OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
COURIER LIFE, DEC. 31, 2021-JAN. 6, 2022 23
BY JESSICA PARKS
The Omicron variant of COVID-19
continues to wreak havoc on New York
City, canceling most in-perrson events
and forcing friends, family and maybe
even you into quarantine, If you’re stuck
hunkering down for the New Year, you’re
in luck — Brooklyn Paper has compiled
a list of movies and television shows, old
and new, to transport you back onto the
streets of the borough we love.
An American Pickle
This 2020 movie starring Seth Rogen
can almost be looked at as a metaphor
to the coronavirus pandemic. Based on
a short story written by Simon Rich for
the New Yorker, Rogen portrays Eastern
European Jewish immigrant Herschel
Greenbaum who fi nds a job at a pickle
factory in Brooklyn in 1919, and one day
falls into a vat of pickles. He wakes up in
2019, fully preserved, in a Brooklyn that
looks very different than the version he
left. Streaming on HBOMax.
Last Exit to Brooklyn
This 1990 fi lm takes viewers back to
Sunset Park in the 1950s and portrays
life at that time for the working-class
residents of the neighborhood. Union
corruption and violence are displayed
alongside storylines of sex workers and
homosexuality. The youngest Baldwin
brother also has a role in the cult classic
fi lm. Available to rent on Amazon.
Dog Day Afternoon
Attica, Attica! An iconic Brooklyn
fi lm based on a real-life bank robbery
and hostage situation that took place
at a Chase Bank in the borough in the
1970s. The box-offi ce smash hit stars
Al Pacino as fi rst-time bank robber
Sonny Wortzik, who robs a Gravesend
bank branch for his partner’s sex reassignment
surgery. Streaming on HBOMax,
available to rent on Amazon.
Moonstruck
This Brooklyn Heights-based fi lm
is a must-see for all Cher fans, as the
actress-musician portrays Loretta Castorini,
a widowed woman who falls in
love with her fi ance’s younger brother,
played by Nicholas Cage. Castorini’s
boyfriend proposes to her before heading
to Sicily to be with his dying mother,
at which time he asks his fi ance to invite
his estranged brother to the wedding.
Streaming on HBOMax, available
to rent on Amazon andAppleTV.
The Warriors
This 1979 fi lm focuses on a Coney
Island street gang that gets accused for
the murder of a rival gang leader and
must fi ght their way back to their home
turf while every other city street gang
is after them. Streaming on Hulu.
Saturday Night Fever
Boogie oogie oogie til you just can’t
boogie any more! This classic fi lm is
based in southwestern Brooklyn and is
a must on any Brooklyn movie list — featuring
the beloved Lenny’s pizza and a
now defunct Bay Ridge nightclub. Starring
John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever
shows Brooklyn when disco reigned
— and its bound to bring anyone back to
that era. Streaming on HBOMax.
Broad City
For something a bit more modern,
look no further than Broad City. A TV
show about two best friends who are
trying to make their way in Brooklyn
in every way — careers, relationships,
fi nances, you name it. The pair’s hilarious
friendship with zero boundaries
will have you looking for an Abby to
your Ilana when you arise out of quarantine.
Streaming on Hulu, Comedy
Central. Available to rent on Amazon.
Search Party
This hilarious murder-mystery
show has its fi nal season out on Jan. 7,
so catch up while you can! Alia Shawkat
plays Dory an Iranian-American Brooklyn
transplant who is trying to fi gure
out a path after stagnating in a goingnowhere
career as an assistant since
college. When an acquaintance goes
missing, she gets caught up in a sticky
situation that will follow her for the rest
of her life. Streaming on HBOMax.
Binging
Bklyn
Best boro-centric
movies & shows
for a quarantine
Seth Rogen in “An American Pickle,” now streaming on HBOMax. Photograph by Hopper Stone