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October 1995, Week 4

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Subject:
From:
"Edward R. O'Neill" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 23 Oct 1995 22:07:00 PDT
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  Actually, the topic of films about LA has been rather haunting  me
lately.  Probably because of some recent films.  *Devil in a Blue
Dress*, though for me not an entirely satisfying reworking of
*Chinatown*, IS an extremely satisfying movie about racism in Los
Angeles after WWII.  It would make an interesting counter-point
to *Chinatown*--a kind of one-two punch.
  Also, the recent *Strange Days*--which hasn't been discussed at
all on this list!--is very much a Los Angeles film.  I suppose its
po-mo dystopic outlook would put  it  next to *Blade Runner*, but
it should probably be screened with *In the Line of Fire*, which isn't
strictly about LA, BUT both films have central final sequences set
at the Hotel Bonaventure, and since the big ugly beast of a building
IS an icon of postmodernism, the two films together would make nice
watching after reading Fredric Jameson on "Late Capitalism blah blah
blah."  For both films, the computerization of images is central, but,
in *In the Line of Fire*, this computerization is off-stage, so to
speak:  actual footage of various presidential campaigns was reworked
to get rid of actual candidates' names and to insert fictional ones,
as well as to put Clint into the Presidential motorcade.  (Also,
we're given a bit of faked footage of young Clint and young JFK--two
'movie stars' who can be juxtaposed thanks to *Gump*-esque techno-
logy.)
  Also (last random point):  I've always suspected that many film
noirs are as much about Los Angeles (and Hollywood) as their
ostensible subject matter (insurance, whatnot).  *Double Indemnity*
is particularly fine for LA landscape, what with the Hollywood
Bowl and all the precise demography the narrator gives, and N. Ray's
*In a Lonely Place* is similar in this respect.
  I hope my recent musings at  least provide some food for thought.
Sincerely,
Edward R. O'Neill
UCLA
 
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