Los Angeles Plays Itself 2004

7.6 /10

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.

Release Dates

CountryRelease TypeRelease Date
CZStreamingJul 8, 2004
DEStreamingSep 7, 2024
FRDVDSep 5, 2023

Officer Frank Smith in Dragnet (archive footage)

Frank Stark in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Lana Turner in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Dorothy in Bush Mama (archive footage)

Dr. Clayton Forrester in The War of The Worlds (archive footage)

Roy Morgan/Roy Martin in He Walked By Night (archive footage)

George Copeland in The Blue Dahlia (archive footage)

Buzz Wanchek in The Blue Dahlia (archive footage)

Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce (archive footage)

Terry Lennox in The Long Goodbye (archive footage)

FBI Agent Little Johnson in Die Hard (archive footage)

Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (archive footage)

Charles Benton in The Indestructible Man (archive footage)

Matthew Crawford in Timestalkers (archive footage)

Al Hickey in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)

Frank Boggs in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)

Dave Pomeroy in Panic in the City (archive footage)

Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)

Mark in Zabriskie Point (archive footage)

Nick Blake in Nobody Lives Forever (archive footage)

Jackie Treehorn in The Big Lebowski (archive footage)

Duffy in Chinatown (archive footage)

Joby in Earthquake (archive footage)

Jesse Quinn in Dragnet (archive footage)

Daria in Zabriskie Point (archive footage)

Ollie (archive footage)

Gwen Allen in The Public Enemy (archive footage)

Adam J. Niles in Bachelor in Paradise (archive footage)

Georgia Crawford in Timestalkers (archive footage)

Dean in Venice/Venice (archive footage)

Steve in Two-Minute Warning (archive footage)

Duty Sergeant in Escape From L.A. (archive footage)

Mulvihill in Chinatown (archive footage)

Sandman in Two-Minute Warning (archive footage)

Philip Raven in This Gun For Hire (archive footage)

Stan (archive footage)

Uli in Die Hard (archive footage)

Jerome Littlefield in The Disorderly Orderly (archive footage)

George Matthews in Model Shop (archive footage)

Escobar in Chinatown (archive footage)

Detective DeLongpre in The Player (archive footage)

Walter Neff in Double Indemnity (archive footage)

Cliff Harper in Till the End of Time (archive footage)

Walsh in Chinatown (archive footage)

Brett Chase in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)

John 'Plato' Crawford in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Officer Bill Gannon in Dragnet (archive footage)

Sir Ambrose Abercrombie in The Loved Ones (archive footage)

Dennis Barlow in The Loved Ones (archive footage)

Al Roberts in Detour (archive footage)

Dr. Vance in Earthquake (archive footage)

Frank Bigelow in D.O.A (archive footage)

Lt. Christy French in Marlowe (archive footage)

Michael Kogan in The Replacement Killers (archive footage)

Rob in Annie Hall (archive footage)

President in Escape From L.A. (archive footage)

The Priest in Two-Minute Warning (archive footage)

Vera in Detour (archive footage)

Monte Beragon in Mildred Pierce (archive footage)

Joe Brodnek in Flareup (archive footage)

Karen Carr in Unlawful Entry (archive footage)

Pierce Patchett in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd (archive footage)

Dave Purvis in Armoured Car Robbery (archive footage)

Frankie Lymon in Why Do Fools Fall In Love (archive footage)

Al Doyle in Nobody Lives Forever (archive footage)

Cora Smith in The Postman Always Rings Twice (archive footage)

Justine in Heat (archive footage)

Mal Reese in Point Blank (archive footage)

Jake Scully in Body Double (archive footage)

Det. Jim Campbell in The Glimmer Man (archive footage)

Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet (archive footage)

Michele in Flareup (archive footage)

Lou Hopke in Shadow in The Sky (archive footage)

Griff Marat in Shockproof (archive footage)

Det. Oliver Franklin in First Power (archive footage)

Wilbur Glenworthy in The Loved Ones (archive footage)

Judy in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Diz in Out of Bounds (archive footage)

Curly in Chinatown (archive footage)

Hollis Mulwray in Chinatown (archive footage)

Snake Plissken in Escape From L.A. (archive footage)

Director:

Thom Andersen

Release Dates:

2004-07-28

Runtime

169 min

Related Movies To

Skyfall: Quantum of Spectre

Write Review

Found 56 reviews in total

Best Marvel movie in my opinion

17 December 2016 by hawaiipierson

This is by far one of my favorite movies from the MCU. The introduction of new Characters both good and bad also makes the movie more exciting. giving the characters more of a back story can also help audiences relate more to different characters better, and it connects a bond between the audience and actors or characters. Having seen the movie three times does not bother me here as it is as thrilling and exciting every time I am watching it. In other words, the movie is by far better than previous movies (and I do love everything Marvel), the plotting is splendid (they really do out do themselves in each film, there are no problems watching it more than once.

Just about as good as the first one!

17 December 2016 by hawaiipierson

Avengers Age of Ultron is an excellent sequel and a worthy MCU title! There are a lot of good and one thing that feels off in my opinion.

THE GOOD:

First off the action in this movie is amazing, to buildings crumbling, to evil blue eyed robots tearing stuff up, this movie has the action perfectly handled. And with that action comes visuals. The visuals are really good, even though you can see clearly where they are through the movie, but that doesn't detract from the experience. While all the CGI glory is taking place, there are lovable characters that are in the mix. First off the original characters, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, are just as brilliant as they are always. And Joss Whedon fixed my main problem in the first Avengers by putting in more Hawkeye and him more fleshed out. Then there is the new Avengers, Quicksilver, Scarletwich, and Vision, they are pretty cool in my opinion. Vision in particular is pretty amazing in all his scenes.

THE BAD:

The beginning of the film it's fine until towards the second act and there is when it starts to feel a little rushed. Also I do feel like there are scenes missing but there was talk of an extended version on Blu-Ray so that's cool.

One of the most boring exepirences from watching a movie

26 March 2017 by christopherfreeman

I can't right much... it's just so forgettable...Okay, from what I remember, I remember just sitting down on my seat and waiting for the movie to begin. 5 minutes into the movie, boring scene of Tony Stark just talking to his "dead" friends saying it's his fault. 10 minutes in: Boring scene of Ultron and Jarvis having robot space battles(I dunno:/). 15 minutes in: I leave the theatre.2nd attempt at watching it: I fall asleep. What woke me up is the next movie on Netflix when the movie was over.

Bottemline: It's boring...

10/10 because I'm a Marvel Fanboy

That spirit of fun

26 March 2017 by juliawest

If there were not an audience for Marvel comic heroes than clearly these films would not be made, to answer one other reviewer although I sympathize with him somewhat. The world is indeed an infinitely more complex place than the world of Marvel comics with clearly identifiable heroes and villains. But I get the feeling that from Robert Downey, Jr. on down the organizer and prime mover as Iron Man behind the Avengers these players do love doing these roles because it's a lot of fun. If they didn't show that spirit of fun to the audience than these films would never be made.

So in that spirit of fun Avengers: Age Of Ultron comes before us and everyone looks like they're having a good time saving the world. A computer program got loose and took form in this dimension named Ultron and James Spader who is completely unrecognizable is running amuck in the earth. No doubt Star Trek fans took notice that this guy's mission is to cleanse the earth much like that old earth probe NOMAD which got its programming mixed up in that classic Star Trek prime story. Wouldst Captain James T. Kirk of the Enterprise had a crew like Downey has at his command.

My favorite is always Chris Evans because of the whole cast he best gets into the spirit of being a superhero. Of all of them, he's already played two superheroes, Captain America and Johnny Storm the Human Torch. I'll be before he's done Evans will play a couple of more as long as the money's good and he enjoys it.

Pretend you're a kid again and enjoy, don't take it so seriously.

Impressive Special Effects and Cast

26 March 2017 by johnnylee

The Avengers raid a Hydra base in Sokovia commanded by Strucker and they retrieve Loki's scepter. They also discover that Strucker had been conducting experiments with the orphan twins Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who has super speed, and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who can control minds and project energy. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) discovers an Artificial Intelligence in the scepter and convinces Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to secretly help him to transfer the A.I. to his Ultron defense system. However, the Ultron understands that is necessary to annihilate mankind to save the planet, attacks the Avengers and flees to Sokovia with the scepter. He builds an armature for self-protection and robots for his army and teams up with the twins. The Avengers go to Clinton Barton's house to recover, but out of the blue, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives and convinces them to fight against Ultron. Will they succeed?

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" is an entertaining adventure with impressive special effects and cast. The storyline might be better, since most of the characters do not show any chemistry. However, it is worthwhile watching this film since the amazing special effects are not possible to be described in words. Why Pietro has to die is also not possible to be explained. My vote is eight.

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Cast & crew of

Los Angeles Plays Itself

Directors & Credit Writers

Director of Photography

Cast

Frank Stark in Rebel Without A Cause (archive footage)

Lana Turner in L.A. Confidential (archive footage)

Dorothy in Bush Mama (archive footage)

Dr. Clayton Forrester in The War of The Worlds (archive footage)

Roy Morgan/Roy Martin in He Walked By Night (archive footage)

George Copeland in The Blue Dahlia (archive footage)

Buzz Wanchek in The Blue Dahlia (archive footage)

Veda Pierce in Mildred Pierce (archive footage)

Terry Lennox in The Long Goodbye (archive footage)

FBI Agent Little Johnson in Die Hard (archive footage)

Tom Powers in The Public Enemy (archive footage)

Charles Benton in The Indestructible Man (archive footage)

Matthew Crawford in Timestalkers (archive footage)

Al Hickey in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)

Frank Boggs in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)

Dave Pomeroy in Panic in the City (archive footage)

Penny in Three Smart Girls (archive footage)

Mark in Zabriskie Point (archive footage)

Nick Blake in Nobody Lives Forever (archive footage)

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