I just saw the first NYC screening of Jonathan Gold’s documentary City of Gold, and I must say I loved it. I’m not sure I realized it, but there really is no better advocate for LA than Mr. Gold. The movie focuses on the ethnic cuisines/communities that define LA, so we get to see J. Gold in his culinary element.
If you can, try to catch a screening where he is speaking. He answered a few questions after the show tonight, and he was very funny and gracious. Peter Meehan, the editor of Lucky Peach, was also in attendance. Meehan, who has lived in NYC for twenty years, declared LA by far the best eating city in the country, much to the dismay of the crowd!
I know that the film will have a full release sometime in March, but do try to go to an early screening if you can! I’m sure they will be popping up here and there…
I think it is doing a bit of the film festival thing at the moment. This showing was part of a documentary festival in NYC. I think it also showed at a film festival in Aspen, and as Ipsedixit pointed out, it premiered at Sundance…
I saw it at the Arclight today. Fun and a few good laughs. Most true-to-life portrait of street-level LA I can recall. I loved the hagfish scene. Eat a solid meal first.
Just saw it today as well. I have always preferred SIV’s restaurant reviews but he is a great writer and the movie was very good. Music in the movie was surprisingly good as well
I did a short rap break on a song I recorded in the early 80s. It’s arguably less embarrassing than the Overman clip in the movie since we meant to be funny and there was no video.
I liked parts of it, and like you, I liked the street culture and more down-to-earth “L.A.” vs. the stereotypical Beverly Hills / Hollywood vibe outsiders see “L.A.” as.
I wasn’t sure what the movie was supposed to be about. If it was to show off the restaurant food culture of true L.A., it felt lacking (not enough good eats). If it was about J Gold himself? I guess it was sufficient. I did enjoy the story about Jitlada.
The movie characterizes Gold’s food criticism as a jumping-off point for his larger subject of Los Angeles culture in general (which was perhaps more the case when he started 30 years ago than it is today), so it’s not just about him eating and writing, but also about what the city means to him and his role in the city. The most remarkable bit in the movie for me was Roy Choi saying he wasn’t really clear on what he was doing until he read what Gold wrote about it.
