New York City is the place where Audrey Hepburn took a morning visit to Tiffany’s, where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm in When Harry Met Sally, and where one scrawny geek turned into a superhero in The Amazing Spider-Man. Nearly every inch of the city has been captured on film, but it’s easy to walk right by some of these places in real life without ever recognizing them—but not for Christopher Moloney. A TV writer currently working for CNN, Moloney lives on the east side of Manhattan and walks through Central Park every morning to get to work on the west side. Along the way, he began recognizing locations from his favorite movies. “One day I printed off a movie still, held it up and snapped a photo,” Moloney says. “My friends really enjoyed it, so I started doing more. I've now recreated about 300 scenes.”
Those scenes, documented in Moloney’s Tumblr, FILMography, come from movies running the gamut from last year’s The Amazing Spider-Man to Jules Dassin’s The Naked City (1948). In the pages of the Tumblr, we get to see the streets Steve Martin barreled down in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the spot where Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack reunited in Serendipity, where Russell Crowe eyed the marquee of Madison Square Garden in Cinderella Man, and more classic cinematic moments. “It’s a great way to explore a city,” Moloney says. “You go down streets you would normally walk past, and take notice of the smallest details on buildings.” Moloney’s favorite scene? “My favourite shot is the one from Annie Hall,” he explains. “I really enjoy [Woody Allen’s] movies and it’s obvious he loves New York as much as I do.” Click through to see more real-life scenes from Midnight Cowboy, Boondock Saints, Home Alone 2, and more.
Andrew Garfield, a.k.a. The Amazing Spider-Man, at the intersection of 57th Street and 8th Avenue.
Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town, at Glade Arch in Central Park.
Jon Voight on Park Avenue in Midnight Cowboy.
Roger Moore as James Bond on 65th Street and Madison in Live and Let Die.
Christopher Moloney/FILMography
Audrey Hepburn at Tiffany's on Fifth Avenue.
Jane Fonda hurrying to catch a bus on Fifth Avenue (near 66th Street).
Michael J. Fox on 52nd and Lexington in The Secret of My Success.
Christopher Moloney/FILMography
A pint-size Macaulay Culkin near Radio City Music Hall in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Cary Grant and James Mason at Grand Central Terminal in North by Northwest.
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan at Café Lalo on West 84rd Street in You’ve Got Mail.
Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard at 52nd Street and Park Avenue in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
