Jan. 21, 2026 6 AM PT
To the editor: Whereas all lists like this are subjective, I can’t assist however nitpick a bit of (“The 101 best Los Angeles movies, ranked,” Jan. 15). However first, kudos for together with “Repo Man.”
As for omissions, it missed two of my favourite Hollywood comedies: Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Hail, Caesar!” and Blake Edwards’ “The Celebration.”
“Hail, Caesar!” by no means will get as a lot love because it deserves, however a few of its set items, just like the musical quantity “No Dames!” and the Russian submarine carrying off Channing Tatum, are iconic moviemaking. As for “The Celebration,” it’s merely one of many funniest films ever made and captures the absurdity of Hollywood higher than most.
I discover “Singin’ within the Rain” overrated. Aside from the title quantity, I feel it’s fairly mediocre. By villainizing the actress who can’t make the transition to talkies, it exhibits an enormous lack of empathy for the merciless destiny of so many silent movie actors.
I discover “La La Land,” nonetheless, underrated. Sure, it’s on the listing, but it surely deserves to be larger. It’s an homage to the nice musicals of the Nineteen Thirties that have been meant as escapism from the Despair, however with a bittersweet twist on the finish that makes it very a lot of its time.
However my No. 1 is “Sundown Boulevard.” For ultimate traces, it certainly beats “Chinatown,” and even higher is that this:
“You’re Norma Desmond. You was large.”
“I’m large. It’s the images that received small.”
Former silent movie stars should have cheered at that line.
Kathleen Barreto, Culver Metropolis
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To the editor: As a lot as I loved studying this, it’s a reminder that it’s a near-impossible activity to create a best-of listing with out leaving one thing out that, for my part, deserves recognition.
For me, that film is “Swimming With Sharks” (1994). Even 30 years later, that film continues to seize me by the throat because it takes a glance behind the scenes of old-school Hollywood. In any other case, a really superb compilation certainly.
Stephen Lash, Carlsbad
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To the editor: How is it attainable that “Fairly Girl” was left off the listing? I’m “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”
Elisa Wayne, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Your specialists gave brief shrift to silent movies — a serious oversight contemplating that a lot of these early films have been shot on the streets of L.A. throughout its transformation right into a metropolis.
“Security Final!” (1923) ought to’ve been within the prime 10. Harold Lloyd actually hangs out above downtown on this exceptional comedy-thriller that showcases town arising.
The Angels Flight neighborhood post-World Conflict II has been featured in lots of films, however by no means extra skillfully than in “Criss Cross” (1949), a fatalistic noir starring Burt Lancaster and Yvonne de Carlo. Robert Siodmak, one of many underrated masters of the interval, directed.
Richard Jewell, Los Feliz
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To the editor: There are fairly just a few films on the listing that would’ve been omitted to make room for “Grand Canyon,” Lawrence Kasdan’s spot-on portrayal of the financial divide in L.A.
Clyde Dodge, Irvine
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To the editor: Jeepers, creepers! How may you permit out “The Day of the Locust”?
The Nathanael West novel is a traditional story of Hollywood insanity. And the movie, with Donald Sutherland and Karen Black, was fairly illuminating.
I’ll simply think about it’s No. 102 in your listing.
AJ Lane, Laguna Woods
