Los Angeles

The First Power (1990)

The First Power (1990) is a supernatural horror-thriller starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Detective Russell Logan, who successfully captures a sadistic serial killer, Patrick Channing (Jeff Kober), known for his ritualistic murders. After Channing’s execution, Logan is shocked to find the killer seemingly resurrected with demonic powers, using “the first power”—the ability to possess other people’s bodies. Teaming up with a psychic (Tracy Griffith) who foresaw the killings, Logan must stop Channing before his new, otherworldly abilities make him unstoppable.

Zoolander (2001)

Zoolander (2001) is a comedy satirizing the fashion industry, starring Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander, a dim-witted but wildly popular male supermodel facing career decline. Manipulated by evil fashion designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell), Derek is brainwashed into becoming an unwitting assassin in a plot to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. With the help of rival model Hansel (Owen Wilson) and journalist Matilda (Christine Taylor), Derek must break free from the brainwashing, save the day, and prove there’s more to life than being “really, really, ridiculously good-looking.”

Face/Off (1997)

Obsessed with bringing terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) to justice, FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) tracks down Troy, who has boarded a plane in Los Angeles. After the plane crashes and Troy is severely injured, possibly dead, Archer undergoes surgery to remove his face and replace it with Troy’s. As Archer tries to use his disguise to elicit information about a bomb from Troy’s brother, Troy awakes from a coma and forces the doctor who performed the surgery to give him Archer’s face.

Less Than Zero (1987)

Clay (Andrew McCarthy) comes home to Los Angeles after his first semester of college and encounters some disturbing developments. His former lover, burgeoning model Blair (Jami Gertz), has begun to abuse cocaine. But her addiction pales in comparison to the drug dependency of her new boyfriend, Julian (Robert Downey Jr.), who’s also Clay’s childhood buddy. Clay tries to help them get sober, but the process is complicated by Rip (James Spader), a callous dealer Julian is indebted to.

The Return of The Living Dead (1985)

When foreman Frank (James Karen) shows new employee Freddy (Thom Mathews) a secret military experiment in a supply warehouse, the two klutzes accidentally release a gas that reanimates corpses into flesh-eating zombies. As the epidemic spreads throughout Louisville, Ky., and the creatures satisfy their hunger in gory and outlandish ways, Frank and Freddy fight to survive with the help of their boss (Clu Gulager) and a mysterious mortician (Don Calfa).

La Bamba (1987)

Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens (Lou Diamond Phillips) becomes an overnight rock ‘n’ roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called “Donna” that he wrote for his girlfriend (Danielle von Zerneck) whose parents didn’t want her to date a Latino boy. But as his star rises, Valens has conflicts with his jealous brother, Bob (Esai Morales), and becomes haunted by a recurring nightmare of a plane crash just as he begins his first national tour alongside Buddy Holly (Marshall Crenshaw).

Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989)

Harry Crumb (John Candy) descends from a long line of sleuths, but the well-intentioned private detective tends to turn the simplest case into a disaster. That’s why Harry’s maniacal boss, Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones), selects him to investigate the kidnapping of a rich heiress; Draisen himself is behind the crime and he’s hoping that Harry will perform as dismally as he usually does. But, with more than a few tricks up his sleeve, Harry may end up cracking the conspiracy despite himself.

Matilda (1996)

This film adaptation of a Roald Dahl work tells the story of Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson), a gifted girl forced to put up with a crude, distant father (Danny DeVito) and mother (Rhea Perlman). Worse, Agatha Trunchbull (Pam Ferris), the evil principal at Matilda’s school, is a terrifyingly strict bully. However, when Matilda realizes she has the power of telekinesis, she begins to defend her friends from Trunchbull’s wrath and fight back against her unkind parents.