Barneys New York from “Just Go With It”

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

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

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

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

Just Go With It–Barneys New York in Beverly Hills

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

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

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

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

Casa del Mar Hotel from “Just Go With It”

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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.

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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.

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

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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 . . .

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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.