My Next Review: "To Live and Die in L.A."

WARNING: There are SPOILERS throughout, so PLEASE watch the film before reading this so you'll have your own unique experience first!!! You can use these notes during your second viewing if you'd like!

Hello All!

I hope you enjoyed my previous movie "reviews" of "Jack's Back" on Vocal and YouTube. I have decided to tackle my favorite movies in the same vein during the foreseeable future.

• Movies that touched my soul (The 'Burbs)
• Movies I chanced upon in my childhood (Sneakers, The Stupids)
• Movies by my favorite director, John Carpenter (In The Mouth Of Madness, Prince Of Darkness)
• Mini-series and -franchises based off of my favorite novels by Stephen King and Michael Crichton (the adaptations of IT and Jurassic Park, namely The Lost World)
• Movies I dig for specific reasons I can't recall at the moment (Scream 2)
• Movies I liked but don't own and aren't streaming for less than $17.99 (Houseguest)
• AND MORE! Perhaps even TV shows, too! Twin Peaks, Tales From The Crypt, Fawlty To--

Of course, I am inarguably a diehard MCU fan, but that is far too sprawling for me to consider tackling at this time.

And Now, For Our Feature Presentation...

Here are all of the notes I took in the course of viewing the film. It's a lot easier than typing like I did for the movie yesterday! Plus, the data is raw and no corners had to be cut in typing it all out!! You gotta love not having to love technology, don't ya?

Because you can read my notes above, I'll try to condense it all as efficiently as I can into a couple of observations. You can look for the specifics yourself once you see the film (though, like I SAID!!!!, I hope that will be for the SECOND time, at Least!!!!!)

• In my experience, the songs almost tied characters together, also acting as the suggestions of corruption/vengeance, explaining the [shifting] relationships between characters and also their individual arcs.
• Because of the hints of androgyny, too, it could hint to people losing themselves. (I swear Rick was kissing a guy in that shot backstage before it is revealed to be his girlfriend! Maybe its just me, but I doubt it. I'm sure that was done on purpose...perhaps even with a male actor. It certainly hints at HER duplicitous nature). Corruption doesn't care about good or evil, male or female. They are all just pawns in the "game" of L.A.
• I believe the first-person, shaky camera shots were used to give a spirit to L.A., or to show the world through "Its" eyes.
• A theme of the film, or what it seeks to convey, could be an illustration of thrill-seeking and the growing dangers of emotional saturation and seeking the bigger and grander things, thus becoming a victim to its burgeoning price.
• "If you want bread, f&*k a baker." (lmao) and "If you're lookin' for a pigeon, go to the park." Karma, baby. Just noticed this correlation on this viewing.

A KEY LINE: "It was just business."

A Witty Observation:

You know, when that guy littered in front of Richard and John, if one of them had just said, "Littering! That'll be a $30,000 fine," all their troubles would have been over, as far as getting that undercover agent killed was concerned. They were Secret Service agents, but STILL--jurisdiction or not, they could have TRIED!!!

An "Unrelated" Observation

Gary Cole is in this movie. Its funny because I was literally just thinking about Office Space earlier after watching a scene on YouTube (I won't say which one. *Cough*. Tetris.)

Also, they kept referring to a character by the name of Bateman. I don't remember who that was, but I was literally watching American Psycho just a couple of days ago.

Coincidence?

...

I think NOT!!!