Films with urban themes from our university library

Our university library has a good although not enough publicized collection of films on DVD and conventional tapes (plus video disks and other media). The media collection is located in the basement of the library. Most of tapes and disks are available for browsing, could be searched via internet-linked catalogue and checked for up to one week. Films could be also watched in the library itself. The following is a partial list of sample films to help you with choosing your own pair.

Films on/with Los Angeles

Night on Earth Video Cassette 10200

In cities around the globe (Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, Helsinki), the occupants of five taxi cabs are headed for some unexpected destinations.

1941 Video Cassette 9364

This zany comedy spectacular from Steven Spielberg is set in Los Angeles just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor when the fear of a Japanese invasion threw the city into a state of pandemonium.

The boys next door Video Cassette 9740

Roy Alston and Bo Richards look like normal red-blooded American teenagers, but don't let their looks fool you. Together they turn a volatile and frustrated adolescent anger inside out and turn an "anything goes" weekend in Los Angeles into a violent spree fueled by an incredible and explosive rage.

Chinatown Video Cassette 8195

Los Angeles private eye Jake Gittes is approached by a mysterious woman who wishes to have her husband investigated. As the case unfolds, though, he discovers it to be much more complex and dangerous than he had expected, involving politics, powerful men, and terrible family secrets.

The Two Jakes Video Cassette 7668

Set in 1948 Los Angeles, The Two Jakes is a sequel to Chinatown. Jake Gittes is a successful private eye who takes on a case of suspected adultery that explodes into murder. Chinatown was tied to water and its importance to a growing city- The Two Jakes is linked to a grab for oil.

Extreme justice Video Cassette 11147

Drama about the secret, elite, and violent S.I.S. (Special Investigation Section) branch of the Los Angeles Police Department that operates outside of normal police guidelines in order to stalk and remove hard core criminals from the streets.

Mi vida loca Video Cassette 7670

The members of rival Latino gangs in Los Angeles are feuding, and the girl friends are trying to stay out of the struggle for power and survive.

To live and die in L.A Video Cassette 9257

An exhilarating crime action-adventure of a U.S. Secret Service agent tracking his partner's killer through the underside of Los Angeles.

Bread & roses  DVD 169
A group of immigrant workers take a stand against the million dollar corporations who employ them.


Non-LA/Foreign Films with Urban Themes

On the waterfront DVD 249
An ex-fighter gets a job working on the gang-ridden waterfront under a crooked gangster boss.

Kids DVD 254
24 hours in the life of a group of contemporary teenagers who believe they are invincible.

Traffic DVD 214
Presents a mix of interrelated stories: a Mexican policeman finds himself and his partner caught in an often deadly web of corruption; a pair of DEA agents work undercover in a sordid and dangerous part of San Diego; a wealthy drug baron living in upscale, suburban America is arrested and learns how quickly his unknowing and pampered wife takes over his business; and the U.S. President's new drug czar must deal with his increasingly drug-addicted teenage daughter.

La Haine / Hate Video Cassette 9932
Said is an Arab, Hubert is black, Vinz is a jew. Each of them need to vent the anger they feel about the police brutality that landed another friend in the hospital.

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain DVD 262
Amélie is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amélie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Despite all this, Amélie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. She decides to step into the lives of others around her to help them out.

Welcome to the dollhouse DVD 83
Eleven-year-old Dawn "Wienerdog" Wiener is a junior high geek who just wants to be popular. Teased by her classmates and tormented by the school bully, Dawn develops an improbable plan to seduce the star of a high-school garage band.  An excellent film on the suburban condition.

Our lady of the assassins DVD 242
An older writer, Fernando, returns to his hometown, Medellin, Colombia. There he falls in love with 16-year-old assassin, Alexis. After Alexis is killed, Fernando hunts for his killer in the Medellin slums and falls in love with Wilmar, a boy who resembles Alexis.  An excellent urban film.

Moscow does not believe in tears Video Cassette 6166
The setting is Moscow in 1958, and three small town girls have just arrived to pursue their separate dreams in the big city. Shows how their lives have turned out 20 years later.  Oscar for the Best Foreign Film.

I am Cuba DVD 24
Four main stories show the rise of the Communist revolution in Cuba, including Battista's Havana and the grinding poverty and oppression of the Cuban people. Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese present.

The full monty DVD 41
Six unemployed men, inspired by a touring group of male strippers, decide they can make a small fortune by putting on a striptease show of their own with one small difference. They intend to go the "full monty" and strip completely naked. A hilarious, heartfelt comedy in which six friends discover the inner strength to overcome the problems in their personal lives.


Utopian/dystopian sci-fi themes

The city of lost children DVD 201
This fantastically-twisted fairy tale is chock-full of curious characters and special effects. A sad and heartbroken madman, Krank, is aging prematurely because he can't dream. He kidnaps little children, hoping that eventually he will find a way to steal their sleeping thoughts. The story takes the form of a quest, as a sentimental harpooner-turned-fairground strongman, One, sets out to find his young brother on a dilapidated oil rig. He soon falls in love with the gutsy nine-year old girl (who is head of the orphan gang), and together they run a gauntlet of fantastical dangers as they join hands and hearts to save a small boy's dreams from the madman's master plan.

The Matrix  DVD 71
In an anti-utopian future, the "real" world as we know it is nothing more than a computer construct, created by an all-powerful artificial intelligence. A small group of humans has found a way out of the construct, and are now fighting for the future of the human race.

Brazil  DVD 147
A daydreaming bureaucrat becomes involved with an underground superhero and a beautiful mysterious woman and becomes the tragic victim of his own romantic illusions.

Could be continued.