Watching a movie for the setting...help me pick a movie for tonight!

Cafe Society
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Okay, I remember the movie Heat as being a really cool “setting” movie. I really love movies that make you feel like you are in the setting. I am not sure what it is, but for me this is the best thing about any movie. I really like books like this too that really portray a good setting that is of interest to me. Sometimes for me it can even offset other downsides that would be a no go for most.

Okay anyway, back to Heat. Somehow it just sort of conveys the ordinary life of Los Angeles. I imagine that this is a good thing that Michael Mann does, because I get a very “realistic” feel to most of his movies. Just the way the camera shots are composed, I suppose. One example would be in Heat, the house deniro had on the ocean. That was good. Or maybe some of the random street scenes that made you feel like you were in LA its really just the sum of these details that do it for me. I don’t know if others are like that though…

But most of the time I am usually interested in places that I am interested in seeing, almost like travel. You know, a movie set in Fargo is interesting for other reasons, but a movie set in NYC or LA is a good example.

oooh, I just remember another one. Anyone here seen the movie Kids? That movie made me feel exactly like I was in NYC. It has an INCREDIBLE ambiance to it that sort of envelops you in the setting. Maybe the shakey camera? Maybe something, I don’t know but that is the perfect example. Obviously the actions of the character were pretty extreme, but the setting was really cool. Maybe its because they seemed to use actual locations as much as possible? The scene from the subway was perfect. A couple of shots of them walking down the street from way far out zoomed up close was good too.

Well you get the point. If you are like me and appreciate these things that really make you feel like you are there, could you possibly suggest some other movies based on that particular quality? I am mainly interested in NYC or LA movies, but other international cities would be cool too. I’m not too interested in anything set in the past, but if its good, maybe i’ll like it.
But yeah, something about some movie’s settings really makes it a good experience for me. The plot for kids wasn’t really something that I particularly liked, but the cinematography was really good, and I liked that a lot. Maybe you can make some more suggestions?

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This kind of a tricky request. Your picks seem mostly contemporary, emphasizing setting and bold cinematography with engaging plots that seem almost noir and gritty.

  1. Scorcese’s Bringing Out The Dead, set in New York.
  2. Altman’s The Player, set in Hollywood and L.A…
  3. Tarantino’s *Kill Bill * - Jumps all over the place: suburban Fresno, Tokyo, Cailfornia desert.
  4. You Only Live Twice has my favorite James Bond setting, the underground volcano fortress of Ernest Stavros Blofeld. My only retro pick but does a good job making the most with the setting.
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Room With a View!!!

4

Chinatown. I was born and raised in southern California (Pasadena area), and this movie takes me right back there. The locations, the architecture, everything is spot-on. Nice film noir, too.

5

Don’t Look Now is set in Venice. It’s been several years since I’ve seen it, but it’s about a couple whose daughter recently passed away; the couple visit Venice and all sorts of strange things happen, such as the husband continually seeing the (ghost of?) their dead daughter running around in the alleys.

I went to Venice a few years ago, at that time it had still been quite a few years since I’d seen the movie. While I was there, I kept thinking it would be a great location for a suspenseful movie, with its narrow maze of alleys and dead ends. This is the only suspenseful movie I know of that was filmed there. I really ought to watch it again since I’ve been there, to get an idea of how well it conveys the setting, but at any rate it might be something that would interest you.