Backdrop image for movie Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.

Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A. (1995)

Before "L.A. Confidential", there was "Shotgun Freeway" -- the groundbreaking 1995 documentary about Los Angeles coming to grips with it's own history. Against a backdrop of never-before-seen archival footage, Shotgun Freeway presents a diverse group of "Angelinos" who guide the film through their own past as well as the city's. We get crime scribe James Ellroy reliving his youth as a burglar, Actor/writer Buck Henry's tour of Hollywood fakery, Jazzman Buddy Collette's trip down Central Avenue, Historian Mike Davis' tour of LA's eventual Armageddon, and writer Joan Didion's take on LA's own ephemerality. From the Beaches to the Valley, "Shotgun Freeway" will show you a Los Angeles you never knew existed.

Documentary

Top billed cast

Joan Didionself
James Ellroyself
Buck Henryself
John Miliusself
David Hockneyself
Gene Normanself
Frank Wilkinsonself
Elaine Youngself
Mike Davisself
Budy Colletteself

Similar to Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.

Backdrop image for movie East LA Interchange

East LA Interchange (2015)

East L.A. Interchange follows the evolution of working-class, immigrant Boyle Heights, the oldest neighborhood in East Los Angeles from multiethnic to predominately Latino and a cradle of Mexican-American culture in the U.S. The documentary tells the story of how one neighborhood managed to survive the construction of the largest and busiest freeway interchange in the nation and explores the shifting face of community in the United States today arguing why it should matter to us all.

Documentary

When We Fight (2023)

In the second largest school district in the United States, 98% of teachers vote to authorize a strike. Watch as one of the largest educator strikes in modern U.S. history unfolds in real-time, highlighting the stories and leadership of some of the women who led it, from union leaders to classroom teachers. From strike vote to contract vote, When We Fight goes behind the picket lines, documenting how and why teachers strike. "This powerful and beautifully crafted film is a must watch for anyone interested in the state of labor in America today." - Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and Professor of Public Policy, UC Berkeley

Documentary

Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson

Robbie Robertson. Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson will take place on Thursday, October 17, 2024, at the Kia Forum, in Los Angeles, CA, featuring once-in-a-lifetime performances with an incredible lineup of superstar artists, including Trey Anastasio, Ryan Bingham, Mike Campbell, Eric Church, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Jim James, Jamey Johnson, Noah Kahan, Daniel Lanois, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, Margo Price, Robert Randolph, Nathaniel Rateliff, Allison Russell, Mavis Staples, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Bobby Weir, and Lucinda Williams.

Documentary
Music

Backdrop image for movie Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992

Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 (2017)

An in-depth look at the culture of Los Angeles in the ten years leading up to the 1992 uprising that erupted after the verdict of police officers cleared of beating Rodney King.

Documentary
History

Backdrop image for movie The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down

The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down (2007)

Tongue-in-cheek look at 20-something singles clubbing and partying in L.A. Voice-over narration, charts and graphs, and visits to a research laboratory punctuate the story of a single night when groups of friends go out, drink alcohol, take drugs, dance and talk, and look for someone to go home with.

Comedy
Documentary

LA 92 (2017)

Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage.

History
Documentary

Backdrop image for movie Touched by Gold: '72 Lakers

Touched by Gold: '72 Lakers (2012)

Many consider the 1971-72 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers one of the greatest teams in the history of the NBA. But despite a remarkable run to the title that included a record 33-game winning streak, this group was the unlikeliest of champions.

Documentary

Backdrop image for movie Out of Plain Sight

Out of Plain Sight (2025)

From Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rosanna Xia and Academy Award®-winning L.A. Times Studios, OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT is a cinematic exposé of an environmental disaster lurking just off the coast of Southern California. Not far from Catalina Island, aboard one of the most-advanced research ships in the world, David Valentine discovered a corroded barrel on the seafloor that gave him chills. The full environmental horror sharpens into greater clarity once he calls Los Angeles Times journalist Rosanna Xia, who pieces together a shocking revelation: In the years after World War II, as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been quietly dumped into the ocean – and the consequences continue to haunt the world today.

Documentary

Wattstax (1973)

A documentary film about the Afro-American Woodstock concert held in Los Angeles seven years after the Watts riots. Director Mel Stuart mixes footage from the concert with footage of the living conditions in the current-day Watts neighborhood.

Music
Documentary

Rize (2005)

A documentary film that highlights two street derived dance styles, Clowning and Krumping, that came out of the low income neighborhoods of L.A.. Director David LaChapelle interviews each dance crew about how their unique dances evolved. A new and positive activity away from the drugs, guns, and gangs that ruled their neighborhood. A raw film about a growing sub-culture movements in America.

Documentary

Backdrop image for movie The Decline of Western Civilization

The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.

Documentary
Music

Backdrop image for movie Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film

Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film (2006)

Ric Burns unearths rarely seen footage and offers keen observations on the life and artistic influence of Andy Warhol. [Made for and aired on PBS's American Masters series.]

Documentary

Backdrop image for movie Mind of a Monster: The Grim Sleeper

Mind of a Monster: The Grim Sleeper (2021)

An LA serial killer goes silent for decades – but he was just warming up.

Documentary
Crime

One Six Right (2005)

An exhilarating documentary film that celebrates the unsung hero of aviation - the local airport - by tracing the life, history, and struggles of an airport icon: Southern California's Van Nuys Airport. Featuring thrilling aerial photography and a sweeping original score, the film dispels common misconceptions and opposes criticism of General Aviation airports.

Documentary

Out of Print (2014)

A documentary exploring the importance of revival cinema and 35mm exhibition - seen through the lens of the patrons of the New Beverly Cinema - a unique and independent revival cinema in Los Angeles.

Documentary

Backdrop image for movie The Blade Runner Phenomenon

The Blade Runner Phenomenon (2021)

Ridley Scott's cult film Blade Runner, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick and released in 1982, is one of the most influential science fiction films ever made. Its depiction of Los Angeles in the year 2019 is oppressively prophetic: climate catastrophe, increasing public surveillance, powerful monopolistic corporations, highly evolved artificial intelligence; a fantastic vision of the future world that has become a frightening reality.

Documentary
History
TV Movie

Backdrop image for movie Blake and Gwen: Now and Then

Blake and Gwen: Now and Then (2021)

Follow the offstage, unlikely romance of the king of country, Blake Shelton, and pop princess, Gwen Stefani. Both stars braved their share of challenges on the way to writing their own love song.

Documentary
Music

Backdrop image for movie Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based channel's eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.

History
Documentary

Backdrop image for movie Los Angeles Plays Itself

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2004)

From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen takes viewers on a whirlwind tour through the metropolis' real and cinematic history, investigating the myriad stories and legends that have come to define it, and meticulously, judiciously revealing the real city that lives beneath.

Documentary

Backdrop image for movie Mondo Hollywood

Mondo Hollywood (1967)

Long considered a cult classic, "Mondo Hollywood" captures the underside of Hollywood by documenting a moment in time (1965-67), when an inquisitive trust in the unknown was paramount, hope for the future was tangible and life was worth living on the fringe. An interior monologue narrative approach is used throughout the film, where each principal person shown not only decided on what they wanted to be filmed doing, but also narrated their own scenes. The film opens with Gypsy Boots (the original hippie vegan - desert hopping blender salesman), and stripper Jennie Lee, working out 'Watusi-style' beneath the 'Hollywood' sign -- leading into the 'sustainable community' insight of Lewis Beach Marvin III, the S&H Green Stamp heir, who lived in a $10 a month garage while owning a mountain retreat in Malibu.

Documentary