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1!!''Chinatown''
2
3* AwardSnub:
4** The film won an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]] for Best Screenplay, but probably would have won a few more, perhaps even Best Picture, if not for the misfortune of being released in the same year as ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII''. A lesser example than most, because the winner is also a great film. And ''Chinatown'' did beat ''The Godfather Part II'' for Best Drama at the UsefulNotes/{{Golden Globe|Award}}s.
5** Then there's Creator/JackNicholson losing Best Actor. The award (largely seen as a sympathy Oscar) was instead given to Creator/ArtCarney for the relatively forgettable ''Film/HarryAndTonto''.
6** And [[spoiler: Creator/JohnHuston]] somehow wasn't even nominated for Best Supporting Actor despite playing one of the most memorable and chilling screen villains of all time.
7* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Music/JerryGoldsmith's beautifully evocative score, highlighted by the main title theme with its melancholy trumpet solo. And it's possibly the most famous replacement score ever; Philip Lambro's thrown-out score was eventually released on a limited edition CD which [[ExecutiveMeddling leaves the film's name off the packaging]]. Lambro was ''not'' happy about being TheOtherMarty, leading to a CreatorBreakdown. [[https://j-j-gittes.blogspot.com/2014/03/chinatown-lambro-score.html Story here]].
8* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[EvilOldFolks Noah Cross]] is a [[FauxAffablyEvil seemingly jovial, charming]] businessman who is working to stop a drought impacting Los Angeles. In truth, however, Cross is a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive ruthless sociopath]] who is purposefully enabling the drought to work towards creating fertile land he can sell for real estate. Cross murders anyone who could stand in his way, be it random innocents or his own son-in-law, and is revealed to have ignored serious warnings about the stability of the St. Francis Dam, showing zero remorse for the hundreds left dead when the dam inevitably burst due to his own greed. The true extent of Cross's evil is put on display as his daughter Evelyn is revealed to have been [[VillainousIncest raped as a teenager by Cross]], and in the present, Cross is attempting to get his hands on Evelyn's ChildByRape, Katherine. In the end, after Evelyn is killed, Cross fakes horror at the scene before swiftly dragging Katherine away, planning to use her as Evelyn's replacement for Cross's pleasure. Noah Cross has stood out for decades as one of cinema's most memorable, and depraved, villains, a reputation handily earned.]]
9* EnsembleDarkhorse: Lawrence Walsh serves as one of Jake's two assistants and plays a very minor role in the film, but he helps Jake conduct his investigation into Hollis, at one point spying on a conversation between Hollis and Noah. Also, he has the honor of muttering the SignatureLine, "Forget it, Jake—it's Chinatown."
10* GeniusBonus: Noah Cross's constant (and most likely deliberate) mispronouncing of Jake's name as "Gits" takes on further meaning once you know that, in British slang, the term "git" refers to a foolish or annoying person.
11* HarsherInHindsight: [[spoiler: The sexual abuse Noah Cross commits within the movie]] could be seen in a whole new light after director Creator/RomanPolanski was infamously involved in something similar. [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19918_6-terrible-decisions-that-gave-us-great-movie-moments_p2.html This]] article on Website/{{Cracked}} explicitly notes the parallels between how [[spoiler: Cross]] gets off [[KarmaHoudini scot-free]] for his crimes and how Polański himself escaped jail time by fleeing the U.S.
12* HilariousInHindsight:
13** After this film was released, Creator/JoanCrawford declared that Creator/FayeDunaway would be perfect to play her in a biography. [[Literature/MommieDearest Okay, stop laughing, it's true.]]
14** Those who saw ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' first will enjoy Roger's "pattycake" scene a lot more after watching the opening scene in ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. ''Rabbit'' also used the same plot as the never-made third film, ''Cloverleaf'', which involved L.A., the red car line, and freeways.
15** In one of the grand ironies in film history, Jack Nicholson himself found out shortly after the movie was released that [[spoiler: his "sister" was [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo actually his mother]]]], which is [[LifeImitatesArt damn-near identical]] to the movie's iconic plot twist. See the Trivia tab for more details.
16** Jake wants the truth but suffers dire consequences from it. One could say that [[Film/AFewGoodMen he can't handle the truth.]]
17** Creator/JamesHong plays the minor role working as a butler for the lead female character named [[Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce Evelyn]].
18* ItWasHisSled: It's such a famous film that the WhamLine "[[spoiler: She's my sister and my daughter!]]" has lost its power as TheReveal to many.
19* LoveToHate: ''Everything'' about [[spoiler: Noah Cross]]. His wicked schemes, ruthless behavior, fake joviality, [[spoiler: abuse of his daughter]], and [[spoiler: beating the law]] make him one of the vile, and memorable, movie villains.
20* MemeticMutation:
21** "Forget it, _____. It's _______"
22** The "sister, daughter" slapping scene.
23** Creator/RomanPolanski's brief but notable cameo as the man with a knife.
24* MoralEventHorizon: If there was any kind of sympathy for [[spoiler: Noah Cross]], it is long gone when it's revealed that [[spoiler:he fathered a daughter [[ParentalIncest upon his own daughter,]] Mrs. Mulwray, by rape]].
25* NightmareFuel:
26** The final scene where [[spoiler: Cross gets away with his crimes, Evelyn is shot and killed by the police Jake called, and Katherine is taken away before Jake's eyes, all while they tell him to forget it even happened]].
27** [[spoiler:Noah Cross]] himself is '''pure''' NightmareFuel. [[spoiler:Nothing is more horrifying and disturbing than [[CorruptCorporateExecutive a billionaire and powerful businessman]] [[TheBadGuyWins getting away]] with a series of both corporative and sexual crimes. His justification for his crimes doesn't help. [[CardCarryingVillain He's fully self-aware of his wrongdoing, but he doesn't care]].]]
28-->[[spoiler:"I don't blame myself. You see, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they're capable of '''ANYTHING'''."]]
29* OneSceneWonder:
30** The "Man with a Knife" (played by the film's director) only appears in one scene with only one line of dialogue (he barely appears later in the background of a sequence), but also sports one of the most memorable lines and is memorably creepy and jumpy, as well as [[spoiler: scarring Jake's face for the remainder of the film]]. Polański wasn't supposed to be in the role himself. Circumstances forced him into doing the part himself -- and his natural accent gave the character a weaselly Creator/PeterLorre feel.
31-->"You're a very nosy fella, kittycat. You know what happens to nosy fellas? No? Wanna guess?"
32** Creator/JohnHuston, as Noah Cross, has all of two (three at a push), very brief, scenes in this very long film. And he's often remembered as [[spoiler: one of the most despicable villains in cinematic history.]]
33* RealismInducedHorror: Everything about Noah Cross is horrific, but it becomes even '''more''' horrific that people like him actually exist. The parallels with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein#Second_criminal_case the Jeffrey Epstein case]] (American financier convicted of sexual crimes who had connections with very powerful individuals) are there.
34* TheWoobie:
35** [[spoiler: Evelyn Mulwray. Not only was she raped by her father Noah Cross at the age of 14, but she ran away from home and faced a lot of social stigma. Furthermore, she met a miserable end when she was shot in the eye and her daughter Katherine Mulwray was kidnapped by her abusive father]].
36** [[spoiler: Speaking of Katherine Mulwray, special mention goes to the fact that she was a product of Noah's rape, and since her mother was killed, she'll spend the rest of her life as a victim of sexual abuse by her grandfather]].
37** [[spoiler: Hollis Mulwray. He knows what a ridiculously evil man Noah Cross is and wants to keep him from controlling the city’s water supply. He refuses to build a dam, knowing it will not be safe based on an earlier accident that killed hundreds of people. He marries Evelyn out of what is implied to be sympathy for her tragic background and genuinely cares for Katherine as a Father Figure. For all this good, he’s set up to be publicly humiliated as an adulterer and murdered by a man who gets away with everything.]]
38
39!!''The Two Jakes''
40
41* CaptainObviousReveal: That Kitty Berman is [[spoiler: Katherine Mulwray, especially since Kitty is a nickname for Katherine.]]
42* ContinuityLockout: The chief reason ''The Two Jakes'' failed. Despite ''Chinatown's'' many ItWasHisSled moments, ''Jakes'' required a ''lot'' of knowledge of the previous film for it to have a full impact.
43* SoOkayItsAverage: The movie requires extensive knowledge of ''Chinatown'' to understand and lacks any of the shocking twists of the original film. Most agree it's a perfectly serviceable detective film, though.
44* ToughActToFollow: ''Chinatown'' is considered one of the greatest movies ever made, so ''The Two Jakes'' was always going to be disappointing to some.
45* VindicatedByHistory: Though it's not nearly the classic [[FirstInstallmentWins the original is]], some retrospective reviews have come to recognize ''The Two Jakes'' as a worthy sequel to ''Chinatown'', especially if one watches the films back-to-back.

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