Too Bad They Don't Give Out Retroactive Oscars!

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2000)

I just can't say enough about this movie. Prior to L.A. Confidential, I had never seen a movie more than twice in the theater - I went and saw it five, count it, five times (Hey, anything I could do to raise the box office count for this underappreciated gem, I did)!
As others have stated, the production designs were first-rate, the cinematography was exquisite, and the all-around atmosphere was just right. How Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, and Kevin Spacey DIDN'T get Academy Awards nominations I'll never know (they probably would have cancelled each other out anyway, but it would have been nice for at least ONE of them to get a nom nod). Kim Basinger was good, but not Academy-Award-material-good.
I'd go on and on, but I think the other pro-L.A. Confidential-ites summed it up just right. I agree with all of the positive comments about this movie. As for the negative ones, well, you people have a right to your opinions too, it's your loss if you don't appreciate this movie.
How this lost to "Titanic" (a good, but certainly not great, movie) is beyond my comprehension. Twenty years from now, watch L.A. Confidential and Titanic back-to-back. Which one stands up better? Then we will have our answer to the better picture - and in my opinion, L.A. Confidential will tower over Titanic.