Despite those great number of crime films set in the windy city of Chicago, Illinois, it is New York and Los Angeles sharing the heavier load through history. But New York crime dramas, whether they be focused on the police or the criminals or the people in between, feel completely different than Los Angeles crime dramas. And vice versa.
The best LA crime films use urban sprawl, glitz, glamour, and the allure of celebrity seeping just below the texture of their films. New York has its own set of rules in the genre but I may favor the LA crime flick over the Manhattan version. Regardless of my favoritism, there are brilliant films in each of the cities’ crime genre roots, ones which play on the strengths of the setting.
End of Watch, the new LA cop drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, hopes to carry on the tradition of powerful crime dramas in the City of Angels. Let’s see how it does compared to these greats.
Think about these films and their look and feel, sprawled out and sun baked, with Hollywood peeking out from the corner. And expect to see a little Michael Mann…
We are currently seeking Films contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Films contributor, click here.
3 Comments
Great list! For your consideration, I think the under-rated Shane Black’s ‘Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang’ should be on this film compilation. Also worth noting is Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Limey’.
You know what your talking about, its nice to see Chinatown and Heat on the same list, and also DRIVE. Refreshing List!
By the way, lets hope Rockstar games is reading this right now to shape up their next Grand Theft Auto installment of the location we all love.
The list is almost perfect, Drive deserves it’s place, and Heat is a forever classic!