\u201cThe 101 best Los Angeles movies, ranked,\u201d<\/a> Jan. 15). But first, kudos for including \u201cRepo Man.\u201d<\/p>\nAs for omissions, it missed two of my favorite Hollywood comedies: Joel and Ethan Coen\u2019s \u201cHail, Caesar!\u201d and Blake Edwards\u2019 \u201cThe Party.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHail, Caesar!\u201d never gets as much love as it deserves, but some of its set pieces, like the musical number \u201cNo Dames!\u201d and the Russian submarine carrying off Channing Tatum, are iconic moviemaking. As for \u201cThe Party,\u201d it\u2019s simply one of the funniest movies ever made and captures the absurdity of Hollywood better than most.<\/p>\n
I find \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain\u201d overrated. Other than the title number, I think it\u2019s quite mediocre. By villainizing the actress who can\u2019t make the transition to talkies, it shows a huge lack of empathy for the cruel fate of so many silent film actors.<\/p>\n
I find \u201cLa La Land,\u201d however, underrated. Yes, it\u2019s on the list, but it deserves to be higher. It\u2019s an homage to the great musicals of the 1930s that were intended as escapism from the Depression, but with a bittersweet twist at the end that makes it very much of its time.<\/p>\n
But my No. 1 is \u201cSunset Boulevard.\u201d For final lines, it surely beats \u201cChinatown,\u201d and even better is this:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re Norma Desmond. You used to be big.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am big. It\u2019s the pictures that got small.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former silent film stars must have cheered at that line.<\/p>\n
Kathleen Barreto, Culver City<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor<\/b>: As much as I enjoyed reading this, it\u2019s a reminder that it\u2019s a near-impossible task to create a best-of list without leaving something out that, in my opinion, deserves recognition.<\/p>\n
For me, that movie is \u201cSwimming With Sharks\u201d (1994). Even 30 years later, that movie continues to grab me by the throat as it takes a look behind the curtain of old-school Hollywood. Otherwise, a very fine compilation indeed.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lash, Carlsbad<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor<\/b>: How is it possible that \u201cPretty Woman\u201d was left off the list? I am \u201cDown and Out in Beverly Hills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisa Wayne, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor<\/b>: Your experts gave short shrift to silent films \u2014 a major oversight considering that many of those early movies were shot on the streets of L.A. during its transformation into a metropolis.<\/p>\n
\u201cSafety Last!\u201d (1923) should\u2019ve been in the top 10. Harold Lloyd literally hangs out above downtown in this remarkable comedy-thriller that showcases the city arising.<\/p>\n
The Angels Flight neighborhood post-World War II has been featured in many movies, but never more skillfully than in \u201cCriss Cross\u201d (1949), a fatalistic noir starring Burt Lancaster and Yvonne de Carlo. Robert Siodmak, one of the underrated masters of the period, directed.<\/p>\n
Richard Jewell, Los Feliz<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor<\/b>: There are quite a few movies on the list that could\u2019ve been omitted to make room for \u201cGrand Canyon,\u201d Lawrence Kasdan\u2019s spot-on portrayal of the economic divide in L.A.<\/p>\n
Clyde Dodge, Irvine<\/p>\n
..<\/p>\n
To the editor<\/b>: Jeepers, creepers! How could you leave out \u201cThe Day of the Locust\u201d?<\/p>\n
The Nathanael West novel is a classic story of Hollywood madness. And the film, with Donald Sutherland and Karen Black, was quite illuminating. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ll just imagine it\u2019s No. 102 on your list. <\/p>\n
AJ Lane, Laguna Woods<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan. 21, 2026 6 AM PT To the editor: While all lists like this are subjective, I can\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":532386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,211291,276,15842,7129,235966,235964,11042,14107,6276,2961,11804,224,2444,5337,3196,235967,235968,149059,235965],"class_list":{"0":"post-532385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-caesar","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-culver-city","12":"tag-editor","13":"tag-final-line","14":"tag-good-l-a-film","15":"tag-hail","16":"tag-hollywood","17":"tag-l-a","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-list","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-times","22":"tag-losangeles","23":"tag-movie","24":"tag-quibble","25":"tag-short-shrift","26":"tag-silent-film","27":"tag-the-party"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115933670517569097","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}