The Greatest Los Angeles Movie Ever?

Started by MacGuffin, November 17, 2003, 12:15:14 AM

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Jeremy Blackman

Why do I keep thinking of Pauly Shore?

kotte

Quote from: godardian(I never pick "other"- too vague).

Well, they who do, write their film of choice here.

©brad

Quote from: kotteI don't really think there are many movies that shows a romantic Los Angelse as there are films showing a romantic NY.

i would agree, but the question is-- is there a romantic side of los angeles to show? what is it they say about L.A.- it's a bunch of suburbs in search for a center. (i don't remember the exact quote) point being, there really is no 'center' or downtown. it's made up of so many different areas that are so spread out; there is no unifying, community-like feel. (like there is in NY) perhaps this is why it is somewhat difficult to portray the city itslef as another character. i think pta did it well in magnolia b/c he did concentrate on one specific area-- the valley.

godardian

Quote from: ©bass
Quote from: kotteI don't really think there are many movies that shows a romantic Los Angelse as there are films showing a romantic NY.

i would agree, but the question is-- is there a romantic side of los angeles to show? what is it they say about L.A.- it's a bunch of suburbs in search for a center. (i don't remember the exact quote) point being, there really is no 'center' or downtown. it's made up of so many different areas that are so spread out; there is no unifying, community-like feel. (like there is in NY) perhaps this is why it is somewhat difficult to portray the city itslef as another character. i think pta did it well in magnolia b/c he did concentrate on one specific area-- the valley.

There is a bittersweet romance to L.A.  I think of it as a very melancholy city, in its own way. It's a pretty vacuum with an ugly side, but it always tries to keep its head up (in the clouds, but even so).

Also missing from the list:

Shampoo.

The Big Lebowski.

The Long Goodbye.

Laurel Canyon.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

MacGuffin

My point was, if you set the film in another city besides Los Angeles, would it lose part of it's story? I think most of these "additional choices" wouldn't.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

kotte

Quote from: ©bassi would agree, but the question is-- is there a romantic side of los angeles to show? what is it they say about L.A.- it's a bunch of suburbs in search for a center. (i don't remember the exact quote) point being, there really is no 'center' or downtown. it's made up of so many different areas that are so spread out; there is no unifying, community-like feel. (like there is in NY) perhaps this is why it is somewhat difficult to portray the city itslef as another character. i

I think you're right...

EDIT: Oh yeah, Laurel Canyon is beautiful...The Big Lebowski is not... :)

godardian

Quote from: MacGuffinMy point was, if you set the film in another city besides Los Angeles, would it lose part of it's story? I think most of these "additional choices" wouldn't.

You think Safe or Mulholland Dr. wouldn't have lost anything if they'd been set in Phoenix or New Orleans (or Seattle, for that matter)? Or is that where the "most" comes in?

I can't imagine any of the films I mentioned set outside of L.A.  That's why I mentioned them. I mean, Lebowski even opens with a voice-over contemplation of the city, before you meet any of the characters...
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Slick Shoes


kotte


NEON MERCURY

Quote from: kotteCrocodile Dundee in Los Angeles

..beat you to it.... :wink:
..first page- last post....

kotte

Quote from: NEON MERCURY
Quote from: kotteCrocodile Dundee in Los Angeles

..beat you to it.... :wink:
..first page- last post....

Fuck...I'm hilarious but oh so slow...

MacGuffin

Quote from: godardianYou think Safe wouldn't have lost anything if they'd been set in Phoenix or New Orleans (or Seattle, for that matter)?

I feel it could have been set in any smog-inducing metropolitian and it would have had the same effect. Besides, half-way through the film, she's not even in the city anymore.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

godardian

Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: godardianYou think Safe wouldn't have lost anything if they'd been set in Phoenix or New Orleans (or Seattle, for that matter)?

I feel it could have been set in any smog-inducing metropolitian and it would have had the same effect. Besides, half-way through the film, she's not even in the city anymore.

Yeah, true... probably Phoenix or Dallas or Houston could've worked just as well... for me, the sunny-day-every-day chicness of affluent Los Angeles suburbia was a very important part of the film, but you could've found those enclaves in either of those other cities, too, for something of a similar effect. I don't think New York, Seattle, Portland, or anywhere it rains would've worked, though.

P.S. I know it rains in Southwestern cities, but I meant, you know, not all the time.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Sanjuro

"When you see your own photo, do you say you're a fiction?"

coffeebeetle

Quote from: kotteI don't really think there are many movies that shows a romantic Los Angelse as there are films showing a romantic NY.

Maybe because L.A. doesn't have as romantic a feel to it as NYC.  But hey, WTF do I know......
more than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. one path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. the other, to total extinction. let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
woody allen (side effects - 1980)