| | Los Angeles Plays Itself Theatrical Release (Not Yet Available on DVD) Los Angeles Plays Itself CDS
| Category | Music Video DVDs, Documentary Movies, Media Arts Videos, Theatrical Releases (Not Yet Available), Los Angeles, California, Film Noir, Hollywood, Filmmakers, Mythology, Geography | | Director | Thom Andersen | | Narrator | Encke King | | Producer | Thom Andersen | | Screenwriter | Thom Andersen |
Thom Andersen is a film teacher, Los Angeles resident, and film fanatic. He believes that his city--the most photographed in the world--gets short shrift on the silver screen. To illustrate this point, Andersen has stitched together a montage of scenes from hundreds of different movies, and created his debut feature film, LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF. Splitting the film into three parts, Andersen begins with "The City as Background." Here, he looks at the way some of Los Angeles' finest architecture is abused in the movies. A particular Frank Lloyd Wright house, for example, has been used in over 30 films, including BLADE RUNNER and BLACK RAIN. But why, the director ponders, is it usually used to house characters of villainous intent? Next, Andersen presents "The City As Character," which looks at how Los Angeles often takes on the role of treacherous co-star. He shows how the city has become a welcome target for aliens, (INDEPENDENCE DAY), an architectural bore (POINT BLANK), riddled with corrupt cops (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL), and a former consumerist mecca (THE OMEGA MAN). The film concludes with "City as Subject," in which Andersen highlights the many social and economic problems the city has faced, and how they have been committed to celluloid. He principally looks at CHINATOWN, as well as lesser-known African-American films such as BUSH MAMA and THE KILLER OF SHEEP. Andersen is a big fan of the latter two movies, believing they are among the very few to accurately portray the city he loves. Absorbing, obsessive, and highly unique, Thom Andersen's film is a labor of love that cinephiles should find fascinating. Los Angeles Plays Itself Reviews: "[B]rilliant....It offers an insider's guide to the complex interaction of physical metropolis and the vicissitudes of movie production."
-- Paul Arthur, Film Comment "[O]bsessively entertaining..."
-- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly "Thom Andersen's monumental LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF boldly and provocatively explores the long, evolving relationship between the city and its representation on the screen."-- Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times "[W]atching the beautiful logic of the way these clips from dozens of movies are stitched together, it's easy to see how the project has taken on a life of its own."
-- Nick James, Sight and Sound
This is the only Thom Andersen video. Los Angeles Plays Itself | Orig Year | 2004 | | CD Universe Part number | 6870598 | | Release Date | New Los Angeles Plays Itself TR release date | | Rating | Not Rated | | Running Time | 169 Minutes | | Movie Details | Color |
Los Angeles Plays Itself Review
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Los Angeles Plays Itself DVD Theatrical Release Features:
Full Frame -
1.33
Los Angeles Plays Itself Video Purchase Los Angeles Plays Itself Movie To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrowland DVDs (2004)
Los Angeles Plays Itself film
 $25.79  
This edition of WALT DISNEY TREASURES focuses on Disney's rallying of public support for US space programs. Through five DISNEYLAND television shows, as well as a rare release of EPCOT, Walt Disney's last film, this collection illustrates Disney's perspective on the benefits and obstacles of space exploration. Several special features, including a story and background art gallery, show Disney's commitment to futurism and space program development.
Animated; Closed Captioned; Standard Screen; Additional Footage; Bio/Filmographies; Soundtrack English
| | Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam: Season 1 DVD (2002)
Los Angeles Plays Itself review
$8.05 
After building a successful franchise with DEF COMEDY JAM, Russell Simmons tries to do the same thing with the world of spoken word poetry. Hosted by rapper and actor Mos Def and filmed at New York City's Supper Club, DEF POETRY JAM allows some of the country's most wildly gifted performers to deliver their political, personal, and poignant monologues to a national audience. This release contains every episode from the show's breakout first season.
Closed Captioned; Standard Screen; Soundtrack English
| | Curse Of King Tut's Tomb Blu-ray (2006) Widescreen
Los Angeles Plays Itself DVD
 $8.79
Casper Van Dien stars as archaeologist Danny Freemont in this action-packed battle of good vs. evil. Believing that a lost emerald tablet once belonging to King Tut holds the power to control all mankind, Freemont heads on an expedition to uncover this cursed item before his enemy (and the one person who believes him) beats him to the chase. Will Freemont or his arch nemesis (Jonathan Hyde) unearth the secrets of King Tut's tombs before it's too late?
Standard Screen; Soundtrack English; Blue Ray HD-DVD
| | Note By Note: The Making Of The Steinway L1037 DVD (2007)
Los Angeles Plays Itself movie DVD
$17.99
Building a piano is arguably as much an art as the playing it, and its creation lies at the of this documentary. NOTE BY NOTE: THE MAKING OF THE STEINWAY L1037 follows a concert grand from its birth in the trees to its magnificent debut in a New York concert hall. Musicians including Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Harry Connick, Jr., and Hank Jones offer their insight into their beloved instrument.
Standard Screen; Soundtrack English
| | John Wayne: American Legend DVD (2003) Full Frame
Los Angeles Plays Itself video
$11.35
John Wayne's film career has gone down in the American history books largely thanks to his portrayal of tough-talking hard men in a series of western and adventure films. This documentary takes a look at his life and career, and talks to some other living legends about Wayne's superstar status and on set antics.
Standard Screen; Soundtrack English; Dolby Digital 5.1 Re
| | Confessions Of A Superhero DVD (2007) Widescreen
Los Angeles Plays Itself film
$10.49
This crowd-pleasing documentary follows four actors who spend their days dressed up as Marvel and DC's best as they try to make it in Hollywood. CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO is more than just a look at the lives of these four people who play Batman, Superman, the Hulk, and Wonder Woman: it also examines the desire for fame and stardom.
Closed Captioned; Soundtrack English
| | Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street
Los Angeles Plays Itself review
A brutally realistic glimpse into the lives of five heroin addicts over the course of two years in San Francisco, BLACK TAR HEROIN follows Jake, Tracey, Jessica, Alice, and Oreo through their descent into the world of drugs. Graphically chronicling the disastrous effects heroin addiction has on the lives of the individuals who succumb to it, the film is brutal in its depiction of drug related crimes and diseases: prostitution, AIDS, and, worst of all, overdoses. Although the film is at times difficult to watch, its message is terribly important, making BLACK TAR... a film that both teenagers and adults should pay close attention to.
| | Goose!
Los Angeles Plays Itself DVD
IN THEATERS DECEMBER 2, 2005
It's a talking goose versus a greedy, gluttonous school principal (Chevy Chase) in this charming holiday tale. Unfortunately the principal fancies roasting the goose for the holidays, leading schoolboy Will (Max Morrow)--who has recently lost his mother--to find a new purpose in life as he tries to protect his feathered friend.
| | Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy
Los Angeles Plays Itself movie DVD
IN THEATERS MARCH 31, 2006
Originally released in 1979, TIBET: A BUDDHIST TRILOGY was a labor of love for filmmaker Graham Coleman. The director spent four years filming in Tibet, splitting the resulting documentary into three parts. After meeting the Dalai Lama, Coleman then takes a look at the Lamas of the Phulwary Skya Monastery, before concluding with an overview of how the monastery deals with a death among their ranks.
| | Justice
Los Angeles Plays Itself video
IN THEATERS OCTOBER 18, 2006
This illuminating documentary from director Maria Ramos explores the justice system in the crime-ridden world of the favelas--the infamous slums of Rio de Janeiro. Ramos follows the often very young criminals, who include drug dealers and car thieves, as well as the judges and lawyers, as they go through trials in a city with a vast and ever-widening gap between rich and poor.
| | Our Daily Bread DVD (2006) Victory Multimedia
Los Angeles Plays Itself film
$19.55 
IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 24, 2006 (LIMITED)
This unusual documentary dispenses with any sort of commentary and instead shows a collage of images, all of which illustrate how food is prepared in factories across the United States.
Additional Footage; Soundtrack English; Dolby Digital 5.1 Re
| | Great Warming
Los Angeles Plays Itself review
IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 3, 2006 (LIMITED)
Keanu Reeves and Alanis Morissette narrate this alarming documentary about the phenomena of global warming.
| | My Best Friend
Los Angeles Plays Itself DVD
| | Taking Woodstock DVD (2009) Widescreen; Dubbed; Subtitled
Los Angeles Plays Itself movie DVD
$22.19 
Ang Lee (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN) directs this film about the beginnings of the epic and legendary 1969 Woodstock Festival, which took place in Bethel, New York.
Additional Footage; Soundtrack English; Soundtrack French; Soundtrack Spanish; English Subtitles; Director's Comments
| | Winnie
Los Angeles Plays Itself video
Starring: Jennifer Hudson; Darrell James Roodt; Darrell James Roodt; Andre Pieterse;
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