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Downtown Vid Pic: "Papi"

"Papi" (2011) Jennifer Lopez. Dir: Paul Hunter

HOG AS LOCATION: Historic Core / Old Bank District / Gallery Row streets were stocked with men clamouring for J-L0 in this video filmed August 2011. As usual, street continuity is a loose theory.

Downtown Vid Pic: "Life Stinks"

 

Life Stinks (1991) Directed by Mel Brooks

The late Mark D. Schumaker and I shared notes on obscure downtown film locations. I recalled this scene and brought it up to him. It was no surprise he already knew about it. More so because the doorway is known by anyone who has entered Old Bank DVD.This Downtown Vid Pic is for Mark. His memorial is Saturday.

 

Downtown Vid Pic: "Duquesne Whistle"

Duquesne Whistle (2012) Bob Dylan. Directed by Nash Edgerton.

Downtown's constant revival is a miracle that has been a surprise discovery by someone each month during the last decade. In this video for "Duquesne Whistle," the late Charles Bukowski would almost crack a smile if he saw Bob Dylan make downtown street's mean and filled with ordinary madness again. Is there some kind of wicked subtext to see a potential hipster romance turn out bad? The black skinny jeaned male is harrassed by cops, then kidnapped. It gets darker. But the visual treat is seeing Dylan walking up Broadway like a rolling stone with his posse.

Downtown Vid Pic: "War of the Worlds"

I can’t pass up October 31st without this clip of City Hall getting whacked by out of town guests from "War Of The Worlds" (1953), the first in a long line of regional alien invasions. With the film shifting to Los Angeles in the early 1950s, George Pal had the Orson Welles tale work on nerves frayed by the Cold War. Looking back, the scenes of streets emptied of civilization, switching back and forth from a studio to on location near 8th and Hill, the sci-fi classic is an accidential commentary on downtown being abandoned in the mid-20th Century,  an evacuation during a crisis.

Next year will mark the 60th year since the release of this gem.  Grand Park would be a great place for a screening next Halloween.

 

"War of the Worlds" (1953) trailer

 

Downtown Vid Pick: "Progress"

 

Progress (2011) Booker T. Jones /  Directed by Aaron Hymes

Pop & Hiss takes a look at Booker T. Jones clip for "Progress." Set in Downtown L.A.. the video doesn't stray from downtown expect for few moments in Long Beach. "Hymes said 90% of the clip is Los Angeles. The neighborhood is still one marked by contrasts, at least on the surface, as upper-class lofts sit adjacent to Skid Row" writes Todd Martens at the LAT music blog.

Downtown Vid Pick: "The Music Box"

 

The Music Box (1932) Directed by James Parrott

It's Stan Laurel's birthday, so let's wander into Silverlake where Stan and Ollie delivered a music box piano.  For those who are purists, here is the full black and white version of The Music Box.

The short film has made 923 / 935 Vendome St, near Del Monte, a beloved film location after being "rediscovered" in the late 80s.  Now the stairway has an official sign from the City of Los Angeles; Eat your heart out, Conan.

Downtown Vid Pick: "Paper Bag"

 

Paper Bag (2000) Fiona Apple  / Directed by  Paul Thomas Anderson

The former Fred Harvey Restaurant at Union Station is the location being  chatted up at L.A. Observed. Clearly  a worthy candidate for a Downtown Vid Pick selection.

Downtown Vid Pick: "The Kid"

 

The Kid (1921) Directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Today is Charlie Chaplin's birthday, so its appropriate to dust off one of my favorite downtown film locations; 1921's "The Kid" with Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan. The climatic chase and rescue was filmed around Olvera Street, nine years before it was cleaned up for tourism.

In a brief 1964 interview with cinematographer Roland Totheroh, who did most of Chaplin's films, recalls filming "The Kid" on downtown rooftops and the "Mexican" alley. Totheroh adds "Nothin' on it but the backs of some old buildings." The final scene was filmed at what is now the front of Casa California (de Sousa) and Casa Flores Imports.

The footage makes it understandable why city fathers and Christine Sterling were determined to clean up the birthplace of the city of Los Angeles by the 1930s. It was the perfect location for any slient film needing slums.

Charlie Chaplin was born in London 122 years ago today, on April 16, 1889. It is the 90th year of Coogan as "The Kid" and Chaplin as "A Tramp" tugging tears out of your eyes.

SIDE NOTE: Up the street from this location, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held today for LA Plaza de Cultural y Artes, the city’s first permanent Mexican-American cultural center.

Source includes Chaplin Film Locations: Then & Now.

Downtown Vid Pick: "Interstate Love Song"

 

Interstate Love Song (1994) Stone Temple Pilots  / Directed by Kevin Kerslake

Stone Temple Pilot's "Interstate Love Song" is one of those cases of "Hey, I don't recall that being filmed Downtown."  This may or may not be an accidental nod to the Historic Core being a location for many silent films.

ADD SILENT: In honor of April Fools' Day, YouTube is celebrating its 100th birthday today by digging into the archives for classics like the slient viral hit 'Flugelhorn Feline.'

Downtown Vid Pick: 'Blood and Glory'

 

Blood and Glory (2011) Midnight Radio /  Directed by Dalit Diva

The Museum of Neon Art is the backdrop for “Blood and Glory,” a new single by Midnight Radio, an indie band who have performed at the treasured neon museum during Art Walk.

The song and location was a good pick. It almost comes across as MONA's goodbye note to Downtown Los Angeles.

Lead singer Dalit Diva (Thenmozhi Soundararajan) comes out of USC, and directed the Bolly-Noir music vid. The lyrics, subtitled in Hindi and English, help move you through a song about moving forward after a relationship: "I want more. I want more. I want love. That's the point."

You can almost hear Downtown Los Angeles, a long-time partner to MONA, say "Ouch."

MONA just signed a 15 year lease with the City of Glendale and expected to inhabit new space in spring of 2012. “Glendale is rapidly becoming the regional leader in arts development,” brayed Glendale Councilmember John Drayman in a press release about the lease and move.

As for the single, Soundararajan––or Diva if you prefer––told Buzzline Bollywood: “It’s exciting to have been one of the first Indian artists to have a 3D video. At the time, I didn’t realize how historic it was, but as a desi woman who is a rock and roll artist and a 3D film director, it is inevitable that some records get broken.”

That's right. Records and hearts were made to be broken. Put on your 3D glasses and move on.

 

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