This one is going to be short because in the words of this film, “Something has to be done, but nothing too original, because hey, this is Hollywood.”

If you’ve never seen it, L.A. Confidential is a superb film based on the James Ellroy novel about three members of the LAPD in the 1950s all investigating the same conspiracies of corruption and murder. Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and (blech) Kevin Spacey all play their roles well. The clues and characters are a gritty portrait of the world full of twists and turns.

That’s not what I’m going to write about though! One of the most sleazy characters of the tale is Sid Hudgens (played by Danny DeVito - despite the book portraying the same character as tall and thin). Sid is the writer and editor of a tabloid magazine called Hush Hush which gets scoops on all of the Hollywood dirt. As this journalistic rag is Sid’s livelihood, he is shown setting up his own supposedly true stories. Based on a rumor, Sid puts the right people in the wrong place by buying everyone off and making sure his men are there with flashbulbs. More than being a plain gross example of a human and a writer, Sid’s way with words is what ties together the sleaze, the deceptions, and the murders of the film.