Actress Diane Keaton has a new memoir coming out, "Then Again," which dives into her close relationship with her mother, as well as her long term romance/friendship with the one and only Woody Allen. She writes that dating Allen was just like being in a Woody Allen movie...except sexier? "He was even better-looking in real life. He had a great body, and he was physically very graceful," she wrote about ex-boyfriend Warren Beatty Al Pacino Woody Allen. more ›

MOVIE: Woody Allen's '77 classic, Annie Hall, makes a week long appearance at the Film Forum. Catch a screening of the anxiety-ridden romance that "defined New York" sometime before the end of the run next Tuesday. More details on times, here. more ›

"New York City in the 1970s was the setting for Taxi Driver, Annie Hall, and Saturday Night Fever, the nightmare playground for Son of Sam and The Warriors, the proving grounds for graffiti, punk, hip-hop, and all manner of other public spectacle. Musicians, artists, and writers could subsist even in Manhattan, while immigrants from the world over were reinventing the city in their own image." Brian Berger, historian Marshall Berman and a troupe of contributers revisit the Big Apple of yesteryear in their book New York Calling. All five boroughs are documented through words and images, becoming a nostalgic collection as well as a reflection on how the city has changed. more ›

Need a last minute costume idea and in a New York state of mind? Here are a few NYC-themed ideas for your Halloween fête... more ›

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MOVIE: Last week Bryant Park was packed as Annie Hall played on the big screen. This week grab someone who's hand you'll be able to squeeze tight as the classic horror flick, The Thing, plays in the park. The timeless flick watches the sci-fi terror unfold as "scientists at an Arctic research station discover a spacecraft buried in the ice. Upon closer examination, they discover the frozen pilot. All hell breaks loose when they take him back to their station and he is accidentally thawed out!" more ›

MOVIE: By now you've all seen, memorized and lived your own version of neurotic New York love story Annie Hall, the classic Woody Allen film that's stood the test of time. But have you seen it under the open night sky? Didn't think so. Get there early for a seat. Get there even earlier for knitting lessons! more ›

Museum of the Moving Image, Queens more ›

You may be familiar with James Sanders' book Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies, which celebrated New York City's role in movies and is a must for any fan of New York, architecture, or film. But even if you haven't, you get a chance to experience it in beyond the pages: Starting tomorrow, Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall will be the setting for a Celluloid Skyline exhibit. There will be huge "scenic backing" paintings from old films, film footage, artifacts, displays and more that will show NYC's role in production and as a "mythic city" of the movies. Here's a description:

[The exhibit] will also carry visitors into the dream city of the movies, through “immersive” elements that allow visitors to feel as if they are actually inhabiting the various environments of the filmic city – streets, skyscrapers, rooftops, theaters, waterfronts, interiors – allowing viewers to come away with a greater understanding not only of the moviemaking process, but of the urban character, texture and significance of the real city. more ›

If you count yourself as a New Yorker and a movie lover, it's tough to not have a special affinity for films by Woody Allen. Practically the filmmaker laureate of the city, Allen's prolific 40 plus year career is getting a three week long screening series at Film Forum starting this Friday. Gothamist loves Allen's movies (both the highs and the lows) so much that we thought we'd chat with an Allen expert, Queens College professor Bob Kapsis, about how to plan our screening calendar during "Essentially Woody." more ›

Make that 40 years of film TV. more ›

What would Alvy Singer think? ianqui emailed us about a jury summons notice that came in the mail. Only it was directed to someone who lived in "Jew York"! Clearly the Post Office relies on zip codes, as the summons did get to ianqui. Which makes us wonder how many Manhattan residents were told that they suddenly lived in Jew York - or when the County Clerk's office realized the typo. At any rate, ianqui was a good Jew Yorker, as she reported to jury duty yesterday. more ›

After all the comments on yesterday's post about books set in NYC, we got to thinking, has anyone bothered to come up with a list of all the movies set in the city? The answer, of course, is yes-- at Wikipedia, of course. What an amazing site-- it's like having a genie who's only job is to distract us with useless NYC trivia! They've probably missed a couple of movies here and there, but the list looks fairly comprehensive. Absolute, undisputable fact: the 1970s was far and away the most interesting time for NYC movies-- check these out: more ›

Hartley Goldstein more ›

- NY magazine had a funny and over-the-top piece about NYC seceding from the United States that starts off with a great Woody Allen/Alvy Singer line from Annie Hall ( which reminds Gothamist we need to see Annie Hall again) as well as an interview with Norman Mailer by his son. And NY magazine officially announced the not-so-secret plans for a daily during the Convention.
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David Hinckley in the NY Daily News complains that the American Film Institute list of the 100 Top Movie Songs is no fun because it's actually not a bad list. Gothamist would almost agree, except for the lack of songs from South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. We feel that Come What May from Moulin Rouge (who sings that? who cares?) is just an addition to please the public (that way you can get Nicole Kidman on the show), but let's be honest here: No one is humming "I will love you until my daying day," but they are singing, "Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat Bitch" or "What Would Brian Boitano Do" or "Unclef*cker" or "Blame Canada." So, lists like this are still very crack-like because they are addictive, but they can be very bad too. more ›

Just a few of our "Where is" thoughts: Max Fischer, Spinal Tap, Madeline Elster/Judy Barton, The Warriors, and Popeye Doyle more ›

Jenny Oh, Documentary Filmmaker more ›

Lindsay Robertson more ›

Elizabeth Spiers more ›

Some movies that capture New York in the 70s: Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Shaft, Mean Streets, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Saturday Night Fever, The French Connection. Episode 7 of New York: A Documentary Film focuses on New York from 1945 to today. more ›

This Saturday and Sunday, the IFP is holding its annual "From Script to Screen Conference" with panels of film, television, and stage professionals giving their insights and thoughts about breaking in, getting the work made, and the business involved. Paul Schrader, writer of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Last Temptation of Christ, will be speaking about his career (his most recent work was directing AutoFocus). Gothamist is looking forward to Tom Fontana, the creator behind the best cop show ever (Law & Order is the best cop-and-lawyer show ever), Homicide: Life on the Streets. Fontana will be speaking about his career as writer-producer of St. Elsewhere, Homicide, and Oz. Other panelists include Dylan Kidd (writer-director of Roger Dodger), Austin Chick (whose film XX/XY opens today), Marshall Brickman (co-writer of Annie Hall), Erin Cressida Wilson (writer of Secretary) and United Artists head Bingham Ray (UA released Bowling for Columbine). more ›