Highest-Rated Movies about 'City Life', Sort by Popularity

The Man With a Movie Camera (1929), In the Heights (2021), Z (1969), Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003), Playtime (1967), Cabaret Balkan (1998), Midnight Cowboy (1969), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best City Life movies.

#1. The Man With a Movie Camera (1929)

Storyline: Part documentary and part cinematic art, this film follows a city in the 1920s Soviet Union throughout the day, from morning to night. Directed by Dziga Vertov, with a variety of complex and innovative camera shots, the film depicts scenes of ordinary daily life in Russia. Vertov celebrates the modernity of the city, with its vast buildings, dense population and bustling industries. While there are no titles or narration, Vertov still naturally conveys the marvels of the modern city.

Plot Keywords: camera operator, townspeople, creative, fascinating, profound, patriotic, spectacular ...

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#2. In the Heights (2021)

Storyline: The creator of "Hamilton" and the director of "Crazy Rich Asians" invite you to the event of the summer, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big... "In the Heights." Lights up on Washington Heights... The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life. "In the Heights" fuses Lin-Manuel Miranda's kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu's lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.

Plot Keywords: friend, love interest, store owner, spirited, powerful, office, beach ...

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#4. Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Storyline: Of the cities in the world, few are depicted in and mythologized more in film and television than the city of Los Angeles. In this documentary, Thom Andersen examines in detail the ways the city has been depicted, both when it is meant to be anonymous and when itself is the focus. Along the way, he illustrates his concerns of how the real city and its people are misrepresented and distorted through the prism of popular film culture. Furthermore, he also chronicles the real stories of the city's modern history behind the notorious accounts of the great conspiracies that ravaged his city that reveal a more open and yet darker past than the casual viewer would suspect.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords: film critic, narrator, filmmaker, fascinating, mellow, creative, southern california ...

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#5. Playtime (1967)

Storyline: Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner.

Plot Keywords: man, tourist, salesman, woman, friend, amusing, intricate ...

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#7. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Storyline: Texas greenhorn Joe Buck arrives in New York City for the first time. Preening himself as a real "hustler", he finds that he is the one getting "hustled" until he teams up with down-and-out but resilient outcast Ratso Rizzo. The initial "country cousin meets city cousin" relationship deepens. In their efforts to bilk a hostile world rebuffing them at every turn, this unlikely pair progress from partners in shady business to comrades. Each has found his first real friend.

Plot Keywords: homeless person, dishwasher, artist, wealthy woman, girlfriend, mother, disturbing ...

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#8. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Storyline: Four seemingly-unrelated men board subway train Pelham 1:23 at successive stations. Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown are heavily armed and overpower the motorman and novice conductor to take control of the train. Between stations they separate the front car from the remainder of the train, setting passengers in the back cars and the motorman free. The four demand $1 million ransom within exactly one hour for the remaining eighteen hostages, including the conductor. If their demands are not met in time or their directions are not followed precisely, they will begin to shoot hostages dead, one every minute the money is late. Wisecracking Lt. Zach Garber of the transit police ends up being the primary communicator between the hijackers and the authorities, which includes transit operations, his own police force, the NYPD, and the unpopular and currently flu ridden mayor who will make the ultimate decision of whether to pay the ransom. Unknown to Garber, what may be working on ...

Plot Keywords: criminal, police officer, negotiator, hostage, mayor, cheeky, chilling ...

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#9. The Tenant (1976)

Storyline: In Paris, the shy bureaucrat Trelkovsky rents an old apartment without bathroom where the previous tenant, the Egyptologist Simone Choule, committed suicide. The unfriendly concierge (Shelley Winters) and the tough landlord Mr. Zy establish stringent rules of behavior and Trelkovsky feels ridden by his neighbors. Meanwhile he visits Simone in the hospital and befriends her girlfriend Stella. After the death of Simone, Trelkovsky feels obsessed for her and believes his landlord and neighbors are plotting a scheme to force him to also commit suicide.

Plot Keywords: tenant, neighbor, beautiful woman, suicidal person, chilling, tense, creepy ...

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#11. Vaya (2016)

Storyline: Three people board the train bound for Johannesburg. Strangers, each on their own mission, with a simple task to complete and in search of family to help them. But when they are betrayed by the very people whose protection they sought, they find themselves trapped in the city - invisible and alone. Vaya interweaves three separate plots, that intersect and intertwine in a gripping, deeply moving and often funny narrative about struggling for survival and dignity in the city. In the first story a rural man has been promised a job, by his big city cousin. The money from the job will allow him to pay lobola back home which will change his life forever. He's excited; his cousin is an important man, whose patronage the village has relied on for many years. To work for him is a great honour. But on arrival he discovers that the job is not quite what he thought. He is required to kill his cousin's rival. In the second story a young man is sent to Jozi to reclaim his father's body, only to discover that the body has already been claimed. His father's hitherto unknown 'city family' has taken it, and they are not giving it back. The young must find a way to return the body to his rural home or risk the family reputation forever. In the third story a young woman takes her aunt's young daughter to Joburg to live with her mother for the first time. But she has her own plans. To dump the child and finally escape the boredom of rural life to explore her own dreams and ambitions in the city. But she soon discovers that her aunt, is not who she thought she was. She runs a shebeen and lives with an extremely devious gangster who supports her. She is unable to take care of herself let alone a small child. The young woman must now choose between her own dreams or saving the small child and ruining everything.

Plot Keywords: stranger, family, south african man, rival, friend, gripping, emotional ...

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#12. Mid90s (2018)

Storyline: This movie follows a teenager named Stevie growing up in Los Angeles. He's struggling with his family, including his co-dependent single mom and his abusive older brother, and at school, where his richer friends seem to overlook him. When Stevie befriends a crew of skateboarders, he learns some tough lessons about class, race, and privilege.

Plot Keywords: teenager, skater, friend, brothel owner, brooding, cool, engaging ...

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#13. Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Storyline: Larry and Carol are fairly normal New Yorkers who have sent their son off to college. They meet an elderly couple down the hall and later in the week find that the wife has suddenly died. Carol becomes suspicious of Paul who seems to be too cheerful and too ready to move on. She begins her investigation. Larry insists she is becoming too fixated on their neighbor as all of the irregularities seem to have simple non-homicidal explanations. Ted, a recently divorced friend helps her investigation and Larry begins to become jealous of their relationship and agrees to help her.

Plot Keywords: husband, wife, son, writer, amateur sleuth, neighbor, amusing ...

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#14. Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007)

Storyline: Chagawa finds it increasing difficult to support his young ward Junnosuke in his store across the street from the Suzuki garage on Third Street. Unless he can provide a better life, Junnosuke's rich father, Kawabata will take him away. Chagawa focuses once again on winning the "Akutagawa-sho" literary award and the prize money coming with it. Mika, a 7-year old relative of the Suzukis is left to stay with them when her father has business reverses. She is accustomed to a richer life style and at first her behavior is very spoiled but is humbled when sees the menial chores that her same-aged cousin Ippei performs. Mutsuko continues to work in the family as a mechanic but has an aspiring boyfriend Takeo, who is studying cooking. Chagawa seeks to find Hiromi, who has become successful once more as the exotic dancer "Betty."—Brian Greenhalgh

Plot Keywords: mechanic, apprentice, novelist, bar owner, young boy, wealthy man, melodramatic ...

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#15. Same Old Song (1997)

Storyline: Odile is looking for a new, bigger apartment. Her younger sister Camille just completed her doctoral thesis has fallen in love with an estate agent who is responsible for Odile's apartment and who has an elder employee.—Marco Radke <radke@krypta.aball.de>

Plot Keywords: sister, husband, student, real estate agent, hypochondriac, old flame, winsome ...

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