Best Films by City List

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Last Updated: 7/15/25
Note: It's simple and straightforward: the best film by city in cinema history. In order to be considered, the film must represent the city very well. If there are at least two films listed, they are ranked in order from left to right.

Multiple parts (i.e. duology, trilogy, etc.) can be put together as one if there's a continuation in the narrative. Miniseries, telefilms, and documentaries are fair game.

These films have made the cut because they have shown brilliance in most, if not all, aspects: acting, characters, screenplay, plot, direction, editing, cinematography, and so on. They must also be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Then, I think about cultural phenomenon, uniqueness, famous movie moments, iconic scenes and/or lines, cinematic power, and timelessness.

This list is based on what I have seen so far. Cities with no representative at all won't be listed as there are too many of them.




Atlantic City, NJ


Berlin, Germany


Birmingham, AL


Bloomington, IN


Boston, MA


Bruges, Belgium


Buffalo, NY


Casablanca, Morocco


Chicago, IL


Cleveland, OH


Darien, CT


Daytona, FL


Detroit, MI


El Paso, TX


Eugene, OR


Flint, MI


Gettysburg, PA


Hong Kong, China


Houston, TX


Las Vegas, NV


Los Angeles, CA


Marfa, TX


Miami, FL


Minneapolis, MN


Nashville, TN


New Orleans, LA


New York City, NY


Paris, France


Philadelphia, PA


Pittsburgh, PA


Portland, OR


Prescott, AZ


Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


Rome, Italy


Salem, MA


San Francisco, CA


Texarkana, TX/AK


Tuskegee, AL


Washington, DC