Los Angeles Plays Itself (excellent doc for Angelinos and cinephiles)

This is now available on Netflix streaming.

 

I didn't enjoy it. The narrator has many an ax to grind.

 

Yeah I guess I should warn people that if you're looking for a feel-good documentary about LA and the history of cinema, this isn't it. But if you're like me and are cynical with a dry sense of humor, you'll enjoy it. It helps to be from LA, too.

 

Worth watching for all the great film clips alone. The narrator begins to grate on my nerves after a while, so I generally watch it in segments.

 

Definitely. I'd had this documentary on my radar for years now and finally the DVD was released and sent out to me from Netflix. Having finally sat through it, I'd recommend to others to pass on it. The narrator has a rather miserable world-view, which perhaps the Hollywood elite might enjoy. Too bad he just couldn't pass up the opportunity assault viewers with his extreme opinions.

 

Well, I think the collected film clips outweighs my problem with the narration. It's a 3 hour documentary, because it is split into separate sections it's easy to watch one part, then take a break and come back to the next part later. I don't think "Hollywood elite" has anything to do with it, the filmmaker lobs many balls of hate at the film industry and Hollywood in general. In fact, I would say it's a pro-Los Angeles/anti-Hollywood film.

 

I remember being puzzled by the aggrieved tone of the narration... about how L.A. is always standing in for other times and places on film and never presented realistically. He gripes about distorted geography and iconic buildings being disguised as other things. The director doesn't seem to understand that movies are, you know, fiction.

You want to talk a place that's never itself on camera, try Vancouver! The building I work in has been in about 100 TV shows and movies, and it's almost never depicted as what or where it actually is. But... so what?

 

Some of his points may be interesting to consider, such as certain architecture being associated with "the bad guy", but this filmmaker clearly wanted to integrate his world-view into this film just as Springsteen does at his concerts. There's always the fans yelling "just sing the next song!!!!"

Pittsburgh has been a hot spot lately for the film industry. It was a big deal to see that sort of activity just a few years ago, but now it's so common that I'm likely to not even notice. That said, Pittsburgh scenes are not going to be too common. It would be annoying to see Pittsburgh playing a role, so to speak, over and over and over. I'd have a hard time enjoying a film if I recognized so many places.

 

Why would the filmmaker not weave his opinions into the work?? The film is basically an essay in movie clip anthology form. It's not meant to be some sort of objective recounting of Los Angeles or Hollywood history, so it shouldn't be expected to come across that way.

 

Glad to see the rights issues have been ironed out and more people can see this - I really enjoyed it!

 

I've had an "unofficial copy" of this for several years, and was alternately amazed and delighted when I heard it was getting an official release - I always figured the rights issues would be too daunting to surmount for a low-budget film like this with a niche audience. Just received the blu-ray (after having to cancel my unfulfilled preorder from one vendor and reorder elsewhere), and look forward to reacquainting myself with the film again in a better quality version.

I've gotta say that I don't recall finding the narration particularly objectionable, but it has been quite some time since I last saw it. Then again, I'd definitely fall into the category of "cynical with a dry sense of humor".

 

Sounds interesting, I had not heard about this one before.

I've worked on tv and film locations around LA and am amazed at how well our city / county can be made realistically to look like so many other cities.

I'm cynical enough, I should like it.

 

Agreed.

 

Looks interesting.

 

Note that the narrator (Encke King) did not write the narration -- Thom Anderson, the director, did.

I saw this several years ago when it was circulating in bootleg in film schools (I had friends who were in film school at the time). I was and am really into Hollywood history and I enjoyed the barrage of clips and the narration which was kind of like Mr. Plinkett before its time. I did learn some things about LA, which I have yet to visit.

On the other hand, I also thought that "LA is represented unfairly by movies shot in LA" was about the least important thesis and topic for a documentary of this length ever. And it's nowhere near as funny or subversive (or informative) as Mr. Plinkett.

What I'm saying is, it gets to be a bore after a while.

Mind you, I also have this bizarre prejudice against dudes named "Tom" who spell "Tom" with an H in the middle, so take my opinion for what it is.

 

They should have hired an actual actor with a real voice. This guy has a terrible voice. But the footage is terrific.