First of all, thanks to everyone who enjoyed the New York Movie Map, spread the cheer around, and especially ordered one! It went gangbusters over the last week and took my site down three times with all the traffic, so, that was fun.

Hey order yours here wooo!

One thing that struck me while I was working on this thing was how often I’d see the World Trade Center pop up. It made sense, since a whopping 71 out of the 91 movies were released before 9/11, and showing the WTC was just a stock way of saying, “hey, we’re in New York now”. You can probably imagine, though, that each time I saw it I raised an eyebrow. Interestingly, there ain’t a lot of notable scenes that happen there (Snake Plisskin lands a glider on top of one of the towers in Escape from New York, and the 1976 King Kong climbs it, but I had fine alternatives for both), so it wasn’t that tough of a decision to leave the WTC off the map.

There was surprisingly little complaining about movies I screwed up or left out, so I’m pretty pleased with myself, but the most common gripe was that I left out the other boroughs and the upper part of Manhattan. Like I either half-assed it, forgot about, or wanted to take a dump on all the fine folks that don’t live in the exact epicenter of the universe. Look, I grew up in Queens, went to school on E. 94th, and lived out in Brooklyn so I know what it’s like to be neglected by pop media. And that’s just it – blame Hollywood, not me. These roughly 12 square miles of Manhattan is where THEY put everything. If I included all of NYC, or even just upper Manhattan, there’d be a ton of wasted space where relatively little’s happening and it’d reduce the impact. I had to make it work as a visual piece and not just as a reference. So it made sense to focus on where most of the action is concentrated. I don’t think anyone really needs to see it go all the way up to Inwood or down to *cough* Staten Island just for the sake.

I’m still going through all the answer submissions I’ve gotten over the last week; if you won you’ll be hearing from me by email within the next 2 days!

And with this, the submission deadline is over… because HEY LOOK THE ANSWERS…

 
THE ANSWERS   (Here’s the numbered map to cross-ref)

Upper West Side

1. Ghostbusters (1984)
Well THERE’S something you don’t see every day…

2. Night at the Museum (2006)
Museum of Natural History, Central Park West & 79th St.

3. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
The Dakota, 1 W. 72nd St. (Central Park West). This image is from the iconic poster

4. You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Kathleen’s (Meg Ryan) bookstore, “The Shop Around the Corner”, is at 106 W. 69th St. Elaine and I saw this movie on the plane home from our honeymoon in Paris; it got us especially excited to move into our tiny, exorbitantly-priced Upper West Side apartment together. So young and stupid

5. Black Swan (2010)
Nina’s (Natalie Portman) production of Swan Lake is at Lincoln Center. If anyone can locate her apartment for me I’ll gladly update the poster with her girly romp with Mila Kunis

6. 3 Men and a Baby (1987)
and their apartment at 50 Central Park West

7. It Should Happen to You (1954)
Gladys Glover (Judy Holliday) pays to get her name on a huge billboard in Columbus Circle

Central Park

8. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Mel’s out of focus! He’s soft

9. Godspell (1973)
John the Baptist baptizes Jesus in Bethesda Fountain, in Central Park

10. Hair (1979)
This is the daaawwning of the aaaage of Aquaaarius (Central Park)

11. Serendipity (2001)
SPOILER! Sara (Kate Beckinsale) reunites with Jon (John Cusack) at Wollman Rink, in Central Park, at the end of the movie, and then they suck some face

12. Antz (1998)
Central Park

13. Madagascar (2005)
Central Park Zoo, Central Park

14. Cruel Intentions (1999)
Southeast corner of Central Park, across from the Plaza Hotel. You’re welcome

Upper East Side

15. BUtterfield 8 (1960) (sic)
Gloria (Liz Taylor) wakes up in a dude’s apartment, finds $250 he left her, and writes “No Sale” in lipstick on his mirror. In the movie the address is stated as 1036 5th Ave., but it’s shot at 1050 5th Ave. (86th St.)

16. Sex and the City (2008)
SPOILER! This movie was painful even to fast forward through. 1010 5th Ave. (82nd St.)

17. Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think! Campbell’s Funeral Parlor, 1076 Madison Ave. (81st St.)

18. Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
Linda’s (Mira Sorvino) apartment is at 333 W. 75th St. (1st Ave.)

19. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
SPOILER! Thomas (Pierce Brosnan) stages the climactic heist with the help of some friends, at the Museum of Modern Art. One of the few scenes Rene Russo isn’t naked in

20. Annie Hall (1977)
Annie (Diane Keaton) takes Alvy (Woody Allen) to her apartment at 68th St. & Madison Ave. Aside note: when I first saw this scene on her balcony it was without the subtitles and I thought, huh, what a crappy scene

21. Big (1988)
The floor piano scene at FAO Schwarz (767 5th Ave.). Bonus: Whoa, Robert Loggia!

22. Cocktail (1988)
Oooh the hippy hippy shaaake (TGIFriday’s – now the Baker St. Pub – 1st Ave. & 63rd St.)

23. Spiderman (2002)
The Green Goblin drops a tram full of kids and Gwen Sta– I mean Mary Jane Watson from the 59th St. Bridge

24. Manhattan (1979)
The 59th St. Bridge

Theater District / Times Square

25. Citizen Kane (1941)
Kane (Orson Welles) gives his campaign speech at the original Madison Square Garden: 8th Ave. b/w 49th & 50th St.

26. The Jazz Singer (1927)
The first film ever to have synchronized speech… at the end of the movie Jack (Al Jolson) is starring in a show at the Winter Garden Theatre: 1634 Broadway (b/w 50th & 51st St.)

27. The Producers (1968)
Max (Zero Mostel) and Leo (Gene Wilder) put on “Springtime for Hitler” at the Playhouse Theatre: 37 W. 48th St. (b/w 6th & 7th Ave.)

28. The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Kermit and the gang put on “Manhattan Melodies” at the Biltmore Theatre: 261 W. 47th St. (b/w Broadway & 8th Ave.). My 5-year-old daughter Rachel had no problem with Rowlf the dog playing the piano until the “muppet baby” version of him showed up jamming; then she wasn’t havin’ it

29. Phone Booth (2002)
I actually bought into this movie and loved it. The phone booth was set at 53rd St. & 8th Ave.

30. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
David’s (John Cusack) play “God of Our Fathers” is at the Belasco Theatre: 111 W. 44th St. (b/w 6th & 7th Ave.)

31. Daredevil (2003)
Set in Hell’s Kitchen. This movie exceeded my incredibly low expectations

32. Tootsie (1982)
Michael’s (Dustin Hoffman) soap opera “Southwest General” is taped at the National Video Center, 460 W. 42nd St. (10th Ave.)

33. All About Eve (1950)
Margo (Bette Davis) is starring in “Aged in Wood”, playing at the John Golden Theatre (252 W. 45th St. (b/w 7th & 8th Ave.)) when she first meets Eve (Anne Baxter)

34. Zoolander (2001)
Hansel, he’s so hot right now. A billboard in Times Square

35. Death to Smoochy (2002)
A billboard in Times Square

36. Being John Malkovich (1999)
Craig (John Cusack) works at Lester Corp, on the 7 1/2 floor of the (fictitious) Mertin Flemmer building at 610 11th Ave. (45th St.)

37. Last Action Hero (1993)
The premiere of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) latest flick, Jack Slater IV, is at a theater in Times Square

38. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
John and Jane Smith (Brangelina) tango it out at a restaurant shot in LA, but set in Times Square

39. Enchanted (2007)
Giselle (Amy Adams) falls through a wormhole and emerges from a manhole in the middle of Times Square. SPOILER! Amy Adams is adorable

Midtown / Rockefeller Center

40. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
HEY, I’M WAWKIN HERE – 58th St. & 6th Ave.

41. A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
Snoopy gets his skate on at the Rockefeller Center skating rink, when the little bastard should be helping to look for Linus’s blanket

42. Private Parts (1997)
Howard Stern (Howard Stern) and Robin Quivers (Robin Quivers) on the air at NBC Studios

43. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
The opening scene where Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) noms on a danish in front of Tiffany’s (727 5th Ave.). The music playing, Henry Mancini’s Moon River, is to die for. The song Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Deep Blue Something makes me want to kill people

44. Quiz Show (1994)
The show 21 was filmed at NBC Studios (30 Rockefeller Center)

45. The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Marilyn Monroe gets her rocks off over a subway grate at 52nd St. & Lexington Ave. This was considered risqué back then

46. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Schatze (Lauren Bacall), Loco (Betty Grable), and Pola (Marilyn Monroe) rent a fancy pad at 36 Sutton Place

Chelsea

47. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Hey, pull my beard (Macy’s: 151 W. 34th St. (7th Ave.))

48. The Godfather (1972)
Ok, my bad… afaik this is my only mistake on the map. This is Moe Greene getting whacked while getting a massage. According to this it was at 215 W. 23rd St., but I got careless and it didn’t register that it was only shot there, while being set in Vegas. DUUUuuuhhh

49. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2008)
This was a tricky one (for me). In the movie – SPOILER! – they finally get the tip that Where’s Fluffy will be playing their secret gig at 5th Ave. & 68th St… but where they end up is clearly no more than a few blocks away from the Empire State Building (which they’re shown looking up at)… AND we see them running past the Bally’s Fitness at 139 W 32nd St. – on this street (Google Street View), which is consistent. Nothing gets past ME, baby! Except for #48

Empire State Building

50. King Kong (1933)
‘Twas booty killed the beast

51. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Annie (Meg Ryan) meets Sam (Tom Hanks) and his son at the top of the Empire State Building

52. On the Town (1949)
Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra), and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) meet up with the three girls they all conveniently met and hooked up with on their one-day shore leave, at the top of the Empire State Building

53. An Affair to Remember (1957)
Nickie (Cary Grant) waits for Terry (Deborah Kerr) at top of the Empire State Building but… godammit what’s taking her so long, she could at least send a text

Murray Hill / Gramercy

54. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
1 and 2 are already represented elsewhere, so this qualifies as 3. The Flatiron Building (175 5th Ave.) is home to the Daily Bugle

55. Elf (2003)
Buddy (Will Ferrell) gets a job at Gimbels, at 295 5th Ave. (30th St.)

Grand Central Station / Midtown East

56. The Fisher King (1991)
Parry (Robin Williams) sees his main squeeze Lydia (Amanda Plummer) at Grand Central Station and then the crowd goes all Dancing with the Stars

57. Carlito’s Way (1993)
Carlito (Al Pacino) somehow hides from a bunch of thugs on an unending Grand Central Station escalator apparently designed by M.C. Escher

58. Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)
“It’s [sic] name is Quetzalcoatl… just call it “Q”… that’s all you’ll have time to say before it tears you apart!” The final showdown at the Chrysler Building

59. North by Northwest (1959)
Roger (Cary Grant) has a brain freeze and is caught holding the knife that just killed a U.N. diplomat

60. Escape from New York (1981)
Snake (Kurt Russell) tangles with Ox Baker at the Duke’s (Isaac Hayes) compound at Grand Central Station.

Greenwich Village

61. Shaft (1971)
John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) lives at 55 Jane St.

62. Rear Window (1954)
L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) invades the privacy of all his neighbors at 125 W. 9th St. (which doesn’t exist, but it would be somewhere around where I put it)

63. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
Max (Josh Waitzkin) plays some speed chess against Vinnie (Laurence Fishburne) in Washington Square Park and somehow keeps from telling him to stop yapping

64. Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Corie (Jane Fonda) finds Paul (Robert Redford) wasted and – OMG – barefoot in Washington Square Park

65. I Am Legend (2007)
Robert (Will Smith) lives with his dog (dog) on Washington Square Park North

66. The Warriors (1979)
The climactic brawl at the Union Square subway station. The Warriors tangle with a gang called “The Punks”… whose members all wear overalls… and their leader rides around “menacingly” on roller skates… this movie is awesome

East Village

67. Taxi Driver (1976)
I would’ve included the “You talkin’ to me?” scene but I couldn’t confirm where he lives exactly. But this, the wacky final shootout at 226 E. 13th St. (b/w 2nd & 3rd Ave.), does nicely

68. Coyote Ugly (2000)
The real-life Coyote Ugly is at 153 1st Ave. (b/w 9th & 10th St.)

Lower Manhattan

69. At First Sight (1999)
Amy’s (Mira Sorvino) apartment is at 458 Greenwich St.

70. Big Daddy (1999)
Sonny (Adam Sandler) and his son commit a misdemeanor at Felix restaurant, 340 West Broadway

71. Ghost (1990)
Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) dabble in claymation (102 Prince St.)

72. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
They say this is fake but I dunno… seems pretty convincing to me (Katz’s Deli, 205 E. Houston St.)

73. Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
John McClane (Bruce Willis) and Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson) try to measure 4 gallons of water using a 3-gallon jug and a 5-gallon jug, at Tompkins Square Park. Fun problem, but I’m not sure what it’s doing in a movie

74. Cloverfield (2008)
“this is where things in Cloverfield happen okay”

75. Gangs of New York (2002)
The “Five Points”, where the opening gang fight and most of the movie takes place, was what is currently the intersection of Baxter St. & Worth St. in Chinatown

76. Spiderman 2 (2004)
Doc Ock’s (Alfred Molina) lab is at 32 2nd Ave. (2nd St.)

77. Pi (1998)
Max (Sean Gullette) lives on the Lower East Side and – SPOILER! – this is where he self-trepans at the very end of the movie

78. Boomerang (1992)
This was a tough one. It’s Strangé (Grace Jones) making her grand entrance at this party at 200 Liberty Place

79. Crocodile Dundee (1986)
THAT’S not a knife (1 Centre St.)

80. Wall Street (1987)
Gordon Gekko’s (Michael Douglas) company is headquartered at the real-life Merrill Lynch building: 222 Broadway

81. Men in Black (1997)
MiB HQ is at the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority: 2 Broadway

82. Dressed to Kill (1980)
Kate (Angie Dickinson) gets brutally slashed up in the elevator at 160 Front St. after sleeping with a dude she just met, and finding out that she probably got VD from him, so you know they didn’t use any protection, so… yeah, she had it coming. Great scene, actually

Statue of Liberty

83. X-Men (2000)
Magneto (Ian McKellan) builds a machine in the Statue of Liberty’s torch that he needs Rogue (Anna Paquin) to power, but OH LOOK HERE COMES WOLVERINE (HUGH JACKMAN)

84. Saboteur (1942)
Frank Fry (Norman Lloyd), trying to escape from the law, finds himself cornered atop the Statue of Liberty torch (way to go, dude), and falls over the side. Barry Kane (Robert Cummings), who’d been chasing him, tries to save him but – SPOILER! – fails

85. Splash (1984)
BOCCE, BALLS!!

86. An American Tail (1986)
Fievel arrives at Liberty Island in a bottle

87. Funny Girl (1968)
She’s on a boat

Brooklyn Bridge / Williamsburg Bridge

88. Godzilla (1998)
Godzilla is lured onto the Brooklyn Bridge to his – SPOILER! – doom

89. The Naked City (1948)
Willie Garzah (Ted de Corsia) gets surrounded on the Williamsburg Bridge, climbs a tower, gets shot and falls to his – SPOILER! – death

90. Hudson Hawk (1991)
How am I driving?! 1-800- I’m gonna fuckin’ die!

91. Fantastic 4 (2005)
The FF’s coming out party on the Brooklyn Bridge

(Click the image above for the high-res version)
(Take the 15-minute challenge at Sporcle!)
(Order this poster from Topatoco!)

Edit, Thu. 5/12/11: Last chance to puzzle through the map yourself! Cuz here’s the answers. Also: aLp returns next week. Gonna make this happen.

If it seems like all the movies you’ve ever seen take place somewhere in New York City, that’s because they do. New York is where the aliens must attack, where landmarks are destroyed, where the world ends, and where good-looking people go to find other good-looking people. It’s practically a law.

This is an illustrated 18″x24″ map of the history of films set in New York – more specifically, all the movies I could cram into a tiny 12-square-mile chunk of Manhattan. There’s exactly 91 movies on here. Can you name them all?

(Edit: Deadline’s over!) I’ll be giving away a FREE copy of this poster to the first person who sends me the names of all the movies, numbered 1-91. AND also winning free posters will be 3 randomly selected people from the rest of the correct lists sent to me within this first week, before next Wednesday, May 11. Here’s a high-res version of the map with each movie numbered from 1-91.

After a week I’ll release the full list here; follow me on Twitter to make sure you catch it.

This took about 5 months of researching and watching a ton of old movies, and about 3 weeks of drawing. The best movies I watched included The Warriors (on the map), Escape from New York (on), and an old one called A Thousand Clowns (not on). The worst movie I watched was Sex and the City, holy goddamn. A big thanks to the sites On the Set of New York, The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, TV Tropes, and Scouting New York for their awesome info, and to my buddies Dean, Stu and Noah for their advice.

I’LL BE AT TCAF IN TORONTO THIS WEEKEND! Sitting with the rest of the Topatoco crew. Hopefully I’ll have copies of the poster on hand for you! See you there, ok yes?!

So yeah, this is one of the things I’ve been doing since November instead of working on aLp. It hasn’t kept me from doing comics per se, but it sure didn’t help. I got this idea back in December and just felt like I needed to do it. Now that it’s out of the way I think I can get back on the comics horse, but yeah we’ll just see about that, won’t we. In any case the best ways for me to keep you updated are if you follow me on that Twitter, join that aLp Facebook page, or get up on that RSS feed.

Late again, jiggity jig! Power outage on my block; my kids’ 5th birthday; Toy Story 3. That’s all I have to say about that!

Back to the storyline next week, but for this week:

Hey, PREDATORS!   AM I RIGHT?

When I first heard they were making this movie, I wrote: “Honestly I’m not sure we need more movies about (I’m guessing) Predators, but I won’t be complaining, as long as it’s actually half-decent.” That’s still the way I feel, and whoa, it looks like it might actually be half-decent, at least according to the reviews. So even though I waited for both AvP’s 1 and 2 to come out on video before I saw ‘em, I’ll be catching Predators tomorrow when it opens.

What about you guys? Are you pumped, or are you PUMPED? (Third option: are you not pumped?)

Along with the two pieces I posted over at If You See Something on Friday and Monday, this makes new comics on 3 consecutive weekdays. No I’m not telling you who I am and what I’ve done with me.

Did you know that for the first time in 20 years, The Simpsons changed their opening sequence? Yeah I can’t believe it either!

Big hOLLAAA to Rosscott who does a super-rad comic called The System. I dig the ones about biking the best cuz I TOTALLY used to ride a bike a lot.

No, I’m not getting paid by Netflix, but I do love it and this has happened to me a bunch of times before. Like a few years ago when my wife was away on a business trip, I had the whole place (and TV) to myself, and the only DVD we had out had just come and it was something like “Two Weeks Notice“. Also, how many frickin millions of customers do they have using their site, and you still can’t drag n’ drop to re-order your queue? I’ve been complaining about that for years.

If you’re a fan of the brilliant Twisted Toyfare Theater, check out this great interview (via Fanboy Radio) with 2 of the writers, Zach Oat and my pal Justin Aclin. The segment takes up the first half-hour of the hour-long show and it’s not actually that interesting if you’re not into TTT but fascinating if you are, so if you’re not… that just means you really, really need to start picking up Toyfare Magazine and revelling in its glory. Oh, and they happen to drop my name in the interview, so that was cool too.

You should all also check out Medium Large, a terrific webcomic by Francesco “Ces” Marciuliano, a helluva guy I went drinking with a few months ago and I’m only getting around to linking just now.

I started with the news that the 2nd Ave. Deli closed a week and half ago, and then I dunno what the hell happened to my script. All I know is when Dean told me they’re making Basic Instinct 2, and that Sharon Stone is reprising her role as hey-lookit-my-crotch woman, I was a bit… surprised. Then Dean showed me these pics and okay, she does still look pretty good. Even though it looks like they Photoshopped her legs to make ‘em as long as a giraffe’s.

By the way if you’re down by where the 2nd Ave. Deli used to be and you’re lookin for something to eat, try Veselka (Polish/Ukrainian – and 24 hours) or Shima (best moderately-priced sushi around).

aLp got a mention in the February issue of Stuff magazine. “It’s so stupid, it’s genius,” they said, and they stuck me on a “Yes” list with Rocky VI and some MTV show about teenage hookers. I can think of no higher honor.

It also gave me an excuse to pick up a copy of the magazine, which is full of photos of, er… women who are not 46. I also bought copies of Maxim and Playboy to see if I was mentioned in them too. Turns out I wasn’t!

Happy Halloween! Check it out: super pumpkin work by Scott Cummins at http://pumpkingutter.com. Thanks to Karen, Kody, and Jennif for sending the link in.

Okay, Gueststravaganza starts Friday, on the old M-W-F sched, but for today I just wanted to throw up this Fantastic Four piece while it’s still sorta relevant. Much like episode #108, this one’s directly inspired by an IM conversation I had with my buddy Dean. Speaking of Dean, as a congratulations gift for the birth of my son & daughter, he went and fleshed out the aLp Wikipedia entry. I think he did an awesome job; go check it out. Thanks Dean!

p.s. Allow me to be a proud dad and show you a couple pics and a vid of my two new rug rats here.

No, I don’t know if 45:21:08 is anywhere near the right time for that scene. In fact, I don’t even know what scene I’m talking about.

Two small items: 1. I put up a little page where I collected some of my favorite pieces of fan mail I’ve received over the past 3 months. And 2. “avatars” are now turned on at the forums so feel free to upload your own. Just keep ‘em clean and not absurdly annoying like some of ‘em can get. Also, anyone remember when an Avatar was just something you aspired to become in Ultima IV?

I forgot to mention that two significant people plugged aLp on their blogs back in December. The first was Warren Ellis, the guy behind Transmetropolitan, the unendingly cool DC Comic.

The second was John Rogers, a screenwriter who co-wrote The Core, and Catwoman, so you know he’s good. What’s particularly exciting is that he’s, as far as I know, the sole credited screenwriter working on the upcoming live action Transformers movie. I wonder if Starscream is as annoying in real life as he is on TV.