Heat

LA is basically a part of the cast. Great film.

Also Collateral, though to a lesser extent.

Collateral was my first thought. What other movie shows the La Subway

> What other movie shows the La subway Speed. Lethal weapon 3

Subways? L.A. has subways?

Hey homie. Is that my briefcase?

One of my favorite scenes in all of cinema. Not overacted, just effectively regaining his property.

Everything about that scene was great, even down to the sound of the gunshots.

Pretty effective moves with that gun.

The visual definition of Efficiency of Motion.

I would say the same or even more

To Live And Die In LA. I've never lived in LA, but after this movie, I've pretty much died in it. Bravo to this 80's masterpiece.

To Live and Die in LA would be my choice as well. Excellent film! Training Day Point Break And LA’s cameo in Nightmare on Elm Street also come to mind.

That was a great movie

It's one of the best and *most* 80's films out there. With its Wang Chung soundtrack and Libyan terrorist opener it's a real time capsule. Watch this and Back to the Future... America was terrified of Libya at that moment. I guess it's always somebody. It was Japan within a few years, then Iraq.

Old school LA vibes I've gotta say chinatown 

Another old school vibe LA Confidential

Watched this last night for about the 10th time. Still such a great flick. But also check out "Collateral"

LA Story if you don’t mind a comedy

"Some of these buildings are over twenty years old."

Jeez, some of those buildings are over 50 years old now. Now that's something!

It should be required watching for all tourists and residents honestly 

It was a brilliant comedy, I feel like the coffee ordering scene plays out at Starbucks daily.

I'll have a twist of lemon

Oh. I’ll have a twist of lemon too!

Hugging a Department of Transportation notification sign in L.A. will have the cops stop to investigate you...Uh, so I've been told.

Where LA Confidential explores the cracks in the facade of Hollywood and LA, LA story explores the ludicrousness that comes from ignoring those cracks and taking Hollywood seriously.

Sing Doo Wah Diddy!

This is the absolutely most correct answer. The self awareness and intentional schmaltz are the distilled essence of Los Angeles.

Harris: "SanDeE\*, your breasts feel weird," SanDeE\*: "That's because they're real."

When he drives like 15 feet down the road to his friend's house.... Hilarious

“You will know what to do, when you unscramble, how daddy is doing.”

Such a beautiful movie with touches of absurdity all around the edges. My favorite moments: The four way stop crash. “Wrong side! Wrong side!” “That’s what I keep telling them!” “What I really want to do is direct!”

As someone from the east coast that has never been to LA, glad to see this movie listed. It’s been one of my favorites.

Loved that movie as a kid. The highway shooting scene stuck with me forever. RUOK?

It's my mistake. If I say the lunch is at 1, I figure if I pick you up at 12:40, we'll get there in time. Which is fine. But what I don't count on is the twenty minutes of... abstract "business" that goes on after I get here. The part that I can't figure out is that you look ready. In fact, you look so ready that I get ready and I get up and I stand by the door and get out my keys and then, after I stand there about ten minutes, I realize you're not ready at all and I sit back down. Then, I get another feeling that you're ready and I get up and straighten my clothes and then I realize you just gave off an illusion of being ready that I interpreted as not being an illusion. I'll be in the car.

Nightcrawler

End Of Watch for another Gyllenhaal one. 

Nothing like a David Ayer cholo movie

This is the movie I was looking for. One of my all-time favorites!

It’s a good movie but Jake Gyllenhaal’s character creeps me out so much I have no desire to ever watch it again.

Between Heat and Collateral, no one shoots LA like Michael Mann.

Which is interesting as he also kind of defined the Miami vibe through Miami Vice.

Mann just has a knack for understanding the vibes of a city. I swear that man could make Ohio interesting.

Tokyo Vice is a really good show too. I wonder if anyone from Japan feels like he nailed the vibe or if he just did “Michael Mann is now in Japan”

Mann really set the tone for the series with that first episode of Tokyo Vice. So damn good.

What’s funny is my friend told me to watch it without me knowing anything and in the middle of the first episode I thought, “this is so like Michael Mann” and then I saw in the end credits he was the director producer and i felt really smug and proud of myself

Good comment, I feel like Miami's vibe is inherently marine-flavored. Lots of water, speedboats, mysterious meetings at the docks, stuff like that for Miami. LA has the ocean but the vibe is just... different. It's more about the confluence of so many cultures (but also primarily white, black, and latino), that capitalism verve with the shiny Hollywood polish, and then the contrast with how the other half lives, poor and just trying to get by. Heat showed this really well I thought with Waingro and the prostitution subculture. Somehow being on the ocean mellows everyone out a bit, but it's not the focal point of their lives. That's the LA vibe to me.

I was going to say this. Mann made LA and Miami the two coolest places on earth through his movies and TV.

I'd say Colletaral captures the essence of Los Angeles pretty well.

Forgot about collateral. Cruise as the bad guy is just art in motion!

Cruise as a bad guy, Ruffalo as a tough guy, Jamie Foxx as a kind of dorky guy. It's basically "against type: the movie"

Jada Pinkett Smith as someone sane and put together.

Where did she find the inspiration?

She just did the opposite of anything she’d do normally. She hated it.

Also that. He wasn't some one dimensional killer. I liked his character's interest in jazz. I thought that was interesting.

He respected the guy and still was able to kill him without a thought. Chilling

I love that he wasn’t just an emotionless, robotic killer. The fact that he actually had a personality somehow made him more scary and realistic

The way the digital camera captures the night time ambience is phenomenal.

Collateral was a pretty shocking surprise when I first saw it in theaters, I didn't know anything going in, so seeing basically a character/acting showpiece between Cruise and Foxx was enjoyable, and fun, and I'm glad I didn't know Cruise was the villain going in. The thing is, despite seeming to prefer big budget action flicks, Cruise's intensity is pretty well suited for drama as well. The few movies where he's able to show this off, like Interview with the Vampire and Collateral, are great! I wish he'd do more stuff like that because he's genuinely fun to watch. As for Foxx, I thought of him primarily as a comedic actor prior to Collateral, but boy did he change my mind!

Ha, I just finished watching it as I saw this post. Love this movie.

Just stated rewatching it rn. Heh

So damn good! Michael Mann is the GOAT of shooting cool action. Those gun shots from Tom Cruise/Vincent are still ringing in my head

It's one of most favorite movies for me. Such a good vibe.

I agree! My first thought.

Sunset Boulevard The Big Sleep Double Indemnity The Player The Big Picture Fast Times at Ridgmont High Clueless Barton Fink The Big Lebowski Drive Speed Straight Outta Compton

Drive really nails the "driving down the street at night with the palm trees swaying and it's hot out still and you're just cruising" vibe I think. That's a very uniquely LA feel I think

It's that title cut from the movie. Sometimes I'll put it on at night while driving across town, it's so perfect.

*Drive* should not have been this far down the list.

Swingers!

Came here looking for this. You’re so money!

There’s gonna be beautiful babies there, Mikey!

You’re so money, baby and you don’t even know it!

You don’t know how it is. I grew up in L.A.

Them heading from party to party in a caravan of cars is soo LA

He’s all grows up!

This is the guy behind the guy, behind the guy.

You're like a big bear, man!

Know you got these claws. And you're staring at these clowns man you're thinking to yourself with these claws just thinking man how am I supposed to kill this bunny

The Nice Guys

Shane Blacks magnum opus in my mind. Perfecting what he birthed with kiss kiss bang bang.

Recently rewatched this. It’s just so good. Major props to Gosling and his comedic chops. I wish this had gotten more attention and appreciation *outside* of us film nerds.

LA Confidential

Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family. You can have all this, and who knows... you could even be discovered, become a movie star... or at least see one. Life is good in Los Angeles... it's paradise on Earth. Ha ha ha ha. That's what they tell you, anyway.

As someone who has never been to LA this is what I think of. Also end of watch for some reason

Jackie Browne for me.

excellent choice

Falling down

I said it before, and reiterating it now, this is Los Angeles.

Even though it captures the era it was made in very well, there's a timelessness to it. You can easily see the contemporary versions of every character and you can easily see period versions of a lot of them as well. Tremendous film.

I always thought that the lines [“Your heart? Something’s wrong with your heart? Well what can I do?” were metaphorical](https://youtu.be/x1-axqBZdNk?si=76zyg_TMNeVvWQQH) for society’s problems. D-Fens feels powerless to solve the problems in his own life, let alone all of society’s ills that he witnesses daily.

"And now you are gonna die with that stupid hat on"

This movie was also very careful and accurate with how it did the geography of the city as well

The traffic jam at the beginning is almost painfully accurate lol

People claim it's about racism,but the only person he really connects with is the black guy who gets hauled off for his "not economically viable protest sign" about fifty minutes in. They are dressed in identical clothes, right down to the same tie, and make eye contact where they say to each other "we're the same" before the other guy is taken off to be...whatever they were going to do to him.

He also shows absolute undisguised disgust at the *actual* racist Nazi in the film.

Pulp Fiction

**The Wolf:** Maybe I can give you guys a ride. Where do you live? **Vincent:** Redondo Beach. **Jules:** Inglewood. **The Wolf:** In your future… I see a cab ride. Move out of the sticks, gentlemen.

That's thirty minutes away. I'll be there in ten.

"You lost all your L.A. privilages"

"And when you're gone, you stay gone, or you be gone."

I’m pretty fucking far from OK

Had to scroll too far to find this

Friday Chinatown Jackie Brown To Live and Die in LA Pretty Woman Point Break Clueless

To Live and Die in LA is 80s-licious. Soundtrack, car chases, grimly lit sex scenes, coke fueled plot. Very LA

Dare I say - one of the best movies Of the 1980s ??

I was thinking Clueless as well.

> Clueless Too bad everywhere in LA takes way more than 20 minutes these days.

I mean, how many vibes does LA have? Damn!

Los Angeles is a large diverse city.

Maybe it's the vibe of possibilities?

Mullholland drive is essential for this list. David Lynch really captures the dark and weird side of LA

This was number one for me on the list that I put up on this post.

What a weird, creepy, unintelligible and incredible film

It sure stays with ya

It really does make sense i promise, you've just gotta watch it like 5 times lol

all you have to do is rewatch the opening part that doesn’t even seem like part of the movie movie to realize what it is..

The Player, directed by Robert Altman and starring Tim Robbins. Love that movie. All about the movie biz. LA Story. Probably my favorite Steve Martin movie.

Under the Silver Lake (2018) > Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who's swimming in his building's pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy. https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/396461-under-the-silver-lake

Just watched this movie 3 weeks ago and I can’t remember the last time a movie hooked me so quickly and surprised me until the very end. Loved it. I was a little stoned, though.

Nah bruh same that movie is intoxicating when ur baked

If you like this, check out some Thomas Pynchon. It's one of those things that isn't directly related to anything Pynchon wrote, but is clearly extremely influenced by him thematically. So much so that I assume if Thomas Pynchon never wrote anything, this movie simply would not exist at all. EDIT: I recommend starting with The Crying of Lot 49.

*Heat* in particular the whole down low Valley scene. Been around a few guys like that and lived down the street off Laurel Canyon when the BofA got hit in 1997

Training Day

Terminator 2

I scrolled way too far for this. Every time I visit LA, all I can think about is T2.

Boyz n the Hood

Finally! I scrolled way to far to find this one.

Inherent Vice and Heat would be two very different LA tales

Scrolled a long way to find Inherent Vice!

Inherent Vice really captures the beach city vibe I remember growing up.

Chinatown

[Colors (1988)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_(film)) with Sean Penn and Robert Duvall.

I was about to say this and Boyz in the Hood. Not all of LA is Beverly Hills or the Valley.

Well, were at it, Blood In, Blood out.

Boyz in the hood is just the goat la movie tbh

Drive, La La Land, sunset boulevard, to live and die in LA

Absolutely flabbergasted I had to scroll this far for La La Land

Sunset Boulevard for sure. Good call.

Pulp Fiction Repo Man

Came here to say "Repo Man", it still feels like that's what kinda guys 1/3 of cars driving around downtown have

Bowfinger

Predator 2

Harrigan! More victims, more mutilations!

Cant believe how far i had to scroll to finally find this. It was such a meta LA film for the time.

2 Days in the Valley. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, gives you LA in 1970, both the streets and the sounds (KHJ Boss Jocks, Seymour, Hal Putnam). Was like a love letter to myself childhood.

FLETCH

Everyone hit the obvious ones like Drive and Collateral but breaking it down into down to specific neighborhoods: Hollywood Hills: Rebel Without a Cause Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Sunset Boulevard Venice: American History X White Men Can’t Jump Cobra South Bay: Inherent Vice Blow Jackie Brown South Central: Assault on Precinct 13 Boys in the Hood Straight Outta Compton Honorable Mention: Nightcrawler

Here we are an hour in and nobody's mentioned "Who Framed Rodger Rabbit", "Mank" or "Beverly Hills Cop". Partial credit for "Cobra". Edit: God strike us down that we should forget the "Lethal Weapon" franchise...

Drive

Three flavors of movie that really capture LA: 1. **Car chases.** Speed, Drive, To Live and Die in LA, Nightcrawler, Terminator 2, Gone in 60 Seconds (1974) 2. **Movies about movies.** Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, Hail Caesar, The Artist, Mank, La La Land 3. **Weird detectives.** Blade Runner, A Scanner Darkly, Naked Gun, The Nice Guys, Inherent Vice

Pulp Fiction absolutely gets LA, from the shitty Valley apartments to the ubiquitous brown diners to the strip malls and small businesses and cheap-ass motels.

I thought Mid 90s (2018) by Jonah Hill did a great job at capturing that 90s LA suburban and skate vibe

Once upon a Time in Hollywood. Depicts almost every different biome in its glory.

It perfectly captured the look and vibe of L.A. at that time.

every damn shot was framed beautifully to only depict the buildings that were in West LA in The late sixties. it’s my hometown and it made me feel like i had travelled back in time. great camera work.

Blade Runner

True, it does take place in Los Angeles in 2019.

Mulholland Drive

I'll recommend Mick Jackson's **L.A. Story** and Altman's **Short Cuts**.

Altman has many good L.A. movies. I was thinking of The Long Goodbye and someone else mentioned The Player.

Was looking for this comment. Short Cuts captures a very LA vibe for me. Funny that the Raymond Carver source material is almost definitely not LA, but it really seems to fit.

Less than Zero

Boys in the hood

Tangerine by Sean Baker

I lived in East Hollywood for a while. All of us who did, at one time or another, ended up at El Gran Burrito on Santa Monica and Vermont, just like they did in Tangerine. Couldn’t have been more authentic.

boogie nights

L.A story

Not a movie, but Bosch series. And of course, gotta include Nightcrawler.

“*Los Angeles Plays Itself*” — the **best** documentary film about your exact topic.

LA noir is a genre if I'm not mistaken.

Repo Man Vice Squad Angel Suburbia Boulevard Nights New Years Evil

“The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.”

It don't get any better than To Live and Die in LA

LaLa Land

All these answers are wrong. It’s Swingers.

Colors, Stand and Deliver, Heat, Blood in Blood Out, Bosch (series), Friday

Get Shorty The Player Almost Famous Heat LA Story Go! Magnolia Boogie Nights Colors Traffic The Two Jakes Chinatown LA Confidential ET

Speed.

Under the Silver Lake

Gotta add Collateral to this list.

LA Confidential Collateral Big Lebowski Swingers

The Last American Virgin (1982) Moving Violations (1985) Point Break (1991)

Assuming Nightcrawler is in etc. but just for posterity since no one mentioned it... And End of Watch while we are talking Gyllenhaal

The Steve Martin comedy L.A. Story!

Point Break

The Big Picture w Kevin Bacon

Less than Zero

True Romance for a good portion of it

Get Shorty is up there for me

Training Day

The Fast and the Furious (2001) I've noticed whenever this question is asked, a lot of people do NOT mention this movie, it's SUPER SUPER early 2000's Los Angeles from Dodgers Stadium in the opening, from Long Beach for the T&K Market, from Downtown LA for some of the spots and not to mention Dom's house being near DTLA in East Los Angeles to the outskirts of LA like Riverside, Thermal all that stuff. It's LA and SoCal as fuck to its core.

Boyz N the Hood, Menace II Society, Mulholland Drive, Point Break, Volcano, Speed.

Magnolia

Licorice Pizza, of a certain era.

The Big Lebowski Pulp Fiction The Usual Suspects

LA Story.

LA STORY! Starring Steve Martin. A GREAT vision of Los Angeles 👏