Los Angeles Based Movies

[West of Encino]

Die Hard, Colors, Boyz In the Hood, Menace II Society, Crash, Falling Down, Beverly Hills Cop, Pulp Fiction, and the first two Terminators. I guess I basically like movies that are set in LA.

[KnoxTown]

Glad to see that my thread (from 2 years ago!!!) is still alive and well. Since starting it, before moving to LA, I think I've finally seen just about all the movies that you all suggested. Thanks for the all the help, you guys killed my Netflix cue!

[Jay100]

Lethal Weapon
Superbad
Training Day
Friday
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Clueless

[pbergen]

lots of great suggestions thus far...

IMO the top five LA films released during the past 30-35 years - based purely on how extensively they showcase or reference the city's contemporary or historical landmarks, culture, events, neighborhoods, and people - would be pulp fiction (#1 LA movie of all time for my money), chinatown, LA confidential, clueless, and swingers.

here are some other "quintessentially LA" films that haven't been mentioned:

the naked gun: gotta love the baseball scene at dodger stadium (even though it features the angels rather than the dodgers for some reason) where the bumbling frank drebin is disguised as an umpire in order to find out which of the players is trying to kill the queen. bonus points because randy newman's half-satirical, half-celebratory song "i love LA" is played during drebin's exploits.

airplane: remember kareem abdul-jabbar's cameo appearance as the co-pilot who passes out and is then dragged out of the cockpit while wearing his lakers uniform and goggles?

the black dahlia: any film adapted from a james ellroy novel has to make this list. although the movie turned out be a disappointment, they did a nice job of giving 1940s-era LA a noirish look and feel.

changeling: another film that takes place in the LA of yesteryear. i love the ending scene in which you see a digitally-recreated view of downtown LA circa 1935, complete with streetcars and hordes of pedestrians.

the karate kid: of all the '80s movies that took place in the san fernando valley, this is the one that i associated most closely with that area when i was a little kid - probably because the protagonist, daniel, was supposed to have moved to LA from my neck of the woods (the opening scene was even filmed on my classmate's street).

the bad news bears: another film set in the valley. did you know that "chico's bail bonds" was an actual company?

valley girl: cheesy early '80s nic cage movie with a good new wave soundtrack.

encino man: this movie (along with frank zappa's song, "valley girl") is one of the only reasons most non-angelenos have ever heard of encino. the thing i remember most about this film was not the performances of brendan fraser or pauly shore, but rather how fat sean astin had gotten since the goonies.

stand and deliver, la bamba, born in east LA: the three films that shaped my childhood view of LA chicanos, for better or worse (at the time, we had virtually no mexicans in my area). interesting how three separate films about mexican-americans in LA were released within a year or so of each other.

bill and ted's excellent adventure: kind of funny and random that bill and ted are supposed to be from san dimas.

speed: another keanu movie that requires shutting off your brain.

gidget: plus all of the other copycat teeny bopper surf movies of the '60s.

valley of the dolls: camp classic from the late '60s starring sharon tate.

heaven can wait (1978 version): warren beatty might've been a big star at the time, but he looked awfully scrawny in that rams uniform and thus unconvincing as an nfl quarterback. i did like how deacon jones and jack snow made cameo appearances in the film.

escape from LA: not as good as escape from new york, but i guess audiences love seeing LA get destroyed on the big screen.

500 days of summer: of all the movies that have been released in the past year, this one probably does the best job of showcasing LA, with numerous shots of the city and its landmark buildings.

midnight madness: guilty pleasure film from the end of the disco era; it's really cheesy but oddly entertaining. because the characters have to race around LA on an all-night scavenger hunt, it's a great look at the city, circa 1980. i watched this movie recently for the first time in years, and noticed that in the opening credits, there's a panoramic shot of the downtown LA skyline, but with half the buildings of today missing; i guess the skyline was still developing at that point. anyway, highly recommended viewing for children of the '80s like myself.