-- G.B.
20 "L.A. Story" (1991)
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L.A.'s story is complicated, but they got it
The city has been a main character in many films of the last 25 years. Our film crew picks the best. It's a tough list to crash.
MOVIES
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 55 words Type of Material: Correction
Los Angeles movies: An article in Sunday's Calendar about the best films of the last 25 years set in the Los Angeles area said of "The Big Lebowski" that Lebowski's mansion was on the Westside. The movie locates it in Pasadena. Also, it said "Training Day" was released in 1991. It was released in 2001.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, September 07, 2008 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part E Page 2 Calendar Desk 1 inches; 51 words Type of Material: Correction
Los Angeles movies: An article last Sunday about the best films of the past 25 years set in the Los Angeles area said of "The Big Lebowski" that the millionaire Lebowski's mansion is on the Westside. The movie locates it in Pasadena. Also, "Training Day" was released in 2001, not 1991.
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Steve Martin's love letter to his adopted hometown reveals the side of Los Angeles usually seen only by longtime residents and NPR supporters -- the cultural side. Yes, the standard L.A. stereotypes get skewered: shootouts on the freeway, the obsession with appearances and the gloriously ditsy Valley girl played by Sarah Jessica Parker. And Martin's familiarity with the city doesn't seem to extend much farther east than mid-Wilshire. But Martin's gonzo roller-skate performance through the halls of the L.A. County Museum of Art encapsulates the bizarre coexistence between the city's low-brow and high-brow halves. L.A.-haters will have their worst suspicions confirmed by the film's view of restaurant culture and insane commutes. However, underneath the white, upper-middle class flakiness, there's a steady hum of magic, possibility and surprise that can be appreciated only by those who love the city as much as Martin does.
Power lunch: Though he didn't make the final cut, John Lithgow filmed a cameo as Martin's super-agent Harry Zell, who arrives at his client lunch by jet-pack.
-- P.D.
21 "To Sleep With Anger" (1990)
Now that his classic "Killer of Sheep" has been handsomely reissued, this is perhaps the Charles Burnett theatrical feature most deserving of rediscovery. It stars Danny Glover in a marvelous performance as the mysterious, insinuating Harry Mention, possibly a trickster straight out of African American folklore -- and possibly not. What is without doubt is Mention's ability to sow chaos when he shows up at the Los Angeles home of an old friend played by Paul Butler. Aside from strong acting (the cast includes Mary Alice, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Carl Lumbly, Vonetta McGee and Richard Brooks), "To Sleep With Anger" offers a penetrating look at a Los Angeles community that almost never gets screen time, the African American middle class.
Money talks: Burnett has so much trouble raising funds for theatrical features that some of his best work, like "Nightjohn," has been done for television.
-- K.T.
22 "Less Than Zero" (1987)
