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Limited Series – Pretend It's a City

Play trailer 1:11 Poster for Limited Series – Pretend It's a City Jan 2021 Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 78% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Sitting down with filmmaker Martin Scorsese, humorist Fran Lebowitz weighs in on New York City tourists, money, subways, the arts, and the not-so-simple act of walking in Times Square.
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Pretend It's a City — Limited Series

Pretend It's a City — Limited Series

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Critics Consensus

If Pretend It's a City can't quite live up to its central duo's creative clout, it's still a delight to see their love for their city - and one another -- in full bloom.

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Critics Reviews

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Barry Divola Sydney Morning Herald 03/10/2021
Whether she's kvetching about slow-walking tourists or detailing the horrors of a sanitised Times Square, Lebowitz is never less than caustically loveable. Go to Full Review Tony Bravo San Francisco Chronicle 02/01/2021
There is something unusually comforting about Lebowitz's ability to verbally decimate the absurdity of modern existence that sparks a lot of pleasure for me and my friends. Go to Full Review Naomi Fry The New Yorker 01/23/2021
Is there anything more delightful than watching Martin Scorsese enjoy someone? One of the best things about his new documentary series, Pretend It's a City, is getting to see the filmmaker react to his subject. Go to Full Review Joonatan Itkonen Region Free 07/14/2024
4/5
Lebowitz is an excellent orator. She’s consistently entertaining, even, or especially when she’s infuriating. Her observations drip with hyperbole and surrealism, yet they feel more real for their inclusion. Go to Full Review María Juesas Fotogramas 07/01/2024
Lebowitz becomes a guide to the city that – no matter how much she denies it – she adores. With the streets as her setting, her ease transforms this concrete jungle into a familiar terrain, although not always friendly. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Michael Cuby them. 09/28/2022
Is there any personality more “New York” than Fran Leibowitz? Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Sophia D @RT69206085 12/20/2023 Fran's unyielding nature might inadvertently make cynics feel less isolated. Perhaps this is why I adore her. It's all about temperament, and Fran has the words, oh the words… See more David F @dfulmer 06/19/2023 Fran Lebowitz is an entertaining, funny, and witty author and this documentary captures her perspective and her attitude ably. The best episode is the last one when she talks about books, bookstores, and libraries. See more laine m @RT27973413 08/13/2022 Fran's a hoot of a humorist. So incredibly witty. Hey, see… this Jersey girl is as NYC as it gets. Loved the mix of one-on-one interviews, Fran's insightful city-walks, old tapes w/ Letterman, live audience Q&A & especially Fran at home, among her beloved books. See more 12/11/2021 Pretentious and unwatchable. See more phil v @RT66693695 07/19/2021 Just brilliant. She's so entertaining and funny. Not many famous people I'd like to go out for dinner with, but she's one. See more 06/24/2021 This is amazing. It's elegant, it's funny, it's smart and sincere. it's like you've been invited to the intimate friends meeting. Timeless. See more Read all reviews
Pretend It's a City — Limited Series

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Cast & Crew

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Fran Lebowitz

Actor

Martin Scorsese

Actor

Martin Scorsese

Director

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Pretend It's a City Fran Lebowitz muses about deadly distractions, Times Square terror, subway stoppers, and building fails. Details Episode 2 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Cultural Affairs Fran Lebowitz looks at the peril of writing, the joy of Motown and the time jazz pianist Charles Mingus chased her on the street. Details Episode 3 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Metropolitan Transit Fran Lebowitz gets going on mean cabbies, arty subway stations, interstellar tourism, spacey bus drivers, and being offered an e-cigarette by actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Details Episode 4 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Board of Estimate Fran Lebowitz hates money but loves things, so she must work, though she prefers to read and winning the lottery may be her only other option. Details Episode 5 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Department of Sports & Health Fran Lebowitz says she knows that smoking is bad for one's health and that some are annoyed that she's still alive; she says "wellness" and sports sound even worse to her. Details Episode 6 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Hall of Records Fran Lebowitz is all about fun -- guilty pleasures, not so much; she doesn't need technology, just a party, a movie, a small child, or a luminous Cary Grant. Details Episode 7 Aired Jan 8, 2021 Library Services Fran Lebowitz says books opened up the world to her younger self; today, she can't throw a volume away, but she will trash the writer of a glowing blurb for a lousy book. Details

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Pretend It's a City — Limited Series

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Pretend It's a City — Limited Series

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Season Info

Director
Martin Scorsese
Network
Netflix
Rating
TV-14
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date
Jan 8, 2021