Directed by Thom Andersen | 173 mins | 2003
Los Angeles, so the story goes, became the nation’s movie capital in part because of its proximity to a variety of different landscapes, easily re-cast as other, far-flung places. But how has the city represented itself on screen? Thom Anderson’s seminal essay film gives LA an overdue close-up, drawing on a wealth of movie clips in service of his keen-eyed and illuminating deconstruction.