell and was called Murder My Sweet. I do get irritated with how many times PIs get conked in the head in books and movies.They should all be on concussion protocol.

My Own Private Idaho (1991) Van Sant. One of the many films in which the main character suffers from narcolepsy. Yet another film which has scenes in both Rome and Idaho. Yet another gay male prostitute film based on a Shakespeare play. All that aside it’s one of my favorites, securely in my top 100 and features the great River Phoenix whose death at twenty-three remains one of filmdom’s great tragedies.

Peaky Blinders The Immortal Man (2026) Harper. . A classic example of a film that is entertaining for its entire running time than instantly forgotten. Need I say more? I think not. (I did watch the TV series and enjoyed it.)

Blue Heron (2025) Romvari. A new Canadian/Hungarian production (isn’t everything?). You think it’s a perfectly fine film about a family and its one member who’s very much off the rails but then something subtle happens just past the midpoint and you barely notice it until it’s as obvious as can be. The upshot is that a good enough film turns into an extremely interesting one that I need to see again. Give it a shot.

Carnal Knowledge (1971) Nichols. Today I don’t know why anyone would want to watch this film. Jack Nicholson plays a misogynistic jerk with no redeeming qualities and there’s no one in the picture to offset him and there’s no reason why we’d care about any of the characters. It might have played in 1971 but today it’s mostly just offensive. It’s another reason for me to wonder why people speak so highly of Mike Nichols, the film’s director.

The Invite (2026) Wilde. New in theaters and devastatingly good. Seth Rogen is no longer just a stoner character with the classic stoner laugh. He’s a big player in Hollywood, the creator of The Studio, for crissakes. He holds his own in what is a four-person cast including Penelope Cruz, Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde who also directed. Ms. Wilde had the meatiest role and was terrific. Rogen…man, he’s surprised a lot of people as witnessed here where he’s a “serious actor.” The Invite takes you on a ride and none of the twists and turns are expected, but they all work.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018) Gan. This is my fourth viewing, the first two were in the theater. I have no clue what’s going on, I’ve given up trying but I’ll watch it again. Brilliant. There’s an extended dream sequence that actually feels like a dream and not a cinematic version of one. Not based on the O’Neill play. Not even close.

M (1931) Lang. This is where German Expressionism functioned strictly to tell a story and not draw attention to itself. Fritz Lang had a long career in which he made a lot of really good films but for reasons I do not know he never approached the likes of this again save perhaps with The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. Prior to M he made Metropolis which is equally brilliant. Peter Lorre, who like Lang made for Hollywood when the fascists took over Germany, is if anything, underrated for his performance.

La Piscine (1969) Deray. I wrote about it in a previous edition of this feature, that was after I watched it on the Criterion Channel. I bought my own copy and watched it with the missus. It’s a film — like many greats — that improves with each viewing. Jane Birkin who I would have had a crush on back in the day is desirous but her coltish looks are only one of the fine features of this mesmerizing film.

The Love That Remains (2025) Pálmason. I also made brief mention of this film on a recent post. It’s intelligent, inventive, visually stunning and deserving of a wide audience that it’ll never get. Such is the lot of those films lumped into the “art house” category. 

The Good Old Days Are Looking Better -- Though Far From Perfect

When I was a kid presidents tried to advance Civil Right

The world should be a much better place to live in today than it is. In so many ways it's worse than I was a kid. Climate change is the best example. In days of yore you’d get blizzards, heat waves, hurricanes and occasionally an abnormally warm spell in winter and a cold one in summer. Back then it was news. Something different. Now we’re living with so many weather anomalies that they’ve become the norm. Especially the blistering heat of summer all across the globe (not so much here in the Bay Area — thankfully). It’s getting worse too. People are worried about the threat to the planet. The planet will be fine, it’s the people on the planet who are fucked. Indeed, people are dying because of the extreme weather — in large numbers. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be spending summers where it’s broiling hot all day everyday. Even London has had eighty degree weather most days for the past couple of months. That’s frickin’ crazy. 

Another thing we didn’t have to deal with when I was growing up was having a total moron as the leader of the free world. We had presidents who lied, cheated, ignored the needs of the people and started wars but nothing as bad as what Trumpy has been doing. No one who shattered the political norms. Presidents didn’t used to call reporters stupid or horrible people or accuse them of fabricating “fake news.” Nor did presidents shamelessly self-promote and weren’t so blatantly corrupt. They didn’t call into question the integrity of our elections. When I was a kid we were trying to guarantee civil rights not take them away. The lies weren’t so plentiful or obvious. The loyal opposition was shown respect. Even Nixon wouldn’t have dreamed of calling the people across the aisle, “dumbocrats.” The rich have been getting much, much, much richer these days while the social safety net for the less fortunate is being shredded. The imbalance in our country’s wealth distribution is ridiculous.

There were still small businesses when I was a kid. Mom & Pop grocery stores were ubiquitous. In fact there were all kinds of independent businesses. We had places that weren’t part of a multi-national chain where you could get a burger. You might even know the guy that ran the place. There was Johnny’s down the street and we knew who Johnny was. 

I don’t know if things were better because we had milkmen, but they weren’t worse for them.

People didn’t stare at their phones all the time nor for that matter leave the house with their phones — not that they could. Kids used to go outside an use their imaginations to play games or organize ball games and they didn’t have “play dates.” We roamed the streets and did fine. You didn’t have a phone to look at but you could pick up a stick and make a game with it. People were a couple of million times less paranoid.

True, we didn’t have all the safety features with cars, bikes, playgrounds and toys so today’s kids are safer. But they’re also more pampered and made the center of attention from birth. Children aren’t integrated into families in the same way, they are the center of the universe for their parents. 

(It just occurred to me that when I was a kid if someone wore a bicycle helmet they’d be teased mercilessly.)

We didn’t have streaming services or cable so if you wanted to see a movie you had to wait until it was on TV where it was butchered by commercials and sometimes edited (censored). If you wanted to hear a song and didn’t have the record then you had to wait for it to be played on the radio. 

There were no computers for googling so if you needed the answer to something you bugged your parents, or a teacher or you looked in an encyclopedia if you had one or went to the library. You had to be resourceful. 

People had record players, sometimes stereos. Not everyone had color TVs, I didn’t until my senior year of high school back when we had six channels on TV and I think that sixth had just been added.

There were a lot fewer sports events on TV. But I liked sports from that era a lot better. It was before there were a millions teams in each sport (although the fact that there were only six ice hockey teams was ridiculous). There weren’t dozens of rounds of playoffs in pro sports. College football had conferences that were regional and practically-sized. There were no stupid playoffs for a national championship. Bowl games were still a big deal. College basketball didn’t have half the schools in the post season tournament. There were no “wildcards” making the playoffs. Best of all a stupid kid like me could afford to go to a game. A family could have season tickets for an NFL team without taking out a second mortgage.

Concerts were also affordable back then. For ten bucks you could see the biggest names in rock n’ roll. No one was getting away with selling tickets for thousands of dollars.

We still had movie theaters. Lots of them and I’m not talking about heartless cineplexes but actual theaters. Ticket prices were not just reasonable but cheap.

But back then gay people had to remain very much in the closet and could be arrested and jailed for the act of love. There was nothing approaching Pride Month or a Pride Parade. Women were still way, way behind men in terms of equal pay and just generally being treated like something other than sex objects. It still ain’t great today but it’s far better. Progress for African-Americans and other people of color was being made. Today there are forces trying to reverse those advances.

One of the biggest differences between then and now was that there was a much greater sense of hope. Like I said, progress was being made and there was the belief that improvements in society and politics were going to be permanent and added to. Today there is one helluva lot more cynicism and one can see why. The powerful have become more powerful and infinitely more heartless. Pushing them out of the way seems a mammoth task. Global warming is draining people physically and emotionally. It feels like a big defeat — likely because it is.

I still hold out hope because not doing so seems such a final loss and violates the best of the human spirit. Gotta keep the faith, baby.

A Potpourri Featuring: Complaints About Excessive Words, Depression, Administrators and Over-Hyped Blockbusters

The Love That Remains

Dear other people: If you ever say something which confuses me I promise to tell you that I don’t know what you mean. Therefore, you no longer have to insert: “ya know what I mean?” into our conversations. Thank you. By the way, while I have your attention, please omit “ya know” from any chats we have. Also the vast majority of the times that you say “sort of” it is completely unnecessary. Why not dispense with it. Also, as a time saver, please say: “right now” as opposed to “at this point in time.” (I have no idea who came up with “at this point in time” but it needs to leave the vernacular). One more thing, let’s be careful with the use of “particular.” Can anyone explain to me the difference between “this particular house” and “this house”? I thought not. I thought it worth pointing out in this particular blog post — excuse me, I mean, this blog post.

Can I tell you something really nasty about depression. I can? Thanks! It tells you to be wary of happiness, it actually suggests that feeling good is not all it’s cracked up to be and more than that it’s not something you should experience. Depression tries to convince you that your natural state is one of sadness. Then when you are feeling good you’ll often sense it lurking there telling you it’s coming back. The worst part of that is that you know it’s right. What a bastard it is.

Administrators and bosses. I’ve concluded it’s unnatural for humans to be in a supervisory position over other people. My evidence is how bad people are at it. I first started working fifty-seven years ago. Do you realize how many bosses I’ve had? I’m not going to count. The sad thing is I could easily count how many bosses I’ve had who were really good at managing people. The number who were competent isn’t a whole lot more. The number who sucked in one way or another is legion. It’s amazing how often people you work for will tell you bald-faced lies. Not little white ones, not innocent ones, but ones that directly contradict known facts and they negatively impact you. There’s bending the truth then there’s breaking it into little pieces. They will lie to your face, they will lie in emails, letters, smoke signals, any form of communication known to humankind. Mostly they lie to protect their own asses which is the priority of administrators. My bosses have always had bosses that they’ve been answerable to. Their priority is to please those higher ups, you can fuck all the way off. Many administrators are spineless worms. To get to their exalted middle management position they have their backbones removed. They’d no sooner stand up to their superiors than fight a hurricane. They have absolutely no loyalty to you, the hard working drone who makes them look good. Another characteristic of administrators is incompetence. Many of them suck at their jobs while they’re trying to tell you yours. Their inability to make two and two add up to four directly effects you — not that they gave two shits. Having been in education for nearly forty years I’m speaking mostly of school administrators. And I’m speaking of both public schools and the international language schools owned by corporations. Talk about depression, there’s one big fat cause.

The Odyssey is bloody well everywhere. I can’t remember a film that has been so hyped, so analyzed, so thorough dissected. The New York Times has had something about it everyday since before it hit theaters. It’s dominating the culture in a way that is bizarre. Our culture loves the next big thing and when that thing is especially BIG and when it’s universally praised and makes tons of money, well, brother, you’re not going to hear the end of it. It’s a shame that so many terrific films go way, way, way under the radar and barely get a mention while one damn movie dominates the discourse. Of course the question is: did you Mr. Blogger, see it? Yes I did. Last Monday the missus and I joined the hordes. Here’s my experience: It was the scene where Odysseus and his men are trapped in a cave with a giant cyclops. There was a medium shot of the cyclops sitting looking at his captives when I wondered: “What the hell am I doing watching this movie? This is not my thing.” I love films like Winter Light, L’Eclisse and the Last Picture Show. It reminded me of when someone convinced me to see Iron Man in 2008, what a stupid waste of time that was. However The Odyssey was not a stupid, waste of time. It kept me engaged for the entire eleven hour running time and I was impressed by certain aspects of it. That is until the big fight scene at the end. Every blockbuster fight scene cliche was in it which is to say it was badly overdone. No, seeing The Odyssey was not a waste of time. But I’ll tell you what,  I saw a new Icelandic film called The Love That Remains (2025) Pálmason, via the Criterion Channel the other night. That was a great film worthy of at least ten percent of the hype being given Nolan’s epic. As if….

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.