California is the largest state of the United States by population, and the third largest by area, located on its coast to the Pacific Ocean. Its terrain includes cliff-lined beaches, redwood forest, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland and the Mojave Desert. California has natural attractions as well as theme-parks and bustling city life: Southern California is home to such popular attractions as Disneyland, Hollywood and the beaches in Malibu that inspired the television show Baywatch, while the northern part of California offers the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the hills of San Francisco, the vineyards of Napa Valley, Silicon Valley, and the capital, Sacramento. Outside California's major cities one finds some of North America's most rugged national parks, incredible skiing and snowboarding opportunities, and quiet and ancient northern forests.
Yosemite National Park
Half Dome
Cable Car
Golden Gate Bridge
Chinatown
Napa Valley
Northern California, a fertile region stretching from Oregon to San Luis Obispo county, is known for its redwood forests and dramatic Pacific coastline. Its cities include hilly San Francisco, home to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and historic cable cars, and San Jose, anchoring the Silicon Valley technology hub. Farther north, Napa and Sonoma valleys feature hundreds of vineyards set amid rolling hills.
Southern California is famed for its sunny weather and dramatic Pacific coastline. San Diego, just north of the Mexican border, is known for surfing spots and massive Balboa Park, with its world-renowned zoo and museums. Across the bay lies resort city Coronado. Up the coast is Los Angeles, home to Hollywood studios, fine art in the Getty Center, Griffith Park and the high-end shops of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Big Sur
Malibu
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Los Angeles
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Joshua Tree
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and was first recorded by Barry McGuire. However, the best-known version is by the Mamas and the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1965. The song is No. 89 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics of the song express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City.
"Hotel California" is the title track from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. The song is considered the most famous recording by the band. The lyrics of the song have been given various interpretations by fans and critics alike, the Eagles themselves describing the song as their "interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles". Since its release, "Hotel California" has been covered by a number of artists and has become a part of international popular culture.
La La Land is a 2016 American romantic comedy-drama musical film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling as a jazz pianist and Emma Stone as an aspiring actress, who meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles. Having been fond of musicals during his time as a drummer, Chazelle first conceptualized the film alongside Justin Hurwitz while attending Harvard University together. After moving to Los Angeles in 2010, Chazelle wrote the screenplay but did not find a studio willing to finance the production without changes to his design. Following the success of his 2014 film Whiplash, the project was picked up by Summit Entertainment. Filming took place in Los Angeles from August to September 2015, with the film's score composed by Hurwitz and the dance choreography by Mandy Moore. La La Land premiered at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 9, 2016. It grossed $446 million worldwide against a production budget of $30 million. La La Land was unanimously praised, particularly for Chazelle's screenplay and direction, Gosling and Stone's performances, musical score, musical numbers, cinematography, and production design. Both the American Film Institute and National Board of Review selected La La Land as one of the top ten films of 2016. It won a record-breaking seven awards from its seven nominations at the 74th Golden Globes and received eleven nominations at the 70th British Academy Film Awards, winning five awards, including Best Film. It also received a record-tying fourteen nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture; it won in six categories, including Best Director and Best Actress for Stone.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom. It features a large ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Austin Butler, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, and Al Pacino. Set in 1969 Los Angeles, the film follows an actor and his stunt double, as they navigate the changing film industry, and features "multiple storylines in a modern fairy tale tribute to the final moments of Hollywood's golden age".
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical-romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies". The film was only a modest hit when first released. O'Connor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green won the Writers Guild of America Award for their screenplay, while Jean Hagen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, it has since been accorded legendary status by contemporary critics, and is frequently regarded as the best film musical ever made, and the best film ever made in the "Freed Unit" at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It topped the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list and is ranked as the fifth-greatest American motion picture of all time in its updated list of the greatest American films in 2007. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2005 the British Film Institute included it in its list of the 50 films to be seen by the age of 14. In Sight & Sound magazine's 2017 list of the 50 greatest films of all time, Singin' in the Rain placed 20th.
123 S California Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007