Party's Over, L.A.

WATCHING this Los Angeles- centered film has left me with some mixed feelings.


Being from Los Angeles, my mother was six months pregnant with my younger sister when the '92 "riots" occurred. When I've talked to her about it, it's always been her recounting frantically how much she didn't want to bring another child into the world. The subjugation of youth within the film is starling. The victimization of D-Fens's daughter, the boy who oddly knows how to shoot varying weapons (and is also playing by a freeway...), and even the child at the pool that literally had D-Fens's blood in her palm are all chillingly violent. The ending of the film implies that the party, or the expectation thereof, is over for Los Angeles. Suicide-by-cop via a childhood summertime toy and soft pastel balloons that have lost their flight paint a picture that isn't sane. We too sink with the helium, absorbing the weight of man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

And Adele never got her party...



-- Hailey Hannan

(images: the children of "Falling Down" via www.aveleyman.com, site of movie & t.v. captures)

Crash: Fact or Fiction?

LAST week after our discussion in class I decided to rewatch the movie “Crash,” and what I found about that movie is that no matter how many times I watch it, it will never cease to make me cry. After watching how the people in the movie treat each other, how they spurt out racial slurs, how they stereotype one another, and how they each hold so much hatred toward their fellow Angelenos, it made me wonder… is Los Angeles really like this?

Watching the movie, I sat with my hand over my mouth in shock, disturbed by how people treat their fellow human beings. But the worst part about watching the movie, is that it’s not entirely fiction—some version of these stories can be seen all throughout the city. The movie can at times feel overwhelming or exaggerated because all of the stories are compiled into one… but that’s just Hollywood’s interpretation.

But despite this, a lot of the scenes in the movie ring true. From where I grew up in Orange County I saw plenty of racism. In Orange County, the white Protestant is king and all of the other ethnicities are clumped together in a blur of “us vs. them” mentality. However, in L.A. there is a different type of racism. It’s not just us vs. them, but it is everyone vs. each other.

I noticed when watching “Crash” that it wasn’t just Sandra Bullock’s character who was racist towards her Hispanic maid, or Matt Dillon’s character to the black woman he pulls over. But throughout the movie, there are all different forms of racism. Different ethnicities are racist towards each other, and some are even racist towards people of their same race.

Normally when watching this movie, I get caught up in the emotional scene where the Persian storeowner almost shoots the young girl, or the scene where Matt Dillon saves the life of the same woman he assaulted. However, this time I began to look more closely at the relationships between the characters and how close they come to other situations I have been witness to in the city. In particular, I noticed the relationship between Terrence Howard’s character, Cameron and Ludacris’ character, Anthony. Though they are both black men, they are pitted against one another because of their socioeconomic standings, and in an emotional culmination of events, Cameron tells Anthony that he is an embarrassment, not only to him but to himself.

While you might not see blank bullets being fired at children, or women being saved from burning cars every day in Los Angeles, I think occurrences like the exchange between Cameron and Anthony is a common one in this city. Though we like to think of ourselves as accepting and tolerant in our little collegiate bubble, the streets of L.A. are filled with hatred and prejudice, maybe not to the level that “Crash” would lead us to believe, but more than we would like to admit.

-- Megan McMurtrey

(photo via http://www.iwatchstuff.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?tag=dvd&blog_id=1)

Living on a Set

ON Saturday as I drove back to Los Angeles from Orange County I was anxious about my upcoming week. Unfortunately, when I am stressed about things that derive from school I usually place this transgressions alongside LA. The fact that I can flee to my hometown whenever I want to escape the hustle of bustle of my schoolwork and the city has always been comforting. However, making the return trip is always a bit of a struggle. Naturally, it seemed fitting that I would hit all sorts of traffic. Now, I take the 105 for most of my trip to school, no traffic is never too much of an issue compared to other freeways. But on Saturday there must have been several accidents that made my trip less than pleasant. I was itching to get back to school and off the road as fast as I could, where I had a fun weekend planned before my intense week. When I got closer to LAX I noticed there was zero traffic of any kind on the other side of the freeway. Trying to get a good look without compromising my driving, I saw a large truck with people sitting in the back.

My first instinct was that it was an accident, but I quickly realized they were filming something. Now, I may come off as someone who isn't LA's 'Biggest Fan', but I can't help but get somewhat giddy when I stumble across something being filmed. It IS one of the reasons people are drawn to the city, isn't it? Briefly seeing the setup was strange. The camera equipment surrounded a vehicle, making it look more like a car design gone wrong. Further ahead, staged out in various lanes, were about ten cars all parked. I assumed they were waiting for the "go-ahead" to start driving. We often think about "extras" walking around in movies, but not many of us acknowledge the extras who have to actually get behind the wheel.

All in all, this minor instance proved to turn my spirits around slightly. Where else could I be where something like this could happen? Nowhere. The city may frustrate or annoy me at times, but it is instances like this that sometimes prove to be gratifying, giving me some pride to say I live in LA for most of the time. This may be a silly comparison, but its like those Sour Patch Kids commercials on right now: "First they're sour, than they're sweet". I just need to take more of these "sweet" moments to heart and open my eyes to what Los Angeles really can offer despite my frustrations.

-- Reilly Wilson

(photo by payton chung via flickr creative commons)

Noir City -- Hollywood: The 13th Annual Film Noir Festival

JUST wanted to let you all know that on April 1st, American Cinematheque kicks off its annual film noir festival in Hollywood at the iconic Egyptian Theater. We've been talking about L.A. as celluloid backdrop for crime, cynicism, corruption during the 40s and 50s, and this series appears to be offering a big dose of all of that -- but of course in stylish, Hollywood fashion -- stunning shadows in crisp blacks and whites.


From the website:

The venerable NOIR CITY film festival returns for its 13th year, presenting an astonishing array of rarities mostly available ONLY on the big screen. We’ve scoured studio archives to assemble a feast of film noir that can only be consumed in its original 35mm format, in the glorious darkness of a vintage movie palace!
This year’s program features several new prints preserved by the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, including rarities HIGH WALL, LOOPHOLE, THE HUNTED, STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT and THE DARK MIRROR. In fact, 23 of the 28 films in the series are not on DVD! This may be the last chance to ever see these extraordinary films on a big screen.

Check the Cinematheque's website for details on dates, times and prices.

--L.G.
photo via american cinematheque

Verisimilitude in L.A.: The York

THIS from my friend Jesus Sanchez's blog, The Eastsider L.A., about the Lincoln Lawyer and why it works. As we know, finding the "real" L.A. can be a difficult task and trying to make a movie that in some way captures some piece of that essence presents its own challenges. A lot of it came down to the places that people in the neighborhood go, not necessarily the destinations that we bring tourists to -- like this one:

The Lincoln Lawyer - The York - Watch a funny movie here

"The new film “The Lincoln Lawyer” starring Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillipe takes advantage of Eastside scenery and some neighborhood venues, including The York, a Highland Park bar and restaurant. The film's crew spent about two days last August in the York Boulevard gastropub to rig up lighting and shoot the scene shown above, said co-owner Ryan Ballinger. Not only did the production company ask to shoot scenes at the bar, they also asked to use The York’s name in the movie, Ballinger said:

Brad Furman, he director, believed very strongly in using Los Angeles locations that he liked in particular. He was really easy to work with. He had asked, ‘Do you mind if we call it The York in the movie?’ and of course I didn’t have a problem with that at all, especially because it wasn’t where Ryan Phillipe’s character was going to pick up hookers … I admit, it was awesome to see the sign for The York in an establishing shot."

For the full post and comments, take a trip over here to Jesus' blog. It's a treasure trove of neighborhood news for Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Highland Park, etc.

-- L.G.

Battle: Los Angeles Trailer

This is the trailer for the film "Battle: LA". Some of my students were talking about the movie in class on Monday and how "great" of a film it was. Apparently I live under a rock because I hadn't heard of it prior to their discussion. "Miss Hailey" they whined, "you have to see it!"

Even in the trailer there are some authentic shots of Los Angeles, especially the Santa Monica area. Has anyone seen this? Looks pretty violent to me... What do you think?

L.A.: From the Page to the Screen

THE OTHER night, I was able to check out an early screening of Lincoln Lawyer. It's based on a novel by former-L.A. Times crime reporter, Michael Connelly, who was present for a Q&A following the feature.








What was striking about the film was how right it felt -- from the color of sunlight and scruffy neighborhood hangouts to the slinky post-soul music chugging out of the dashboard radio. Echo Park in its ripe, decrepit beauty never looked so accurate on screen. As we were all filing out for the evening, one viewer commented: "They cared." --
meaning, evoking a Los Angeles beyond the standard two-sentence pitch made a difference for those of us who love this city despite its blemishes.

For a big dose of the city in full bloom, I highly recommend it.
It opens today.