Year: 2008

Casbah Cafe – The Coffee Shop from “A Lot Like Love”

After finding Amanda Peet’s apartment from A Lot Like Love, I just had to stalk the other locations featured in the movie. Much of the movie was filmed in Sunset Junction, a small community in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles. When Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher first reconnect, on New Year’s Eve, they head out to Sunset Junction for dinner. While I am sad to say that I have yet to find the Chinese food restaurant where they eat their silent dinner (which, according to the director’s commentary on the DVD, is located somewhere in Pasadena), I did stalk most of the other locations.

Before dinner, Amanda Peet parks her stationwagon in the parking lot of a dry cleaners. You can see the words “Wash and Fold” painted on the brick wall in front of her car. This is also the spot where, after dinner, she changes into a party dress behind a dumpster.

Directly after dinner, Oscar and Emily walk to a cafe for some coffee. That spot is The Cashbah Cafe, located at the corner of Sunset and Hyperion. The Cashbah is a cute little bohemian coffee shop – and when I say little, I mean little! I am shocked they were able to film inside of it! They do make some good coffee, though!

The art gallery where Amanda Peet’s photographs are featured later in the movie, was in fact an empty store at the time of the filming. Today it is a really cool bartending shop called “The Barkeeper.” The laundermat, across from the art gallery, where Ashton waits for Amanda to show up is actually a laundermat in real life and is really located directly across the street from “The Barkeeper.”

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Sunset Junction is located in Silverlake, where Sunset Blvd. meets Santa Monica Blvd. Sunset Junction is a cute place to grab a cup of coffee and do some shopping on a Saturday afternoon. The Cashbah Cafe is located at 3900 W. Sunset Blvd., at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Hyperion Street. Sunset Laundry is located at 3812 W. Sunset. Amanda Peet’s art gallery, aka “The Barkeeper”, can be found at 3910 W. Sunset, where it is now “The Barkeeper”. If you visit the store, be sure to ask for Joe, “the Barkeeper” and owner of the shop – he could not be a nicer guy! He filled me in on all the scoop on filming in Sunset Junction.

January 23, 2008
Rest in Peace!

I was saddened and absolutely shocked today to learn of Heath Ledger’s untimely death. I still can’t quite believe it. My heart goes out to his family and his poor daughter.

In honor of his death, I thought I’d post about a Hollywood area cemetery where many of the stars are buried – The Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park and Mortuary. It is fitting that this place of rest is called a “park” and not a “cemetery”, as it really doesn’t have a cemetery feel to it. It is a very peaceful, almost uplifting place, with tall trees and rose bushes and fountains everywhere. I can see why the stars would want to be buried there.

The Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park is the final resting place of many stars, including Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Heather O’Rourke, Carroll O’Connor, Natalie Wood, Eva Gabor, Donna Reed, Billy Wilder, Truman Capote (although legend has it that his ashes were removed and brought to New York) and -perhaps most famous of all – Marilyn Monroe. Keep your eyes open for the lipstick marks on Marilyn’s crypt left by her many visitors. An interesting bit of trivia – Hugh Hefner purchased the crypt directly next to Marilyn’s for himself. He wants to be forever interred next to the woman who graced the cover of the very first Playboy Magazine.

Stalk It:The Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood. It is situated directly behind the Avco Center Cinemas located at 10840 Wilshire Blvd. Marilyn Monroe’s crypt can be found in the North -Eastern corner of the cemetery. Pierce Brothers Park is, surprisingly, a nice place to walk around during a sunny afternoon.

January 22, 2008
Amanda Peet’s Apartment Building from “A Lot Like Love”

One of my favorite romantic comedies of all time is A Lot Like Love starring Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher – and while I was watching it I absolutely fell in love with the building used as Amanda Peet’s apartment. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t seem to find this location by searching Google or any of my go-to filming location sites.

For this location, I turned to the director’s commentary on the DVD. Many times, during a DVD commentary, a director will mention in what part of town a scene was filmed, which helps to narrow locations down. In this case, the director mentioned the exact street where her apartment was located- Vine St. in Hollywood- and from there I was on my way!

My boyfriend and I drove south down Vine Street until we found the red brick apartment building near the corner of Fountain and Vine. While it definitely looks better on the big screen, the building is pretty incredible in person. The front doors happened to be open, so we ventured inside.

It is amazing how quiet and peaceful the interior courtyard is, being that it is located only a few blocks from the busy corner of Hollywood and Vine.

The courtyard is full of flowers and plants of all sizes and wrought iron benches and looks like an amazing place to spend a summer afternoon. The courtyard is where Ashton sang his heart out to Amanda Peet towards the end of the film. Her front door was the first door on the right hand side when you enter the courtyard.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Amanda Peet’s character lived in the Villa Elaine Apartment building, located at 1245 Vine Street in Hollywood. Frank Sinatra, Orson Wells, May Ray, and Remy Zero have all called the building home at one time or another. You can park in the Payless Shoe Source parking lot across the street and walk to the building. If the front doors aren’t open, you can peek inside them to see the amazing center courtyard.

January 22, 2008
Celebrity Fit Club!

If you happen to be a member of a Hollywood area gym, be sure to keep your eyes open for famous people – the person on the treadmill next to you just might be Britney Spears! Or her judge! The buzz around my gym lately is that the judge in the Britney Spears custody battle, Scott Gordon, is a gym member. As I was running on the treadmill Thursday night, it turns out I was running right next to him! And he just happened to be on the phone (while running!?!) asking for a change of courtrooms for his next day’s case. Anyway, I was way excited and I just had to snap a pic of him! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

January 20, 2008
Kelly and Donna’s Beach Apartment

Just got a comment from La on my 90210 post – she wishes I had taken my stalking a little further and stalked Kelly and Donna’s beach apartment from 90210’s college years. Come on – don’t you know me by now? Of course I’ve stalked Kelly and Donna’s place. 🙂 This location I found a few years ago – thanks to my good friend Stew. One day he happened to be jogging along the Strand, a beach-side path in Hermosa Beach, and ran right by Kelly and Donna’s apartment. He immediately called me and told me the location so I could stalk it myself.

The beach apartment is adorable – right on the beach in a really cute area of town. How lucky was Kelly to get the cute apartment on the show and the cute guy! No one was hotter than Dylan McKay!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It:Kelly and Donna’s apartment is located right on the sand at 3500 The Strand in Hermosa Beach, just south of where Hermosa Beach borders Manhattan Beach. Kelly and Donna lived in the second floor apartment on the show. According to one of my favorite stalking sites, Seeing Stars, the house was also used in the movie My Step-Mother is an Alien. The O.C. also used the Strand and Hermosa Beach for much of its filming.

January 18, 2008
The Central Park Boathouse – Where Carrie and Big Went Swimming

One of my very favorite episodes of Sex and the City (oh, who am I kidding – every episode is my favorite episode!) was the Season Three Finale when Carrie decides, after much deliberation and a big fight with Miranda, to meet Mr. Big for lunch. Just before the lunch, Carrie promises Miranda that no matter what happens she will NOT kiss Mr. Big.

Of course, that is easier said than done! When Big sees Carrie standing on the small dock outside the restaurant, he leans in to kiss her and as she tries to back away from him, they both fall into the pond and start cracking up hysterically. God, I love Sex and the City!

This scene was shot at The Boathouse Restaurant, which I happened to spot on my very first trip to New York as we were walking through Central Park. It is an adorable little restaurant that sits right on the lake. According to my Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell book, SJP cut her foot when she fell in the water shooting this scene and had to be given a tetanus shot right after.

The Boathouse is a great place to eat lunch during the spring and summer months. You can eat lunch and watch the pedal-boaters float by. After lunch you can stop by the boat rental dock and take a nice afternoon boatride across the lake.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Boathouse Restaurant is located in the middle of Central Park at E. 72nd Street and Park Drive North. The restaurant is only open during the months of April through November. You can visit their website here – The Boathouse. Carrie and Big fell off the boat rental dock to the left of the restaurant’s entrance. Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell is a great resource for SATC fans – it contains a map with locations of many SATC filming locations and a lot of behind the scenes info.

January 17, 2008
The Grease High School

Growing up I absolutely loved the movie Grease. My friend Nat and I used to dress up in her mother’s wigs and act out scenes from Grease in front of the TV. So how excited was I to discover the location of Rydell High School in my go-to stalking book “The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book“? Although three different high schools in Los Angeles were used to depict Rydell during the filming of Grease, Venice High was the one used for all exterior shots. The first day of school scenes, the Summer Lovin’ number, Danny’s track practice and sports team tryouts were all shot at Venice High. If you venture out behind the school, you will definitely recognize the bleachers from Summer Lovin’ and the track Danny jogged on.

The producers of Grease: You’re the One That I Want, the reality show from 2006, chose Venice High as the location for their Grease Boot Camp. Contestants sang and danced for two weeks in the famous footsteps of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

Besides gaining infamy as the Grease high school, Venice High was also the filming location for Britney Spears’ very first music video, . . . Baby One More Time. So, of course, I had to venture inside the school on my visit there, so that I could shimmy down the hallways, too! BritBrit used the interior hallways, the gym, and the lunch area to film the video. Venice High was also used as Nicolas Cage’s daughter’s school in Matchstick Men, and in the movie American History X and the TV show American Dreams.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Venice High School is located at 13000 Venice Boulevard in Venice. There used to be a statue in front of the high school of actress Myrna Loy and the statue can actually be seen in Grease. It’s interesting to note that Myrna modeled for the statue while she was still a Venice High School student, long before she became famous. The statue was vandalized in recent years and removed from its home in front of the school, but a restoration is currently in progress. I recommend visiting the school during off hours or on a weekend, when there is more freedom to walk around and see the sites. 🙂 Don’t be afraid to break into song!

January 16, 2008
Lauren’s House – Part Two (Or Should I Say Les Deux)

At the risk of becoming a stalking site solely about The Hills, I just had to share my pics from visiting LC’s house this weekend. Conveniently, Lauren’s new pad is located only half a mile from Speidi’s apartment building on the cutest street in the world! 🙂 Her house is gorgeous in person – I absolutely loved it! I must say, I would definitely be plonking down $2.3 million for this house, too, if I had it! Ahh, if only I had my own reality show!!

Last weekend I also visited LC’s home away from home – Les Deux nightclub. Les Deux is in an unmarked building on Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood and you’d never know it was there if you weren’t looking for it. One of these days I am going to have to stalk it at night, when it is actually open! 🙂 It looks like a pretty cool place – part of it is an old Craftsman style house which backs up to a huge outdoor patio. I believe that patio is the very site where Lauren and Heidi had their first big public showdown – “You know what you did! You know what you did!”

Les Deux is located just down the street from another famous location from the big screen – Julia Roberts’ hotel from Pretty Woman. Her character lived at the Las Palmas Hotel in the beginning of the movie and it’s also the same site where Richard Gere climbed up the fire escape to rescue her!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: LC’s new house is located at 1627 N. Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood. Les Deux is located nearby at 1638 N. Las Palmas Avenue. I think Thursday nights are the big nights to hang out there. You can find the Las Palmas Hotel just a few blocks north of Les Deux at 1738 N. Las Palmas Avenue. It’s a bit of a shady place, so exercise caution!

January 14, 2008
Spencer and Heidi’s Apartment – the Holy Grail of Filming Locations!

I don’t know what’s sadder – that it took me as long as it did to locate Speidi’s apartment building or the fact that I was so completely consumed with finding it in the first place! I keep asking myself – Why am I so fixated on these two idiots? I have no logical answer. All I can say is that even though I think Spencer and Heidi are both complete douchebags, I am still totally obsessed with them!

For the past few months I have spent countless hours on Los Angeles apartment websites searching for Speidi’s building, with no luck whatsoever. I was beginning to think I was losing my touch! (Gasp!) So, this weekend, as a last resort, I bought Season Two of The Hills in the hopes that I could find some clue as to their apartment’s location on the DVDs. A side benefit in purchasing Season 2 on DVD is that I can now watch the scene where Heidi tells Spencer that her answer to moving in with him is “No” and he says “Sweet! My answer is get out of my car!” over and over again! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that! 🙂

Anyway, success came pretty quickly because on the Season 2 Finale, in the scene when Spencer first shows Heidi the apartment, I found a few clues that led me to the right spot. I first noticed the address number “1333” behind Spencer’s head as he was sitting on the front steps of the building waiting for Heidi. After they tour the apartment, he takes her out onto the balcony and points out various Hollywood hot spots that he and Heidi frequent. That let me know the apartment had to be in Hollywood, west of Las Palmas Ave. From there I just googled the terms “1333” and “Hollywood Apartments” which led me to a listing Craig’s List and I knew I had found it!

I dragged my boyfriend to the La Fontaine apartments this afternoon to check out the place – and since I just happen to be in the market for an apartment myself, I buzzed the manager to take us on a tour of the available units. 🙂 The apartments are really nice on the inside – dark hardwood floors, high ceilings, granite counter-tops. If only the one we viewed had the word “Hollywood” graffiti-ed on the living room wall, I just might have taken it right then and there! 🙂

Stalk It: Spencer and Heidi’s apartment building, La Fontaine, is located at 1333 N. Curson in Hollywood. You can check out the La Fontaine website here – http://www.frostchaddock.com/. For $2700 and up, you can be Speidi’s neighbor! To take a tour of the available apartments, buzz the manager at the sister building across the street at 1322 N. Curson.

January 13, 2008
My Very First Shout Out!

Check it out – I just got my first shout out!

http://www.altadenablog.com/2008/01/90210-or-91001.html

Thanks Altadenablog!

January 11, 2008