Movies that best highlight a city

[chrizow]

Old Joy (2006) w/ Will Oldham...a more up-to-date rendition of Portland, OR/ NW. I really enjoyed this film...super slow. It could have been because I saw it when it came out and I was uber obsessed with Oregon and had just visited. It expresses more of a vibe, than is a visual showcase, if you know what I mean.

i love this movie. one of my favorites of recent years.

[chingon]

I honestly consider Portlandia to be the most honest and accurate evocation of Portland's "culture".

[chrizow]

I honestly consider Portlandia to be the most honest and accurate evocation of Portland's "culture".

PUT A BIRD ON IT.

[Highlander]

The all time winner in this category is Salzburg Austria and the Sound of Music...it is at the very least the movie that has most successfully showcased the city it was filmed in.

[warwickland]

What really struck me about Portlandia though was how closely the show also reflects that particular brand of American culture, too, which is present in almost every sizable burg in some intensity. I think I thought about that particular aspect of the show as much as that it was in Portland, really. It's not like Fred Armisen needed to travel to Portland from NY to get all ideas for the show and to fully familarize/update himself with the culture (like he even needed to at all, of course), even though it was filmed in Portland. In fact, I remember that before it was Portland, it was Brooklyn, at least us of a certain age and familar with Mizzou, and Chriz you probably know what I mean. Whatever differences there were with (the huge) pool of young culture in Portland vis a vis the rest of the country has somewhat been leveled out in varying doses, I am guessing.

[KCMax]

I love Portlandia. Cacao!

[trailerkid]

cool idea for a thread - I loved MIL in Bridesmaids too.

A couple more -

Interview with the Vampire - New Orleans and surrounding plantation road
Home Alone - Classy suburban Chicago
Easy Rider - a few unforgettable (to me) scenes in New Orleans cemetaries.
Paris Je T'aime - yeah it's Paris, but the entire movie is a strange series of short love letters to the city; wish there were films like this of other cities. And more films like this, period.
Persepolis - Animated Tehran around the Iranian revolution
A Christmas Story - Cleveland
Zodiac - It's been mentioned, but San Fran was haunting in this film.
Gran Torino, 8 Mile - Detroit
Dark Knight - yeah it's "Gotham" but really it's 100% straight Chicago, a totally unimaginitive rendition of a fantasy city. I mean, it's more Chicago-y than most movies set in Chicago.

Terrific list ^

Recently rewatched Election-- pitch perfect sendup of 80s/90s Omaha.

[missingkc]

The first 10 minutes (or so) of Allen's "Midnight in Paris". Nothing but street shots.

[TheUrbanRoo]

The Bourne Identity for just great generic rundown of Western Europe cities

[FangKC]

I enjoy James Bond movies because of all the exotic locations.

Woody Allen often uses the city as a character.

Most foreign-born people want to move to New York City because of the movies and it's their idea of what America is like.

London gets good representation in movies too.

Highlander is correct about Salzburg and The Sound of Music.

Chrizow is correct about Ditmas Park. People don't think of leafy neighborhoods full of Victorian SF houses when they think of NYC, but they exist. Other great neighborhoods in NYC are Forest Hils Queens, Fieldston and Riverside in the Bronx, and Emerson Park on Staten Island.