The 3 essential Mike Davis books that explain L.A. through Mike Davis eyes
No doubt, for a long time, Mike Davis could always be found driving his beat-up old car around Los Angeles, reading the newspaper and watching the news. His passion for movies and books was legendary, and his ability to dissect the world around him was unmatched in my days at the L.A. Times. But Mike had his limits, and he would often find himself daydreaming about the movies he wanted to make — and to his credit, they were aplenty.
Then, one day, the car stopped, and the dream for those movies disappeared.
I’ve often wondered if the cause was a lack of vision or a lack of ambition, or perhaps in Mike’s case, both. He went to Los Angeles with ambitions of becoming an actor, and one thing led to another, and here we are today, in the midst of our 20th year working together. Mike has achieved numerous awards, has taught many young film students, and has been inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He has been nominated for a Tony in Broadway theater, and he has been awarded two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes.
Mike Davis’ career in movies has always been based on his ability to interpret his subject. He is able to see the beauty in everything, and he is often a writer’s editor. He has an ear for dialogue, an eye for direction, and a sense of what is cinematic. He understands the movies in which he has seen them, and he is able to comment on the films he loves. I remember one day, about four years ago, when Mike and I were talking about a particular film: we had never actually seen The Godfather, but we loved it. There were other movies that we had seen that we loved as well, but it was that one that we loved because it was such a masterpiece. Mike was able to see the heart
