How Movies Design Los Angeles (And Which One Got it Right)

Рет қаралды 3,407

Күн бұрын

For over a century, movies have been our window into Los Angeles, capturing a mean, superficial, car-infested city. How much if that is actually true, though?
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Featuring the voice talents of:
- Vivian Strange ‪@vivianstrange‬
- Zack Paslay ‪@ZackPaslay‬
- Simón Gómez
- Rachel Duncan @ raetheforce on Twitter
- William White ‪@thesecondglassbeachchannel‬
Other Video Essays:
Roger Rabbit and the Fall of Los Angeles Public Transit: • Rabbits, Railways, Rac...
Decolonizing Adventure: A Cinematic Road to El Dorado: • Decolonizing Adventure...
Encanto: One Hundred Minutes of Solitude: • Encanto: One Hundred M...
Walt Disney's Politics: Farthest Star to the Right?: • Walt Disney's Politics...
The Ancestral Storytelling of Over the Garden Wall: • The Ancestral Storytel...
Wes Anderson: Style and Substance and Being Alive: • Wes Anderson: Style an...
Oppenheimer: Why Tell Stories of Great Bad Men: • Oppenheimer: Why Tell ...
____________________________________
SECTIONS
0:00 - Prologue: My Idea of Cinema
02:22 - Part 1: The Loneliest and Most Brutal
05:12 - Part 2: Originary Sin
13:06 - Part 3: Worship Everything and Value Nothing
21:42 - Part 4: The Tar Pit
28:45 - Part 5: What Are the Possibilities?
34:54 - Credits
35:10 - Closing
____________________________________
SOURCES
Film
- 20th Century Women (2016)
- (500) Days of Summer (2009)
- Annie Hall (1977)
- Argo (2012)
- Babylon (2022)
- Blonde (2022)
- Boogie Nights (1997)
- Booksmart (2019)
- Boyz n the Hood (1991)
- Bugsy (1991)
- California Conquest (1952)
- Chinatown (1974)
- C'mon C'mon (2021)
- The Disaster Artist (2017)
- Dolor y Gloria (2019)
- Dope (2015)
- Double Indemnity (1942)
- E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)
- El Norte (1983)
- Erin Brockovich (2000)
- Falling Down (1993)
- Hail, Caesar! (2016)
- Her (2013)
- The Holiday (2004)
- Ingrid Goes West (2017)
- Intolerance (1916)
- Kit Carson (1940)
- L.A. Confidential (1997)
- Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
- La La Land (2016)
- Lady Bird (2016)
- The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
- The Learning Curve (2001)
- Licorice Pizza (2021)
- The Long Goodbye (1973)
- Magnolia (1999)
- Mank (2020)
- Marriage Story (2019)
- Mean Girls (2004)
- Mi Vida Loca (1993)
- Midnight in Paris (2011)
- Mulholland Drive (2001)
- The Muppet Movie (1979)
- The Muppets (2011)
- The Nice Guys (2016)
- Nightcrawler (2014)
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
- Real Women Have Curves (2002)
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
- Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
- Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
- Somewhere (2010)
- A Star is Born (1937)
- Starstruck (2010)
- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
- Tangerine (2014)
- Vertigo (1958)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
TV Shows
- Barry (2018-2023)
- Batman (1966-1968)
- Big Time Rush (2009-2013)
- BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)
- Difficult People (2015-2017)
- Insecure (2016-2021)
- Transparent (2014-2019)
- Victorious (2010-2013)
Books
- Caro, Robert A. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (1974)
- Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)
- Kerouac, Jack. On the Road (1957)

Пікірлер: 38

@dante340 Жыл бұрын

As a lifelong resident, the most accurate portrayal of LA I've ever seen put to film is Falling Down (1993). It's almost uncanny to watch.

@sophiahardy8177 Жыл бұрын

Not me thinking "I really hope he includes that one Rachel Sennott clip", only for it to play the second after

@annieothername Жыл бұрын

Strangely illuminating for someone who has lived in countryside surburbs all my life and shook my fist at city-folk. My isolation is my own lack of connection with “the city” as people and turning it into a symbol of concrete corruption. Really appreciate this one! Thank you!

@jayisabluebird Жыл бұрын

This is the first video I've seen from you but I love it. As an LA native I appreciate the way you talk about the good and bad of the city. A+ analysis!!

@jayisabluebird Жыл бұрын

Also the "Tar Pit" section made me cry LOL. LA community can be so vibrant if you know where to look. I'm so glad you showed that part of the city.

@emmmm107 Ай бұрын

I loved your urbanist interpretation of Her. It's a really fresh take.

@xaerache Жыл бұрын

I’m so glad you’re getting the recognition you deserve! the video essays you make are phenomenal, definitely on the level of some of the greats. i’m excited to see you reach more people. your work is refreshing and unique, and something to know about people who love video essays? your interest is contagious. you could talk about the ethics of public bathrooms in america for all I care but as long as you’re interested, i’ll be interested. it’s not the topic every time, sometimes it’s the act of the deep dive that grabs us. i’ve never seen most of the films you mentioned, never been to LA, but I still listened. and I loved it.

@JoseMariaLuna Жыл бұрын

This is incredibly kind, thank you very much! It really means the world to me 💛💛💛

@ananas-007 Жыл бұрын

This channel is like a diamond in the mine. Your content is so original!!!

@colonelweird Жыл бұрын

Holy shit, Vivian was right, this is astounding. With this topic, any viewer would have to assume they knew where it was going - loneliness, corruption, sure, we've heard that before. But you took it places I never expected, and now my mind is blown. And Real Women Have Curves is definitely the next movie I will see. Then I'll re-watch Her with new eyes. Thanks for the video!

@JoseMariaLuna Жыл бұрын

This is so sweet! Thank you! And do check it out! I love that movie so much!

@tatehildyard5332 Жыл бұрын

It’s really interesting coming across this because, while I do live in LA, I see a lot more of this mental journey in this video in my partner than in me. We met in the Midwest and for the longest time, he dreaded the idea of coming to LA to meet my family, because his idea of it from movies (La La Land in particular) was that it was just a bunch of self involved, opportunistic assholes trying to get famous. In the single week we were there, he was pleasantly dissuaded of that notion due to his love of exploration he saw the character in it that I never did. I was never “Oh everyone in LA is so fake” but it’s a place where everything feels so big that it’s easy to feel small and vulnerable so you just choose to drift about for your own emotional safety.

@ArtemisMunoz Жыл бұрын

Thank-you for yet another beautiful video. I don't know LA beyond the screen but you made me care about the city deeply and also think a lot about the place I call home and how the reasons I love it ultimately boil down to having a sense of connection with my community.

@degrand9023 5 ай бұрын

Thank you for this video! The way you took this topic and crafted a well defined philosophy on human nature within cities is amazing. I'm so happy to have found your channel!

@warrensmith7468 6 ай бұрын

Ahhhhh I love to see the love for LA plays itself it’s my favorite ever documentary I rewatch obsessively and I feel like it does get talked about enough I actually yelped when I saw it in this video.

@sarah_cook Жыл бұрын

Masterful as always.

@Furore2323 Жыл бұрын

Your videos are always so beautiful, I love them all.

@TedTrembinski Жыл бұрын

I just read Mike Davis' City of Quartz and the questions you ask remind me a lot of Davis' description of the perception of LA, especially in chapter one, "Sunshine or Noir". This video was extremely engaging and provoking to watch. Thanks!!

@kriskenard Жыл бұрын

Vivian Strange told me to pull up, so, here I am. I'm happy i did!

@ghesak 10 ай бұрын

Awesome video man! Keep up the good work

@janickgoudeau6126 Ай бұрын

Well done, brilliant documentary. A little bit homage to LA plays itself, but executed with a modern take.

@usernamesrtoostupid Жыл бұрын

So glad Vivian Stange suggested you. Your work is special.

@BotheredBoy Жыл бұрын

Me @20:22 in the video: Ah, veo que eres un hombre de cultura también.

@athornton1974 Жыл бұрын

That was really, really great. Thank you.

@Wobbpy Жыл бұрын

Wowow I love this :D Also now I have a bunch of movies I can add to my list of stuff I want to watch

@LostFutures1 Жыл бұрын

Such a wonderful video

@korianderbadger Жыл бұрын

This may sound flattering, but this 35 min video essay is honestly better than LA Plays Itself. Yes, really

@Ebrahim_17 Жыл бұрын

It here!!!! I hope it didn't get copy right claimed!

@Blue-jd8jf 11 ай бұрын

You forgot Los Angeles in the future based film Elysium.....also films like Changeling, The Black Dahlia, Training Day and the Fast and the Furious

@barbarne Жыл бұрын

I sincerely do not care about this topic at all, but still you made this into a very interesting watch nonetheless!

@ZackPaslay Жыл бұрын

Lunatics stay fed!!!

@JoseMariaLuna Жыл бұрын

Only three times a year, though, they're STARVING

@FallenEpic Жыл бұрын

This was a very good video but I need to point out a minor mistake you made. Blade Runner's LA is based on Hong Kong, not Tokyo.

@MarkCranerium Жыл бұрын

Boys n the hood 1955

@KWilliamWhite57 Жыл бұрын

you're making me think I need to go watch "her" again. don't do this to me.

@JoseMariaLuna Жыл бұрын

Maybe you should! Just have the tissues at hand!

@nickledeepickle Жыл бұрын

I'll watch with ;)