Best Los Angeles Movies
The Top 10 Best LA Films: Movies that were set and shot on the streets of the City of Angels. Movies in which the city is a character unto itself, that couldn't happen anywhere else.
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- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.Nominated for eleven Oscars, but only winning one for screenplay, Chinatown is one of the last great film-noirs, a genre that has become synonymous with the city of Angels. It touches on a topic that is arguably one of the most important in the development of Southern California: Water. Hollis Mulray was inspired by William Mulholland, the man that built the aqueducts and "made the desert bloom."
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsMark WahlbergJulianne MooreBurt ReynoldsBack when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.A movie about porn in the 1970s couldn't take place anywhere other than LA's San Fernando Valley. Boogie Nights is the first of Anderson's Valley Trilogy, followed by Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love, all of which are some of the only movies take place in the Valley. Nominated for three Oscars.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.Nominated for eleven Oscars, winning three, Sunset Blvd. is a cautionary tale about the perils of Hollywood, and a psychological study of a waning star. The opening shot of a dead body floating in a swimming pool is a truly LA image.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsKevin SpaceyRussell CroweGuy PearceAs corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.Such a captivating look at the city in the 50s, particularly the LAPD, and their scandalous ways. Nominated for nine Oscars, winning two for Kim Basinger and the screenwriters.
- DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.Nominated for six Oscars, wining three, including Best Picture, Crash closely examines the diversity of Los Angeles, and race relations across many levels of LA society, including police, politics, and even the movie industry itself. Los Angeles is the most diverse city in the world and that still leads to some issues.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.Quentin Tarantino is an LA kid tried and true. The city is his comfort zone being the setting for his first three films, and he hasn't been as good since. Pulp Fiction, nominated for seven Oscars, winning one for screenplay, is Q at his most comfortable, and at the height of his talent, at home in El Lay.
- DirectorAllison AndersStarsAngel AvilesSeidy LopezJacob VargasMousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute escalates towards violence, the violence of the world around them soon also impacts their lives.A movie that honestly and accurately portrays LA cholas. Set in (pre-gentrified) Echo Park, it delves into the rarely discussed topic of the women of the gang. While showing their ignorance it also reveals their innocence.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsSteve MartinVictoria TennantRichard E. GrantWith the help of a talking freeway billboard, a wacky weatherman tries to win the heart of an English newspaper reporter, who is struggling to make sense of the strange world of early 1990s Los Angeles.A great satirical look at Los Angeles. It pokes fun at the excess and arrogance of Angelenos, but ultimately reveals our hearts.
- DirectorMarc WebbStarsZooey DeschanelJoseph Gordon-LevittGeoffrey ArendAfter being dumped by the girl he believes to be his soulmate, hopeless romantic Tom Hansen reflects on their relationship to try and figure out where things went wrong and how he can win her back.Noteworthy for it's portrayal and appreciation of Los Angeles architecture. The final scene was especially nice having been filmed in the historic Bradbury building, which was also used in Blade Runner. It's also a very good portrayal of youth and love in LA.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsTommy Lee JonesAnne HecheGaby HoffmannA volcano erupts in downtown Los Angeles and a city official and a seismologist try to stop its inevitable flow through the city.Snicker if you must, but Volcano is a funny, campy look at Los Angeles, seen through the veil of an unlikely disaster. It bristles with inside jokes (case in point: Dennis Woodruff's car floating in lava), and shows our perseverence. In the end it kind of sums up the LA attitude: Fuck you, we'll live around a volcano if it means we get 300 sunny days a year.