The Cooper House from “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”

Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day House (12 of 13)

Sometimes I become obsessed with a location because I love the movie that it was featured in.  Other times I just like the look of a particular place and am desperate to see it in person.  And other times still I read something about a filming site that completely transfixes me despite the fact that I have never actually seen it onscreen.  Such was the case with the Anywhere, U.S.A.-style residence where the Cooper family – Ben (Steve Carell), Kelly (Jennifer Garner), Alexander (Ed Oxenbould), Anthony (Dylan Minnette), Emily (Kerris Dorsey), and Baby Trevor (Elise and Zoey Vargas) – lived in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  While doing research for a Los Angeles magazine post about Vroman’s Bookstore’s appearance in the 2014 family flick, I came across these production notes and was shocked to read that a re-creation of a real home in South Pasadena had been constructed for the shoot.  Interest piqued, I immediately rented Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on iTunes and, in a stroke of good luck, found the South Pas pad almost immediately.

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As it turns out, the Cooper home is located on Buena Vista Street, a place that I am very familiar with thanks to its many appearances onscreen.  While watching Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’s opening scene, I immediately recognized the mansion visible behind the Cooper family’s van as Lady Heather’s (Melinda Clark) house from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.  So I did some Google Street View-sleuthing in the same area and found the Cooper’s residence just a half a block east of Lady Heather’s house.   (Patrick Gates’ home from National Treasure is located directly across the street from the Cooper dwelling and the the Liar Liar house can be found two blocks north.)

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Of the Cooper home, production designer Michael Corenblith said, “We imagined that this is a family of birds that live in this beautiful cozy little nest that has been created from all of the nicest little branches and twigs and pieces of colored ribbon and fabric.  But there are just too many birds for the nest.  This family is bursting at the seams, so the idea was to craft an environment for them that would really convey that idea to the audience.”  He then set about looking for a “quaint” house to film in.

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He found the perfect spot at 1037 Buena Vista Street.  Corenblith said, “It was exactly the right house for this family.  It had the right scale, it had the right vibe, window scape and was built in the right period.  It had a lot of things we really liked, but ultimately, it was going to be too small to actually shoot the movie inside.”  So he decided to have a replica of the residence built at Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio in Newhall.  The “home” took five weeks to construct.

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The production notes state, “The exterior of the home – complete with backyard and select interior sets – was built in one area of the studio lot, while the upstairs interiors resided on soundstages elsewhere on the lot.”  Corenblith did an amazing job designing the interiors!  I am in love with the Cooper’s kitchen.  With the bright windows, light-colored cabinetry and large center island, it reminds me a lot of Cupcakes and Cashmere’s Emily Schuman’s kitchen.

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I cannot believe that the backyard and pool shown in the movie were set re-creations!  Had I seen Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day prior to reading the production notes, I would have bet money on the fact that the home’s actual backyard was used.

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Corenblith explained that the need to build the backyard replica and interior sets stemmed from the scene involving the crocodile.  He says, “We follow the crocodile through the house and out the back into a swimming pool.  The path this crocodile takes from the front door, through the house, out the French doors in the back, and directly to a swimming pool was nothing we found in the real world.  That was one of the big factors that mandated the design of this configuration.”

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Corenblith even had the rear side of the home re-created for the shoot.  You can see what the actual back of the house looks like in the aerial view pictured below.  It is strikingly similar to what was built.

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From the way the production notes were written, I originally thought that no filming whatsoever had taken place at the South Pasadena house.  It became apparent while watching the movie, though, that the front exterior of the real home was used in a few scenes and in several establishing shots.

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Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day House (1 of 13)

The residence looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen.  The unique trees in the front yard are absolutely breathtaking!

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Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day House (13 of 13)

In real life, the residence, which was originally built in 1949, boasts two bedrooms, two baths, 2,022 square feet, and a 0.37-acre lot.

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Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day House (11 of 13)

It’s no stranger to the silver screen, either.  In 1983, the very same home was used as Arnie Cunningham’s (Keith Gordon) Rockbridge, California residence in Christine, though it looked quite a bit different at the time.

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

Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day House (10 of 13)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Cooper house from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is located at 1037 Buena Vista Street in South PasadenaPatrick Gates’ home from National Treasure is located across the street at 1030 Buena Vista Street.   Lady Heather’s house from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is located at 929 Buena Vista StreetThe Liar Liar house can be found one block north at 1004 Highland Street.

Hal’s Bar & Grill from “13 Going on 30”

Hal's Bar & Grill (2 of 6)

Last week, while shopping in Venice Beach with my girls Lavonna, Kim, Katie and Kaylee, we made a brief stalking stop at Hal’s Bar & Grill, which appeared in one of my favorite movies of all time, 13 Going on 30.  During our visit, we happened to have the good fortune to speak with Don Novack, one of Hal’s owners (that thick Southern accent of Lavonna’s worked for us once again!), and I just about fell over when he informed us that the eatery had appeared in Single White Female in 1992!  So even though I’ve already blogged about the place once before, I decided Hal’s was most definitely worthy of a redux.

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Don’s foray into the restaurant world was a circuitous one.  While working as a real estate broker in 1985, he unwittingly found himself part-owner of a sandwich shack/antique shop named Merchant of Venice after a business deal fell through.  Don remained a silent partner for two years, until he learned that the eatery was facing certain financial failure.  He decided to take over operations of the place at that point and brought in his wife, Linda, to help.  He also partnered up with Hal Frederick, a fellow real estate broker, whom he had just recently met.  The group remodeled the space into an upscale venue, gave the menu a full revamp and renamed the site “Hal’s Bar & Grill.”  The property opened its doors to the public in 1987 and very little of it has been changed since.

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Hal's Bar & Grill (4 of 6)

Hal’s became an immediate success, despite the fact that the neighborhood was rough (to say the least) at the time.  Abbot Kinney Boulevard has since experienced a major revitalization and patrons continue to flock to Hal’s, 27 years after its inception.  The eatery is also a major celebrity hot spot.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted dining there include Jessica Simpson, Eric Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., Mike Tyson, Lindsay Lohan, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer,  Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Tom Hanks, Kobe Bryant, Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, Dermot Mulroney, Ewan McGregor, Reese Witherspoon, Rachel McAdams and Josh Lucas.

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In the 1992 thriller Single White Female, Hal’s stood in for the supposed New York restaurant where Allison Jones (Bridget Fonda) made a deal to sell her computer program to Mitchell Myerson (Stephen Tobolowsky).

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Surprisingly, although 22 years have since passed, the eatery still looks much the same today as it did onscreen in Single White Female.  LOVE that!

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In 2004’s 13 Going on 30, Hal’s masqueraded as the New York City bar where Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) hit on a teenage boy.  Only the interior of Hal’s appeared in the movie.

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The exterior of the restaurant can actually be found about 3,000 miles away in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.  You can read the post I wrote on the exterior here.

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Don also informed us that Hal’s had appeared in two episodes of Californication.  Because I am not very familiar with the Showtime series, I asked fellow stalker Geoff, of the 90210Locations website, if he happened to know which two episodes had been lensed on the premises.  Sure enough, he did.  Thank you, Geoff!  In 2007, Hal’s was the site of the very bad double date between Hank Moody (David Duchovny) and Meredith (Amy Price-Francis) and Charlie (Evan Handler) and Marcy Runkle (Pamela Adlon) in Californication’s pilot episode.

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Hal’s also popped up this year in the Season 7 episode of Californication titled “Faith, Hope, Love,” in a flashback scene in which Hank remembers going on another double date, this time with his ex-wife, Karen (Natascha McElhone), and Charlie and Marcy.  Several areas of the eatery appeared in the episode, including the exterior;

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the front entrance and bar;

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and main dining room.

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Don told us that Hal’s was featured in an episode of another show that I am unfamiliar with, Curb Your Enthusiasm.  So I enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, to figure out which episode and, thankfully, he came through.  Hal’s stood in for Primo Trattoria in Season 6’s “The TiVo Guy,” which aired in 2007.  In the episode, Larry David (who plays himself) gets snubbed by his favorite restaurant after his wife, Cheryl David (Cheryl Hines), leaves him.  Both the interior . . .

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. . . and the exterior of Hal’s (which I somehow failed to get any photographs of) were shown several times throughout “The TiVo Guy.”

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For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.  And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Hal's Bar & Grill (1 of 8)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Hal’s Bar & Grill, from 13 Going On 30, is located at 1349 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice Beach.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

Reed’s House from “Valentine’s Day”

Reed's House Valentine's Day (4 of 14)

Many moons ago (July 2012 to be exact), Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I ventured out to Venice for a day of stalking.  Most of our time was spent at the Venice Canals (the history of which you can read here), one of my favorite spots in all of Los Angeles.  As I mentioned in my previous posts about the area, while there, Mike continuously pointed out filming locations as we walked by (the site is chock full of them!).  One locale he identified that I was particularly interested in was the residence where Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) lived in the 2010 romantic comedy Valentine’s Day.  So, since the holiday of love is fastly approaching, I figured what better time than now to finally blog about the place.

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Reed’s clapboard residence, which sits overlooking the Grand Canal, is absolutely idyllic, as you can see below.  From what I’ve been able to discern from Zillow, the 0.06-acre plot of land where the home now stands was purchased in November 1975 for $10,000.  Construction on the dwelling was completed in 1978 and it has not changed hands since – understandably!  If I owned that place, I’d never sell it either!

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Reed's House Valentine's Day (12 of 14)

The property looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen in Valentine’s Day – minus the wetsuits that were seen hanging from the balcony in the movie.

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Reed's House Valentine's Day (10 of 14)

In real life, the two-story dwelling boasts three bedrooms, three baths, and 2,216 square feet of living space.

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Reed's House Valentine's Day (2 of 14)

Because it was seen only briefly, I believe that the home’s actual interior was also used in the filming, but, unfortunately, I could not find any photographs of the inside of the place to verify that hunch.

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The bridge that appeared throughout the film is located directly in front of Reed’s house and crosses over Grand Canal.

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Reed's House Valentine's Day (8 of 14)

Because of what takes place there at the end of Valentine’s Day (I won’t spoil it for those of you who have yet to see the movie), I was actually more excited to pose for a picture on the bridge than I was in front of Reed’s house.

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Reed's House Valentine's Day (14 of 14)

Thanks to the Simon and Simon website, I learned that Reed’s residence was also used as the home where A.J. Simon (Jameson Parker) lived on Simon & Simon.  At the time that the series was filmed in the 1980s, the property looked quite a bit different than it does today and the lot next door to it was also vacant.  (The yellow house seen in the photographs above was not built until 1988.)

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For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.  And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

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

Reed's House Valentine's Day (9 of 14)

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Reed’s house from Valentine’s Day is located at 2604 Grand Canal in Venice.

My Picture on “SNL” and Hanging Out With Michael Vartan!

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This past Saturday was an incredibly lucky and, as my best friend later described, celebrity-fueled day for me.  My family, the Grim Cheaper, and I had headed down to San Diego for the weekend to do some relaxing after the stress of my parent’s recent move.  While we were walking around Coronado Island on Saturday morning I got an email from a photo licensing coordinator over at NBC Universal who wanted to know if I would grant him permission to use one of my stalking photographs of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo High School, aka William McKinley High School from Glee, on that evening’s episode of Saturday Night Live, which was being hosted by actress Jane Lynch.  Well, let me tell you, I just about had a heart attack right then and there and immediately granted permission for the above photograph to be featured on the show.  The coordinator told me he wouldn’t know for sure whether the pic would actually be used or not until Saturday Night Live aired that evening, so I called up my best friend Kylee (who lives in San Diego) and asked her to come over to our hotel, the Coronado Island Marriot Resort, so that we could all watch the show and celebrate together. 

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Because my dad wasn’t feeling well, Kylee, the Grim Cheaper, and I ended up heading over to the hotel’s Tides Lounge to watch the show and grab some celebratory cocktails, which turned out to be a very lucky move because not long after we got there, Kylee looked to her left and said, “Isn’t that Jennifer Garner’s ex-boyfriend sitting over there?”  I turned my head to catch a quick glimpse and, sure enough, there was cutie actor Michael Vartan sitting at a table just a few feet away from us!  I have no idea how in the heck I didn’t notice him, but I do have to admit that Kylee is an absolute master at spotting celebrities in public –  dare I say it, even better than me.  Kylee is actually the one who spotted actress Julianne Moore while the two of us were in line at Magnolia Bakery in New York a few years back, but I digress.  Anyway, I, of course, just HAD to go up to Michael and ask for a picture and, let me tell you, the guy could NOT have been nicer!  When I apologized to him for interrupting his evening out with friends, he told me not to worry about it “at all”.  And when I told him that I absolutely loved the movie Never Been Kissed, he said, “Oh, that’s back when I was young!”  LOL  A few hours later, as Michael was leaving the bar he passed by our table and made it a point to say good-bye to all of us.  SO INCREDIBLY NICE!  Sigh!

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But my luck didn’t stop there!  Right after snapping my photograph with Michael, I received an email from the SNL photo coordinator who informed me that my photograph was indeed used on the show that night!  A celebrity sighting AND one of my pictures appearing on national TV all in the same day??  It was almost too much for me to bear!  So, at around 11:30 p.m., I asked the Tide’s bartender to put the TV on Channel 4 so that we could watch SNL, and sure enough, just a few minutes later my picture appeared on the screen!  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!  The sketch which featured my pic centered around the SNL character Gilly (aka Kristin Wiig) joining the McKinley High Glee club and wreaking her usual havoc in the process.  After gluing a crown to Kurt’s head, shooting Finn with a bow and arrow, and pushing Artie and his wheelchair offstage, she brings in a bomb and blows up the school, which is the point when my photograph was featured. 
 

You can watch the Saturday Night Live Glee sketch which features my photograph by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Coronado Island Marriott Resort is located at 2000 Second Street on Coronado Island in San Diego.  We met Michael Vartan in the hotel’s Tides Lounge.  You can visit the resort’s website here.

The “Valentine’s Day” Floral Shop

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This past weekend I dragged my new husband out to stalk the Burbank storefront that stood in for Siena Bouquet & Cafe – the flower shop/coffee bar belonging to Reed Bennett (aka Ashton Kutcher) in the 2010 romantic comedy Valentine’s Day.  And even though I didn’t particularly like Valentine’s Day all that much – in my eyes it came off as a very poorly executed Love Actually clone – I did absolutely fall in love with Reed’s floral/coffee shop in the movie, mostly due to the fact that I am an absolute coffee fiend, as anyone who knows me even slightly well can attest to.  I mean, what a FABULOUS idea for a store – a florist with a built-in espresso bar!  I am of the opinion that there should be a built-in espresso bar in ALL kinds of stores – book shops, hair salons, nail salons, etc. etc. etc.  When I was in college, the local laundromat not only had an espresso bar, but a tanning booth AND an arcade!  Genius!  Needless to say it was the most popular laundromat in the entire area.  Half the time I would visit the place just to grab a latte, even if I didn’t have clothes to wash.  Not kidding!  😉  But I digress.  The other reason I loved Reed’s store so much was because of its colorful and funky decor, which was vaguely reminiscent of the Central Perk set on fave show Friends.  So, when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me that a friend of his had actually watched some of the flower shop scenes being filmed, I just about died as I had assumed that the interior of the store had just been a set.  I immediately added the address of the place to the top of my To-Stalk list and finally made it out there to see it in person this past weekend. 

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At the time of the filming, the flower shop space was actually vacant, which gave the Valentine’s Day producers the ability to completely take over the premises and extensively dress it in the exact way that they wanted.  Since that time, the space has been taken over by an extremely cool vintage clothing store named Playclothes, but I am very happy to report that the exterior still looks much the same in person as it did in the flick.

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The interior, however, is another story. 

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While the flooring, intricately designed ceilings, and wooden double front door have remained the same, the store is unfortunately not very recognizable from the movie.  And in real life, there is, of course, no on-site espresso bar.  🙁  The good news, though, is that Playclothes honestly has to be one of the coolest stores I’ve ever had the pleasure of shopping at.  I’m not at all into vintage clothing, mind you, but I am into costumes and I have to say that Playclothes had some of the best and most authentic on display that I’ve ever seen in my entire life!  The staff there was also incredibly nice and spent a LOT of time answering all of my silly little questions about the filming of Valentine’s Day.

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Walking around the vintage clothing shop made me realize that the time to choose this year’s Halloween costume has long since arrived.  Unfortunately though, I am currently at a loss.  Ideas anyone?  The Grim Cheaper and I are always either a famous movie couple or a famous real life celebrity couple and this year I was thinking of dressing up as Sue Sylvester and Mr. Schuester from Glee, but the GC ixnayed that idea real fast!  So, I am currently open to ideas.  But please don’t suggest anyone from Avatar as I am so not interested in covering myself with blue paint.  😉

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The rear entrance to Playclothes, which can be reached off of North Fairview Street, was also used in Valentine’s Day.

On a side note – My main man Michael Buble just released the music video for his new song “Hollywood”, in which he does a SPOT ON imitation of Justin Beiber.  I actually thought it was the Biebs in the video when I first watched it.  HILARIOUS!  Anyway, the video was shot in its entirety on a movie lot and I spent quite a bit of yesterday trying to figure out which lot.  After wasting more than a few hours searching, I asked Mike, from MovieShotsLA, if he knew where the video was filmed and, sure enough, he did.  Turns out it’s Universal!   The video shows off quite a bit of the newly rebuilt New York Street, which I have yet to see , so you all know what that means – I’ll be draggin the Grim Cheaper out to stalk it very soon!  🙂

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Playclothes vintage clothing store, aka the floral shop from Valentine’s Day, is located at 3100 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank.  The back of the store is accessible from North Fairview Street.  You can visit the Playclothes website here.

The Bistro Garden

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A couple of weeks ago, while searching online for different filming locations from The Office, I came across some information about an area restaurant which not only appeared in The Office, but in countless other productions over the years, as well – the Bistro Garden in Studio City.  So, I, of course, dragged the Grim Cheaper right out to stalk it that very weekend!  And I think it is safe to say that we both pretty much fell in love with the place immediately upon arriving!  The Bistro Garden was first opened by Carolyn Niklas Pappas, the daughter of famed restaurateur Kurt Niklas (who founded the enormously popular celebrity hotspots Bistro and the original Bistro Garden in Beverly Hills) and her husband Gregory Pappas in 1990.  Two decades later, the place is still one of the Valley’s most popular restaurants – and definitely its most romantic!  According to this 2009 Los Angeles Times article, restaurant reviewer Max Jacobson said of the Bistro Garden that it “may have been the most beautiful restaurant he had ever dined in”.  And he wasn’t exaggerating – the place is exquisite. 

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The Bistro Garden, which according to its website was modeled after a “European Wintergarden”, features a central indoor courtyard with a huge, peaked skylight roof, large French doors, and a perimeter of potted trees covered in twinkle lights, all of which give off the feeling of being outside in some sort of magical garden oasis.  And I swear they must pump some sort of rose fragrance through the air conditioning vents, because the place smells like fresh cut flowers – it’s AMAZING! 

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The restaurant’s wood-paneled mahogany bar area, where the Grim Cheaper and I ate, definitely evokes a feeling of Old Hollywood, especially with the Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra music that plays in the background.  Love it!  🙂  The staff also could NOT have been friendlier and answered all of my silly little questions about the filming that has taken place there over the years.  Oh, and the food was absolutely incredible, too!  And even though the restaurant is a bit pricey, the Grim Cheaper thoroughly enjoyed himself and said he can’t wait to go back!  That in and of itself is a testament to how good the place is.

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In the Season 6 episode of The Office titled “Double Date”, the Bistro Garden stood in for Paparazzo’s (LOL!), the Italian restaurant where Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) hosted a birthday luncheon for Pam’s (aka Jenna Fischer’s) mom, Helene (aka Linda Purl).  It is there that Michael decides that Helene, at age 58, is far too old for him and promptly breaks up with her . . . in the middle of her birthday lunch. 

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Steve Carell also filmed a scene from 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin at the Bistro Garden – the scene in which his character Andy attends a Date-A-Palooza speed-dating event.

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Randomly enough, The Office’s Mindy Kaling also made an appearance in that scene.

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In 2010’s Valentine’s Day, the Bistro Garden was the spot where Julia Fitzpatrick (aka Jennifer Garner) confronted her boyfriend, Dr. Harrison Copeland (aka Patrick Dempsey), after finding out that he was married.

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In 1997’s Liar Liar, the Bistro Garden was the spot where Jerry (aka Cary Elwes) proposed to Audrey (aka Maura Tierney).

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Bistro Garden has popped up twice in Desperate Housewives.  In the Season 2 episode titled “Remember (1)”, the restaurant’s bar area was where Gabrielle Solis (aka Eva Longoria Parker) discovered (wrongly) via a newscast that her husband Carlos (aka Ricardo Chavira) had died in a car accident. 

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The restaurant was also where Zach Young (aka Cody Kasch) unveiled himself to be Gabrielle’s secret admirer in the Season 3 episode of Desperate Housewives titled “Not While I’m Around”.

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The Bistro Garden also showed up twice on fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 – first in the Season 8 episode titled “Toil and Trouble” as the spot where Cooper Hargrove (aka Christopher Orr) gifted Valerie Malone (aka Tiffani Amber-Thiessen) with a diamond necklace.

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And second in the Season 10 episode titled “Laying Pipe”.  But in actuality only the exterior of the Bistro Garden was featured in the “Laying Pipe” episode.  

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As you can see in the above screen captures, the interior filming took place elsewhere.  The restaurant was also featured in an episode of Melrose Place, but because I didn’t really watch that show, I am unsure of exactly which episode.

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Bistro Garden is also something of a celebrity hotspot, as well.  Just a few of the celebs who have been spotted dining there recently include Taylor Lautner, Taylor Swift, and Steve Carell.

On a side note – I will not be publishing a new blog post for tomorrow, or for the next two Fridays.  Because of my upcoming wedding, I wrote all of my August blog posts in advance and unfortunately was only able to get enough done to publish four each week.  But I will be back on Monday with a whole new post.  🙂 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Bistro Garden is located at 12950 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.  You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

Charlie’s Apartment Building from “Monster-in-Law”

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The third and final Monster-in-Law locale that I set out to find this past weekend was the supposed Venice Beach area apartment building where Charlie Cantilini (aka Jennifer Lopez) lived in the flick.  Fellow stalker Nick had already determined that the Spanish-style building was located somewhere in Hollywood, so from there I set out on a Google search using the terms “Mediterranean”, “apartments”, and “Hollywood”.  And I have to say that I got REALLY lucky on this one, because the first thing that popped up was this  link to a complex named “Mediterranean Apartments” on North Sycamore Avenue.  After looking at an aerial view of the building, I quickly determined that it was not, in fact, the Monster-in-Law locale that I had been searching for, but I did notice another apartment complex just a few doors down that looked an awful lot like Charlie’s. And sure enough, it was!  The stalking gods were definitely smiling on me during this search, because, honestly, what are the odds of tracking the building down so easily???  And, let me tell you, I almost fell over when I realized that not only had I already stalked Charlie’s apartment a few years prior, but I had even blogged about it!  More on that later, though.

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In real life, Charlie’s apartment building is known as the El Cadiz and it is located in the heart of Hollywood, a good fifteen miles away from Venice Beach, it’s purported location in Monster-in-Law.   The building was constructed during the height of the Great Depression in 1936 by architect Milton J. Black and was named after the province of El Cadiz in the south of Spain.  According to the book Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles: A Typological Analysis, the complex has the distinction of being the very last Spanish Revival-style courtyard apartment building to be constructed in L.A.  In 2005, the Church of Scientology purchased the El Cadiz, and thanks to the community’s fear that the place would subsequently be torn down, just a few months later the City of Los Angeles declared it a Cultural Historic Monument, preserving its beauty for future generations to appreciate.  The El Cadiz is an absolutely gorgeous dwelling that boasts numerous Andalusian decorative elements including a red-tiled roof, covered balconies scattered throughout, large water fountains, arched doorways and windows, and a multitude of courtyards.  Sadly, though, none of those elements is visible from the street and what is visible is fairly non-descript, as you can see above.

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Even more unfortunate is that fact that not even Google maps can give us a very good view of the building.  🙁   But you can read a more in-depth history of the property and see a picture of its interior courtyard here.

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Charlie’s apartment building is only featured at the very beginning of Monster-in-Law, in the scenes which take place before she moves in with new-fiancé Kevin Fields (aka Michael Vartan). 

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Because of the way some scenes were filmed and because, according to the movie’s production notes, all of the apartments in the El Cadiz building were vacant and undergoing extensive renovations at the time of the filming, I am fairly certain that the real life interior of one of the units was used in the movie, too.

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Coincidentally, the El Cadiz was also featured each week during the first two seasons of the immensely popular television series Alias, where it stood in for Sydney Bristow’s apartment.   (An even further coincidence is that both productions starred actor Michael Vartan!)  As I mentioned above, I actually stalked the place – and blogged about it! – back in February of ‘08, but because only the exterior of the complex was featured in Alias, while only the interior courtyard was featured in Monster-in-Law, I didn’t recognize that they were actually the same place.   

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Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Nick for helping me find this location!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: El Cadiz, aka Charlie’s apartment building from Monster-in-Law and Sydney Bristow’s apartment building from Alias, is located at 1721-1731 North Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood.

The “13 Going On 30” Thriller Dance Location

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A few months ago, I enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen in tracking down the location from fave movie 13 Going On 30 where Jenna Rink (aka Jennifer Garner) saved the Poise Magazine  party by performing her rendition of the Zombie Dance from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, which, not surprisingly,  just so happens to be my very favorite scene in the flick.  From the beginning, I was absolutely convinced that the “Thriller” scene had been filmed in a building located somewhere in New York, but Owen had a hunch that it had actually taken place right here in Los Angeles.  And, as usual, Owen was right.  After doing a bit of cyber-stalking, he somehow managed to track down one of the movie’s location managers who told him that Jenna’s “Thriller” dance had actually been performed inside of an oft-used filming location in Downtown Los Angeles, one that I am ashamed to admit I was already very familiar with – the former Bank of American building located on the corner of 7th and South Spring Streets.  The building has been used in COUNTLESS productions over the years, but I am sad to say that, for whatever reason, I somehow failed to recognize it.

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Being that the former bank’s big ol’ safe is clearly visible in the background of the “Thriller” scene, I really should have figured this one out.  Man, I’m such a blonde sometimes! 

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Once Owen had tracked down the location for me, I put the former bank building on my very long “To-Stalk” list and finally managed to visit the place in person while out doing some stalking in the Downtown Los Angeles area a couple of weeks ago.  The Spring Street Tower, as it is sometimes called, which was built in 1912 by the architectural firm of Schultze and Weaver, served as the Los Angeles headquarters for the Bank of America Corporation from 1930 to 1972.  After Bank of America vacated the twelve story high Beaux Arts style building, the upper floors served as offices for various companies throughout the years, while the marble clad lobby became an extremely popular filming location.  In recent years, SB Properties, a building development company, took over the building and converted the former offices into lofts.  And while the lobby area still looks much the same as it did during the time when it was operating as a bank, there are currently plans in the works for a restaurant and club to open up in that space, which is both good news and bad news.  Bad news because I am guessing that once the space becomes a restaurant, it will cease to be a filming location and will most likely be heavily remodeled and good news because if it does eventually become a restaurant that means that someday in the near future I will be able to stalk the area where Jennifer Garner danced, a place which is currently off limits to the public.  YAY!  🙂 

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When we first arrived to stalk the former Bank of America building, I did not actually have high hopes that I would be able to see any of the interior.  So, let me tell you, I just about passed out from excitement when I discovered that the lobby area, where the “Thriller” dance scene took place, was thoroughly visible through the former bank’s front windows.  From the windows you can see the vault;

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the main staircase;

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the second floor balcony;

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and several of the wood-paneled main offices.  You can also see some fabulous interior photographs of the bank building here.

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In 13 Going On 30, the former Bank of America building was the location of the Poise Magazine “Girls Night Out” party, during which Jenna’s boss, Richard (aka Andy Serkis) complains that the guests are leaving far too early and if someone doesn’t do something to liven up the joint – and quick – then the entire magazine might go down the drain.  So, Jenna immediately heads over to the DJ booth where she requests Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and then proceeds to lead the entire party in the famous Zombie Dance.  Oh, how I would love to do that dance at my wedding!  😉

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So I, of course, just had to imitate Jenna doing the “Thriller” dance while I was at the building.  🙂  I think it goes without saying that my fiancé was HIGHLY embarrassed while taking the above photographs of me. 

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The former bank is also where Robbie (aka Adam Sandler) tries to get a job to impress Julia (aka Drew Barrymore) in 1998’s The Wedding Singer.  When the bank’s manager, who was played by Kevin Nealon, turns him down, Robbie says, “You don’t even have to give me the job.  If you could just give me some business cards with my name on it, I think that might help.  How ‘bout this – I’ll give you ten singing lessons for one business card.  Please?”  LOL 

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In 1995’s Se7en, the bank building was dressed to look like a library and appeared in the scene in which Detective Lt. William Somerset (aka Morgan Freeman) researches the Seven Deadly Sins.

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In L.A. Story, the bank stood in for the Fourth Reich Bank of Hamburg where Steve Martin is forced to show his financial records to the owner of the impossible-to-get-into L’Idiot Restaurant in order to secure a dinner reservation there. 

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In 1994’s The Mask, the bank was used as Edge City Savings and Loan where Stanley Ipkiss (aka Jim Carrey) worked.

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In Spiderman 2, the bank appeared up as the spot where Peter Parker (aka Tobey Maguire) takes his Aunt May (aka Rosemary Harris) to apply for a loan from a bank teller played by none other than The Soup’s Joel McHale.  🙂  While the two are in the bank, Doc Ock shows up to rob the place and almost succeeds until Spiderman steps in and, of course, saves the day. 

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In Ghost, the bank was used as the place where Sam Wheat (aka Patrick Swayze) takes Oda Mae Brown (aka Whoopi Goldberg) to fill out a signature card under the false name of Rita Miller.

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In Blow, the former Bank of America building stood in for the Bank of Panama in one very brief scene.

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In The Prestige, the building shows up twice.  First, the bank lobby appeared as the courtroom where Alfred Borden’s (aka Christian Bale’s) murder trial is held.

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And second, the bank’s second floor mezzanine area stood in for the bar where Robert Angier (aka Hugh Jackman) shared a drink with Cutter (aka Michael Caine).

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The bank also appeared in the movies Marathon Man, Traffic, Fatal Vision, Prizzi’s Honor, St. Elmo’s Fire, All of Me, and in episodes of 24, Cagney & Lacey, Hill Street Blues, Matlock, and Hardcastle & McCormick.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The old Bank of America building is located at 650 South Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles.  The best place to catch a glimpse of the interior of the property is through the windows located on either side of the building’s front doors, which are pictured above.

The “Dude, Where’s My Car?” Houses

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About six or seven years ago, my best friend Robin came to visit me from Switzerland for a few weeks and one night we found ourselves renting the 2000 cult comedy Dude, Where’s My Car? Being that the entire premise of the flick centers around two guys who lose their car, I honestly didn’t have very high expectations for the movie, but, let me tell you, Robin and I were pretty much dying laughing throughout the entire thing.  And if I’m not mistaken, I believe we even re-watched it again the following evening.  🙂  What can I say – I’m a big fan of lowbrow humor.  🙂  Robin and my catch phrase for a good year or two after that was “And then?  And then?  And then?”  LOL  I should admit here that I’ve also always had a special place in my heart for Ashton Kutcher (even though it’s truly difficult to like anyone who Twitters as much as he does) thanks to a story told to me by an acquaintance who spent an evening with him about a decade ago.  According to my friend, who worked in PR at the time, back in the late 90s before Ashton had become a household name, she attended some sort of showbiz party with the rising star and a group of his friends.  After the party, the entire group ended up crashing at Ashton’s house.  The following morning, my friend awoke when Ashton Kutcher entered the room she had been sleeping in, pounced on her bed, grabbed her pillow out from under her head and proceeded to smack her in the face with it while screaming “PILLOW FIGHT!”  Well, let me tell you, my friend was NOT happy about her unexpected wake-up call.  Of the incident, she later said to me – and I quote – “All I could think was, did Ashton Kutcher honestly just pillow fight me????”  LOL LOL LOL  Needless to say, she and Ashton didn’t speak much after that, but once I heard the story I couldn’t help but love the guy.  If someone had woken me up with a pillow to the face like that, I can honestly say that they would have become my new best friend!  🙂  What can I say, I love childish antics!  Anyway, every time I see Ashton Kutcher onscreen now, I can’t help but think of my friend’s story and smile.  So, when fellow stalker Chas texted me to let me know that Robert Patterson – not to be confused with actor Robert Pattinson 🙂 – from the website Movie Locations and More had tracked down two of the main houses used in Dude, Where’s My Car?, I just about died of excitement and immediately ran right out to stalk both of them.  Thank you, Robert!   🙂

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The first Dude, Where’s My Car? location Robert tracked down was the house belonging to Chester and Jesse (aka Seann William Scott and Ashton Kutcher) in the flick. And as you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, the residence has been cleaned up quite a bit since filming took place there ten years ago.  I am not sure if the house was in a state of disarray prior to the filming and that’s why it was chosen or if producers had the place dressed down for the production, but either way it looks quite different today than it did when Dude, Where’s My Car? was filmed.   And while I would normally be upset over someone altering a movie house, being that the dudes’ home was pretty much in shambles in the movie, this is one case where I really can’t fault the owner for changing things around.   I am pretty sure I would do the very same thing.  😉  But even with a new walkway, new windows, a new paintjob, and new landscaping, I am happy to report that the Dude, Where’s My Car? house is still recognizable from the movie.  The porch steps, porch light, porch awning, and address plaque all still look exactly the same today as they did in the flick.  🙂   YAY!  (On a side note – I really have to apologize for the photos that appear in this post – they were taken right at dusk after a long day of stalking and unfortunately, due to the poor lighting, did not come out very well.)

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The second house that Robert located was the residence belonging to the Twins (aka Marla Sokoloff and a very young Jennifer Garner) in the flick. The Twin’s house also looks quite a bit different today than how it appeared in the movie.  And I have to say that I actually prefer the home’s movie appearance to the way it looks in real life, because, like all girls, I am a fan of Tiffany Blue and I just love that it was used as the house’s trim color in Dude, Where’s My Car? So darn cute!  Also missing in real life is the circular popped out window that is located above the home’s front porch in the movie – a feature that I am assuming was added solely for the filming and then later removed.  I am happy to report, though, that the white picket fence that got destroyed in Dude, Where’s My Car? is in fact a real feature of the house.  In real life, though, it’s in a bit better shape than how it was portrayed in the movie.  😉

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And a little bit of movie trivia for you – a pre-Bachelor Charlie O’Connell, brother of actor Jerry O’Connell, had a fairly large role in Dude, Where’s My Car? playing Kristy Swanson’s jerk boyfriend, Tommy.

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On a side note – For some odd reason, for the past few months I have been having a hard time responding to the comments on my blog and neither my fiancé nor I can figure out what the problem is.  So, if you’ve been wondering why I haven’t responded to comments lately, that’s why.  Hopefully we can get the problem worked out soon, but in the meantime keep commenting and I will try to respond when I can.  Thanks for your patience with this and thank you to everyone who has been responding to the comments for me.  I really appreciate it.  🙂

Big THANK YOU to Robert from Movie Locations and More for finding these locations!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Jesse and Chester’s house from Dude, Where’s My Car? is located at 4177 Bakman Drive in North Hollywood.  Wanda and Wilma’s house from the movie is located just around the corner at 4160 Klump Avenue, also in North Hollywood.