It's been way too long since we got a kickass Los Angeles period piece, so thank heavens for Gangster Squad, about a group of late-forties LAPD cops (Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Giovanni Ribisi) and their secret crusade to take down gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). (It's based on a true story; we of course can't account for the details, but Cohen's house in Brentwood was bombed in 1950.) Some of the scenery is a little CGI-heavy, but the film shot for real at some of LA's most beautiful buildings, including City Hall, Clifton's, and the old Crocker Bank. The fabulous Cohen-controlled nightclub Slapsy Maxie's (at Wilshire and Hauser at the time) was recreated in an abandoned Bellflower grocery store, according to an LA Times story from November. Gangster Squad is due out in the fall. Update: Here's an awesome photo set of GS shooting Figueroa St. in Highland Park for South Central Avenue.
· 'Gangster Squad': When good guys acted like bad guys to save L.A. [LAT]
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