Review: "Black Rain" (1989)

NYC movies are a metaphorical dime-a-dozen -- but movies about displaced New Yorkers, people from the city but far from home, are an interesting sub-genre that's quickly becoming my favorite. 

Recently I saw one such movie, Black Rain from 1989, starring Michael Douglas, about an NYC cop who goes to Japan. He and his partner (played by Andy Garcia) witness a mob hit by a member of the Yakuza and, after they arrest him, are tasked to bring him home -- only to lose him as soon they arrive in Japan. What follows is a classic "cat-and-mouse" plot, lots of violence, lots of action, lots of cops and bad guys yelling at each other, lots of badassery and nonesuch. It's a noirish thriller of crime and culture clash and, while not a great movie, it's a lot of fun -- the kind of well-made pulpy movie they don't really make anymore. 

"New York is a grey area," says the Douglas character at one point, when trying to explain his hometown to his Japanese counterpart. This movie is about the constant moral grey zone all New Yorkers live in, and how we can never escape it -- even when we go to the other side of the world.

This is a great movie to see if you like noir crime movies, like NYC, like Japan, like Michael Douglas (before he was doing streaming shows about him being an old man), and just like fun movies (I also like it because they filmed part of it near where I live). You can find Black Rain on Showtime Anytime or Showtime On Demand. Check it out. 

Two Very Different Views of NYC

A view from Central Park in the morning ...


















... and a view of the Douglaston train station that night.

Beastie Boys on WTF

The Beastie Boys is one of the greatest rap groups in the world -- and they've been around for more than 30 years. The second album I ever bought was License to Ill, and they followed it up with other great albums like Check Your Head and Hello Nasty, spawning classic songs like "What'cha Want?" and "Sabotage". One of their founding members, Adam Yauch, died a few years ago but the other two members, Ad-Roc and Mike D, are still alive, well, and making music.

If you're a Beastie fan, you MUST listen to this interview on Marc Maron's WTF. Sons of NYC, they talk a lot about their music and childhoods in NYC. My favorite moment is when talks about going to buy back to school clothes at Morris Brothers, the late great department store on the Upper West Side that all Westside youngsters, yours truly included, shopped at as kids. If you want to know what it was like to grow up in this town back in the day, you won't do better than this. 

Welcome to the Real Digital Underground

Fifteen years ago this week, the American army caught Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hiding in an underground bunker -- also called a "spider hole." Nine months after the start of our ill-conceived invasion, the Butcher of Baghdad was still in hiding, moving around out of sight but not out of mind, staying underground as much as he could, and successfully evading capture -- until his luck ran out. Osama Bin Laden was a much more successful underground dweller, hiding out for almost a decade after 9/11 until he was found (not underground actually) and killed in Pakistan.

There's something scary but also exciting about the idea of an "underground" existence -- being  everywhere and nowhere, being alone but also free, being able to be who you want to be without anyone else rendering judgment. Being separated from a crazy, evil world, living on your own terms. Until, of course, your luck runs out. 

What does it mean to go "underground" or live in an "underworld"? How long can we do it -- before we get caught? 

My thoughts about what it means to be "underground" or in an "underworld" were further spurred when I read this article about a fellow NYC blogger who, for more than 25 years, has been producing a publication (first as a zine, then as a blog) about opera. He's a perfect example of someone who started out as an outsider, a troublemaker, an "underground" character, only to be embraced by the very people and world that, at first, would want nothing to do with him. The article says that his blog is still "underground" but, when you're featured in the Times and permitted access to a rarefied world, you are underground no longer. 

Except for once upon a time being linked to the New York Times now defunct City Room blog roll, Mr NYC has avoided any kind of mainstream, establishment attachment. Nary a magazine, a newspaper, an online publication, a TV or radio station, a podcast -- nothing! -- has corrupted this blog with any kind of attention. 

Detractors might say, it's because the blog sucks. Fans might say it's because Mr NYC is too good for, you know, Da' Man, The Squares, the bourgeoisie.

Either way, Mr NYC remains very much an "underground" phenomenon, adrift in the vast sea of the Internet, a digital secret -- like that great out-of-the-way neighborhood, or downstairs restaurant, or hole-in-the-wall bar (pick your analogy) that few people know about but, for those who do, they love it, cherish it, and hold it close. 

Mr NYC is probably the only thing in this city that isn't being colonized by money and attention -- and, for that, I expect you all to be very grateful. 

So, if you're a Mr NYC reader/detractor/fan/whatever, you have discovered the real digital underground, a real Internet spider-hole, an underworld all its own.

Congratulations! Enjoy your stay! 

Mr NYC in Rome

I've been to Rome -- twice.

How can I put my love of the Eternal City succinctly?

Well, if there was another place anywhere else in the world where I would want to live besides NYC, it would be Rome. I feel at home there, comfortable and serene, like the city is embracing me in its millennia-old arms. Every block is gorgeous, the streets bursting with history. You are reminded at how long the arc of history is, how young a country we in America live in. To be in Rome is to be in history -- and heaven.

I've seen everything there is to see in Rome (and much, much more): the Vatican, the Spanish Steps, the Borghese Gardens, the Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, the Circus Maximus, even the Baths of Caracalla, and more churches than I can remember.

But there are some things I saw that are somewhat off the beaten path -- and couple things you should do if you ever get to Rome.

First, arrange for a tour of the Vatican Gardens. It's a huge, beautiful park with numerous oddities like the Chinese Gazebo. You get a behind the scenes look at the Vatican, the history behind the history. My favorite thing was seeing the Papal helipad -- a square marked with yellow lines. Like the President, when the Pope leaves the city, he is airlifted via helicopter to the airport. The helicopter is provided by the Italian government but the Vatican is an independent state -- so the interior of the lines is Italian territory, and none of the helicopter pilots or personnel is allowed to traverse the lines or its considered an invasion!

Second, a short walk away from the Vatican, is the Castle Sant'Angelo. This building is over 1,000 years old and was, for centuries, the Pope's prison, the Vatican's dungeons. Walking around the gloomy but fascinating old jail, where people were tortured and murdered, you see the dark side of power and history. Ironically, if you go to the room of this place, you will see the most beautiful views of Rome. I've been surprised at how many people planning trips to Rome have never heard of this place. It's almost a secret.

Third, if you ever want to see the Pope in person, you can either go to the Sunday at noon blessing he gives from the Vatican widow or the Wednesday audience he gives from St. Peter's Square. When we went many years ago we saw then-Pope Benedict at both events -- and it was fascinating to see the Vicar of Christ in the flesh. 

Fourth: Rome is not just the Eternal City but also the nocturnal city -- it stays up late. Near to where we stayed was the famous 24-hour bakery Dolce Maniera. You can stay out really late or get up really early and find fresh yummy baked goods. We went there almost every day -- and night.

I also love the history of Rome so here are two suggestions: the 1970s miniseries I, Claudius (that gave us the actors Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, and Patrick Steward -- with hair!) and The Borgias (about a very corrupt family that grabs and usurps the greatest power on earth -- they pulled it off 500 years before the Trumps).  

Rome is a city layered with history -- and the joy of going there is peeling back those layers, and seeing how our present world was made. Here are some original photos:

"On the Town" Gets Its Due

The 1949 movie musical On the Town is one of the oldest, and greatest, NYC-centric classics. Starring Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller and Vera Ellen, it's the story of three sailors on shore leave who only have 24-hours to explore the city and fall in love -- and, thanks to the magic of the movies, they do just that.

It's hard to believe but, until today, this movie was not part of the National Film Registry run by the Library of Congress (it's a designation given to movies deemed "cultural significant"). But now it takes its rightful place on this exclusive list.

On the Town certainly is a great NYC movie but it's also just a great movie musical -- period. Beautifully shot, amazing acting, dancing, and singing, and a fun storyline, and you have a fun movie that's timeless and fresh -- and it's almost 70 years old! If you haven't seen On the Town yet, and love movie musicals and NYC and movie musicals about NYC, go stream it or rent it or even buy it -- you'll love it! 

Oh, and Donald Trump's ex-lawyer was sentenced to jail today. More good news! (He won't be "on the town" much longer -- more like in the pokey.)

"Fearless Girl" Becomes a Permanent Part of NYC

Yet another reason to love NYC.

Subway Impeachment: New Yorker vs. New Yorker in DC Faceoff

This has to be unprecedented.

The President of the United States, Donnie Trump, is from NYC and is under threat of impeachment (if the latest batch of court filings mean anything) for directing his lawyer to coordinate illegal payments to former mistresses in order to buy their silence right before his election. This violates campaign finance laws and, by any right, should lead to his impeachment and removal.

And if that happens? If the POTUS is impeached?

The first step in the process falls to the House Judiciary Committee, who would have to vote to recommend impeachment to the whole House before they could vote to impeach the POTUS and send him to trial in the Senate. In 1974, this same committee recommended sending articles of impeachment to the Senate and, shortly thereafter, President Nixon resigned (when it became clear that the whole House would vote to impeach and the Senate would vote to convict/remove). If a similar amount of political pressure can be mustered, then a vote by this committee could lead to Trump's premature exit from the Oval Office (and I'm sure it wouldn't be the first thing he's done prematurely). 

The person who will chair the House Judiciary in 2019 and possibly to lead to Trump's premature evacuation from power will is another guy from NYC -- Congressman Jerrold Nadler from Manhattan. He's been in Congress for over 25 years and has enormous clout, respect, and, very soon, power. And Donald Trump's fate, one way or another, will fall into this hands next year.

As mentioned, this has to be unprecedented -- a New York President under threat of removal by New York Congressman. 

If it comes to this, it'll be the biggest "subway" event in American history, making any kind of "subway series" seem like nothing at all. 

Mrs Maisel & Memories of NYC Past

Specifically, the show turns the streets of 21st century NYC into 1950s NYC -- and this big article shows how that particular magic happens, from renaming restaurants with new signs and removing street signs, etc.

The second season of "Mrs. Maisel" just dropped on Amazon and I'm itching to watch it and hope to soon (ever noticed how things like jobs, family, friends, the holidays, houses, etc. always have this way of preventing us from doing what we were put on this earth to do -- watch TV?). 

If you're still feeling nostalgic, you might also want to read this short conversation about the Upper West Side in the 1970s between two writers who grew up then and there and wrote novels about it.

Ah, memories ...

Mr NYC in Texas

Twenty years ago a buddy and I took a road trip to Texas (followed by some other places). We drove south from college and, after a couple of days, arrived in this vast, fascinating state.

Texas is big. Real big. Like, crazy "wow" big. 

We drove forever, and forever (sometimes I think we're still driving through it). We drove through towns like San Antonio and Abilene, through small towns made up of nothing but trailer parks (I remember one called Sheffield), and through hundreds of miles of west Texas where there was literally nothing at all except roads -- no trees, no people, no houses, no stores, no civilization at all, nothing for miles and miles and miles and miles but flat land ... until you occasionally hit a much-needed gas station. 

Our destination was Big Bend National Park, and it was worth the drive. This is a massive and stunningly gorgeous place with mountains and canyons and stunning natural landscape after stunning natural landscape. We backpacked through the trails and came upon mountain views that went forever and simply stupefy you with their beauty. We did this for a couple of days, sleeping in a tent, until we took off for Houston en route to New Orleans.

Big Bend is not an easy place to get to -- in fact, it's the least visited national park in the country for precisely this reason -- but I urge you to go if you can, words cannot describe how life-changing it is to be there. It reminds you of how amazing the natural world is, how vast and overwhelming, and how us mere people are simply part of a greater design. You feel a great inner peace being in this gorgeous yet quite space. It's very special. (By the way, Big Bend is also the same place where Supreme Court Justice, and New York-native, Antonin Scalia died in 2016.)

We only spent a night in Houston and I don't remember much about it, we got there at night and left early the next day. We ate a Fudruckers and I had perhaps the biggest cheeseburger ever. However, I do recall we drove briefly around downtown and I saw a huge statue of a cello, a modern art exhibit, that seemed very Texas, very non-NYC.

So the saying is true: everything's bigger in Texas. A lot bigger. And, despite its politics, it's a place worth checking out. 

Oh, and if you want to see the definiate movie about Texas, watch Giant from 1956 starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as James Dean in his last movie and a young Dennis Hopper in one of his first.