Kate’s Apartment from “Picture Perfect”

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140369

I wish I could say I’ve never met a Jennifer Aniston movie I didn’t like, but that is not the case.  In fact, the opposite is more true – I’ve rarely met one I truly did enjoy.  Picture Perfect fits into the “didn’t like” category.  If you haven’t seen the film, this review Paul Tatara wrote for CNN perfectly encapsulates the not-so-titillating storyline.  The 1997 romcom did manage to get a bit more interesting years after its release thanks to a 2010 Elle magazine interview with Jen’s costar Jay Mohr in which he had this say to say when asked about his most awkward interaction with a female celebrity – “Being on the set of a movie where the leading woman was unhappy with my presence and made it clear from day one.  I hadn’t done many movies, and even though they screen-tested some pretty famous guys, I somehow snaked into the leading role.  The actress said, ‘No way!  You’ve got to be kidding me!’  Loudly.  Between takes.  To other actors on set.  I would literally go to my mom’s house and cry.”  The interviewer immediately surmised the female celebrity Mohr was referring to was JA, but he refused to confirm or deny the hunch.  It did not take long for him to spill the tea, though.  You can listen to various interviews he’s since given on the subject here and here.  Jen’s animosity toward the comedian apparently stemmed from the fact that she wanted then boyfriend Tate Donovan to play her love interest, Nick, in Picture Perfect, but Mohr snagged the role instead.  As he tells it, she made him pay dearly for the purported slight.  The duo’s onscreen chemistry definitely attests to some friction.  Aniston, as plucky ad-exec Kate, really plays the whole being-annoyed-at-Nick-thing a little too well throughout the film.  Her disdain for him is palpable in practically every scene and the movie kind of suffers for it, to the point that it is not really believable when she inevitably falls for him at the end.  Regardless, when I came across the address of Kate’s apartment from the flick in the book Manhattan on Film, I added it to my stalking itinerary for my April 2016 trip to the Big Apple and headed over there one (rather rainy) morning while in town.

[ad]

In Picture Perfect, Kate calls a charming building situated on the corner of West 21st Street and 8th Avenue in Chelsea home.

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140383

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140359

With its red brick edifice, arched detailing, carved columns, and teal-paned entrance doors, the structure is – dare I say it –  picture perfect.  It is not hard to see how it came to be used as the residence of the movie’s young, free-spirited, bohemian heroine.

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140356

In real life, the 5-story complex, which was originally built in 1900, boasts 13 units, a roof deck, a ground floor nail salon, and an elevator.

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140358

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140357

The building shows up twice in Picture Perfect.  It first pops up in the scene in which Kate coaches Nick, who is posing as her boyfriend for a work event, on the ins-and-outs of their fake relationship.

Screenshot-008284

Screenshot-008286

The site then appears again toward the end of the movie in the scene in which an on-top-of-the-world Kate leaves her apartment to head to work after very publicly “breaking up” with Nick.  Little does she realize, though, how much she’s going to miss him.

Screenshot-008287

Screenshot-008288

For whatever reason, at some point after the movie was shot, a secondary door situated just west of the one Kate was shown exiting in the scenes, was added to the building.  As you can see in the photographs below as compared to the screen captures above, the white limestone-framed entry with the arched glass awning that stands to the left of Kate’s door was not in existence when Picture Perfect was lensed.

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140381

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140355

The interior of Kate’s apartment was just a set, which I learned via Mohr’s podcast was built on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios in Queens – a soundstage that Jen walked into on the first day of rehearsals and then promptly and loudly announced to Illeana Douglas (who played Aniston’s friend Darcy in the film) right in front of Jay, “Six guys they screen-tested.  Six!  The one f*cking guy I hate, that’s the one they hire!”  Yikes.  In the immortal words of Cher Horowitz, “That was way harsh, Tai!”  The scenes shot inside of the apartment set were some of the last of Picture Perfect to be lensed and by that time Jen had decided she liked Jay and instead switched her vitriol to director Glenn Gordon Caron, though Mohr never forgave her for the hell he experienced during the tumultuous shoot.   Who knows if Jay’s account of the situation is true, but, for reasons I am not going to get into here, I tend to believe it is.  You can check out what the interior of one of the apartments in Kate’s building looks like in real life here and here.  The actual units are much less colorful and far sparser than their onscreen counterpart.

Screenshot-008282

Screenshot-008283

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Kate's Apartment from Picture Perfect-1140360

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Kate’s apartment building from Picture Perfect is located at 301 West 21st Street in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Beau Burroughs’ Mansion from “Rumor Has It”

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (1 of 18)

Back in April, when fellow stalker Geoff, of the 90210Locations website, let me know that he had found the Fundraiser House from L.A. Story (which I blogged about here) at 3456 Via Campesina in Rancho Palos Verdes, I remembered that a few years prior I had tracked down a different Palos Verdes locale – the supposed Half Moon Bay-area mansion where Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) lived in the 2005 romantic comedy Rumor Has It. Because I very rarely find myself in that part of town, though, I had never actually stalked it. So I moved the dwelling to the top of my To-Stalk list and headed right on over there while in the neighborhood visiting the L.A. Story pad just a few days later. And wouldn’t you know it – there was a truck parked right in front of the place when I showed up! Boo!

[ad]

The mansion appeared once in Rumor Has It – in the scene in which Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) woke up at Beau’s residence after spending the night with him – and, unfortunately, very little of the actual home was ever shown. The only areas of the property that appeared in the flick were the backyard –

ScreenShot8147

with its gorgeous ocean views;

ScreenShot8146

ScreenShot8150

part of a back door;

ScreenShot8153

and a tiny portion of a bedroom.

ScreenShot8151

ScreenShot8152

Despite the fact that I had so little to go on, though, this location was a fairly easy find. Thanks to the Rumor Has It production notes, I knew that at least one scene had been lensed in the seaside city of Palos Verdes and, because Beau’s manse was shown to be situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean, I decided to begin my search there. While watching the flick, I had noticed that the dwelling was located on some sort of a promontory that was directly across from another promontory. On that second promontory sat an immense Mediterranean-style mansion.

ScreenShot8149

So I used Google Maps to search for that house, which I found fairly quickly thanks to its size, and from there tracked down Beau’s place. As you can see below, the residence sits perched above a site named “Honeymoon Cove.” Um, love it!

ScreenShot8162

In real life, the mansion, which was originally built in 1973, boasts five bedrooms, seven baths, 6,126 square feet of living space, and a 0.59-acre plot of oceanfront land. The property last sold in October 1995 for $2.5 million.

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (3 of 18)

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (4 of 18)

Upon arriving, I was happily surprised to discover how much of the residence is actually visible from the street. I had not expected to be able to see any of it.

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (8 of 18)

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (10 of 18)

As the words on the two pillars that flank the front gate seem to indicate, the residence is named “Punta Vento”, which, according to Google Translate, means “peak wind” in Italian.

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (6 of 18)

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (7 of 18)

I was shocked to discover, thanks to the fabulous Seeing Stars website, that the same home was also used in the 1987 classic Lethal Weapon, in which it portrayed the mansion belonging to Michael Hunsaker (Tom Atkins). In the movie, a great exterior view of the property was shown.

ScreenShot8160

ScreenShot8159

The backyard and pool area also appeared;

ScreenShot8154

ScreenShot8158

as did a small portion of the interior of the house.

ScreenShot8157

ScreenShot8155

Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for even more stalking fun! And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Beau Burroughs' mansion Rumor Has It (5 of 18)

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Beau Burroughs’ mansion from Rumor Has It is located at 2817 Via Segovia in Palos Verdes.

Justine’s House from “The Good Girl”

Justine's House The Good Girl (2 of 7)

Today’s post is going to be a rather short one as I spent most of the day yesterday with my girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog, attending the annual craft fair at her work – which was loads of fun, but, unfortunately, did not leave much time for blogging.  So please pardon my brevity.  Anyway, last Tuesday morning, when I texted Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to let him know that I was heading back out to Santa Clarita to stalk Bill Cozbi’s Auto Body Shop from Bridesmaids, he suggested that I also make a stalking stop at the house where Justine Last (Jennifer Aniston) and her pothead husband, Phil Last (John C. Reilly), lived in The Good Girl.  And even though I was not a huge of the ultra-depressing 2002 film, because Justine and Phil’s residence was only a short two miles away from the auto body shop, I figured why not.  Then, when I found out there was a Starbucks in between the two locations, that pretty much sealed the deal.  Winking smile

[ad]

Mike, who does not live too far from Santa Clarita, first learned about this location way back in 2001 when The Good Girl was being filmed.  I never had occasion to stalk the place, though, as I do not get out to Canyon Country very often and, for some reason, whenever I did happen to be in the area, I completely forgot to drive by.

Justine's House The Good Girl (3 of 7)

Justine and Phil’s house was one of the main locations used in The Good Girl and the pad showed up repeatedly throughout the movie.  As you can see below, though, the residence looks quite a bit different in person than it did onscreen. The front door that appeared in the film has since been swapped out with a new, glass-paned one, a stone façade has been added to the home’s exterior, the garage door has been replaced, and the wood paneling removed from the side of the garage.  Boo!  Thankfully though, the abode is still, for the most part, recognizable as The Good Girl house.

ScreenShot6588

Justine's House The Good Girl (4 of 7)

ScreenShot6590

Justine's House The Good Girl (5 of 7)

Of the locale, The Good Girl production notes state, “Although the design concept was naturalistic, finding locations in sunny California to pass for small town Texas was difficult, specifically the search for Justine and Phil’s house, which is painstakingly defined in the script.  ‘Our principal character lived physically and emotionally in the very last house on the street, out from which stretched miles of dry, barren nothingness,’ clarifies [production designer Daniel] Bradford.  ‘And of course, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere there are palm trees which are not appropriate for West Texas.’”  I really have to give kudos to The Good Girl location managers for finding the property because when I pulled up and saw the large telephone poles, flat streets and general ruralness of the area, my first thought was, ‘This neighborhood does not look AT ALL like an L.A. neighborhood.’

ScreenShot6597

Justine's House The Good Girl (7 of 7)

In real life, Justine’s house, which was originally built in 1961, boasts three bedrooms, two baths, 1,125 square feet of living space, and a 0.16-acre plot of land.

Justine's House The Good Girl (6 of 7)

And while I would have bet money on the real life interior of the home being used in The Good Girl, that does not appear to have been the case.  As you can see in the photographs below, which I got off of an old real estate listing for the property, while the living room very closely resembles what appeared onscreen . . .

ScreenShot6589

ScreenShot6586

ScreenShot6591

ScreenShot6592

. . . the kitchen area does not.  And while the real estate listing does mention that the kitchen was “recently remodeled”, it differs far too much from the Last kitchen for me to believe it was used in the flick.

ScreenShot6596

ScreenShot6593

ScreenShot6598

ScreenShot6586

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!  Smile

Justine's House The Good Girl (1 of 7)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Justine’s house from The Good Girl is located at 25103 Fourl Road in Santa Clarita.  Ricardo’s Auto Upholstery, aka Bill Cozbi’s Auto Body Shop from Bridesmaids, is located nearby at 24347 Main StreetJudy’s home from Bridesmaids is located right around the corner from Ricardo’s at 23418 8th Street.  And Officer Rhodes’ residence is located directly across the street from Judy’s at 23425 8th Street.  Note – the Bridesmaids houses cannot be reached via Calgrove Boulevard, as that street is blocked just east of Creekside Drive.  To gain access to the sites, you can take either Apple or Valley Street south off of Lyons Avenue to 8th Street.

Holden’s House from “The Good Girl”

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000826

Another Simi Valley location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, suggested I stalk this past Saturday after my and the Grim Cheaper’s American Jewish University Brandeis-Barden Campus snafu (which you can read about here) was the supposed Texas-area home where Holden Worther (Jake Gyllenhaal) lived in my favorite movie of all-time, The Good Girl.  Ha, just kidding!  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the Retail Rodeo, I actually hated the 2002 Jennifer Aniston flick.  But because the GC and I were pretty much right around the corner from Holden’s house when Mike texted me its address, I figured we might as well stalk the place.

[ad]

In real life, the charming one-story, Anywhere, U.S.A.-style residence was constructed in 1964 and measures two bedrooms, two baths and 1,267 square feet.  Mike, who lives in Simi Valley, actually tracked this location down way back in 2002 thanks to some local buzz that he heard while The Good Girl was being filmed.

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000825

In The Good Girl, Holden lives at the house – after getting kicked out of college – with his spiritless, emotionless parents, Mr. Worther (John Doe – and yes, that is his actual stage name!) and Mrs. Worther (Roxanne Hart), neither of whom utter more than a single word during the entire movie.  As you can see below, the property looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen.  Even the number plaque next to the garage door is still exactly the same!  Yay!

ScreenShot5419

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000827

ScreenShot5418

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000828

I find it pretty ironic that producers ended up choosing a home with a large mountain range visible behind it to stand in for Holden’s in the flick.  As I mentioned above, The Good Girl is supposed to take place in a small Texas town and the Lone Star State isn’t exactly known as being mountainous.

ScreenShot5409

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000823

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the house was also used in the flick, but I, unfortunately, could not find any photographs online with which to verify that hunch.

ScreenShot5410

ScreenShot5411

On an interesting The Good Girl side note – according to IMDB, director Miguel Arteta had Jennifer Aniston wear wrist weights prior to and during the filming in order to give her character, Justine Last, a worn-down look.  The trick worked as Justine was light years away from Rachel Green.  Her wardrobe only added to the effect, especially the drab shoes.  And while I realize that I have posted this quote before (back in October 2011 in my column about the What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? house), I absolutely love it, so I figured it bore repeating.  In the September 2009 issue of Elle Magazine, Jennifer Aniston said of her process of creating a character, “I‘ll never forget my high school acting teacher, Anthony Abeson, who said, ‘It starts with the shoes.’  When I think about a character, it does start with the shoes: What kind would she wear?  How would she walk in them?  If I’m going to put on a dress for a role – I don’t care if it’s the hardest dress to put on – I have to put the shoes on first.  The physicality leads me to the character . . . Like Justine in The Good Girl: She was so disconnected from how she looked, that’s what led to the discomfort of who she was.”  She’s right – Justine’s shoes – and her flood pants – definitely made that character.

ScreenShot5422

And on a Simi Valley side-note – the GC and I stumbled into Aubergine Emporium – the coolest, most unique antique store that I have ever been to in my life – while stalking in the area on Saturday.  The place is worth a visit just to check out its decor alone!  My favorite adornment was the antique ladder above the cash register, which the owners placed a sheet of glass on top of and now use as a shelf.  SO INCREDIBLY COOL AND UNIQUE!  Love, love, love it!  Aubergine was chock full of creative, whimsical touches like that and I honestly could have spent all day there, walking around gathering interior design ideas.  I cannot more highly recommend stalking the place!

Holden's House The Good Girl-

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And you can take a look at my latest post – about road trip eats – on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!  Smile

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000824

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Holden’s house from The Good Girl is located at 5368 Leland Circle in Simi Valley.  While in the area, be sure to stop by Aubergine Emporium at 4385 Valley Fair Street for a little antique shopping.

Julia Harris’ House from “Horrible Bosses”

P1020080

Another location that the Grim Cheaper and I ventured out in the pouring rain to stalk two weekends ago was the ultra-modern abode where Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S. (aka my girl Jen Aniston) lived in the (horrible) 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses.  I was informed of this location via a text from fellow stalker Chas, of the It’sFilmedThere website, who prefaced giving me the address with the query, “Did you like Horrible Bosses?”, to which I wrote back, “Not at all!”  When he asked if my dislike stemmed from the fact that the movie was “too crude”, I wrote back, “No!  It stemmed from the fact that it was seriously stupid!”  Winking smile The GC and I had gone to see Horrible Bosses on opening night in a theatre, as I do with pretty much every new Jen Aniston movie, and were both so bored to tears that we almost walked out!  I just did not find the flick funny, like at all, and, for some reason, Charlie Day, who played Dr. Harris’ dental assistant Dale Arbus, seriously grated on my nerves, especially his gravely voice.  It was like fingernails on a chalkboard to this stalker, but I digress.  Anyway, I was extremely excited to receive Chas’ text, regardless of my feelings about the movie, as I am always, always up for stalking a location that has anything whatsoever to do with my girl.

[ad]

ScreenShot2202 ScreenShot2203

ScreenShot2204 ScreenShot2205

ScreenShot2206 ScreenShot2207

Julia’s house actually only shows up twice in Horrible Bosses – first in the scene in which Dale’s friend Kurt Buckman (aka Jason Sudeikis) stakes out the property with the intent of murdering Julia and later on in a flashback scene in which he describes what happens while there.  According to the Horrible Bosses production notes, “The deviant doc’s house is stylistically similar to her office — that is, what can be seen of it through its wide street-facing picture windows, which afford her the opportunity to put on the kind of show she couldn’t get away with at work.”

P1020079 P1020082

P1020087 P1020086

P1020084 P1020088

In real life, the five-bedroom, four-bath, 3,906-square-foot home, which was completely rebuilt in 2008, is pretty darn spectacular!  The property features a double-sided fireplace, a floating staircase, an open floor plan, Cherry wood and poured concrete flooring, exposed steel beams, a six-burner range, and three fireplaces.  The property sold on July 22 of this year for $1.73 million.  You can check out some great interior photographs of the place here.

Big THANK YOU to Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, for finding this location.  You can check out Chas’ extensive Horrible Bosses filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Julia Harris’ house from Horrible Bosses is located at 2361 Midvale Avenue in the Westside area of Los Angeles.

The “Bruce Almighty” Party House

P1070197

Last week while going through the glove compartment of my car, I came across the Scott’s L.A. Audio Tour of Pasadena CD that I had purchased about seven years prior.  For those who have never heard of Scott’s L.A., the family-owned company produces a series of audio driving tours of the Southern California area, all of which feature numerous famous locations, including quite a few that have appeared in movies and on television.  Since I had not listened to the CD in years, I decided to spend a couple of hours re-taking the tour.  And I am so glad that I did because there were a few locales mentioned on it that I had completely forgotten about, the most important of which was the party house from the 2003 movie Bruce Almighty.  And even though I was not at all a fan of Bruce Almighty, because my girl Jen had filmed a scene at the house, I figured it was most-definitely stalk- and blog-worthy.

[ad]

P1070169 P1070194

P1070195 P1070196

In real life, the Bruce Almighty party mansion is known as the Stern House and it was originally built in 1938 by architects Garrett Van Pelt and Robert E. Alexander.  The Mediterranean-style property, which sits on 0.83 acres of land, boasts 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, and 7,146 square feet of living space.  And even though the residence has a name and seems to be historic in some way, surprisingly I could not find any other information about it online.

ScreenShot497 ScreenShot499

ScreenShot501 ScreenShot502

In Bruce Almighty, the Channel 7 news team throws Bruce Nolan (aka Jim Carrey) a party at the supposed Vanderbilt Estate in New York in honor of his recent promotion.  When Bruce’s girlfriend Grace Connelly (aka Jennifer Aniston) shows up at the party, she catches him kissing his co-anchor Susan Ortega (aka Catherine Bell) and a fight ensues out in front of the mansion.

ScreenShot493 ScreenShot494

ScreenShot496 ScreenShot498

And while I could not find any photographs of the inside of the property to verify this, I am fairly certain that a different residence was used to film the interior party scenes.

ScreenShot505 ScreenShot504

ScreenShot507 ScreenShot506

Ironically enough, while scanning through Bruce Almighty yesterday to make screen captures for this post, I noticed that the house belonging to Debbie (aka Lisa Ann Walter) in the flick is the very same property where the Simpson family lived in fave movie She’s Out of Control, which I stalked this past May.

ScreenShot503

I also came across this super-cute photograph on IMDB of my girl Jen and Bruce Almighty director Tom Shadyac  which was taken out in front of the She’s Out of Control house.  Love it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Bruce Almighty party house is located at 1395 Ridge Way in Pasadena.  You can visit the Scott’s L.A. website and purchase the company’s various tour CDs here.

Barneys New York from “Just Go With It”

P1070131

This past Friday night, the Grim Cheaper and I sat down to watch Just Go With It on DVD and I have to say that I loved the flick even more the second time around!  I honestly think it is my girl Jen’s best movie yet!  Although I did seriously love me some Office Space, but I digress.  So while the GC and I were in the area doing some stalking last Sunday afternoon, I just had to drag him out to stalk the Women’s Shoe Department at Barneys New York department store on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, where, in what turned out to be one of my favorite scenes in the film, Jen’s character, Katherine, tried on some expensive kicks at the behest of her boss/pretend soon-to-be ex-husband, Danny Maccabee (aka Adam Sandler).

P1070126 P1070130

P1070129 P1070127

Before arriving at Barneys I was a little apprehensive that the store would have a no photos policy, but amazingly enough I ended up chatting with a super nice saleswoman who not only showed me the exact spot in the shoe department where filming had taken place, but also told me that I was free to take all of the pictures that I wanted.  Yay!  The woman also informed me that she had once waited on Jen and that she had been incredibly nice and down to earth.  Sigh!

ScreenShot401 ScreenShot404

ScreenShot400 ScreenShot399

The Just Go With It scene was filmed in the very center of Barneys’ Women’s Shoe Department, in the area that features a square-shaped couch.  I was especially excited to see that the couch pillows that appeared in the scene were actually there in real life, as well!  Love it!

ScreenShot402

And OH MY GOD do I LOVE me the shoes that Jen tried on in the scene!!!  What I wouldn’t give to have a pair of those!!!!  (They are made by Tabitha Simmons and they are called the “Bailee Suede” for those who are interested and have an extra $882 lying around.  That’s the sale price, by the way, they originally cost $1,470.)

Just Go With It–Barneys New York in Beverly Hills

You can watch the absolutely hilarious scene that took place at Barneys by clicking above.

[ad]

ScreenShot393

The saleswoman that I spoke with also told me that Jen’s ex, Brad Pitt, filmed a very brief scene for the 1999 movie Fight Club at Barneys, in which his character, Tyler Durden, and “The Narrator”, who was played by Edward Norton, sell soap to a high-end department store.

ScreenShot389 ScreenShot390

ScreenShot391 ScreenShot392

The store was also where Turtle (aka Jerry Ferrara), Vincent Chase (aka Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (aka Kevin Connolly), and Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (aka Kevin Dillon) shopped for pajamas for the annual Playboy Mansion Lingerie Party in the Season 2 episode of Entourage titled “Aquamansion”.

ScreenShot406

Barneys New York in Beverly Hills is also a major celebrity hot spot.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted shopping there in recent months include Courteney Cox, Lauren Conrad, Kate Bosworth, Audrina Patridge, Ashley Tisdale, Lindsay Lohan, Rihanna, Dakota Fanning, Nicole Richie, and Jessica Alba.  Barneys was also where Victoria Beckham and Katie Holmes famously shopped for shoes together back in 2006.  In fact, the above photograph was taken in the exact same spot where Just Go With It was filmed.  And the last time that the GC and I were at Barneys, we spotted Jessica Lowndes, aka Adrianna Tate-Duncan from 90210, doing some shopping with a friend.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Barneys New York, from Just Go With It, is located at 9570 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  In the movie, Jennifer Aniston shopped in the very center of the Women’s Shoe Department.  You can visit the official Barney’s website here.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Honeymoon Suite at the Ingleside Inn

P1000037

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I spent my recent birthday weekend in Room 148 of the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs – the very room where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston stayed during their mini-honeymoon shortly following their July 29th, 2000 wedding.  I first found out about the Ingleside Inn back in April of 2009 thanks to this Jetsetters Magazine article and, as you can imagine, just about died upon hearing that my girl Jen had honeymooned there.   Then, shortly thereafter, the Grim Cheaper ended up proposing to me at the Ingleside, so the hotel has always had a very special place in my heart.  During that proposal weekend, I, of course, just had to ask Melvyn Haber, the Ingleside’s longtime owner, what room it was that Brad and Jen had stayed in.  Before I could even get the question fully out of my mouth, he replied, “Room 148, the Princess Room.”  And that right there is just one of the many reason that I fell in love with the hotel!  Almost a full decade later, Melvyn STILL knew the exact room where Brad and Jen had stayed right off the top of his head!

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-20

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago.  My dad called me up to let me know that he had booked Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite as a surprise for my upcoming birthday.  (He had to tell me about his plans a few weeks early as the GC and I had been thinking about spending my birthday at Disneyland and were thisclose to booking a hotel room there.)  I happened to be driving at the time and got so excited upon hearing his news that I literally almost crashed the car!  For those who have never visited the Palm Springs area, it gets EXTREMELY hot there during the summer months – we are talking like 115 to 120 degrees hot – so hotels drastically drop their rates from early June through the end of August.  Because of this, and the fact that the Ingleside inn is not overly-expensive to begin with, my dad was able to get Brad and Jen’s room for only $200 per night!  My birthday just so happened to fall on my mom’s very last day of work ever (she retired this year), so he also booked a suite at the hotel for them, and talked the GC into booking a second night in Brad and Jen’s room so that we could all spend the weekend together.  Now mind you, my dad was extremely sick during this time and was in and out of the hospital, so how he managed to come up with such an incredible idea AND do all of the planning without me or my mom’s help – not to mention that he also purchased some FABULOUS gifts for the two of us – is absolutely BEYOND me!!  It was one of the best, most exciting weekends of my entire life and I cannot believe he pulled it all off while feeling so incredibly sick!  Best.  Present.  Ever.

IMG_6947

When we first arrived at the Ingleside Inn and were checking in at the front desk, I saw the above-pictured “Happy Birthday Lindsay” message displayed on the marquee in the front lobby and just about fell over.  So incredibly cool!!  The lobby sign is very typical of the personal touches that the Ingleside Inn employs in order to make guests feel at home.  Love it!

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-21

After checking in, we were handed the above-pictured room key.  As you can see, the Ingleside Inn still uses actual brass room keys, not the keycards that are typically found in hotels today.  So, as you can imagine, as soon as those keys were handed over, I turned to the GC and said, “OH MY GOD!  Jennifer Aniston once held this key in her hand!”  Granted, the key quite possibly could have been swapped out for a new one in the decade that has passed since Jen stayed at the Ingleside, but just let me have my fantasy!  Winking smile

[ad]

IMG_6946

I covered the Ingleside Inn’s vast history in the post I wrote about the hotel back in May of 2009, so I won’t go over it again here. But needless to say, the tiny, 30-room inn, which sits on just over 2.5 acres of land, has had quite a celebrated history since it was first founded in 1939. Thanks to its extreme privacy and award-winning service, celebrities have long been drawn to the place like moths to a flame. Just a few of the luminaries who have stayed there over the years include Frank Sinatra, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Lance Bass, Donald Trump, Marla Maples, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Bob Hope, John Travolta, David Boreanaz, Joan Collins, Cher, Howard Hughes, and Rita Hayworth.  The Ingleside is by no means fancy or extravagant, though. It is a very simple, low-key retreat where people go to truly get away from it all. The Inn is not a party hotel, it is not a place for families, and it is not modern in any way, shape, or form. It is an extremely quiet, private, and relaxing sanctuary; the type of place where an A-List star can lay out by the pool and not worry about being approached by a fan or fellow guest.

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-1 jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-2

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-3 jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-5

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-4 jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-7

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-8 jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-9

Brad and Jen’s honeymoon suite features a wood-burning fireplace, a sitting area, a king-sized bed, two picture windows, and a plasma TV, and while it is extremely nice, it is not overly-luxurious or the type of place one would expect one of the most famous couples in the world to have spent their honeymoon.  And that right there is why I LOVE Jen so much!  Of course she would choose a simple, laid-back, low-key space to spend her first few days of married life.  And while Brad and Jen’s room is a suite, it is by no means the Ingleside’s largest.  There are two others that are far bigger than the Princess Room, which led me to wonder how the couple ending up choosing it for their honeymoon.

P1000032 P1000030

Besides the fact that Jen has always been a fan of small spaces (the bungalow she rented in Malibu post-divorce measured a scant 1,531 square feet, the home on Blue Jay Way where she lived during the height of her Friends’ success measured only 2,903 square feet, and she is currently selling her 9,105-square-foot Beverly Hills manse as it is reportedly too large for her), as it turns out, the Princess Room is by far the hotel’s most private and secluded suite.  It is located towards the very back of the property, far away from the pool and the award-winning Melvyn’s restaurant, but close to the back parking area, which means that Brad and Jen could have parked their car and been inside of their room less than ten steps later.  As you can see above, there is also a gate surrounding that particular wing of the hotel, which consists of three rooms, and the actual suite itself is bordered by a large stucco wall.

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-15 jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-17

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-18 jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-19

The Princess Room is one of the few at the hotel that also boasts a completely private patio area, which I absolutely fell in love with while there.

jennifer-aniston-brad-pitt-suite-22

As you can imagine, pretty much all weekend I was saying things like “I just took a shower where Jennifer Aniston once showered!” or “Jennifer Aniston sat on this couch!” or, my personal favorite, “Jennifer Aniston slept here!”  My head was literally about to explode the entire time I was there!  And poor, poor fellow stalker Owen!  I must have sent him about 100 text messages, all saying things like, “I just washed my face where Jennifer Aniston once washed her face!”   Smile

IMG_6955 IMG_6957

IMG_6960 IMG_6961

IMG_6962IMG_6964

My parents stayed in Room 145, aka “Margaret’s Room”, which according to one of the super-nice front desk clerks that we spoke with while there, was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s favorite suites.  The former Governator and his soon-to-be ex-wife stayed at the hotel on an almost monthly basis at one point in time.

IMG_6967 IMG_6968

IMG_6969 IMG_6971

My parents’ room boasted a HUMONGOUS semi-private patio (semi-private as it has an opening on the backside that is accessible to the public) that was honestly bigger than most backyards!

P1000038

All in all, it was an A-MA-ZING weekend and, as you can see above, I was BEYOND sad to check out of what the GC and I had dubbed “our perfect little room”.

Ingleside Inn–Brad and Jen’s honeymoon hotel

You can watch a video about the Ingleside Inn, in which owner Melvyn Haber is interviewed, by clicking above.

Ingleside Inn Palm Springs

And you can watch another video, which shows the Inn’s beautiful grounds, by clicking above.

On a stalking side-note – This Sunday (June 19th), stalking gods Harry Medved and Karie Bible will be signing copies of their new book Location Filming in Los Angeles at Vroman’s Bookstore, which is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.  They will also be conducting a walking tour of some famous Pasadena movie sites, including locations from Knocked Up, The Prestige, Live Free and Die Hard, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator immediately following the signing at 4 p.m.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Road in Palm Springs.  Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston spent their honeymoon in the hotel’s Princess Room, aka Room 148.  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver frequently stayed in Margaret’s Room, aka Room 145.  You can visit the Ingleside Inn’s official website here.

Fred 62 from “Commander in Chief”

Me on Ellen! 🙂

Before I begin today’s blog, I thought I would post a clip of the game I played on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week.  I just have to say here, too, that going to see the show was a FABULOUS experience and I highly recommend doing so if you are in the area.  I would also like to thank my friend and fellow stalker, Beth, for inviting me to tag along with her to watched Ellen being filmed.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Beth!  Smile And now, on with the post!

IMG_4752

The Grim Cheaper and I recently sat down to watch the 2005 series Commander in Chief in its entirety.  The short-lived show about a female president, Mackenzie Allen (aka Geena Davis), sadly only lasted one season with a scant 18 episodes ever being broadcast.  I had originally been interested in watching the series because it starred cutie Matt Lanter (aka Liam Court on 90210) as the First Son, Horace Calloway, but, as it turned out, both the GC and I absolutely LOVED it!  I am beyond shocked that the show was cancelled after such a short time period.  There’s no accounting for taste, I guess.  Anyway, while watching one of the episodes, I recognized a location that I had actually stalked almost a decade prior – Fred 62 restaurant in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.  The GC’s best friend, Chris, had taken us there for a late lunch one afternoon back in 2001 and at the time I had no idea the place was a filming location.  So once I saw it pop up on Commander in Chief, I immediately dragged the GC right on out to re-stalk it.  And thankfully Fred 62 was just as great as I remembered it.
IMG_4735 IMG_4745
IMG_4746 IMG_4747
Fred 62 was originally founded in 1997 by two men named Fred who were both born in the year 1962, hence the name.   Nightclub designer Fred Sutherland, who fashioned everything from The Palladium in New York City to Deep in Hollywood, created the look of the diner, while his friend, chef Fred Eric, of Olive, Vida, and Airstream fame, was responsible for the fare.  The restaurant became a hit right of the bat and, due to its distinct retro-look, also became an instant favorite with area location scouts.  Besides being a filming location, though, Fred’s is also something of a celebrity hot-spot and such stars as Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Heather Graham, Shane West, Dax Shepard, Johnny Knoxville, Kristen Bell, Kirstie Alley, Samantha Ronson, Lindsay Lohan, Katy Perry, Russell Brand, Mandy Moore, Kate Bosworth, Naomi Watts, Cam Gigandet, and Ben Stiller have all been spotted there.  Ironically enough, as we were leaving Fred 62 we saw Archie Panjabi, who plays investigator Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife, which is another show the GC and I just recently started watching.  She was dining a few doors down from Fred’s at Figaro Bistro and I just about had a heart attack upon spotting her as Kalinda is my favorite character on the series.   Smile
IMG_4740
The Fred 62 menu is quite extensive and offers a selection of everything from typical diner fare like burgers and hot dogs (with homemade potato chips, no less!) to Japanese entrees like udon and soba noodle soup to Mexican favorites such as tacos and burritos.  I opted for the S.W.S. Southwestern Pacific Railroad Salad with chicken fingers (pictured above) and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD!  There was literally not one scrap of lettuce or droplet of ranch dressing left on my plate when I got done with it!  The GC had a roast beef sandwich which he also devoured.  I honestly cannot say enough good things about Fred 62  – great food, fab atmosphere!  I loved, loved, loved the place and cannot wait for a re-stalk!
ScreenCap1275 ScreenCap1280
ScreenCap1278 ScreenCap1279
Fred 62 popped up in the Season 1 episode of Commander in Chief titled First Disaster as the supposed Washington, D.C.-area diner where First Daughter Rebecca Calloway (aka Caitlin Wachs) goes on a date with schoolmate Mike Fleming (aka Matt Barr).
IMG_4744
As fate would have it, the GC and I ended up sitting in pretty much the exact same spot where Rebecca and Mike sat in the scene.
ScreenCap1281 ScreenCap1283
ScreenCap1285 ScreenCap1286
After finishing their meal, the two get mobbed by a crowd of people while standing on the street just outside of Fred’s and wind up having to be rescued by the Secret Service.
[ad]
ScreenCap1289 ScreenCap1290
ScreenCap1291 ScreenCap1288
Fred 62 was also featured in the 2006 flick Friends With Money as the spot where Mike (aka Scott Caan) and Olivia (aka my girl Jen Aniston) go out on a blind date.
IMG_4739
Mike and Olivia sat in the second booth in from Fred’s front door while on their date.
ScreenCap1292 ScreenCap1293
ScreenCap1295 ScreenCap1298
The restaurant also popped up a few times in 2009’s Spread, which has honestly got to be one of the WORST movies I have ever seen in my entire life!!  I should say “half-seen”, as I turned it off about halfway through.  Anyway, it first pops up as the spot where Nikki (aka Ashton Kutcher) grabs breakfast and while doing so meets and becomes obsessed with his waitress, Heather (aka Margarita Levieva).
ScreenCap1301 ScreenCap1303
ScreenCap1305 ScreenCap1306
Nikki later takes his friend Harry (aka Sebastian Stan) to the diner and has him pretend to be his assistant in the hopes that it will make him more attractive to Heather, but he only ends up making a fool of himself and getting a parking ticket, to boot.
ScreenCap1307 ScreenCap1316
ScreenCap1315 ScreenCap1310
Fellow stalker Chas, of the ItsFilmedThere website, let me know that Fred62 also appeared in the Season 1 episode of Charmed titled “That ‘70s Episode” in the scene in which the Charmed Ones – Prue (aka Shannen Doherty), Phoebe (aka Alyssa Milano), and Piper Halliwell (aka Holly Marie Combs)  – travel back in time to March 24th, 1975 to visit their deceased mother, Patty (aka Finola Hughes), at the restaurant where she then worked.
ScreenCap1312 IMG_4743
In the episode, Prue and Piper sat in the booth closest to Fred’s front door.
ScreenCap1314 IMG_4750
And Phoebe got into a fist fight with Nicolas (aka Andrew Jackson) on the sidewalk out in front of Fred’s.
IMG_4754

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Fred 62 is located at 1850 North Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz.  The restaurant is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  You can visit Fred’s official website here.

Casa del Mar Hotel from “Just Go With It”

IMG_4257
On February 11th – which just so happened to be my girl Jennifer Aniston’s 42nd birthday – I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to see the actress’ latest movie, Just Go With It.  Because there are very few JA movies that I have ever actually liked (even though I am a HUGE fan of hers, Office Space and He’s Just Not That Into You are the only two that I can honestly say that I LOVE), I did not have high hopes for the flick.  But I am very happy to report that I ended up absolutely LOVING it!  Even more amazing was the fact that the GC loved it, too.  And even more amazing still was the fact that the GC also recognized a location from it – the Casa del Mar hotel in Santa Monica which was used in the scene in which Katherine (aka Jennifer Aniston) poses as Danny’s (aka Adam Sandler’s) soon-to-be ex-wife and meets his new girlfriend, Palmer (aka Brooklyn Decker), for the first time.  So, while we were in Santa Monica this past weekend stalking the blue carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards, I dragged the GC right on over to the Casa del Mar to do a bit of Just Go With It stalking.
IMG_4258 IMG_4269
IMG_4259 IMG_4271
Casa del Mar hotel was first opened in 1926 as the luxurious and ultra-exclusive Club Casa del Mar beach club, which catered to Southern California’s elite and featured an indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool, a private stretch of white, sandy beach, weekly dinner dances, upscale accommodations, and a grand ballroom.  Even though it was founded during the heart of America’s Prohibition era, booze apparently flowed freely at the hotel and gambling was a frequent guest pastime.  According to local lore, Santa Monica policemen would turn a blind eye to the illegal goings-on at the property and would tip off the club staff members each time there was going to be a raid.  During World War II, the US Army took over the building and used it to house American soldiers.  Fallen into disrepair, the hotel shuttered its doors shortly after the war ended.  Charles E. Dederich purchased the Renaissance Revival-style property shortly thereafter and turned it into a drug rehabilitation facility known as Synanon.  In the late 1970’s, the building was purchased by nutrition guru Nathan Pritikin and transformed into the Pritikin Longevity Center, where actor Chris Farley was a one-time guest.  The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation took over the property in 1998, restored the building to is original 1920’s grandeur, and in 1999 reopened it as the Casa del Mar hotel.  It has been going strong ever since.
IMG_4273
The hotel currently boasts a Zoltar fortune machine, a la the machine that made Tom Hanks “big” in the movie of the same name, in its lobby area, which I found so incredibly cool!
ScreenCap638 ScreenCap639
ScreenCap640 ScreenCap641
The Casa del Mar hotel popped up in what was, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, the funniest scene in Just Go With It, in which JA pretends to be a rich, snobby Beverly Hills socialite with a bit of a drinking – and pill – problem.  Jen is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS in the scene and even had the GC LOL-ing at several points, even though he typically does not find her to be at all amusing.
IMG_4262 IMG_4263
The Just Go With It scene was filmed in the southern portion of the Casa del Mar lobby, just south of the rear side of the hotel’s main fireplace.  The lobby’s furnishings were changed quite a bit for the filming, though.
ScreenCap637
IMG_4267
And I, of course, just had to recreate the scene in which Jen first arrives at the hotel and tells her limo driver that she “shant be long”.   Smile
ScreenCap642
The scene that supposedly takes place just outside of the hotel was shot at a different location, though, and I have not been able to determine exactly where that location is yet.
Just Go With It Trailer – Casa Del Mar Hotel

You can watch the Just Go With It trailer, in which Casa del Mar is featured, by clicking above.

ScreenCap661 ScreenCap662

ScreenCap650 ScreenCap651

The hotel also popped up in the Season 2 episode of The Mentalist titled “18-5-4” as the supposed San Francisco-area Tidewater Resort where Oliver Simon McDaniel (aka Evan Peters) hid out.

ScreenCap652 ScreenCap655

IMG_4260 IMG_4272

For whatever reason, producers had a fake check-in desk built in front of the hotel’s fireplace for the filming of the episode.

ScreenCap657 ScreenCap659

ScreenCap660 ScreenCap658

The scene in which Patrick Jane (aka Simon Baker) tells Teresa Lisbon (aka Robin Tunney) that she should have the CBI Headquarters moved to the beach was filmed in the hotel’s Veranda Bar area . . .

IMG_4264IMG_4265

. . . which I, unfortunately, could not get a great photograph of due to the brightness of the sun.

[ad]

ScreenCap646 ScreenCap648

ScreenCap644 ScreenCap645

The SUPER nice concierge that we spoke with while we were stalking the hotel also let us know that the Casa del Mar’s Colonnade Ballroom was used in another Jennifer Aniston flick – the 2006 movie Friends With Money, in the scene in which Olivia (aka JA) and her friends attend a benefit for ALS.  He also informed us that the ballroom was used in episodes of both Hung and Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well.

IMG_4275 IMG_4276

IMG_4277 IMG_4278

As fate would have it, the ballroom just happened to be unlocked while we were stalking the hotel, so I was able to walk in and snap a few pictures of it.

Casa Del Mar - Be Cool ScreenCap664

The exterior of the hotel is visible in the scene in 2005’s Be Cool in which wanna-be gansta Raji (aka an absolutely HILARIOUS Vince Vaughn) and Elliot Wilhelm (aka Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) get into a fight and Raji announces, “I smell you man!  I feel your pain!”  LOL

052006_18022

Besides being a filming location, the hotel is also something of a celebrity hotspot.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there in recent years include Lindsay Lohan, Christian Bale, Ryan Phillipe, AnnaLynne McCord, Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady, Maria Shriver, Pamela Anderson, Christian Slater,  Emma Watson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Justin Timberlake, Bradley Cooper, Molly Ringwald, Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Bacon, Jessica Alba, Cash Warren, Will Smith, Josh Duhamel, and Renee Zellweger. Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray were married at the hotel in 2005 and Miss Britney Spears and then-husband Kevin Federline even lived there for a time while their Malibu mansion was being renovated.  I was lucky enough to spot Jen Aniston at the Casa del Mar once – along with Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jon Favreau – back in 2006.  She was doing press for The Break-Up at the time and the GC and I had randomly stopped by the hotel to grab a cocktail.  I was wearing my “Team Aniston” sweatshirt and when Jen saw it she pointed, smiled, and said, “Oh, thank you!”   Ever since that day, the GC has referred to Casa del Mar as the “Jen Aniston hotel”.  Love it!  (The GC took the above photograph of Jen that day on his blackberry, which is why it turned out so poorly.  After seeing the picture, I solemnly swore I would NEVER again be caught out and about without my camera and I now carry it with me at all times.)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Casa del Mar hotel, from Just Go With It, is located at 1910 Ocean Way in Santa Monica.  You can visit the hotel’s official website here.