Los Angeles Plays Itself

Name: Los Angeles Plays Itself
Genre: History, Documentary
Released: July 28, 2004
Duration: 169 min
Rating: 86

2004

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Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 12 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 12 Ratings

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Los Angeles Plays Itself

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Movie Details & Credits

Submarine Entertainment | Release Date: July 28, 2004 | Not Rated

Summary: This documentary examines how Los Angeles has been portrayed by Hollywood and the impact of the movie industry on the city.

Director: Thom Andersen

Genre(s): History, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 169 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Joshua Rothkopf

Andersen makes humorous hay out of the stark home designs of Richard Neutra — only suitable, it seems, for drug dealers. Read full review

100

Kenneth Turan

It is a remarkable work, quite likely the best documentary on the City of Angels ever made. Read full review

100

David Sterritt

Smart, funny, stimulating. Read full review

Scott Foundas

Three words of advice to those who haven't yet seen it: Run, don't walk. Composed of excerpts from hundreds of locally shot movies past and present -- from grade-A prestige pictures to unrepentant grade-Z schlock -- Los Angeles Plays Itself serves as Andersen's exhaustive but never exhausting attempt to reconcile the myriad identities of the world's moviemaking capital. Read full review

Peter Rainer

What gives Los Angeles Plays Itself its extraordinary density is the way Andersen transforms a cliché into a metaphysical truth that encompasses far more than L.A. Read full review

Frank Scheck

A terrific cinematic essay that will have a very, very long shelf life. Read full review

Empire Nick De Semlyen

Andersen makes a far from inspiring guide, intoning his humourless points in a dry-as-powder monotone. Read full review

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User Reviews

Trailesque

Jul 15, 2020

This is one of the great cinematic essays. Filmmaker Thom Andersen takes a big stack of clips from a wide range of films set in LA and uses them to illuminate the city's architecture, neighborhoods, and history. Some of the scenes are key moments, and others appear to be chosen randomly, butThis is one of the great cinematic essays. Filmmaker Thom Andersen takes a big stack of clips from a wide range of films set in LA and uses them to illuminate the city's architecture, neighborhoods, and history. Some of the scenes are key moments, and others appear to be chosen randomly, but all of them reveal something interesting about Los Angeles. You may disagree with some of it--I did--but any serious fan of cinema or this city will appreciate what Andersen has put together here. I would like to see more cinematic explorations like this: how about New York? Paris? London? Tokyo?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

KellyP.

Mar 29, 2006

if you have any interest in film or cities you must see this film.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

LowbrowCinema

Aug 25, 2014

Los Angeles Plays Itself is one of those films that made me ask, "I don't get it." A barrage of fun clips with uninteresting and quite vapid commentary. A blank.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Alaric

Nov 3, 2014

The whole idea of this 2.5 hr documentary-like film is to explore how Los Angeles is portrayed in movies. There was obviously some work put into collecting and categorizing the countless clips from films, as well as matching the names, dates, and locations portrayed in them. That being said,The whole idea of this 2.5 hr documentary-like film is to explore how Los Angeles is portrayed in movies. There was obviously some work put into collecting and categorizing the countless clips from films, as well as matching the names, dates, and locations portrayed in them. That being said, there really isn't too much else here aside from a random run through historical film locations. I really wanted to like this film, but I got about an hour in before it just became frustrating. The whole time, the narrator seems like he is trying to set up some kind of profound message or theme about how Los Angeles is portrayed, but the narrator simply seems to loathe *everything* about movies, which is an odd characteristic for someone who has apparently made an entire 2.5 hour film about movies.

The narration is extremely dry in a way that is an obvious attempt to sound intelligent, but comes across as depressed and bored. There is absolutely no joy or excitement in talking at you. Instead, it is an absolute chore to try and bring you up to speed about the obvious inadequacies of every movie everywhere. But, if you actually listen to what he has to say, there is so much contraction in the messages that one cannot help but become frustrated at it. At various times, the narrator complains about movies in the following ways: how they are too unrealistic, how they are too realistic, how they recycle the same locations, how they take creative liberties with their locations, how they don't portray ordinary everyday life but rather focus on exciting sequences and stories, how there is too much violence, and how they are sometimes exciting. Yes, there is a lot of complaining about how violence and sex and destruction are common topics of movies set in Los Angeles (as if these were not common topics in movies set anywhere in the world as well). The opinions just become obtuse and ridiculous. At one point, the narrator tried to convince me that Paris, unlike Los Angeles, has escaped the scourge of cinema portrayal (I mean, really?). The whole things feels like it is trying to have some kind of profound message from this collection of names, dates, and locations, but it all boils down to this: Movies suck because they don't accurately portray ordinary life and there is too much unrealistic violence, sex, and destruction in Movies filmed in Los Angeles. There is one interesting segment showing how various films used the same locations to portray different environments, but otherwise there is a lot of opinions being thrown around which are mostly absurd. .… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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