Living in L.A. you experience some moments that make you stop and think “am I in a movie right now?”. After asking myself this multiple times it sparked a great question; What are some can’t miss movies that are based here in our great city of angels.  Take a look and if you feel something is missing speak up!

Swingers

With the hilarious tag line “You’re money, you’re so money and don’t even know it!”, Swingers depicts a group of wanna be actors adapting to the ultra hipster L.A. scene.  Jon Farveau and Vince Vaughn deliver a spot on reenactment of what most L.A transplants experience upon arrival. Learning the rules of the city isn’t easy, it involves letting go of the past  and tackling L.A’s social scene head first.

Training Day

Denzel Washington delivers an Oscar award winning performance as rouge LAPD cop Alfonzo Harris who describes himself, quite accurately, as a “wolf among wolves”.  The film shows the training process of rookie cop Jake, played by Ethan Hawke, who quickly discovers the rules of policing the streets of LA cannot be found in any police handbook. Touching everything from corruption to gang life to street politics Training Day is a definite must see.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

No your eyes aren’t deceiving you it’s “ Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. The movie, that was the coolest during our younger years, still packs a powerful punch. Even though animated at times, this film takes a look at L.A. life during the 30′s through the eyes of a wrongly accused rabbit and a “toon “ hating detective.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Who knew that the T-800 sent to save John Conner would later be “saving” the state of “Khalifornia”.  T2 has everything that an awesome action movie should have explosions, car chases, and fight scenes all set in 1990’s L.A. Plus Arnold’s nemesis portrays the LAPD  perfectly, an evil being that no matter what just won’t go away!

Boyz n the Hood

What do you get when you mix social commentary on the civil war that was waged in the streets of South Central in the 90′s with a cast of Hollywood’s up and coming black thespians? The answer is John Singleton’s 1991 hit  “Boyz in the Hood”. Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Angela Basset, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long and Cuba Gooding Jr. deliver a film that opened the countries eyes to what life in South Central was like in the 90’s.