"SHELDON!!!"
— Sheldon's mother
New York Stories is a 1989 Anthology Film that consists of three shorts set in New York City, each directed by a prominent New York-based filmmaker.
The parts are:
- "Life Lessons" by Martin Scorsese: A painter (Nick Nolte) struggles with a creative block and with his difficult relationship with his ex (Rosanna Arquette), who's still living with him.
- "Life Without Zoë" by Francis Ford Coppola: A schoolgirl (Heather McComb) who lives in a luxury hotel tries to reconcile her estranged parents (Talia Shire and Giancarlo Giannini).
- "Oedipus Wrecks" by Woody Allen: A middle-aged lawyer (Allen) has an overbearing mother (Mae Questel) who ends up as a giant face in the sky, which strains his relationship with his fiancée (Mia Farrow).
This film provides examples of:
- Big Applesauce: It's in the title. All three films show the artistic side of the city.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Lionel likes to force himself in these relationships to help his art.
- Jewish Mother: Sheldon's mother alternates between kvetching at him about everything, embarrassing him by telling everyone about his childhood bedwetting, and being very critical of his gentile divorcee girlfriend. He feels genuinely relieved when she disappears during a magic act. Then she reappears in the sky over New York, doing the exact same thing except now literally everyone in the city can see or hear her. She only returns to human form once Sheldon has been dumped by his gentile girlfriend and he introduces his mother to his new Jewish girlfriend, who similarly nags and controls him.
- Magic Realism: "Oedipus Wrecks" is the only of the three stories that features a small fantasy element: After vanishing in a stage magician act, Sheldon's mother appears as a giant face in the sky of New York.
- Muse Abuse: Lionel derives his artistic energy from the "Life Lessons" with his assistants. He's looking to do the same thing with different assistant at the end of the story.
- My Beloved Smother: Sheldon's mother, who doesn't approve of his Shiksa Goddess fiance. She becomes an Amazingly Embarrassing Parent when she looms high in the sky, getting all of New York involved in her complaints.
- Shiksa Goddess: Sheldon's fiancée Lisa, whom his mother does not approve of.
- Shipper on Deck: Sheldon's mother definitely approves of Treva, who makes food as bland as her, and returns to normal after Sheldon hooks up with her. It's hinted the entire thing was her Batman Gambit to get Sheldon to be interested in her pick of partner.
