The Interior of the “Bruce Almighty” Party House

P1030813

In honor of my girl Jen Aniston receiving the 2,642nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today (a ceremony that I will actually not be attending because, after the debacle that was the Horrible Bosses premiere this past summer, I have a severe aversion to any event that has the potential of being too crowded or too chaotic), I thought that I would blog about a location from her 2003 romantic comedy Bruce Almighty.  As I mentioned this past July in my post about the Stern House in Pasadena, which stood in for the exterior of the supposed Buffalo, New York-area Vanderbilt Estate where the Channel 7 news team threw a party in honor of Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) in the flick, I was fairly certain that a different property had been used for the interior.  And for the past seven months or so, I had been just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down that interior.  Unfortunately though, while I searched through countless real estate listings and location websites during my hunt, I had come up completely empty-handed.

ScreenShot3700 ScreenShot3704

ScreenShot3701 ScreenShot3703

The most memorable aspect of the interior of the Bruce Almighty party house was the two-story front entrance foyer and its dual curving staircases.

ScreenShot3699

Back in July, while researching the Stern House, I had come across a picture of Jen sitting at the foot of one of those staircases on IMDB’s Bruce Almighty photo page and, it will come as no surprise, that it soon became embedded in my memory.

ScreenShot3719

So when I spotted that very same staircase pop up in the mansion belonging to wealthy steel businessman Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler) in the 2011 movie Atlas Shrugged: Part I a couple of weeks ago, I just about died!  I, of course, immediately started doing research on Atlas Shrugged filming locations (in fact, I did not even finish watching the film, I became so obsessed!) and fairly quickly found an article in which a commenter had stated that Frank’s residence was located in La Canada Flintridge, across the street from the 2011 Pasadena Showcase House of Design.  And while it would seem that it would be fairly easy to track down the 2011 Showcase House, for whatever maddening reason, I could not find it anywhere!  Fortunately, after spending countless hours searching by myself, I decided to enlist the help of fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who texted me back a few minutes later with an address.  THANK YOU, Mike!  So, this past Monday afternoon, while the two of us were out doing some stalking in the San Gabriel Valley, we ran right over there to take some pics.

P1030807 P1030808

P1030809 P1030812

In real life, the estate, which was originally built in 1993 by architect Wayne Siggard, boasts 5 bedrooms, 7 baths, a whopping 11,700 square feet of living space!!!, and an almost 2-acre plot of land.  The mansion, which, as you can see above, is pretty darn spectacular, is currently listed on MLS for a cool $7,950,000, although it does look like a sale might be pending.  You can visit the home’s real estate website here.  Oh, what I would not give to see the inside of that place in person!

[ad]

ScreenShot3705 ScreenShot3707

ScreenShot3708 ScreenShot3710

In Bruce Almighty, the interior of the mansion was used extensively during the party scene and the master bedroom area was where Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston) caught Bruce in a passionate embrace with his “Spanish-accented” co-anchor, Susan Ortega (Catherine Bell).

ScreenShot3726 ScreenShot3712

ScreenShot3722 ScreenShot3713

The estate was also used extensively in Atlas Shrugged: Part I. Both the exterior . . .

ScreenShot3716 ScreenShot3717

ScreenShot3718 ScreenShot3720

. . . and the interior of the property appeared in the movie.

ScreenShot3725 ScreenShot3721

ScreenShot3724 ScreenShot3723

And the very same bedroom where Bruce and Susan kissed in Bruce Almighty was also featured as the bedroom of Henry and his wife, Lillian Rearden (Rebecca Wisocky), in Atlas Shrugged.

ScreenShot3696 ScreenShot3698

Photographs of the magnificent stairwell that I spent over seven months searching for are pictured above.  Sigh!  What I wouldn’t give to sit on them to pose for a photograph like Jen did!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The interior of the Bruce Almighty party house, aka Henry Rearden’s mansion from Atlas Shrugged: Part I, is located at 4158 Commonwealth Avenue in La Canada Flintridge.

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.