Quintessential LA Films
Damien Chazelle's new film, the musical La La Land (2016), has been garnering rave reviews and scored several Oscar nominations. Filmed in iconic locations all over the Los Angeles area, La La Land tries to reclaim a piece of old Hollywood. This is just one of many films attempting to tell uniquely LA tales.
Which of the earlier released films listed below do you feel is the Quintessential LA Film? The LA film of all LA films. Choose carefully and make sure to wear your shades.
Discuss the list here
Which of the earlier released films listed below do you feel is the Quintessential LA Film? The LA film of all LA films. Choose carefully and make sure to wear your shades.
Discuss the list here
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35 titles
- 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.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Laurence FishburneHudhail Al-AmirFollows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.
- 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.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsTom CruiseJamie FoxxJada Pinkett SmithA cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsSean PennRobert DuvallMaria Conchita AlonsoAn experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingCarey MulliganBryan CranstonA mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroVal KilmerA group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.
- DirectorAllen CoulterStarsAdrien BrodyBen AffleckDiane LaneA detective examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, the star of the television series Adventures of Superman (1952).
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsHumphrey BogartGloria GrahameFrank LovejoyA potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsRalph MeekerAlbert DekkerPaul StewartA doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsFrances McDormandAlessandro NivolaChristian BaleWhen an uptight young man and his fiancée move into his libertine mother's house, the resulting clash of life attitudes shakes everyone up.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonDanny GloverGary BuseyTwo newly paired cops who are complete opposites must put aside their differences in order to catch a gang of drug smugglers.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsTerence StampPeter FondaLesley Ann WarrenAn extremely volatile and dangerous Englishman goes to Los Angeles to find the man he considers responsible for his daughter's death.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsTim RobbinsGreta ScacchiFred WardA Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?
- DirectorRichard GlatzerWash WestmorelandStarsEmily RiosJesse GarciaChalo GonzálezAs Magdalena's 15th birthday approaches, her simple, blissful life is complicated by the discovery that she's pregnant. Kicked out of her house, she finds a new family with her great-granduncle and gay cousin.
- DirectorPatricia CardosoStarsAmerica FerreraLupe OntiverosIngrid OliuIn East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames DeanNatalie WoodSal MineoA rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsWarren BeattyJulie ChristieGoldie HawnOn Election Day, 1968, a hairdresser and ladies' man is too busy cutting hair and dealing with his various girlfriends and his mistress, whose husband he meets and finds out is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsAndie MacDowellJulianne MooreTim RobbinsThe day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.
- DirectorTamara JenkinsStarsNatasha LyonneAlan ArkinBryna WeissIn 1976, a lower-middle-class teenager struggles to cope living with her neurotic family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsStephen DorffElle FanningChris PontiusAfter withdrawing to the Chateau Marmont, a passionless Hollywood actor reexamines his life when his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsJoel McCreaVeronica LakeRobert WarwickHollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsVince VaughnHeather GrahamJon FavreauA wannabe actor has a hard time moving on from a break-up, but he is lucky to have supportive friends.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
- DirectorAntoine FuquaStarsDenzel WashingtonEthan HawkeScott GlennA rookie cop spends his first day as a Los Angeles narcotics officer with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.
- DirectorMartha CoolidgeStarsNicolas CageDeborah ForemanElizabeth DailyJulie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsBob HoskinsChristopher LloydJoanna CassidyWhen a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsAngelina JolieColm FeoreAmy RyanAfter Christine's son goes missing, she reaches out to the LAPD to find him. But when they try to pass off an impostor as her son to quieten public protests, she refuses to accept him or give up hope.
- DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsPatrick SwayzeKeanu ReevesGary BuseyAn F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsWilliam PetersenWillem DafoeJane LeevesA fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.