LA Plays Itself In The Movies: A New Metblog Series

April 2, 2010 at 11:00 am in Announcements, Entertainment, Fictional LA, Filmmaking/Filmmakers, History, Twitter

You know LA plays a role when you see the Bonaventure...

Starting on Monday (April 5) your LA Metblog authors are starting a new series of posts called: LA Plays Itself In The Movies. (Similar to our series last year called Songs About Los Angeles.) We’ll write about favorite movies in which LA is not just a backdrop or a random location or even doubling for somewhere else, but in which the city plays a role. These are movies that could not have been made anywhere else other than our awesome city.

As with last year’s song series, this is not a “Best Of” or “Top 25″ list, it is more fun and personal to each author. The series will last about three weeks and we encourage you to tell us about your favorite movie in which LA is a star!

(The photo is my own.)

Click past the jump to see the full list of posts in this series.

Riot On The Sunset Strip (Alexandra Apolloni)

Repo Man (Travis Koplow)

The Limey (Mike Winder)

Blue Thunder (Julia Frey)

Barton Fink (Matt Mason)

Midnight Madness (Kevin Ott)

Crash (Queequeg)

(500) Days of Summer (Janna Smith)

Mildred Pierce (Alexandra Appolloni)

Speed (Julia Frey)

The Omega Man (Mike Winder)

Magnolia (Travis Koplow)

Volcano (Kevin Ott)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Janna Smith)

Blade Runner (RobNoxious)

Swingers (Verdell Wilson)

Valley of the Dolls & Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (Travis Koplow)

LA Confidential (Kevin Ott)

Double Indemnity (Will Campbell)

It’s A Bikini World (Alexandra Appolloni)

Earth Girls Are Easy (Frazgo)

Valley Girl (Jodi Kurland)

The Big Lebowski (Rob Noxious)

Sunset Boulevard (Tammara)

Mulholland Drive (Queequeg)

28 Comments »

Laure

Brilliant idea! Looking forward to your posts.
Susan

Me too!
http://moviespress.com/2010/04/03/432010-update/ 4/3/2010 Update « MoviesPress

[...] LA Plays Itself In The Movies: A New Metblog Series | Los Angeles … [...]
http://imdb.com/Name?Tran+David+M D

I liked 500 Days of Autumn. LA was beautiful in it. Oh wait, that is probably the sequel, I meant 500 Days of Summer.
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/05/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-riot-on-the-sunset-strip/ LA Plays Itself in the Movies: Riot on the Sunset Strip | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] post is part of the series LA Plays Itself in the Movies – a big thanks to Julia for [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/06/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-repo-man/ LA Plays Itself in the Movies: Repo Man | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] For a listing of posts in this series, click here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/06/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-the-limey-1999/ LA Plays Itself in the Movies: The Limey (1999) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] post is part of the series LA Plays Itself in the Movies – a big sandshoe to Julia for [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/06/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-blue-thunder-1983/ LA Plays Itself In The Movies: Blue Thunder (1983) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] See the intro and full list of movie posts here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/07/l-a-plays-itself-in-the-movies-barton-fink-1991/ L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies: Barton Fink (1991) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] (See the rest of the L.A. movie series here) [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/07/talking-points-for-mayor-villaraigosa/ Talking points for Mayor Villaraigosa | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] know, Sarah, this whole LA Plays Itself in the Movies makes me wonder if Angelenos think more in cinematic [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/08/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-crash/ LA Plays Itself in the Movies: Crash | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] Julia proposed this Los Angeles Plays Itself series, the first movie that popped into my mind was Crash. In retrospect, I’m not really sure why, [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/08/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-500-days-of-summer/ LA Plays Itself In The Movies: (500) Days of Summer | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] Read the rest of our “LA Plays Itself” series here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/10/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-speed/ LA Plays Itself In The Movies: Speed | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] Click past the jump for some images and tangential info. Find the rest of the LA Plays Itself Series here. [...]
Rory Mitchell

Hi –

Just on a point of order, nowhere in your series of LA Play’s Itself do I see any acknowledgement of Thom Andersen’s amazing, unreleasable documentary “Los Angeles Plays Itself” a 3 1/2 hour tour de force that examines Los Angeles’ status as the most photographed city in the world due to the presence of the entertainment industry.

As it seems clear that Mr. Andersen’s documentary must have influenced someone at the MetBlogs, I feel that it’s only proper that at the bottom of each of these posts, you should give credit where credit is due to Mr. Andersen’s original document.

If I have overlooked this citation, my bad, but I feel that it should be included in italics at the bottom of every post that goes under the heading “LA Plays Itself.”

Thanks much,

Rory Mitchell
http://safetygraphicfun.com Julia Frey

I had not heard of the doc “Los Angeles Plays Itself” until after we started talking about doing this series and still have yet to watch it though after reading other posts in our series, I want to even more. The idea came more from the theme of last year’s series, Songs about LA, and also that I love movies so much. There was no disrespect intended.
http://www.wildbell.com WILL CAMPBELL

Getting past the assumption of any explicit influence Anderson’s excellent documentary has had on this series, Rory makes an excellent point about crediting where credit is due. For my entry in the series that I’m pulling together with material from a variety of sources — including YouTube clips of “Los Angeles Plays Itself” — they will be listed accordingly at the end of my post.
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/11/l-a-plays-itself-in-the-movies-the-omega-man-1971/ L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies: The Omega Man (1971) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] post is part of Metblog’s L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/12/l-a-plays-itself-in-the-movies-magnolia/ L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies: Magnolia | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] This post is part of the L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies series. For a listing of posts in this series, click here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/17/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-double-indemnity-1944/ LA Plays Itself In The Movies: Double Indemnity (1944) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] post is part of LA Plays Itself In The Movies, organized so awesomely by [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/18/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-its-a-bikini-world/ LA Plays Itself in the Movies: It’s a Bikini World | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] post is part of the LA Plays Itself in the Movies Series – thanks again to Julia for her organizational [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/19/l-a-plays-itself-in-the-movies-valley-girl-1983/ L.A. Plays Itself In The Movies: Valley Girl (1983) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] This post is part of the L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies series. For a listing of posts in this series, click here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/14/los-angeles-plays-itself-in-the-movies-blade-runner/ Los Angeles plays itself in the Movies: Blade Runner | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] This post is part of the L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies series. For a listing of posts in this series, click here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/19/los-angeles-plays-itself-in-the-movies-the-big-lebowski/ Los Angeles plays itself in the Movies: The Big Lebowski | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] This post is part of the L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies series. For a listing of posts in this series, click here. [...]
http://www.edraid.com edraid

This list essentially disregards anything having to do with South LA. No Short Cuts, Wassup Rockers, Training Day or even Falling down.

Thanks again for leaving us out of the family photo, jerks.
http://www.wildbell.com WILL CAMPBELL

edraid, don’t forget a few others that you somehow have come to believe we “jerks” have intentionally avoided: Born in East LA, Mi Familia, Colors, Street Kings, Killer of Sheep, Dolemite, La Bamba, Stand and Deliver, Boyz in the Hood, American Me, South Central, White Men Can’t Jump, Mi Vida Loca, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Bulworth…

And while we’re at it, turns out we’ve also managed to boycott pretty much the entire upper-crusty westside segment: Beverly Hills Cop, Clueless, Troop Beverly Hills, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, The Beverly Hillbillies, Slums of Beverly Hills, Grand Canyon, Pretty Woman, Less Than Zero…
Matt Mason

We also purposely left out San Pedro by not including “The Usual Suspects,” as well as Inglewood and Redondo Beach, homes of Vincent and Jules, respectively, of “Pulp Fiction.” Bwahaha, the conspiracy is working. It has been so successful that I move that we turn our attention immediately to our detailed plan for world domination, and then human sacrifice. Or was it the other way around? I’ve misplaced my memo.
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/20/la-plays-itself-in-the-movies-sunset-boulevard-1950/ LA Plays Itself in the Movies: Sunset Boulevard (1950) | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] As with the famous Sunset Strip, all the participants are memorable characters. The movie captures an era perfectly and the mystique and allure of Sunset Boulevard is forever imprinted on our consciousness. And Gloria Swanson in a gold turban is to die for. If you want to see more of LA playing itself in the movies… check it out here. [...]
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/22/los-angeles-plays-itself-mulholland-drive/ Los Angeles Plays Itself: Mulholland Drive | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] Los Angeles Plays Itself series is winding down to a close, and what better way to end things than with lesbians? You can thank [...]

LA Plays Itself In The Movies: A New Metblog Series

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