tia: tAkE tWo

New York City… ain’t no place like it.  

I got hooked on NY City as a kid watching Cagney and Bogart movies with my grandmother… Cary Grant in, “Arsenic and Old Lace”… (who could forget “An Affair to Remember”?!? ) Then there was Audrey Hepburn in, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”; Barbra Streisand, “Funny Girl”;  Anthony Newley in, “Sweet November”; Dudley Moore in, “Arthur”; (on the darker side) Robert DeNiro in “Taxi Driver”; and the grand-daddy of all epic films, “The Godfather”… (mercy… Al Pacino… drooollll!!!!  Side note here: how is it possible that most men get sooo much better looking with age??? Ok, not all, notice I did say “most”, but I will point towards Sean Connery and Omar Sharif, who are in categories of their very own, tyvm!)  If you’re thinkin’ NY, you’re definitely thinkin’:  Pacino and DeNiro (and at the risk of making a gator boi hurl, I’ll sneak in Vincent D’Onofrio, it is after all MY list! : )) )  

The movie that really made NY City come to life for me was of alllll things,  “Saturday Night Fever”.  Yup, disco at its zenith… earning Travolta the nickname “John RE-volta” and the Bee Gees their eternal niche as the gods of disco.  But who could really help being drawn into it all with those twinkling lights shining off the dance ball, glimmering and shimmering around the room making it look like Christmas.  Doing really cool dance moves wearing funky new clothes and shoes.  And then there was that strut of his… conveying confidence and a knowing of just who he was.  (I’ve never seen anyone walk like that in real life, but it totally added to his character.)  The Bee Gees totally captured the feel of the era... and when I hear their songs, it takes me to a corny-good-fun place.  I gotta admit, I truly wanted to move to “the” city and be a part of the Big Apple because this movie made it seem like anything awesome could happen there!!!

 I would venture to say that disco did for the mid-to late 70’s, what the moonwalk did for the 80’s, the twist did for the 50’s and the Lindy hop did for the 40’s:  it captured a happier moment in history.  “Looking for Mister Goodbar” aside, it must have been a blast to go into a cool place and test out new dance moves with friends...  

Especially in New York City.

“Saturday Night Fever”