Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pose for a photo ahead of the movie premiere for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, at One World Observatory in New York City.
Photographer: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
The City-Focused Movies and Shows We Binged in 2023
From a New York hedge fund to Los Angeles real estate, our favorite films and TV series from this year were homages to their cities.
The biggest blockbusters of 2023 leaned on cities as backdrops for the most iconic characters of the year. Barbie rollerbladed her way out of Barbieland right to Venice Beach and into Century City. John Wick’s finale at Montmartre in Paris gave Amelie a run for her money. Meanwhile, the Fast X family took us from Rome to Rio then back to Los Angeles and Lisbon. And who would J. Robert Oppenheimer be without Los Alamos?
After workers, including actors and writers, went on strike across the US to demand better pay and working conditions, Hollywood is back — and so are the cities that make those stories come to life. From the glamorous and messy characters of reality TV to the bizarre yet relatable comedy-dramas, here’s a guide to some of CityLab’s favorite films and series from 2023.