To the editor: Whereas all lists like this are subjective, I can’t assist however nitpick somewhat (“The 101 greatest Los Angeles motion pictures, ranked,” Jan. 15). However first, kudos for together with “Repo Man.”
As for omissions, it missed two of my favourite Hollywood comedies: Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Hail, Caesar!” and Blake Edwards’ “The Celebration.”
“Hail, Caesar!” by no means will get as a lot love because it deserves, however a few of its set items, just like the musical quantity “No Dames!” and the Russian submarine carrying off Channing Tatum, are iconic moviemaking. As for “The Celebration,” it’s merely one of many funniest motion pictures ever made and captures the absurdity of Hollywood higher than most.
I discover “Singin’ within the Rain” overrated. Apart from the title quantity, I believe it’s fairly mediocre. By villainizing the actress who can’t make the transition to talkies, it reveals an enormous lack of empathy for the merciless destiny of so many silent movie actors.
I discover “La La Land,” nevertheless, underrated. Sure, it’s on the checklist, however it deserves to be greater. It’s an homage to the good musicals of the Thirties that have been meant as escapism from the Melancholy, however with a bittersweet twist on the finish that makes it very a lot of its time.
However my No. 1 is “Sundown Boulevard.” For last strains, it absolutely beats “Chinatown,” and even higher is that this:
“You’re Norma Desmond. You was once huge.”
“I’m huge. It’s the images that acquired small.”
Former silent movie stars will need to have cheered at that line.
Kathleen Barreto, Culver Metropolis
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To the editor: As a lot as I loved studying this, it’s a reminder that it’s a near-impossible process to create a best-of checklist with out leaving one thing out that, in my view, deserves recognition.
For me, that film is “Swimming With Sharks” (1994). Even 30 years later, that film continues to seize me by the throat because it takes a glance backstage of old-school Hollywood. In any other case, a really nice compilation certainly.
Stephen Lash, Carlsbad
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To the editor: How is it potential that “Fairly Girl” was left off the checklist? I’m “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”
Elisa Wayne, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Your consultants gave quick shrift to silent movies — a serious oversight contemplating that lots of these early motion pictures have been shot on the streets of L.A. throughout its transformation right into a metropolis.
“Security Final!” (1923) ought to’ve been within the high 10. Harold Lloyd actually hangs out above downtown on this exceptional comedy-thriller that showcases the town arising.
The Angels Flight neighborhood post-World Warfare II has been featured in lots of motion pictures, however by no means extra skillfully than in “Criss Cross” (1949), a fatalistic noir starring Burt Lancaster and Yvonne de Carlo. Robert Siodmak, one of many underrated masters of the interval, directed.
Richard Jewell, Los Feliz
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To the editor: There are fairly a couple of motion pictures on the checklist that would’ve been omitted to make room for “Grand Canyon,” Lawrence Kasdan’s spot-on portrayal of the financial divide in L.A.
Clyde Dodge, Irvine
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To the editor: Jeepers, creepers! How may you allow out “The Day of the Locust”?
The Nathanael West novel is a traditional story of Hollywood insanity. And the movie, with Donald Sutherland and Karen Black, was fairly illuminating.
I’ll simply think about it’s No. 102 in your checklist.
AJ Lane, Laguna Woods
