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111-422: Los Angeles advertising executive Daniel Miller dies in a car accident on his 39th birthday, mainly due to his distractedness, and is sent to Judgment City, a kind of temporary paradise for the recently deceased. The city is a waiting area staffed by brilliant and efficient but largely condescending bureaucrats who, having themselves moved on to their current new universal phase, mostly seem to gingerly look down on

222-605: A gross metropolitan product of over $ 1.0 trillion, making it the city with the third-largest GDP in the world, after New York and Tokyo . Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984 , and will also host in 2028 . Despite a business exodus from Downtown Los Angeles since the COVID-19 pandemic , the city's urban core is evolving as a cultural center with the world's largest showcase of architecture designed by Frank Gehry . On September 4, 1781,

333-604: A "little fun with the Liliom idea of being judged in a fanciful afterlife, but he doesn't carry his conceit nearly far enough." Roger Ebert called it "funny in a warm, fuzzy way" and a film with a "splendidly satisfactory ending, which is unusual for an Albert Brooks film." The New York Times called it "the most perceptive and convincing among a recent spate of carpe diem films"—a reference to films such as Dead Poets Society (1989), Field of Dreams (1989) and Ghost (1990). Richard Schickel wrote: Defending Your Life

444-589: A 55-acre (220,000 m ) recreation center with tennis courts, basketball courts, racquetball courts, a gymnasium, and the Kingston Boys & Girls Club; There is also a community center and a 16,652-square-foot (1,547 m ) senior center that opened in September 2005. A major redevelopment of the recreation center and city-administered sports fields was completed in early 2009. Fire protection and emergency medical services are provided by two stations of

555-490: A car show, rides, music, and booths. There are three high schools , three middle schools , nine elementary schools , one K-12 school, and two K-8 schools. However, some students who live in the city of Fountain Valley actually attend schools in other cities. Fountain Valley is also home to Coastline Community College . Community colleges in the area include Orange Coast College and Golden West College , located nearby in

666-538: A diverse economy with a broad range of industries. Despite a steep exodus of film and television production since the COVID-19 pandemic , Los Angeles is still one of the largest hubs of American film production , the world's largest by revenue; the city is an important site in the history of film . It also has one of the busiest container ports in the Americas. In 2018, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had

777-614: A group of 44 settlers known as " Los Pobladores " founded the pueblo (town) they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels';. The original name of the settlement is disputed; the Guinness Book of World Records rendered it as "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula "; other sources have shortened or alternate versions of

888-551: A horse, but Brooks found himself gradually drawn into the love story aspect of the plot and rewrote it accordingly. Streep was announced for the cast in November 1989. Brooks explained, "I'm friends with Carrie Fisher and they worked together in Postcards From The Edge and we had dinner. Meryl joked and said, 'Is there a part for me?' I said, 'Yeah, right.' I would never have thought of her because I thought she

999-470: A microphone barking one-liners but of an intelligent man sitting down by the fire mulling things over. And in this case, offering us a large slice of angel food for thought. Bob Mondello , on NPR, said, "The result is not just his most mature comedy yet, but the best American comedy in years." J.Hoberman, in The Village Voice, called it "Pure pleasure. Funny, deft, impressive comedy." The film

1110-585: A new 4K restoration supervised by Brooks himself. Los Angeles Los Angeles , often referred to by its initials L.A. , is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California . With an estimated 3,820,914 residents within the city limits as of 2023 , it is the second-most populous city in the United States, behind only New York City ; it is also the commercial, financial and cultural center of Southern California . Los Angeles has an ethnically and culturally diverse population, and

1221-425: A profit; the other, according to an analysis of contemporary newspaper reports, was the 1932 Summer Olympics , also held in Los Angeles. Racial tensions erupted on April 29, 1992, with the acquittal by a Simi Valley jury of four Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers captured on videotape beating Rodney King , culminating in large-scale riots . In 1994, the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake shook

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1332-559: A series of battles, culminating with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847. The Mexican Cession was formalized in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ceded Los Angeles and the rest of Alta California to the United States. Railroads arrived with the completion of the transcontinental Southern Pacific line from New Orleans to Los Angeles in 1876 and the Santa Fe Railroad in 1885. Petroleum

1443-507: A single type, where industrial uses were prohibited. The proscriptions included barns, lumber yards, and any industrial land use employing machine-powered equipment. These laws were enforced against industrial properties after the fact. These prohibitions were in addition to existing activities that were already regulated as nuisances. These included explosives warehousing, gas works, oil drilling, slaughterhouses, and tanneries . Los Angeles City Council also designated seven industrial zones within

1554-448: A slight smiling acknowledgment. One judge whispers to the other, then sends a message ordering the tram doors to open. Daniel and Julia are reunited, applauded by the other passengers, and embrace as they are allowed to move on to the next phase of existence together. Shirley MacLaine has a cameo appearance as the holographic host of the "Past Lives Pavilion"—a reference to her publicly known belief in reincarnation . Brooks worked on

1665-607: A trend in California to give places Spanish, or Spanish-sounding, names and pronunciations. In 1908, librarian Charles Fletcher Lummis , who argued for the name's pronunciation with a hard g ( / ɡ / ), reported that there were at least 12 pronunciation variants. In the early 1900s, the Los Angeles Times advocated for pronouncing it Loce AHNG-hayl-ais ( / l oʊ s ˈ ɑː ŋ h eɪ l eɪ s / ), approximating Spanish [los ˈaŋxeles] , by printing

1776-438: Is Mount San Antonio , locally known as Mount Baldy, which reaches 10,064 feet (3,068 m). Further afield, the highest point in southern California is San Gorgonio Mountain , 81 miles (130 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, with a height of 11,503 feet (3,506 m). The Los Angeles River , which is largely seasonal, is the primary drainage channel . It was straightened and lined in 51 miles (82 km) of concrete by

1887-722: Is a common problem in this population. Although Serieys et al. 2014 find selection of immune genetics at several loci they do not demonstrate that this produces a real difference which helps the bobcats to survive future mange outbreaks . Los Angeles is subject to earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire . The geologic instability has produced numerous faults , which cause approximately 10,000 earthquakes annually in Southern California, though most of them are too small to be felt. The strike-slip San Andreas Fault system, which sits at

1998-808: Is also home to the offices of the Municipal Water District of Orange County, a member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and of the Orange County Water District . The Orange County Water District manages the groundwater basin in central and northern Orange County and operates the Groundwater Replenishment System, the world's largest water purification plant for groundwater recharge . Fountain Valley has two fully accredited major medical centers:

2109-420: Is better developed as a situation than it is as a comedy (though there are some nice bits, like a hotel lobby sign that reads, WELCOME KIWANIS DEAD). But Brooks has always been more of a muser than a tummler , and perhaps more depressive than he is manic . He asks us to banish the cha-cha-cha beat of conventional comedy from the mind and bend to a slower rhythm. His pace is not that of a comic standing up at

2220-452: Is complicated by rugged terrain, which has necessitated having different grids for each of the valleys that Los Angeles covers. Major streets are designed to move large volumes of traffic through many parts of the city, many of which are extremely long; Sepulveda Boulevard is 43 miles (69 km) long, while Foothill Boulevard is over 60 miles (97 km) long, reaching as far east as San Bernardino. Drivers in Los Angeles suffer from one of

2331-437: Is divided into many different districts and neighborhoods, some of which had been separately incorporated cities that eventually merged with Los Angeles. These neighborhoods were developed piecemeal, and are well-defined enough that the city has signage which marks nearly all of them. The city's street patterns generally follow a grid plan , with uniform block lengths and occasional roads that cut across blocks. However, this

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2442-502: Is expected to continue to drop in the coming years because of aggressive steps to reduce it, which include electric and hybrid cars, improvements in mass transit , and other measures. The number of Stage 1 smog alerts in Los Angeles has declined from over 100 per year in the 1970s to almost zero in the new millennium. Despite improvement, the 2006 and 2007 annual reports of the American Lung Association ranked

2553-426: Is now Fountain Valley. The Talberts opened a general store and thus the settlement of Talbert was established. The area was full of farms growing beets that were processed at some of the nation's largest plants at Huntington Beach (Holly Sugar Plant) and at Delhi, now part of southwestern Santa Ana. The post office was established in 1899, with Thomas B. Talbert serving as the first postmaster. The All-Saints Church

2664-488: Is rich in native plant species partly because of its diversity of habitats, including beaches, wetlands , and mountains. The most prevalent plant communities are coastal sage scrub , chaparral shrubland, and riparian woodland . Native plants include: the California poppy , matilija poppy , toyon , Ceanothus , Chamise , Coast Live Oak , sycamore , willow and Giant Wildrye . Many of these native species, such as

2775-572: Is the Santa Ana River . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 23.4 km (9.0 sq mi), 0.14% of which is water. Fountain Valley is home to Mile Square Regional Park , a 640-acre (2.6 km ) park containing two lakes, three 18-hole golf courses, playing fields, picnic shelters, and a 20-acre (81,000 m ) urban nature area planted with California native plants ,

2886-502: Is the only structure remaining from that era. The Santa Ana–Huntington Beach Line of the Pacific Electric Railway passed through Talbert and opened on July 5, 1909. The city was incorporated in 1957. The name of Fountain Valley refers to the very high water table in the area at the time the name was chosen, and the many corresponding artesian wells in the area. Early settlers constructed drainage canals to make

2997-567: Is the principal city of a metropolitan area of 12.8 million people (2023). Greater Los Angeles , which includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.3 million residents. The majority of the city proper lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending partly through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into

3108-413: The 1916 New York City Zoning Ordinance did. Second, the residential zones did not distinguish types of housing; they treated apartments, hotels, and detached-single-family housing equally. In 1910, Hollywood merged into Los Angeles, with 10 movie companies already operating in the city at the time. By 1921, more than 80 percent of the world's film industry was concentrated in L.A. The money generated by

3219-805: The Army Corps of Engineers to act as a flood control channel. The river begins in the Canoga Park district of the city, flows east from the San Fernando Valley along the north edge of the Santa Monica Mountains, and turns south through the city center, flowing to its mouth in the Port of Long Beach at the Pacific Ocean. The smaller Ballona Creek flows into the Santa Monica Bay at Playa del Rey . Los Angeles

3330-737: The Fountain Valley Regional Hospital with 400 beds available, and Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center with 230 beds, a medical clinic, and an outpatient medical building. The city also has 18 churches, one Reform synagogue , a mosque and a public library. Fountain Valley has its own newspaper, the Fountain Valley View, operated by the Orange County Register . As a suburban city, most of Fountain Valley's residents commute to work in other urban centers. However, in recent years,

3441-547: The Hillside Stranglers murder cases in 1977–1978. In early 1984, the city surpassed Chicago in population, thus becoming the second largest city in the United States. In 1984, the city hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time . Despite being boycotted by 14 Communist countries , the 1984 Olympics became more financially successful than any previous, and the second Olympics to turn

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3552-546: The Los Angeles sunflower , have become so rare as to be considered endangered. Mexican Fan Palms , Canary Island Palms , Queen Palms , Date Palms , and California Fan Palms are common in the Los Angeles area, although only the last is native to California, though still not native to the City of Los Angeles. Los Angeles has a number of official flora: The city has an urban population of bobcats ( Lynx rufus ). Mange

3663-567: The San Fernando Valley , with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to its east. It covers about 469 square miles (1,210 km ), and is the county seat of Los Angeles County , which is the most populous county in the United States with an estimated 9.86 million residents as of 2022 . It is the third-most visited city in the U.S. with over 2.7 million visitors as of 2023. The area that became Los Angeles

3774-610: The Santa Ana River run from the city of Corona to the Pacific Ocean . Historically, Fountain Valley had Red Car service along the Santa Ana/Huntington Beach Pacific Electric Spur Line. This line ran along Bushard Street. Passenger service started in 1909, ended in 1922, and the lines were torn out in 1930. The 2010 United States Census reported that Fountain Valley had a population of 55,313. The population density

3885-573: The United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Talbert was a settlement at what is now the intersection of Talbert and Bushard. It was also known as Gospel Swamp by residents. Thomas B. Talbert was born outside Monticello in Piatt County, Illinois , in 1878. When Talbert was 13, his family moved to Long Beach, California . Around 1896, the family purchased more than 300 acres (120 ha) of peat and swampland in what

3996-471: The United States House of Representatives , Fountain Valley is in California's 45th congressional district , represented by Republican Michelle Steel . Fountain Valley is a reliably Republican stronghold in presidential elections; however, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton won a plurality of the city in 2016, becoming the first Democrat in over four decades to carry

4107-505: The respelling under its masthead for several years. This did not find favor. Since the 1930s, / l ɔː s ˈ æ n dʒ əl ə s / has been most common. In 1934, the United States Board on Geographic Names decreed that this pronunciation be used by the federal government. This was also endorsed in 1952 by a "jury" appointed by Mayor Fletcher Bowron to devise an official pronunciation. Common pronunciations in

4218-507: The 20th century, Los Angeles substantially reduced the amount of housing that could be built by drastically downzoning the city. In 1960, the city had a total zoned capacity for approximately 10 million people. By 1990, that capacity had fallen to 4.5 million as a result of policy decisions to ban housing through zoning. Racial tensions led to the Watts riots in 1965, resulting in 34 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. In 1969, California became

4329-458: The Angels'. The present-day city has the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States. Two-thirds of the Mexican or ( New Spain ) settlers were mestizo or mulatto , a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small ranch town for decades, but by 1820, the population had increased to about 650 residents. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in

4440-711: The Fountain Valley Fire Department. Law enforcement is provided by the Fountain Valley Police Department. Ambulance service is provided by Care Ambulance Service . The Orange County Sanitation District's administrative offices and primary plant is located in Fountain Valley next to the Santa Ana River. The agency is the third-largest sanitation district in the western United States. Fountain Valley

4551-629: The Los Angeles area include the 1933 Long Beach , 1971 San Fernando , 1987 Whittier Narrows , and the 1994 Northridge events. All but a few are of low intensity and are not felt. The USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast , which models earthquake occurrence in California. Parts of the city are also vulnerable to tsunamis ; harbor areas were damaged by waves from Aleutian Islands earthquake in 1946, Valdivia earthquake in 1960, Alaska earthquake in 1964, Chile earthquake in 2010 and Japan earthquake in 2011. The city

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4662-502: The Los Angeles area was the headquarters of six of the country's major aircraft manufacturers ( Douglas Aircraft Company , Hughes Aircraft , Lockheed , North American Aviation , Northrop Corporation , and Vultee ). During the war, more aircraft were produced in one year than in all the pre-war years since the Wright brothers flew the first airplane in 1903, combined. Manufacturing in Los Angeles skyrocketed, and as William S. Knudsen , of

4773-548: The Los Angeles region. In 1846, during the wider Mexican-American war , marines from the United States occupied the pueblo. This resulted in the siege of Los Angeles where 150 Mexican militias fought the occupiers which eventually surrendered. Mexican rule ended during following the American Conquest of California , part of the larger Mexican-American War . Americans took control from the Californios after

4884-685: The Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, Los Angeles suffers from air pollution in the form of smog. The Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley are susceptible to atmospheric inversion , which holds in the exhausts from road vehicles, airplanes, locomotives, shipping, manufacturing, and other sources. The smog season lasts from approximately May to October. While other large cities rely on rain to clear smog, Los Angeles gets only 15 inches (380 mm) of rain each year: pollution accumulates over many consecutive days. Issues of air quality in Los Angeles and other major cities led to

4995-523: The National Defense Advisory Commission put it, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible." After the end of World War II Los Angeles grew more rapidly than ever, sprawling into the San Fernando Valley . The expansion of the state owned Interstate Highway System during the 1950s and 1960s helped propel suburban growth and signaled

5106-614: The Pavilion of Past Lives (hosted by a version of Shirley MacLaine , famous for her outspoken belief in reincarnation), where people can see all their past lives, often quite shockingly dichotomous. In the meantime, things do not go well for Daniel. Foster shows a series of episodes in which Daniel never managed to overcome his fears and various other destructive decisions and mishaps. At the same time, Diamond vigorously attempts to portray Daniel's actions more positively, sometimes praising his client's "restraint" and "thoughtfulness." Before

5217-595: The San Diego Freeway, which bisects the city, Fountain Valley is served by several bus lines operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority . Bus routes 33, 35, 37, 43, 70, 72, 76 and 543 cover the city's major streets. Most of the major roads are equipped with bicycle lanes , especially around Mile Square Park, which offers wide bike paths along the major streets that mark its boundary. Dedicated bike paths along

5328-696: The San Fernando Valley. Other hilly parts of Los Angeles include the Mt. Washington area north of Downtown, eastern parts such as Boyle Heights , the Crenshaw district around the Baldwin Hills , and the San Pedro district. Surrounding the city are much higher mountains. Immediately to the north lie the San Gabriel Mountains , which is a popular recreation area for Angelenos. Its high point

5439-527: The Southern Californian coast, is subject to a late spring/early summer weather phenomenon called " June Gloom ". This involves overcast or foggy skies in the morning that yield to sun by early afternoon. More recently, statewide droughts in California have further strained the city's water security . Downtown Los Angeles averages 14.67 in (373 mm) of precipitation annually, mainly occurring between November and March, generally in

5550-765: The Spanish founded the Pueblo de Los Ángeles . Iyáangẚ has also been translated as "the valley of smoke". Maritime explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area of southern California for the Spanish Empire in 1542, while on an official military exploring expedition, as he was moving northward along the Pacific coast from earlier colonizing bases of New Spain in Central and South America. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí reached

5661-483: The United Kingdom include / l ɒ s ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ l iː z , - l ɪ z , - l ɪ s / loss AN -jil-eez, -⁠iz, -⁠iss . Phonetician Jack Windsor Lewis described the most common one, / l ɒ s ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ l iː z / , as a spelling pronunciation based on analogy to Greek words ending in -‍es , "reflecting a time when the classics were familiar if Spanish

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5772-420: The age of 18 living with them, 63.4% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 16.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.35. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under

5883-461: The age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 78,729, and the median income for a family was $ 90,335. Males had a median income of $ 60,399 versus $ 43,089 for females. The per capita income for

5994-769: The birthplace of the Internet, as the first ARPANET transmission was sent from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park . In 1973, Tom Bradley was elected as the city's first African American mayor, serving for five terms until retiring in 1993. Other events in the city during the 1970s included the Symbionese Liberation Army 's South Central standoff in 1974 and

6105-632: The boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate , passes through the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The segment of the fault passing through Southern California experiences a major earthquake roughly every 110 to 140 years, and seismologists have warned about the next "big one", as the last major earthquake was the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake . The Los Angeles basin and metropolitan area are also at risk from blind thrust earthquakes . Major earthquakes that have hit

6216-428: The boundary of a Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb on the coast, Csa otherwise). Daytime temperatures are generally temperate all year round. In winter, they average around 68 °F (20 °C). Autumn months tend to be hot, with major heat waves a common occurrence in September and October, while the spring months tend to be cooler and experience more precipitation. Los Angeles has plenty of sunshine throughout

6327-1208: The cities of Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach, respectively. High schools in Huntington Beach Union High School District High schools in Garden Grove Unified School District Middle schools in Fountain Valley School District Middle schools in Ocean View Middle School District Elementary schools in Garden Grove Unified School District Elementary schools in Fountain Valley School District Private schools The Lycée International de Los Angeles previously had its Orange County campus in Fountain Valley, but it moved to Orange by 2001. In addition to

6438-404: The city as the most polluted in the country with short-term particle pollution and year-round particle pollution. In 2008, the city was ranked the second most polluted and again had the highest year-round particulate pollution. The city met its goal of providing 20 percent of the city's power from renewable sources in 2010. The American Lung Association's 2013 survey ranks the metro area as having

6549-437: The city enacting policies to benefit small businesses, and even going so far as to paint a mural on the facade of a large water treatment building facing the freeway that depicts two shopping bags headlined by the words, "Shop in Fountain Valley." Fountain Valley is home to the national headquarters of Hyundai Motor America and D-Link Corporation, the global headquarters of memory chip manufacturer Kingston Technology , and

6660-443: The city has seen an increase in commercial jobs in the city, with the growth of a commercial center near the Santa Ana River known as the "Southpark" district. Although the economy of the area was once based mainly on agriculture, the remaining production consists of several fields of strawberries or other small crops, which are gradually being replaced by new office development. Efforts to bolster economic activity are evidenced by

6771-537: The city is 342 miles (550 km). Los Angeles is both flat and hilly. The highest point in the city proper is Mount Lukens at 5,074 ft (1,547 m), located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at the north extent of the Crescenta Valley . The eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains stretches from Downtown to the Pacific Ocean and separates the Los Angeles Basin from

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6882-481: The city was $ 48,521. About 1.6% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line , including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over. In the California State Legislature , Fountain Valley is in the 36th Senate District , represented by Republican Janet Nguyen , and in the 70th Assembly District , represented by Republican Tri Ta . In

6993-560: The city, causing $ 12.5 billion in damage and 72 deaths. The century ended with the Rampart scandal , one of the most extensive documented cases of police misconduct in American history. In 2002, Mayor James Hahn led the campaign against secession, resulting in voters defeating efforts by the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood to secede from the city. In 2022 , Karen Bass became the city's first female mayor , making Los Angeles

7104-497: The city. However, between 1908 and 1915, the Los Angeles City Council created various exceptions to the broad proscriptions that applied to these three residential zones, and as a consequence, some industrial uses emerged within them. There are two differences between the 1908 Residence District Ordinance and later zoning laws in the United States. First, the 1908 laws did not establish a comprehensive zoning map as

7215-598: The continued growth of the city. Because of clauses in the city's charter that prevented the City of Los Angeles from selling or providing water from the aqueduct to any area outside its borders, many adjacent cities and communities felt compelled to join Los Angeles. Los Angeles created the first municipal zoning ordinance in the United States. On September 14, 1908, the Los Angeles City Council promulgated residential and industrial land use zones. The new ordinance established three residential zones of

7326-407: The corporate headquarters of Surefire, LLC , maker of military and commercial flashlights. The Southpark commercial area is also home to offices for companies such as D-Link , Starbucks , Satura and the Orange County Register. There are also a limited number of light industrial companies in this area. In addition, Fountain Valley is the location for Noritz, a tankless water heater manufacturer, and

7437-417: The court determines that Daniel has conquered his fears, he will be sent on to the next phase of existence, where he can use more of his brain and thus experience more of what the universe has to offer. Otherwise, his soul will be reincarnated on Earth to live another life in another attempt at moving past his fears. At Daniel's tribunal, presided over by two judges, Diamond argues that Daniel should move on to

7548-414: The demise of the city's privately owned electrified rail system , once the world's largest. As a consequence of World War II, suburban growth, and population density, many amusement parks were built and operated in this area. An example is Beverly Park , which was located at the corner of Beverly Boulevard and La Cienega before being closed and substituted by the Beverly Center . In the second half of

7659-402: The difference between the average daily low and the average daily high is over 30 °F (17 °C). The average annual temperature of the sea is 63 °F (17 °C), from 58 °F (14 °C) in January to 68 °F (20 °C) in August. Hours of sunshine total more than 3,000 per year, from an average of 7 hours of sunshine per day in December to an average of 12 in July. Due to

7770-456: The door, and he cannot enter her tram. He clings to the outside of the moving vehicle, banging on the door and trying to pry it open. She yells in vain for the driver to stop. They tell each other they love each other. The scene pulls back to show that the entire event is being watched on closed-circuit TV by Diamond, Foster, and the judges in the chamber where Daniel's hearing occurred. Diamond remarks to Foster, "Brave enough for you?" and gives him

7881-463: The film's theatrical trailer. Warner re-released the film in 2008 in a two-pack DVD set with Brooks' Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World . In December 2020, Warner Archive Collection re-released the movie on DVD. As well in December 2020, The Criterion Collection announced that Defending Your Life would join Brooks' previous film Lost in America as part of its esteemed film library on Blu-ray and DVD to be released March 30, 2021, featuring

7992-407: The form of moderate rain showers, but sometimes as heavy rainfall during winter storms. Rainfall is usually higher in the hills and coastal slopes of the mountains because of orographic uplift. Summer days are usually rainless. Rarely, an incursion of moist air from the south or east can bring brief thunderstorms in late summer, especially to the mountains. The coast gets slightly less rainfall, while

8103-482: The historic district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street , the oldest part of Los Angeles. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and the pueblo now existed within the new Mexican Republic . During Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles the regional capital of Alta California . By this time, the new republic introduced more secularization acts within

8214-731: The history of civilization" was filmed at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood . During production, around 1,000 extras were hired by WB at a cost of $ 200,000. The film was released on March 22, 1991. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and holds a 98% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 41 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.8/10. The consensus summarizes: "With Defending Your Life , writer-director-star Albert Brooks softens his trademark caustic humor -- and proves he's every bit as funny when he's tugging heartstrings." Variety called it an "inventive and mild bit of whimsy" in which Brooks has

8325-501: The industry kept the city insulated from much of the economic loss suffered by the rest of the country during the Great Depression . By 1930, the population surpassed one million. In 1932, the city hosted the Summer Olympics . During World War II Los Angeles was a major center of wartime manufacturing, such as shipbuilding and aircraft. Calship built hundreds of Liberty Ships and Victory Ships on Terminal Island, and

8436-521: The inland and mountain areas get considerably more. Years of average rainfall are rare. The usual pattern is a year-to-year variability, with a short string of dry years of 5–10 in (130–250 mm) rainfall, followed by one or two wet years with more than 20 in (510 mm). Wet years are usually associated with warm water El Niño conditions in the Pacific, dry years with cooler water La Niña episodes. A series of rainy days can bring floods to

8547-401: The knowledge that the court is not infallible and that just because Foster won doesn't mean she's right, but Daniel remains disappointed. Daniel boards a tram poised to return to Earth when Julia yells to him from a different tram. He manages to unstrap himself desperately, claw open a door, and leap, dodging other trams and suffering minor electric shocks to get to Julia's tram. She cannot open

8658-493: The land usable for agriculture, which remained the dominant use of land until the 1960s, when construction of large housing tracts accelerated. The first mayor of Fountain Valley was James Kanno , who with this appointment became one of the first Japanese-American mayors of a mainland United States city. After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, there was a large influx of Vietnamese refugees settling in Fountain Valley, especially in

8769-575: The largest U.S. city to have ever had a woman as mayor. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games , making Los Angeles the third city to host the Olympics three times. The city of Los Angeles covers a total area of 502.7 square miles (1,302 km ), comprising 468.7 square miles (1,214 km ) of land and 34.0 square miles (88 km ) of water. The city extends for 44 miles (71 km) from north to south and for 29 miles (47 km) from east to west. The perimeter of

8880-451: The last day of Daniel's hearing, Julia asks Daniel to spend the night with her, but he declines despite his strong feelings for her. Foster plays footage of Daniel's previous night with Julia over Diamond's objections the next day. Foster argues this underscores Daniel's fear and lack of courage. The next day, it is ruled that Daniel will return to Earth, while Julia is judged worthy to move on. Before saying goodbye, Diamond comforts Daniel with

8991-488: The late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, forming a large percentage of Asian Americans in the city. The city is located southwest and northeast of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), which diagonally bisects the city, and is surrounded by Huntington Beach on the south and west, Westminster and Garden Grove on the north, Santa Ana on the northeast, and Costa Mesa on the southeast. Its eastern border

9102-448: The latest arrivals who will have their lives (or most recent lives) on Earth judged over a week-long or so hearing, each before two judges. Amenities and activities are provided, from delicious, calorie-free, all-you-can-eat buffets to bowling alleys and comedy clubs. Daniel's defense attorney, Bob Diamond, explains that people from Earth use so little of their brains that they spend most of their lives functioning based on their fears. If

9213-514: The longer name. The local English pronunciation of the name of the city has varied over time. A 1953 article in the journal of the American Name Society asserts that the pronunciation / l ɔː s ˈ æ n dʒ əl ə s / lawss AN -jəl-əs was established following the 1850 incorporation of the city and that since the 1880s the pronunciation / l oʊ s ˈ æ ŋ ɡ əl ə s / lohss ANG -gəl-əs emerged from

9324-490: The lowest is 28 °F (−2 °C), on January 4, 1949. Within the City of Los Angeles, the highest temperature ever officially recorded is 121 °F (49 °C), on September 6, 2020, at the weather station at Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Woodland Hills . During autumn and winter, Santa Ana winds sometimes bring much warmer and drier conditions to Los Angeles, and raise wildfire risk. Owing to geography, heavy reliance on automobiles, and

9435-505: The lowlands and mudslides to the hills, especially after wildfires have denuded the slopes. Both freezing temperatures and snowfall are extremely rare in the city basin and along the coast, with the last occurrence of a 32 °F (0 °C) reading at the downtown station being January 29, 1979; freezing temperatures occur nearly every year in valley locations while the mountains within city limits typically receive snowfall every winter. The greatest snowfall recorded in downtown Los Angeles

9546-636: The main west coast offices of Ceridian , a professional employer organization . The increasing commercial growth can be evidenced by the frequent rush-hour traffic bottlenecks on the San Diego (405) Freeway through Fountain Valley. According to the city's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top ten employers in the city are: Fountain Valley holds an annual Summerfest in June in Mile Square Regional Park . The event features

9657-546: The mountainous terrain of the surrounding region, the Los Angeles area contains a large number of distinct microclimates , causing extreme variations in temperature in close physical proximity to each other. For example, the average July maximum temperature at the Santa Monica Pier is 70 °F (21 °C) whereas it is 95 °F (35 °C) in Canoga Park, 15 miles (24 km) away. The city, like much of

9768-565: The movie made them feel better. I guess it's because it presents some possibility that doesn't involve clouds and ghostly images." Defending Your Life was released on VHS and LaserDisc in October 1991. Warner Bros. Home Video released the film on DVD on April 3, 2001, in a cardboard snap case . It features 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen formatting, subtitles in English, French , Spanish and Portuguese , cast and crew information, and

9879-529: The nation's worst smog, and fourth in both short-term and year-round pollution amounts. Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California . The population was 57,047 at the 2020 census . The Indigenous people of the Fountain Valley area are the Tongva . The closest village to present-day site of the city was the village of Pasbenga . The village

9990-709: The next phase, but his formidable opponent, prosecutor Lena Foster, takes the opposing argument. Each utilizes video-like footage from select days in Daniel's life to make their case to the judges. During his stay in Judgment City, Daniel meets and falls in love with Julia, a recently deceased woman who lived a seemingly perfect life of courage and generosity, especially compared to his. This also explains why her fancy hotel lodgings are so much better than his spartan motel-like room. Following each day's proceedings, Daniel and Julia spend time exploring Judgment City, including

10101-514: The passage of early national environmental legislation, including the Clean Air Act . When the act was passed, California was unable to create a State Implementation Plan that would enable it to meet the new air quality standards, largely because of the level of pollution in Los Angeles generated by older vehicles. More recently, the state of California has led the nation in working to limit pollution by mandating low-emission vehicles . Smog

10212-639: The plot as "a fantasy about overcoming fears" where Streep and Brooks play people who are separately on trial, but further details about the plot were not released publicly. In January 1991, more details about the plot were released, describing it as involving "a neurotic advertising executive who dies in a car accident and then must defend his earthly actions before a kind of reincarnation review board". Some scenes were shot at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley , Irvine , and Anaheim, California . A scene where comedian Roger Behr plays "the worst comedian in

10323-649: The population) lived in households, 257 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 180 (0.3%) were institutionalized. There were 18,648 households, out of which 6,341 (34.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 11,142 (59.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,102 (11.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 970 (5.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 646 (3.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 108 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 3,451 households (18.5%) were made up of individuals, and 1,772 (9.5%) had someone living alone who

10434-431: The population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 14,158 people (25.6%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Fountain Valley had a median household income of $ 81,212, with 6.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line. According to the census of 2000, there were 54,978 people, 18,162 households, and 14,220 families residing in the city. The population density

10545-486: The present site of Los Angeles on August 2, 1769. In 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , the first mission in the area. On September 4, 1781, a group of 44 settlers known as " Los Pobladores " founded the pueblo (town) they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles , 'The Town of Our Lady the Queen of

10656-536: The rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and became part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood . The discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The city was further expanded with the completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, which delivers water from Eastern California . Los Angeles has

10767-563: The rest of the surrounding landscape. Most construction is done in separate units, rather than wall-to-wall . However, Downtown Los Angeles itself has many buildings over 30 stories, with fourteen over 50 stories, and two over 70 stories, the tallest of which is the Wilshire Grand Center . Los Angeles has a two-season semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) with dry summers and very mild winters, but it receives more annual precipitation than most semi-arid climates, narrowly missing

10878-402: The story for over two years. "I wanted the equation to be a non-religious, non-heaven-like after-life," he said. "And I think the most interesting thing about the movie is what it says about the earth. . . . Self-examination got a bad rap with all the yuppies turning inward. I think it's an important thing to do." An early draft of the script included a different ending where Daniel is sent back as

10989-635: The worst rush hour periods in the world, according to an annual traffic index by navigation system maker, TomTom . LA drivers spend an additional 92 hours in traffic each year. During the peak rush hour, there is 80% congestion, according to the index. Los Angeles is often characterized by the presence of low-rise buildings, in contrast to New York City. Outside of a few centers such as Downtown , Warner Center , Century City , Koreatown , Miracle Mile , Hollywood, and Westwood , skyscrapers and high-rise buildings are not common in Los Angeles. The few skyscrapers built outside of those areas often stand out above

11100-633: The year, with an average of only 35 days with measurable precipitation annually. Temperatures in the coastal basin exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on a dozen or so days in the year, from one day a month in April, May, June and November to three days a month in July, August, October and to five days in September. Temperatures in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys are considerably warmer. Temperatures are subject to substantial daily swings; in inland areas

11211-502: Was 2.0 inches (5 cm) on January 15, 1932. While the most recent snowfall occurred in February 2019, the first snowfall since 1962, with snow falling in areas adjacent to Los Angeles as recently as January 2021. Brief, localized instances of hail can occur on rare occasions, but are more common than snowfall. At the official downtown station, the highest recorded temperature is 113 °F (45 °C) on September 27, 2010, while

11322-403: Was 42.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males. There were 19,164 housing units at an average density of 2,122.0 per square mile (819.3/km ), of which 13,458 (72.2%) were owner-occupied, and 5,190 (27.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.8%. 40,718 people (73.6% of

11433-452: Was 6,124.7 inhabitants per square mile (2,364.8/km ). The racial makeup of Fountain Valley was 31,225 (56.5%) White (49.2% Non-Hispanic White), 510 (0.9%) African American , 229 (0.4%) Native American , 18,418 (33.3%) Asian , 171 (0.3%) Pacific Islander , 2,445 (4.4%) from other races , and 2,315 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7,250 persons (13.1%). The Census reported that 54,876 people (99.2% of

11544-553: Was 6,167.8 inhabitants per square mile (2,381.4 inhabitants/km ). There were 18,473 housing units at an average density of 2,072.4 per square mile (800.2/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 64.02% White , 1.11% Black or African American , 0.46% American Indian or Alaskan Native , 10.68% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25.76% Asian , 0.40% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander , 3.95% from other races , and 4.3% from two or more races. There were 18,162 households, out of which 34.3% had children under

11655-421: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94. There were 14,214 families (76.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.34. The population was spread out, with 11,643 people (21.0%) under the age of 18, 4,624 people (8.4%) aged 18 to 24, 13,310 people (24.1%) aged 25 to 44, 16,020 people (29.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,716 people (17.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

11766-435: Was discovered in the city and surrounding area in 1892, and by 1923, the discoveries had helped California become the country's largest oil producer, accounting for about one-quarter of the world's petroleum output. By 1900, the population had grown to more than 102,000, putting pressure on the city's water supply . The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, under the supervision of William Mulholland , ensured

11877-535: Was not a box office success, grossing about $ 16 million in the United States. It received three Saturn Award nominations, for Best Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Fantasy Film, and Best Writing (Albert Brooks). The American Film Institute recognized the film by nominating it for its AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs award. Regarding the response from fans over the years, Brooks told Rolling Stone , "I've gotten thousands and thousands of letters of people who had relatives that were dying, or they were dying themselves, and

11988-463: Was not". The settlement of Indigenous Californians in the modern Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley was dominated by the Tongva (now also known as the Gabrieleño since the era of Spanish colonization). The historic center of Tongva power in the region was the settlement of Yaanga ( Tongva : Iyáangẚ ), meaning "place of the poison oak ", which would one day be the site where

12099-600: Was originally inhabited by the indigenous Tongva people and later claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542. The city was founded on September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve , on the village of Yaanga . It became a part of the First Mexican Empire in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence . In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War , Los Angeles and

12210-430: Was part of a series of villages along what the Spanish would refer to as the Santa Ana River . European settlement of the area began when Manuel Nieto was granted the land for Rancho Los Nietos , later Rancho Las Bolsas , which encompassed over 300,000 acres (1,200 km ), including present-day Fountain Valley. Control of the land was subsequently transferred to Mexico upon independence from Spain , and then to

12321-450: Was so unapproachable. But she's remarkably approachable. She's so average it's ridiculous. And so funny!" Brooks rewrote the part for Streep. "Comedy is rhythms. Writing is rhythms," he explained. "If you're writing and you have a specific person in mind, the imitative part of you copies that person a little bit and you get closer to that person's rhythms than your own." Filming began on February 12, 1990. A January 1990 news release described

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