L.A.'s story is complicated, but they got it

Music man: One of the mysterious Italian financiers in the film is played by David Lynch's longtime composer Angelo Badalamenti.

-- M.O.

12 "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988)

This wacky homage to L.A. hard-boiled detective fiction, set in 1947 Los Angeles, blended live action and animation to tell the story of a washed-up Det. Valiant, trying to exonerate cartoon film star Roger Rabbit for a murder he did not commit, and in the process save Toontown, the neighborhood where the animated stars live. Watch for the cameos of Toon legendary greats, from every studio and every period. Daffy Duck and Donald Duck face-off in dueling pianos. Dumbo roams the movie studio and Betty Boop has been relegated to a bit player with the advent of sound and the ascension of va-va vroom Jessica Rabbit. The voluptuous redhead femme fatale utters one of the most memorable lines in cinema history: "I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." Directed by Robert Zemeckis, this 1988 film, is often said to have sparked the return of feature-film animation.

Animal equality: This is the only film in which Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse ever meet, and their respective studios, Warner Bros. and Disney, signed a contract mandating that their mascots get the same number of lines and air time.

-- R.A.

13 "Training Day" (1991)

Written by David Ayer, who grew up near the rough streets depicted in the film, and directed by Antoine Fuqua, "Training Day" presents a worst-case-scenario vision of law enforcement in Los Angeles, a nightmare phantasmagoria of a police procedural sprawled out on the hood of a car. Taking at least some inspiration from the LAPD Rampart scandals, the film presents a rookie learning first-hand how bad cops do their thing, as he and his new superior crisscross the city, from the often-filmed Quality Cafe near downtown to the little-seen Imperial Courts and Pinewood developments in South-Central, shaking down drug dealers, turning criminals loose and generally flouting procedure at every turn. Yet for much of the picture it seems they may actually be protecting the public (well, sort of). Although Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his turn as an out-of-control rogue cop, it is a never-better Ethan Hawke (don't laugh) who really holds the movie together. Acting as the eyes and conscience for the audience, Hawke's new-guy cop is watching and learning that this is how you get things done, and then he stands up to say this is not the way things have to be.