The “New Girl” Apartment Building

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My good friend/fellow stalker Lavonna has been begging me to track down locations from New Girl for a good three months now, but because I had never seen an episode of the series I was unable to do so.  Until last Monday evening, that is, when the Grim Cheaper and I finally sat down and started watching it from the beginning.  Thank you, Hulu!  I have to admit that I did not have very high hopes for the show as, for whatever reason, I am not that big of a fan of actress Zooey Deschanel (whose mom played Eileen Hayward on fave series Twin Peaks, but I digress).  I ended up LOVING it, though, and both the GC and I are now absolutely hooked!  After watching the first few episodes, I immediately started doing research on the warehouse-style loft apartment building where the New Girl gang lives (Lavonna’s most coveted locale from the series) and thankfully, Christine, over at fave website OnLocationVacations, had posted the address several times on her Daily Filming Locations page.  So I dragged the GC right on out to the Arts District in Downtown L.A. this past Saturday afternoon to do some stalking of the place.  (On a side-note, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, just taught me how to process my photographs using the soon-to-be defunct Picnik editing program, so I have been having a little fun with them today.  Don’t mind me.  Smile)

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I had never before visited – or even heard of – the “Arts District” (or “Artists District” as it is sometimes referred to) until this past Saturday, but according to the Los Angeles Downtown Arts District website, the area is the site of an average of 900 movie shoots per year!  Um, yes please – sign me up!  It is basically a stalker’s heaven – and one of the coolest spots that I have been to in all of my stalking travels.  The District became a haven for the artistically-inclined in 1976 thanks to the many affordable studio-type spaces available in the countless then-abandoned buildings and warehouses located there.  Artists gradually began to take over the many spacious lofts, turning them into art studios and illegal living spaces (the area was not yet zoned as residential).  In the 1980s, the Artists-In-Residence ordinance was passed which allowed lessees to use their flats as live/work spaces and, as a result, even more artisans flocked to the area.  Today, the Arts District is a flourishing mecca of artists and hipsters and boasts fabulous brick buildings, sidewalk cafes and more galleries than you can shake a stick at.  While there, not only did I feel like I had been transported back to my beloved Manhattan, but we ended up falling bass-ackwards into one of my most sought-after filming locations ever!  But that is another story for another post.

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In real life, the property where the New Girl gang lives is known as the Binford Building and it was originally constructed in 1906, but was not converted into a residential structure until the mid-1980s.  The 36-unit domicile was the brainchild of real estate developer Michael Kamin, owner of the Mika Company, who, in a 1986 Los Angeles Times article said, “We wanted to make the building a statement and an art piece  — something that says this is an exciting place to live, something to keep the focus on this street.”   I would say he succeeded – in spades!  The structure is definitely unique and the most eye-catching on the entire block.

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In New Girl, the Binford Building is where Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Nick (Jake M. Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris) live.  The exterior of the structure is shown weekly on the series.

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The building’s main entrance has also popped up from time to time.

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That entrance is shown above.

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As you can see, the Binford’s real life directory and intercom are even visible on the show.  Love it!

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The interior of the gang’s apartment is just a set, though, located at Fox Studios where (I am fairly certain) the series is lensed.  You can check out some photographs of the interior of an actual Binford Building unit here.  As you can see, it does not look anything like the New Girl loft.  I am absolutely IN LOVE with the group’s sprawling, FOUR-bedroom, industrial, brick-walled loft, by the way.  The GC and I also live in a loft-style apartment that I ADORE, but it is 750-square feet, has no actual bedrooms and only ONE teeny-tiny closet!  Yes, ladies, I have to share a closet with my husband – GASP!  The GC recently commented that he has noticed his side of the closet getting gradually smaller over the years.  Ha!  And here I thought I was being all sly.  Winking smile So yes, I have been known to drool copiously while watching New Girl.  I definitely have apartment envy!

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I could do without their public-style bathroom, though, which is an aspect of the show that I still do not entirely understand.

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According to a message board on the Animation Nation website, the premiere episode of the cartoon Family Dog (which was part of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories) was created by animator Brad Bird in one of the Binford Building lofts.  The family in the series was even named “The Binfords” in honor of the property.  Traction Avenue, the street where the Binford is located, was also mentioned (and briefly seen on a freeway sign) in Bird’s 2004 hit, The Incredibles.

Binford Lofts–the “New Girl” Apartment Building

You can watch a video about the Binford Building lofts by clicking above.

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for asking me to find this location (and for turning me on to New Girl) and to Christine, from OnLocationVacations, for tracking it down!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Binford Building, aka the New Girl apartment building, is located at 837 Traction Avenue in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles.

The Figueroa Hotel from “90210”

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A couple of years ago, while perusing through an issue of AAA’s Westways Magazine, I spotted an article about Southern California’s nicest most reasonably –priced hotels and, because I was dating the Grim Cheaper at the time, I figured I’d best read through it.  Of the ten properties featured in the column, the Moroccan-themed Figueroa Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles immediately caught my eye and I dragged the GC right on over there to grab a cocktail just a few nights later.  The two of us pretty much fell in love with the place’s unique architecture and exotic décor on sight and have returned there a couple of times over the years to grab a drink or just hang out.  So imagine my surprise when the Fig, as it is commonly referred to, popped up on fave show 90210 as the Cabo San Lucas resort where Liam Court (aka cutie Matt Lanter – sigh!), Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes), and the rest of the West Beverly gang spent their Spring Break in the recently-aired Season 3 episode titled “The Enchanted Donkey”.  Because I had not taken many pictures of the hotel during our past visits, I immediately added the place to my Re-Stalk list and dragged the GC right on back over there this past weekend.

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The Figueroa Hotel, which was designed by Stanton, Reed, & Hibbard at a cost of $1.25 million, was originally built in 1925 by the YWCA as a hotel/residence for businesswomen and their families.  Shortly following the Great Depression, the 12-story, 409-room structure was turned into a public hotel and it later served a brief stint as housing for troops during World War II.  The property fell into disrepair in the years following, until the late 1990s when it was purchased by Uno Thimansson, who immediately set about renovating the place, giving it a Moroccan theme.  And, let me tell you, he did an incredible job.  Walking through the hotel’s front doors, one is quickly transported from the busy streets of Downtown L.A. into a Casablanca-esque oasis.  Every time I am there, I half expect to see Sam tickling the ivories while Bogie puffs away on a cigarette somewhere nearby.  True to Westways Magazine’s word, despite the hotel’s fabulous ambiance and location directly across the street from Staples Center and L.A. Live, it still boasts extremely reasonable room rates.  And while the reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp are quite mixed, in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion, the Figueroa looks like an extremely cool place to vacation.  Not to mention that the poolside bar is something of a celebrity hotspot, with everyone from Keanu Reeves to members of Depeche Mode dropping by for a cocktail throughout the years.

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The Figueroa Hotel was used quite extensively in “The Enchanted Donkey” episode of 90210 in which it masqueraded as the “Hotel Burro Encantado” (aka the Enchanted Donkey Resort) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Areas of the hotel which appeared in the episode include the main entrance;

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the poolside bar, where Teddy Montgomery (aka Trevor Donovan) met up for drinks with former schoolmate Tripp Wallison (aka Alan Ritchson);

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and the pool area . . .

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. . . behind which producers had an image of the Cabo San Lucas skyline superimposed.  In reality, the Figueroa Hotel pool boasts views of several massive Downtown L.A. skyscrapers.  I was literally cracking up taking the above photograph while envisioning  the way the pool appeared on 90210Winking smile

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And while I had assumed that one of the hotel’s real life hallways had been used in the episode, the GC and I ventured upstairs to take a look at one and, as you can see above, it does not at all match up to what appeared onscreen.  It seems that producers built a fake hallway set for the filming.

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I had also assumed that some of the Figueroa’s actual rooms had been used in the episode, as well, but as you can see on the hotel’s website, that does not seem to be the case.

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The super-nice front desk clerk also informed us that the Figueroa’s lobby restaurant, the Fig Street Café, stood in for a supposed Cuba-area eatery in the Season 7 episode of fave show CSI: Miami titled “The Deluca Motel”.

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The hotel was also featured in the Season 4 episode of Chuck titled “Church Versus the Seduction Impossible” as the Marrakesh, Morocco-area hotel where Chuck Bartowski (aka Zachary Levi), Colonel John Casey (aka Adam Baldwin), and Sarah Walker (aka Yvonne Strahovski) were sent to rescue Roan Montgomery (aka John Larroquette).

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In the Season 2 episode of Make It or Break It titled “Worlds Apart”, the Fig stood in for the Rio de Janeiro-area hotel where Kaylie Cruz (aka Josie Loren) and the rest of her teammates stayed during the World Gymnastics Championships.

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In the Season 2 episode of NCIS: Los Angeles titled “Harm’s Way”, the Figueroa stood in for the Blue Oasis Hotel in Sana’a, Yemen, where Sam Hanna (aka LL Cool J) and G. Callen (aka Chris O’Donnell) stayed while trying to capture the leader of a terrorist group.

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One of the hotel’s real life rooms – one that the GC, randomly enough, just so happened to snap a photograph of – also appeared in the episode.

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I find it highly ironic that NCIS: Los Angeles filmed at the Figueroa as I have always thought that the hotel’s lobby bears a striking resemblance to the NCIS headquarters on the series.

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Some filming of the yet-to-be-released James Cameron flick Battleship, which stars Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, and Brooklyn Decker, also took place at the Figueroa Hotel this past February.

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And on a Matt Lanter side-note – a couple of weeks ago the cutie actor tweeted that he was going to be featured on the cover of the June 2011 issue of Metro Magazine.  Well, I took one look at that tweet and ran right over to Vroman’s Bookstore to purchase a copy.  Sadly though, Allen, the man who runs the Vroman’s newsstand (and yes, I know his name because I shop there FAR too often) told me that not only did the store not carry Metro Magazine, but it was apparently not even available from their distributors.  So I marched on home and started searching for the publication online, but came up completely empty-handed.  I could not find it anywhere and I am a pretty good Googler!  Over the past few weeks I have also visited several newsstands and bookstores in search of the mag, but no one, it seemed, had ever even heard of it.  Flash forward to last night when the GC came home from work with the above pictured laminated photograph in his hands.  My birthday is today and he has been gifting me with little presents every night this week.  Last night’s present, as it so happens, was a copy of Matt Lanter’s issue of Metro Magazine.  As it turns out, Metro is published in the Philippines and not only was the GC able to figure that out, but he somehow managed to track down a man in the Philippines via eBay whom he had go purchase a copy for him!  It is currently being shipped to me and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on it!  When the man heard why the GC had gone to such trouble to purchase the magazine, he said that he had inspired him to be a better husband.  How cute is that????  Best.present.ever!  Thank you, GC!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Figueroa Hotel, from “The Enchanted Donkey” episode of 90210, is located at 939 South Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles.  You can visit the Figueroa’s official website here.

Elevate Lounge from Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” Music Video

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One location that has been at the top of my To-Stalk list for over two years now is Downtown L.A.’s Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge which were used extensively in Britney Spears’ music video for her 2008 hit song “Womanizer”.  I first found out about this location while watching the ultra-depressing MTV special Britney: For the Record, which aired on November 30th, 2008 and chronicled 60 days in the pop star’s life, two of which were spent filming “Womanizer”.  I, of course, immediately became obsessed with stalking the restaurant, but the Grim Cheaper objected every single time I suggested grabbing a bite to eat there, thinking it would be far too pricey for his tastes.  It was not until this past Saturday afternoon when the two of us found ourselves hungry while doing some stalking in Downtown L.A. that I again suggested the restaurant and the GC decided it might be worth a try.  Before agreeing completely, though, he first scoped the place out on Yelp and was absolutely DELIGHTED to discover a reviewer who had posted a comment with those three magic words – “fabulous happy hour”, which of course caused him to acquiesce and we immediately headed right on over there to grab a bite to eat and do some Britney stalking.

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And I am very happy to report that we were NOT at all disappointed!  Takami is one of the COOLEST restaurants that I have ever been to in my entire life!  Located in the penthouse suite on the 21st floor of a Downtown L.A. office building, the indoor/outdoor, open-air restaurant boasts INCREDIBLE, 360-degree views of the infamous L.A. skyline. 

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Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge first opened in August of 2007 in what was a former office suite.  The space was the brain-child of former Arthur Anderson financier Emil Eyvazoff who spent over five years touring over 100 different venues looking for the right location to build his dream restaurant.  In a November 22, 2007 Los Angeles Times article, Emil is quoted as saying, “We told the two guys looking for us, ‘Make sure it’s jaw-droppingly unique.’  Then in April of ‘05 we saw [this] spot, and I think by the fourth step out of the elevator I said, ‘This is it.’”  Tag Front, the design firm that was also responsible for the look of Boa, Geisha House, and Katana, was hired to design the space and, during an amazing two-year-process, gutted the 6,000-square-foot premises and brought in wood-paneled walling, a 25- by 40-foot sunken dance floor, 150 feet of sliding glass dooring, large modern couches, and a state-of-the-art DJ booth and sound system, transforming a drab office suite into the sleek, ultra-modern lounge and restaurant that it is today.  And Emil was certainly spot on in his description of the place  – it is most definitely “jaw-droppingly unique”.  The food was out of this world, as well.  And the Yelp reviewer had definitely been correct in his assessment – Takami does have a fabulous Happy Hour, which is, amazingly enough, also offered on Saturday and Sunday nights.  During Happy Hour, all of the food served in the bar area of the restaurant is priced at $4 – not kidding!  And the servings are huge, to boot!  The GC and I tried almost everything on the menu and I just about died over the Japanese-style bruschetta, while the GC loved the Sushi Trio offering so much that he ordered a second serving of it immediately upon finishing the first. 

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Britney’s “Womanizer” music video was shot in Elevate Lounge, Takami Restaurant’s nightclub section, which was closed at the time we showed up to stalk the place.  But our SUPER nice server asked the manager to take me on a private tour of the space when we finished dining.  So incredibly cool! 

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Takami’s manager also could NOT have been nicer and gave me a very lengthy and in-depth tour of Elevate and pointed out where the filming of “Womanizer” had taken place.  The video, which was shot on September 24th and 25th of 2008, was primarily filmed in one of Elevate’s three bar areas – the one located closest to the lounge’s main entrance. 

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As you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the detailed mosaic design behind the bar area which appeared in the music video is actually there in real life.  Love it!

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Takami’s kitchen area also appeared in “Womanizer”, but I, unfortunately, did not get a chance to stalk that part of the restaurant.

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Some behind the scenes images from the video shoot are pictured above.
 
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Elevate Lounge also hosted actresses Sophia Vergara and Natasha Henstridge and hairstylist Ken Paves for a “Beauty Roundtable” article which ran in the March 24, 2008 issue of US Weekly Magazine.
 
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And OK Magazine held a photoshoot with singer Colbie Caillat for their February 28th, 2008 issue at the loungeElevate has also appeared in episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Brothers and Sisters, and Millionaire Matchmaker.  The restaurant is also something of a celebrity hot spot and such stars as Audrina Patridge, Jason Biggs, Omar Epps, Kat Von D, Brody Jenner, Frankie Delgado, and David Archuleta have all been spotted there.
 
 
Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” Music Video at Elevate Lounge

You can watch Britney’s “Womanizer” music video by clicking above.

Britney Spears: For the Record–with the Making of “Womanizer”

And you can watch Britney: For the Record by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge from Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” music video is located on the Penthouse level of the building at 811 Wilshire Boulevard in Downtown Los Angeles.  You can visit the Lounge’s official website here.  While Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant is open daily, Elevate Lounge is only open on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

The Original Pantry Cafe

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Well, it is shaping up to be restaurant week at iamnotastalker.com because for the third day in a row now here I am with yet another eatery to blog about – this time Downtown Los Angeles’ historic Original Pantry Café which first opened almost nine decades ago in 1924.  While I had actually known about the landmark restaurant for many years due to the fact that it has long been one of the Grim Cheaper’s boss’ favorite breakfast joints, it wasn’t until fellow stalker Lavonna recently informed me that my girl, Miss Marilyn Monroe, had once dined there that I realized the place was also a stalking location.  Just a few of the other luminaries who have patronized the legendary restaurant over the years include Humphrey Bogart, Sammy Davis, Jr., former President Bill Clinton, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  So a couple of weeks ago, while out doing some stalking in Downtown Los Angeles, the GC and I decided to hit the place up for lunch.

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The Original Pantry Café first opened for business in 1924 in a storefront located one block west of where it stands today.  The tiny eatery consisted of one counter with seating for fifteen, a hot plate, a grill, and a sink.  The place became extremely popular from the get-go thanks to its hearty servings and reasonable prices and hungry patrons formed lines that wound around the block out in front of the eatery on an almost daily basis.  The Pantry flourished even during the Depression years and, in 1934, expanded its sitting area by adding a dining room.  In 1950, the State of California took over the space where the Pantry was located in order to build a freeway onramp and the restaurant was forced to move to its current location at the corner of 9th and Figueroa Streets, where it has remained to this day. 

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On the day of the move, breakfast was served at the Pantry’s original location in the morning and then dinner was subsequently served at the new locale at night, so the restaurant, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, actually has the distinction of being able to say that it has never closed and has never been without a customer since its first day of business back in 1924.  And to prove it, as you can see in the above photograph, the restaurant’s front doors are sans locks.  In 1980, the Original Pantry Café was faced with demolition once again, but Richard Riordan, the future mayor of the City of Los Angeles, stepped in and purchased the property and some neighboring storefronts for $3.5 million.  Thankfully, he left the exterior of the property, as well as the restaurant’s menu, exactly as they had been since the new location first opened in 1950.  The interior has, sadly, been remodeled quite a bit in recent years, though.  On October 5, 1982, the restaurant was declared Los Angeles’ Historic-Cultural Monument Number 255.  Today the pantry, which can seat 84 patrons, still has customers lining up around the block on a daily basis, with some guests waiting up to two hours before being served. 

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When we showed up to stalk the place, though, there was no line and we were seated immediately – which should have been a clue.  I am sad to say that our meal was not very good, which was highly disappointing as the place serves up mostly comfort food – my favorite .  But from what I have since learned from the GC’s boss, the Original Pantry Café is definitely a breakfast place, so it looks like we just picked the wrong time to stalk it.  Apparently the Pantry’s breakfasts are out of this world, which is why the place usually has large lines during the morning hours.  And while our lunch left quite a bit to be desired, I have to say that the Pantry was definitely a cool place to hang out.

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The Original Pantry Café is also a filming location.  In the 2000 movie The Million Dollar Hotel, the Pantry was where Detective Skinner (aka Mel Gibson) got into a fist fight with Tom Tom (aka Jeremy Davies).  The movie was filmed before the recent remodel, though, so the restaurant is largely unrecognizable from it.  

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In 2007’s Knocked Up, the Pantry was where Ben Stone (aka Seth Rogan) told his father, who was played by actor Harold Ramis, that he had gotten a girl pregnant.

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for telling me about this location!  Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Original Pantry Café is located at 877 South Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.  The Pantry is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Quality Café

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While stalking in Downtown Los Angeles a couple of weekends ago, the Grim Cheaper and I found ourselves hungry so I suggested grabbing some lunch at the Quality Café on West 7th Street – a diner that has appeared in countless productions over the years.  When we showed up to stalk the place, though, we were shocked to discover that it was completely boarded up.  I was even further shocked to discover, once I returned home, that, aside from some brief blurbs about its filming history, I could not seem to find any information about the place online.  I was extremely curious if the cafe had ever been an actual working restaurant or if it had only ever existed as a film set.  So I contacted fellow stalker Harry Medved, author of one of my very favorite stalking tomes – Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer’s Guide to Exploring Southern California’s Great Outdoors – who was nice enough to give me the scoop on the former greasy spoon.  As it turns out, the Quality Café was indeed a real life restaurant at one point time.  It closed its doors a few years back and is now used solely for filming, although word on the street is that the place might re-open as an eatery once again in the near future.

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Being that it is completely boarded up and there is not a whole lot to see while there, the Quality Café does not make for a great stalking venue, but because it has such an incredibly vast filming history, I figured it was worthy of a blog post.

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In Catch Me If You Can, it is while dining at the Quality Café that a waiter clues Carl Hanratty (aka Tom Hanks) into the fact that Barry Allen, the alias Frank Abagnale Jr. (aka Leonardo DiCaprio) has been using, is the actual name of the comic book character “The Flash”.

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In 1995’s Se7en, Tracy Mills (aka Gwyneth Paltrow) confesses to Detective Lt. William Somerset (aka Morgan Freeman) that she is pregnant with Detective David Mills’ (aka Brad Pitt’s) baby over a cup of coffee at the Quality Café.

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Morgan Freeman returned to the Quality Café in 2004 to film the scene from Million Dollar Baby in which his character, Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris, takes Maggie Fitzgerald (aka Hilary Swank) out to celebrate her birthday.

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In Gone in Sixty Seconds, the Quality Café is the diner where Helen Raines (aka Grace Zabriskie), the mother of Memphis (aka Nicolas Cage) and Kip Raines (aka Giovanni Ribisi), works.

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In Training Day, Detective Alonzo Harris (aka Denzel Washington) and Jake Hoyt (aka Ethan Hawke) meet up at the café on their first day of working together.

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In Old School, Mitch Martin (aka Luke Wilson) takes Nicole (aka Ellen Pompeo) to the Quality Café and tries to convince her that he is actually a nice guy.

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In Mr. and Mrs. Smith, John Smith (aka Brad Pitt) and Eddie (aka Vince Vaughn) meet up at the Quality Café to discuss the failed assassination attempt of Benjamin Danz (aka Adam Brody).

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In 2001’s Ghost World, Enid (aka Thora Birch) and Rebecca (aka a very young Scarlett Johansson) spy on some supposed Satanists while dining at the Quality Café.

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In 2009’s The Stepfather, the Quality Café is where David Harris (aka Dylan Walsh) asks Michael Harding (aka Penn Badgley) to be his best man.

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In Sex and Death 101, the Quality Café is where Death Nell (aka Winona Ryder) tells Roderick Blank (aka Simon Baker) her life story.

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In 2008’s The Midnight Meat Train, the Quality Café is where Leon’s (aka Bradley Cooper’s) wife, Maya (aka Leslie Bibb), works.

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In 1993’s What’s Love Got To Do With It, the Quality Café is where Ike Turner (aka Laurence Fishburne) takes Anna Mae Bullock (aka Angela Bassett) out to dinner for the first time.

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The Quality Café was the site of a triple murder in the Season One episode of CSI: New York titled “Outside Man”.

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In the Season One episode of Mad Men titled “5G”, the Quality Café stood in for the Delight Café where Don Draper (aka Jon Hamm) met up with his half-brother, Adam Whitman (aka Jay Paulson), whom he had been estranged from for years.

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Harry Medved also let me know that, according to Marty Cummins, the key assistant location manager for 500 Days of Summer, the Quality Café is where Summer (aka Zooey Deschanel) broke up with Tom (aka Joseph Gordon-Levitt) at the beginning of the flick.

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And while the exterior of the restaurant appeared as a local hangout in 2004’s You Got Served . . .

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. . . as you can see in the above screen captures, a different restaurant was used for the interior filming.


EMBED-The Quality Cafe in Movies Mash-Up – Watch more free videos

You can watch a fabulous compilation from the Screen Junkies website of several different movies that have been filmed at the café by clicking above.

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Big THANK YOU to Harry Medved for filling me in on the restaurant’s history.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Quality Café is located at 1238 West 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles.  The restaurant is currently closed to the public and is only available for film shoots, so I can’t say that I’d really recommend stalking it as there is just not a whole lot to see.

24/7 Restaurant from Glamour Magazine’s “Glee Gets Glam” Photo Shoot

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One location that I have been ABSOLUTELY DYING to stalk for what seems like forever now is the diner-style restaurant where the girls from Glee – Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Amber Riley, and Jenna Ushkowitz – posed for the May 2010 Glamour MagazineGlee Gets Glam” photo shoot.  After months of searching for it, though, and having absolutely no luck whatsoever, I had become convinced that the shoot had taken place on a studio set somewhere in Hollywood and not at an actual restaurant.  And then last Sunday night fate stepped in and, as so often happens with stalking, I ended up stumbling upon images of the Glee diner while searching for another location altogether.  Maddeningly enough, as it turns out, the Glee girls were photographed at a locale that I have not only been to several times, but one that I’ve actually blogged about before – the Standard, Downtown L.A. Hotel.  I have a pretty valid excuse at to why I didn’t recognize the place immediately when I first read the magazine, though – the girls were actually photographed inside the hotel’s 24/7 Restaurant, a place which I had never before visited.  So, I of course, dragged the Grim Cheaper right out to stalk it this past weekend!  🙂

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And the place did not disappoint!  I honestly cannot say enough good things about 24/7!  The restaurant’s hipster decor is a definite throwback to the 1950s and is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen in L.A.  Apparently photo shoots and filming take place on the premises all the time and it’s not very hard to see why – the diner is bright and funky and completely unique.  And the food is INCREDIBLE!  As I’ve mentioned before, I am an EXTREMELY picky eater, especially when it comes to chicken, but, let me tell you, I ate up every last bite of my 24/7 Cobb salad.  It was AMAZING!  And the prices are extremely reasonable, as well, which pleased the Grim Cheaper to no end.  To top it all off, the staff was also incredibly friendly and let me take all of the photographs of the place that I wanted.  Yay!  🙂

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Lea Michele and Amber Riley’s “Glee Gets Glam” photograph was taken in the center booth located just to the right of the restaurant’s lobby entrance.

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Dianna Agron and Jenna Ushkowitz posed for their photograph in front of the windows which face 24/7’s patio area.

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And, as you can see in this picture, the photograph of all four girls playing around in a bathtub was shot in one of the Standard’s hotel rooms.

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And, much to the Grim Cheaper’s dismay, I just HAD to recreate Lea Michele’s pose from the issue’s contents page while I was there.  I so wish I could have also been wearing her Marchesa dress while doing so, but unfortunately I didn’t have an extra $6,600 lying around!  😉  Sigh.

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I honestly cannot recommend stalking the 24/7 Restaurant enough.  For lack of a better word, it is just simply a cool, cool place to grab a bite to eat.  🙂  Note – The magazine images which appear in this post do not belong to me, but remain the property of Glamour Magazine and photographer Peggy Sirota (who also shot these fabulous Jen Aniston pictures for GQ Magazine).

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The 24/7 Restaurant can be found inside the Standard, Downtown L.A. Hotel, which is located at 550 South Flower Street.  As the name implies, the restaurant is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You can visit the official 24/7 website here.

The “FlashForward” FBI Headquarters Building

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I was thoroughly disappointed to learn about the cancellation of the ABC television series FlashForward earlier this week, as the show was one of my favorites of the 2009 Fall Season.  What makes the cancellation most heartbreaking, though, for me at least, is the fact that because the season finale was filmed long before the series was canceled, producers did not get a chance to wrap-up the show’s central mystery.  I am afraid that unless a different network purchases FlashForward (which does happen on occasion), its fans will not be offered any sort of ending, resolution, or closure.  Not only will it remain a mystery as to what exactly caused the two minute and seventeen second worldwide blackout, but we will also never know how the lives of the main characters turn out.  UGH!  So annoying!  Anyway, a few weeks back, long before I left for Minnesota, I dragged my fiancé out to Downtown L.A. to stalk the John Ferraro building, which is used as the FBI Headquarters building each week on FlashForward.  Oddly enough, even though the building looked familiar to me when I first watched the pilot episode of the series, I couldn’t figure out exactly where I had seen it before.  Thankfully, though, fellow stalker Owen clued me into the fact that Gary, from the Seeing Stars website, was putting together a FlashForward locations page.  So, I emailed him to ask where the headquarters building was located and he wrote back immediately.  Yay!  Thank you, Gary! 

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The John Ferraro building, which was originally known as the Department of Water and Power’s General Office building, took four years to construct at a cost of $30 million and was first dedicated on June 24th, 1965.  The 17-story building, which was built entirely out of glass, steel, and concrete, was designed by architect Albert C. Martin of AC Martin Partners, an architectural firm who, according to a 1979 Los Angeles Times article, designed “more than 50 percent of all the major buildings erected in downtown Los Angeles since World War II”.  Martin, who was apparently light years ahead of his time, incorporated many “green” elements into the construction of the building, including a system which used the property’s fountains to cool the interior and its lighting to heat it.  Amazingly enough, that system is still in use today!  On November 16, 2000, the City of Los Angeles renamed the Department of Water and Power building in honor of former L.A. Councilman John Ferraro, who at the time had dedicated over 50 years of his life to public service.

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I can quite honestly say that the John Ferraro building is one of the most beautiful structures in all of L.A. – and one of my favorites!  With its 360 degree views of the Downtown Los Angeles skyline and ginormous fountain which surrounds its perimeter, the building is nothing short of majestic.  If you haven’t had the chance to stalk the place yet, I HIGHLY recommend doing so.  As was made apparent by the group of people enjoying a leisurely walk around the building, the photographers taking time-lapse pictures of the fountains, and the many couples just sitting and enjoying the unparalleled views, this is one building that can be appreciated by stalkers and non-stalkers alike.  It’s simply breathtaking!  And a place I never would have even known about had it not been for FlashForward!

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In addition to being used each week in establishing shots of the FBI Headquarters on FlashForward . . .

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. . . some filming has also taken place on location at the John Ferraro Building, including the fight scene between Detective Janis Hawk (aka Christine Woods) and Marcie Turoff (aka Amy Rosoff) in the episode titled “Queen Sacrifice” (pictured above) and the suicide scene of Agent Al Gough (aka Lee Thompson Young) in the episode titled “The Gift”.

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The parking structure of the John Ferraro Building was also used in the big chase scene between Sarah Connor (aka Linda Hamilton), Kyle Reese (aka Michael Biehn) and The Terminator (aka Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the first Terminator movie.  There are also some reports floating around that the John Ferraro Building stood in for both New York’s 14th Precinct on the 1980’s television series Cagney & Lacey and a Tacoma police station in the 1989 movie Three Fugitives, but that information is actually incorrect. 

On a side note – For those who have yet to visit the Google website today, you really need to do so NOW!  In honor of the 30th anniversary of PacMan,Google has implanted a fully-functional mini-version of the 80’s classic arcade game on their homepage.  It is just about the coolest thing ever and I’ve already spent WAY too much time today playing it.  Love it, love it, love it!

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Big THANK YOU to Gary, from Seeing Stars, for finding this location.  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The John Ferraro Building, aka FBI Headquarters from FlashForward, is located at 111 North Hope Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

The “Pretty Woman”/”(500) Days of Summer” Fountain and Park

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Another Downtown Los Angeles location that my fiancé and I stalked this past weekend was the water fountain and park which appeared in both fave movie Pretty Woman and not so fave movie (500) Days of Summer.  I discovered this location way back in September of 2007 when I was called to serve as a juror on a four day trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown L.A.  I’m glad to know jury duty is at least good for something.  😉 

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As I’ve mentioned a few times before on this blog, included in Los Angeles’ jury orientation presentation are directions to the nearest Starbucks – made complete with a PowerPoint slide showing a map which details the cafe’s exact location.  I am not kidding here!  Needless to say, I spent quite a bit of time at that Starbucks, especially because jurors are often given two hour-plus lunches (also not kidding!).  The “Courthouse Starbucks” as I came to call it is located in the middle of the Civic Center Mall, which is a large plaza that can be found about two blocks away from the Criminal Justice Center.  While waiting in line to order my latte one morning, I noticed a HUGE fountain located just north of where I was standing and immediately recognized it as the fountain which appeared in Pretty Woman.   I had always wondered where that fountain was located, so I was beyond floored to have discovered it while waiting in line to purchase a cup of coffee.  It always amazes me the things I notice if I just have my eyes open, instead of buried in my Blackberry.  😉  Anyway, because jurors aren’t allowed to bring cameras into the Criminal Justice Center, I wasn’t able to take any photographs of the fountain while on jury duty, so this past weekend I dragged my fiancé back there so that I could finally blog about the place.

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In Pretty Woman, the fountain shows up towards the end of the movie in the scene in which Vivian Ward (aka Julia Roberts) has just convinced Edward Lewis (aka Richard Gere) to take his very first day off of work.  Vivian is shown walking along the rim of the fountain where she announces that she wants a “snap dog” – whatever that is.

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The official name of the Pretty Woman fountain is the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain and it was dedicated on May 18, 1966.  Will, who served as the chief administrative officer of the County of Los Angeles from 1951 to 1957, was instrumental in developing the Civic Center Mall as an urban park and garden for those Angelinos who worked in the area so that they could enjoy a bit of outdoor time during their busy day.  The Civic Center Mall is officially known as El Paseo De Los Pobladores De Los Angeles, which translates to “The Walk of the First Settlers of Los Angeles”, and was named in honor of the 44 Mexican settlers who on September 4th of 1781 founded the City of Angels. 

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I have to give some serious props to the Grim Cheaper right now, as he is turning out to be quite the little stalker!  While we were taking pictures of the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain he immediately recognized the park located just south of it as the spot where Edward and Vivian “copped a squat” in Pretty Woman.  I am ashamed to admit that I didn’t recognize the park at all, and was so convinced that it wasn’t the same one which appeared in Pretty Woman that I told him not to bother taking any photographs of it!  It’s a good thing he didn’t listen to me,though, because as it turns out, the patch of grass which is located in the southern portion of the Civic Center Mall is, in fact, the Pretty Woman park.   Thank you, G.C.!

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The park was featured in the scene immediately following the fountain scene, in which Edward and Vivian are shown relaxing on a blanket and reading Shakespeare out loud to each other.

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As I mentioned above, the Civic Center Mall was also featured in the 2009 flick (500) Days of Summer and I immediately recognized the place when I saw the movie a few months back.  The Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain appeared very briefly in the beginning of the big Hall & Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True” dance sequence.

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The vast majority of the dance sequence takes place on the walkway just east of the fountain, in between the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration building and the Courthouse Starbucks. 

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I also immediately recognized the dance area when I first watched (500) Days of Summer, as it is located along the exact route I would take multiple times each day while on my frequent Starbucks runs during jury duty – and yes, I go to Starbucks multiple times a day and I’m not ashamed to admit it!  🙂

Needless to say, the (500) Days of Summer dance sequence was my absolute favorite scene in the entire movie!  I’m a sucker for any sort of musical type performance and being that “You Make My Dreams Come True” is one of my VERY favorite ‘80s songs, I felt like the whole thing was pretty much tailor-made for me.  But because the scene was so incredibly fun and upbeat and joyful, it made the movie’s ending all that more shocking of a blow.  🙁  You can watch the big (500) Days of Summer dance number by clicking above – but I’m warning you, unless you want to be depressed for a good couple of hours, do NOT watch the rest of the movie.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Pretty Woman Map

Stalk It: The Civic Center Mall, aka El Paseo De Los Pobladores De Los Angeles, is located in between the Los Angeles County Municipal Court (111 N. Hill Street) and the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration (500 West Temple Street), and is bordered by Hill Street to the north and Grand Avenue to the south.  The Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain, aka the Pretty Woman fountain, is located in the northern portion of the Mall, near North Grand Avenue, in between West Temple Street and West 1st Street.  The Pretty Woman park is located just a bit south of the fountain, on North Hill Street.  The (500) Days of Summer dance sequence took place on the walkway in front of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration.  The cameras were facing southwest for most of that scene, looking towards the Hall of Records building.

The “(500) Days of Summer” Bench

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Another Downtown Los Angeles location that my fiancé and I stalked this past weekend was the famous bench from 2009’s indie hit (500) Days of Summer.  A few weeks ago, fellow stalker Eileen emailed me to tell me of the bench’s location and to send me the above photograph of herself and her roommate taken while there.  I should mention here that I didn’t especially care for (500) Days of Summer.  Actually, it’d be much closer to the truth to say that I didn’t like the movie at all, and for the very same reason that I didn’t like 2006’s The Break-Up – it was far too depressing.  I went in expecting to laugh and came out completely crushed.  I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that the two main characters didn’t wind up together, being that the movie’s tag line read, “Boy meets girl.  Boy falls in love.  Girl doesn’t.”   But, being that I’ve always been an eternal optimist, the ending came as a complete shock to me.  For those who have yet to see (500) Days of Summer, I apologize if I just ruined it for you, but I think the movie would be a whole lot more enjoyable to watch if you know beforehand that the ending is not a happy one.  Anyway, I just about died when I saw Eileen’s photograph of the bench and noticed the little plaque glued to the back of it which heralds its famous cinematic appearance.  That plaque is just about the COOLEST THING EVER!  I think ALL movie locations should have something similar on display!  LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!  So, even though I wasn’t a fan of the movie, I just HAD to stalk the bench to see that plaque with my own two eyes.

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The bench, which shows up twice in (500) Days of Summer, is a very significant location in the movie.  It first appears in the beginning of the flick – on “Day 95” – as the spot where aspiring architect/greeting card author Tom Hansen (aka Joseph Gordon-Levitt) takes new girlfriend Summer Finn (aka Zooey Deschanel) on a date.  He describes the bench as his favorite place in all of Los Angeles thanks to its view of some of Downtown’s most historically significant buildings.  After Zooey jokingly points out that the bench also has a view of quite a few parking structures, Tom says, “There’s a lot of beautiful stuff here, too, though.  I don’t know.  I just wish people would notice it more.”  I love that quote as it is sad fact that L.A.’s beauty is overlooked much of the time.  Southern California gets a bad wrap more often than not, but if you really take the time to look, there is a staggering amount of beauty and history and magic in this city.  That’s one of the things I love most about stalking – I get to see so many unique and fascinating areas of L.A. – like Tom’s bench – that I might never have known about had they not been featured in a movie.  So, thank you, Hollywood!  🙂

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Tom’s bench, and the one immediately to the right of it, shows up yet again on “Day 488”, in the scene in which Tom and Summer run into each other after she has married someone else.  See what I mean – depressing freakin’ movie!

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The park where the bench is located, a tiny, little spot known as Angels Knoll, also appears in the movie, on “Day 259”, in the scene in which Tom and Summer pretend to have Tourette’s syndrome.

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Tom’s bench is a very cool little spot and I am happy to report that it looks much the same in person as it did in the movie.

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Except that it now has that uber-cool filming plaque proudly displayed on its back.  LOVE IT!

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The view from the bench is also much the same in real life as it appeared in the movie.  And it really is quite a view!

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Because the movie filmed at so many unique and interesting locations and did such a fabulous job of highlighting Los Angeles’ beauty, I was quite shocked to find out today, thanks to IMBD’s (500) Days of Summer trivia page, that the original screenplay depicted the characters living in San Francisco!  Los Angeles is so prevalent in the storyline – the city could almost be considered the third main character  – that I can’t even fathom what the movie would have been like had it been filmed anywhere else.

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Ironically enough, while we were stalking the bench we ran into yet another stalker who was doing the exact same thing!  So, we, of course, got to talking to him and he alerted me to this (500) Days of Summer online movie locations map, which was apparently transcribed from a map that was given out as a promo during the flick’s June 24th, 2009 premiere.  I know I am repeating myself here, but that map has to be just about THE COOLEST THING EVER!  Why is something like this not done for all movies????  Do I have to think of everything?  Sheesh!  🙂  Anyway, as it turns out, my fellow stalker was visiting L.A. from Vancouver, British Columbia, which just so happens to be Mr. Michael Buble’s hometown.  So, since I just booked tickets for a little May vacation in the Pacific Northwest and have been busy making a list of all of my must-see locations up there, I asked him if he happened to know where MB’s childhood home could be found.  Well, let me tell you, he just about flipped out right there on the spot, gave me the weirdest look, and immediately hightailed it out of there.  Not kidding!  The guy practically ran from me – he could not get away fast enough!  He obviously thought I was a complete and total freak!  LOL  Ah well, I guess not everybody loves a stalker. 

Big THANK YOU to Eileen for telling me about this location!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

500 Days of Summer Bench Location

Stalk It: The (500) Days of Summer bench can be found in the western portion of Angels Knoll Park, which is located at 356 South Olive Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles.  The bench’s exact location is denoted with a blue circle in the above aerial map.  Angels Knoll is open daily, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during Winter months and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. during Summer months.

The Probable “Beat It” Diner, Part II

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[UPDATE – The Monte Carlo Restaurant is NOT where “Beat It” was filmed.  The iconic video was actually shot at the Special Café, located just a few blocks away.  You can read all about it here.  Even though this post contains erroneous information, I am leaving it up as it chronicles an important part of the long, arduous journey my fellow stalkers and I embarked upon to track the locale down.]

This past Friday, after yet another doctor appointment in Downtown L.A., my dad and I stopped by the Monte Carlo Restaurant, aka the (probable) diner which appeared in Michael Jackson’s 1983 music video for his hit song “Beat It”.  Our mission that day – and yes, we chose to accept it 😉 – was two-fold.  First, I wanted to take more interior photographs of the place in the hopes that I would be able to find some small element which matched what appeared in the video so that I could finally confirm or deny once and for all whether or not “Beat It” had actually been filmed there.  Second, I wanted to take a closer look at the restaurant’s “Open/Closed” sign to see if it was, in fact, the same exact one which was featured in the video, as fellow stalker John had speculated in a comment in my last post on the Monte Carlo.  If it was, my plan was to ask the owner if we could swap it out with a new sign that my dad had purchased so that I could take the “Beat It” sign home as a souvenir.  Upon closer inspection, though, the sign which is currently displayed in the window of the Monte Carlo Restaurant is brand, spanking new and is in far too good of shape and is far too clean to possibly be the same sign which hung there 27 years ago.  But . . .

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. . . as luck would have it, while we were dining my dad did happen to spot a loose linoleum floor tile that someone had propped up against the wall near where we were sitting, so he snagged it on our way out the door.  I’m really not kidding – he actually walked out of the restaurant with a floor tile in his hand!!!!  LOL  And while I’m still not even sure if “Beat It” was actually filmed at the Monte Carlo or, if it was, if that particular floor tile was in place at the time, it’s still a pretty cool relic to have.  But, while I did walk away with a nifty souvenir, sadly the first part of our mission was not achieved as we didn’t get any sort of confirmation about “Beat It” being filmed on the premises.  In fact, if it’s possible, I am even MORE confused now than I was before!  This was actually a particularly frustrating stalk for me.  The woman who owns the Monte Carlo is Chinese and speaks very little English and I can’t tell you how difficult it is to know that she has all of the answers I am seeking, yet not be able to fully communicate with her.  I am dying to bring someone into the restaurant who speaks Chinese fluently who could translate our conversation as I think it would finally put an end to all of our doubts and questions about the “Monte Carlo” being the “Beat It” cafe.  Any volunteers???  Anyway, to aid in my conversation with the owner, I showed her some screen captures from “Beat It” that I had stored on my cell phone.  Well, let me tell you, she just about had a heart attack right then and there!  She was practically screaming over the pictures and kept saying “My restaurant!  My restaurant!  Oh my God, my restaurant!”  She immediately grabbed my phone and proceeded to show the pictures on it to all of the people who were working the breakfast shift and all of the patrons who were dining at the time.  She then came back over to me and, from what I could best understand, said that she had been made to leave the restaurant during the filming of “Beat It”, so she never got to meet or even see Michael.  She also explained that she had never actually watched the video before – which I found very odd.  If the biggest superstar in the world filmed a video in your cafe, wouldn’t you not only have seen said video, but also bought a copy of it?  So, while it was extremely cute to see her get so excited over the pictures of Michael standing in her restaurant, it really gives me pause that she had never seen “Beat It’” before.  Because of the communication barrier, though, I wasn’t able to ask her why that was.  Like I said before, I really need to get a translator in there!

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I did spot a few landmarks of sorts while my dad and I were at the Monte Carlo that match up with what appeared in the video – one of which was the conduit pipe which runs horizontally along the restaurant’s south wall.  I am ashamed to admit that I actually never noticed the pipe in the video until fellow stalker David from Spain pointed it out to me a couple of weeks ago when I posted my first write-up on the “Beat It” cafe.  So, this past Friday while stalking the restaurant I made sure to look to see if that pipe was there in real life, too, which it was!  YAY!  That’s a pretty big confirmation, at least in my eyes, that the Monte Carlo is, in fact, the same place that appeared in “Beat It”.

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As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, the lower portion of the wall next to the restaurant’s entrance also matches the lower portion of the wall that appeared in the video.  It is apparent that the area of the wall closest to the floor was once painted a lighter shade of green, as was the case in “Beat It”.  The flooring also appears to be worn in pretty much the exact same spots as it was in the video.  But, again, I would expect that sort of wear and tear in an old restaurant.

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My dad took some photographs from close to the same angle from which “Beat It” was filmed so that I could try to match up certain aspects of the Monte Carlo to the “Beat It” cafe, but I am still unable to say whether or not it’s the same place.   I’d love to hear the opinions of my fellow stalkers, though.  🙂

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In a very ironic twist of fate, fellow stalker David from Spain was recently watching videos at a party and almost fell off his chair when he noticed a familiar site in the 2004 Hoobastank video for the song “The Reason”.   That familiar site just so happened to be the Monte Carlo!  Yes, “The Reason” was filmed on location outside of the probable “Beat It” diner!!!!   Honestly, what are the odds of that?  What amazed me most about the whole thing, though, was how much of the restaurant has changed in the six short years since the video was filmed.  As you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the exterior is almost unrecognizable.  In fact, if the “Monte Carlo” name hadn’t been displayed outside, I wouldn’t have believed it was the same place!  Apparently, at the time “The Reason” was filmed the restaurant had a green metal roof, a green metal overhang/awing, and completely different exterior signage, all of which is now gone, which got me to thinking – if that much has changed in six short years, imagine the myriad of changes that have occurred in the twenty-seven years since “Beat It” was filmed.  I mean, it’s no wonder the cafe looks so different today than it did in the video.

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On a Michael Jackson side note – I recently became obsessed with tracking down and purchasing the SUPER CUTE rhinestone-encrusted MJ T-shirt that comedian Jo Koy wore last week on the Chelsea Lately show (pictured above).  Thankfully, after the episode aired Jo twittered about where one could purchase said shirt and I immediately did.  🙂  The tee was created by a company named Broke2 and costs $40.  Not a bad deal, at all!  I had a feeling that some fellow MJ-obsessed stalkers might also be interested in the shirt.  If so, you can pick one up here.  They come in both women’s and men’s styles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The probable “Beat It” diner, aka the Monte Carlo Restaurant, is located at 109 East Fifth Street in Downtown Los Angeles.  Please remember that the cafe is not located in the safest of areas, so exercise caution when stalking it.