Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Unmasking Secrets: A "L.A. Confidential" Review
Ever wondered how a film could transform a skeptic into a fan? Join us on Natey and Katy: At the Movies as we dissect the 1997 film noir masterpiece "LA Confidential." Katy starts the conversation skeptical due to her past experiences with the genre, but by the end, she’s singing praises for its unpredictable plot and rich character development. Listen in as we break down the film's portrayal of 1950s Los Angeles through the stellar performances of Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kim Basinger. We also draw fascinating comparisons to classic noirs like "Chinatown," highlighting the film's captivating moral ambiguity and realistic depiction of police work.
With special guest Scotty (Katy's hubby), our conversation is filled with humor and enthusiasm as we encourage you to revisit this iconic movie. Tune in for a delightful mix of film critique and nostalgia that promises to reignite your love for cinema!
Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new episode of Nadie and Katie at the Movies. I'm your host, nathan, aka Nadie, of course, and with me on today's episode is two co-hosts Hopefully, I don't know. Maybe I have Katie and her hubby Scotty. Hey guys, how you?
Speaker 2:doing it's Nadie, katie and Scotty.
Speaker 3:Not quite the same right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and as always, actually, I'm not the one eating. This time it's you. What are you eating? Who's sponsoring our show today?
Speaker 3:Well, it was Breyers and, I believe, food City brand ice cream.
Speaker 2:You got it. Food City ice cream and Breyers brought to you. Yummy ice cream. Double the scoops, double the fun. Anyway, what are we reviewing today, Nathan? I?
Speaker 1:was going to try to find a good segue, like double the fun, but I couldn't think of anything. So I'm just going to go straight into what we're going to talk about today. We're talking about a 1997 film noir movie called LA Confidential. But before we can talk about it I have to go over the synopsis. As corruption grows in 1950s, los Angeles, three policemen one straight-laced, one brutal and one sleazy investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice. La Confidential stars Kevin Spacey, russell Crowe, guy Pearce and Kim Basinger, and also James Cromwell we should probably mention him too. So this movie, like I said, came out in 1997. I had never seen this before, so again, it's one of those movies that I was excited to watch. I like russell crowe and kevin spacey. Even though he's been like in the news about doing creepy stuff, he's still a pretty good actor, I but I can't say that I like him because he's a creepo. And guy pierce was good. Kim basinger was good. Everyone was good in this movie. Katie, what did you think of LA Confidential?
Speaker 2:You know, that reminds me of Chinatown, like the film noir series kind of thing, like the black and white in that time period and the gangsters. And then just like the crime ridden, and when I was looking for this movie, like where to watch it, we ended up having to pay for it. There was all these other shows like um, not la, confidential. It was like new york confidential. And los angeles come first, I mean like a san francisco confidential.
Speaker 2:So I I didn't know if maybe this was like a whole genre that was in the 50s, because those were 50s movies like the ones that had the similar name were from the 50s. So I was already kind of intrigued that like, okay, this is a 90s movie that's meant to mimic that like 50s style. But then it made me nervous because I didn't like how giant town ended and this one I did. I actually did like how this movie ended and I like the movie in general. How did you like it? I thought you would, which is why I invited you to watch with me. But was it to your liking?
Speaker 3:that was okay. I feel like I did not know what was going to happen until the end it was not as predictable as a lot of other movies which I appreciate get me on the edge of my seat I'd say that's a really big look for me too I didn't know who the bad guy was supposed to be like.
Speaker 1:At first I thought maybe it's danny devito, because, yeah, danny devito is in this randomly, dann DeVito. And then I thought maybe Kevin Spacey, because I'm like he's a creeper in real life. Maybe he's just really good at playing creeper people. But no, it's none of those and I don't want to spoil it because this movie is good. But there was one actor in this movie that James Cromwell, who was in another movie called Babe. I don't know if you've ever seen that about the pig and every time I see him in movies all I can think about is him saying that'll do, pig, that'll do Like. Every time, every single time.
Speaker 2:Oh, he's that guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's that guy.
Speaker 2:Your thing you always say is if you like the acting in a movie, and I will say, maybe it's because now I've seen movies that they were in. I don't know how big name these people were at the time. I don't think they were huge, huge names yet. But man, russell Crowe, that's what made me think Scott would like it. Russell Crowe is such a solid actor. And then I thought everyone did a knockout performance and I think that's what helped. Like Scott said, that's what helps you not really know who's the bad guy, who you're supposed to follow, because the acting is so good, but also the script writing.
Speaker 2:I think the whole concept of the movie. It's like there's not a single good person. I think it does highlight that everyone was, you know, moral in their own way, but none of them necessarily had a sense of just like overall morality. It was everyone had like what they found to be just or what they would do to get what they wanted done. And then I also think you saw turning points which I loved. So you saw almost all right. I think all three characters had like a moment where how they used to think was spun Like Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce's characters are like complete opposite. It's like nerdy rule follower and then the brute guy who just comes in with force, but then he's. They kind of have to help each other.
Speaker 1:I also liked that it covered kind of what like real police work is like, because sometimes when there's like a case and they really wanted to get it, get it solved, they always try to pin it on the wrong people and that kind of happens in this film. But you find out why that happens because that's like the big twist and the big reveal at the end, which again I'm not going to say because I do think people should go watch it. Scotty, what were some things that you may not have liked about this movie? It does have a lot of gunfighting and people getting shot and possibly medically impossible things happening. I don't know, are those some things that you didn't like about this movie?
Speaker 3:You know, it definitely lacks the realism of John Wick's. That's one of our biggest critiques.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you're making some, for sure. You're making some comments about like why is he going in there with just that gun? Or why didn't he break? Like he's not going to reload, he's only got this amount of bullets. Like what is he thinking?
Speaker 3:but it wasn't glaring impractical, just not well thought out.
Speaker 2:But they never are.
Speaker 3:It was entertaining though, was there anything else you did like? Um spoiler alert I feel like james cromwell, forever a bad guy in my mind.
Speaker 1:You know, it's almost the warden in the longest yard and ever since he's just he's a villain in your mind no yeah in your in your mind, not necessarily, probably, I don't know in this movie, because we're not revealing the ending, because that would be a big spoiler exactly, exactly right um, interestingly, back to the acting, we're only mentioning the dudes, but kim basinger, um, I was doing my research.
Speaker 2:She won an Oscar for this performance, a supporting actress, and then I thought it was really interesting. I think there was another movie that this happened to that you and I both really liked where it came out in like a really competitive year. This movie came out the same year as Titanic, so Titanic won everything, but this movie was nominated for like every single category and she won a supporting actress.
Speaker 3:We're not reviewing titanic yet it seems like a movie we have on our list, though no, it's not on our list, thank goodness, and that movie's like five hours long yes, scott, because men make these lists, men and men only make these lists.
Speaker 2:so maybe that will not be on there. But yeah, other dislikes, I don't think I could think of it. I mean, I don't necessarily love the topic of, like police and violence.
Speaker 3:I did not really love Kim Basinger's character. If I'm honest, I think that some of the I mean and maybe that's just me not liking the reality of some people's situation.
Speaker 1:She's a prostitute.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she's a call lady who gets romantically involved with one of the characters and you see her somewhat vulnerable there but then also gets leverage for manipulation. I don't like that dynamic, but that's maybe me just not liking it how things actually play out. I'm just a romantic idealist who wants it.
Speaker 2:Yeah it is. It's kind of like a sad beautiful where it's like two really clearly broken and troubled people that fall in love with each other.
Speaker 1:Well, it's kind of like the character from Chinatown, except she doesn't have the same fate as that character. She's basically very similar to the character in that movie and she's just like your typical femme fatale, film noir female character. So her character didn't really bother me that much.
Speaker 3:I think it's mostly just my critique of the pinot noir kind of movies.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, yeah, another stereotype of those movies is that the woman is kind of like a black widow or like red sparrow, like sometimes they are, and so I mean that's again. It goes back to you're on your toes. You're like is she good, is she bad, is she getting with this character? Because she's wanting some? You know, you're definitely on your toes the whole time. Um, and I liked, I liked the ending. For sure I was a little nervous. The ending is, uh, it reminded me of how we felt about no Country for Old Men, where you're like, oh, this is an ending and then they like, oh gotcha, that's actually not the ending, it's actually this. And luckily, in this case, it was an ending that I didn't think I was gonna like. And then they fooled me and it was an ending I did like. What? What did you think about it? Negatives.
Speaker 1:Negatives I don't think there was really anything negative about it. I thought it was a good movie, good story, good characters, good suspense, good twists, and, yeah, it just had me guessing the whole time. And then, of course, I was wrong and I was okay with it, until they killed off a character that I wasn't expecting them to kill off so quickly.
Speaker 2:But I feel like you still get closure for that. Yeah, it was interesting, nathan, how much I liked this, even though Scott and I kind of talk about not liking movies and TV shows, the trend being where there's no true good guy and no good know good guy or bad guy. It's everyone's just has good and evil inside them both, and this definitely was one of those. You're not. I don't want my son to grow up necessarily like, okay, these are the model citizens you need to emulate, but I do think it was cool because he had three characters, so like parts of each of them were things I might want ben to emulate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I was surprised that I liked it, even though there wasn't a strong moral person well then, let's go ahead and review this thing, because I think we've kind of explained our likes and dislikes. So, scotty, since you're the one who sometimes joins us not as often as katie and definitely not as often as me, because I'm on every single episode what did you give la confidential for ratings?
Speaker 3:I would say that it was a solid, solid five for me. You know, for as much of the the things that I I don't like grayscale. I think it added complexity and depth to the film and I appreciated the fact that I didn't know 100% what was going on. It kept me guessing. It was entertaining. I feel like the acting and script was good.
Speaker 2:I'm going to do a little higher 5.5. And I think it's just because it really makes you it's not like I took away some life lesson, but it really does help you to see a glimpse to me inside of what it means to be a police officer. I'm sure, like I don't, I don't know, I'm not a police officer I don't know if they would say this is not at all realistic, but it does open your eyes to the perspective that every person goes into the military or police force no-transcript motive.
Speaker 1:So it was eye-opening for me and I'm gonna give it a strong five as well, scotty, because to me the reason I'm not giving it a six because I did enjoy it, but the reason I'm not giving it a six or 5.5 is because to me it's not one of those movies that I'd be like. I want to re-watch that. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I don't, I don't consider like a rewatchable movie so if you're still listening and we haven't spoiled too much, go and watch la confidential.
Speaker 2:You can find it on all streaming apps.
Speaker 1:However, I don't think it's free I'm pretty sure I've watched it on plex. It's one of those free streaming sites, so it is free. I didn't pay for it.
Speaker 2:Sucks to you what are we watching now?
Speaker 1:well, take a listen to this clip from our next episode let in there's got to be a secret door passageway. I find that if I just sit down and stay calm yeah.
Speaker 3:The solution presents itself.
Speaker 1:We're hanging out with Harrison Ford in the desert and places like that, with Indiana Jones and the last crusade, because it's got Sean Connery playing Indiana Jones' father.
Speaker 2:Oh, fantastic, and I'm super excited.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm super excited because it's our first official interview with a fellow podcaster who's going to be coming on the show, so we're all going to talk about Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so I'm really excited. It's going to be good because I remember I watched the most recent Indiana Jones and, to prepare for that, I watched all of them in order, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was probably my favorite one.
Speaker 2:I'll have to remember which one that is but I definitely love Indiana Jones the series, so it'll be exciting to go back and watch. I'll have to watch it with more critical eye, of course. Crystal Skull probably her favorite so oh no, that's a creepy one with the beating heart.
Speaker 1:I just said that Last Crusade was my favorite. Last Crusade is like the one that should have been the end because number one. It was called the Last Crusade and it was just the best one in my opinion. So I'm excited so, yeah, that's, that's today's episode. Thanks for listening everybody, and to close us off, I'm going to tell you to go back to jersey. Sunny, this is the city of angels and you haven't got any wings.
