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Poster for Los Angeles Plays Itself

Los Angeles Plays Itself

2004 · 2h 49m · NOT RATED Documentary
Directed by Thom Andersen

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Overview

From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen takes viewers on a whirlwind tour through the metropolis' real and cinematic history, investigating the myriad stories and legends that have come to define it, and meticulously, judiciously revealing the real city that lives beneath.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
95%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Andersen's inspired ruminations about his city as a filming location and as a repository for other filmmakers' daydreams and nightmares.

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Fresh

One of the great films of the century to date, poignant and affecting.

Calum Marsh, Village Voice
Fresh

CalArts professor Thom Andersen poured a lifetime of moviegoing (and his own complex affection for the city he calls home) into this revelatory two-part documentary, a film that trains you to look at things askew.

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Fresh

Using well-chosen clips from roughly 200 films, many of them obscure, Andersen makes a powerful and impassioned case for reassessing his beloved city.

John McMurtrie, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh

It's like being squired through town by a wisecracking cabbie with a PhD in semiotics.

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

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