La La Land

I saw the movie "La La Land" the other night and my brain is still buzzing. A movie has not affected me so much since "The Artist" in 2011. This post will contain some spoilers, so if you haven't seen "La La Land," please do so...and then you can come back here.

It's one of those movies that I wanted to immerse myself into and stay for days. Stylistically it is a throwback to the musicals of the fifties, but story-wise, it is a very modern tale of pursuing your dream and what may have to be left behind to do so.

The movie begins with a powerhouse musical number filmed on the offramp of the I-105/110. How the hell did they do this?!? If you're not into musical numbers, just patient...the story line will begin soon enough and you too will be swept away.



It is also a colorful postcard of Los Angeles and Hollywood, featuring some of the iconic landmarks and secret treasures that I adore.

The Angel's Flight Railway was put back in action to film a very short sequence showing the two main characters Sebastian and Mia, played by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.



Oh how I wish it were still working.



The Griffith Observatory is also prominently featured as Mia and Sebastian visit the location where "Rebel Without A Cause" was filmed.















A walk down the Colorado Street Bridge was filmed at just the right time, capturing the globe lights and saturated sunset/sunrise.



I was not so lucky when I shot this photo; the lights had just gone off!



Quite a few scenes take place on the Warner Brothers lot, where Mia works as a barista to help pay the bills while she struggles to be an actress.



The casting call audition scenes are brutal; apparently they were based on actual experiences by both Stone and Gosling.









My fave hotel the Chateau Marmont is shown in a brief clip of where "future" Mia stays while visiting from New York. Unfortunately, the interior room shoots were filmed elsewhere. That was a bit of a buzzkill!



Run...or dance...to the nearest theater that is showing this film.

See more Los Angeles photos at my main website.

A Mink in Watts

I can just picture; February 1964. Millicent and her husband Harold are out for a Sunday drive. They make a wrong turn and find themselves in Watts. Looking through the front window, Millicent sees the uniquely magnificent Towers in front of her. "Pull the car over, Harold!" Clutching her fur wrap, she poses in front of the entrance sign.



Zooming in for the signage:



I am loving the contrast of a Sunday-best clad Millicent roaming through the informal yet magnificent Watts Towers.



Something about the old vs. new, the establishment vs. the rebels. And yes, Simon Rodia was definitely a rebel for being able to conceive such a cool piece of art and then seeing its construction through, despite all of the hurdles thrown at him by the City of Los Angeles.



Millicent's visit occurred one year before Rodia passed away.





As a bonus, I am throwing in this November 1962 vintage image of the Towers from a totally unrelated visit.



For more Watts Towers photos head on over to my main website.

Watts Towers

Another bucket list item was crossed off when I finally made it to The Watts Towers in Los Angeles. Designed and built by Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason Sabato Rodia, over a period of 33 years, from 1921-1954, this wacky collection of towers made of steel, concrete, porcelain, tile, and just about everything besides the kitchen sink has always fascinated me…from photos. I was excited to experience them in person.



In 1955, Rodia 'quit claimed' his property to a neighbor and left, frustrated from battling the city for permits. He moved to Martinez, California and never returned, passing away ten years later.



I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when I saw them. For some reason, I expected there to be more land around them, but they are smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I also didn't expect them to be fenced in, especially by a fence that is very closely constructed to the towers themselves. Still, I do understand the need for the fence, as otherwise this amazing piece of architecture would probably not survive the threat of vandalism.



When Rodia's bungalow inside the towers was burned down, the City of Los Angeles condemned the structure and ordered it to be destroyed. Actor Nicholas King and film editor William Cartwright purchased the property in 1959 for $2,000 in order to preserve it. King, Cartwright, architects, artists, enthusiasts, academics, and other community activists formed the 'Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers in Watts,' negotiating with the city to allow for an engineering test to establish the safety of the structures and avoid their demolition.



On October 10, 1959, steel cable was attached to each Tower and a crane was used to exert lateral force all connected to a 'load-force' meter. Unable to topple or even shift the Towers with the forces applied, the test was concluded when the crane experienced mechanical failure. As a result, the Towers have served as an influence for stability and endurance in architecture. Not bad for an unsafe condemned structure!



The Committee preserved the Towers independently until 1975 when they partnered with the City of Los Angeles, who then partnered with the State of California in 1978. They are now operated by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and curated by the Watts Towers Arts Center/Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center.



I didn't have time to take the tour, so that still remains on my bucket list.

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here are photos of Walt Disney World's homage to the Cross Roads of the World in Hollywood:







See more Daveland Watts Towers photos at my main website.