13 Going On 30 locations – IAMNOTASTALKER

May 27, 2010June 16, 2011

The New York Public Library from “Sex and the City: The Movie”

In honor of today’s big premiere of Sex and The City 2, I thought I’d blog about a location from the original movie that I stalked this past October while I was in Manhattan – the New York Public Library. And even though I’ve actually blogged about this location once before, since I did not include any interior photographs, I thought the place was definitely worth re-visiting. In the original Sex and the City movie, Carrie Bradshaw (aka Sarah Jessica Parker) and her fiancé Mr. Big (aka Chris Noth) plan to hold their upcoming nuptials at the library because, as Carrie says, it is “the classic New York landmark that housed all the great love stories”. The New York Public Library was constructed during the years 1902 through 1911 on the site of the former Croton Reservoir and was designed by the architecture firm Carrere & Hastings. The Beaux-Arts structure, which is made of white marble and cost $9 million to build, encompasses two full blocks of New York City land and contains 88 miles of shelving which holds over seven million books. Amazingly enough, any one of those seven million tomes can be requested and delivered to the library’s main circulation desk within a period of ten minutes or less! The New York Public Library, which was named a National Historic Monument in 1965, is a truly amazing piece of architecture and, being that it is symbolic of the two great loves of Carrie Bradshaw’s life – New York City and writing – it is easy to see why producers chose it as the site of her ill-fated wedding.

The library shows up twice in Sex and the City: The Movie. It first appears in the scene in which Carrie, while returning the book “Love Letters of Great Men, Volume I”, spots a wedding being set up in the library’s mezzanine. She immediately decides the place is the perfect location for her own upcoming nuptials.

That first scene was shot in the extremely beautiful McGraw Rotunda, which is located on the library’s second floor.

The New York Public Library next appears in the big wedding scene, during which Mr. Big stands Carrie up at the altar. And I should state here that the wedding scene seriously annoyed me. I mean, honestly, how many times can we expect Big to screw up before Carrie leaves him for good???? The SATC writers really need to come up with a new way of creating tension, because the whole Big-breaks-Carrie’s-heart thing was already getting old way back in Season 3. We should be long past that storyline by now, but I digress.

According to the SUPER nice security guard I spoke with, producers had the McGraw Rotunda intricately decorated with thousands upon thousands of flowers and other adornments for the wedding scene, yet none of it was visible in the movie. The only time any of the wedding decorations can be spotted is in the above-pictured blink-and-you’ll miss it scene in which Anthony Marentino (aka Mario Cantone) tells an assistant to keep all of the wedding guests off of the main stairwell.

The scene in which Mr. Big tells Carrie via telephone that he “couldn’t get out of the car” and that he will not be going through with the wedding was filmed in the library’s Astor Hall area, just off of the main lobby.

Miranda (aka Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (aka Kristin Davis) immediately grab Carrie and rush her out of the library’s northernmost front door.

And, while I was stalking the library, I, of course, just had to reenact the scene in which a devastated Carrie drops her cell phone after finding out that Big has stood her up.

Sex and the City: The Movie was hardly the first production to film at the library, though. The building was also the site of the benefit gala in the Season 3 episode of Gossip Girl titled “Ex-Husbands and Wives”

In the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Paul Varjak (aka George Peppard) and Holly Golightly (aka Audrey Hepburn) stop into the library during their “things we’ve never done before” day. And while the real life exterior of the library appeared in that scene, I cannot say for certain that the actual interior was also used. The interior scenes quite possibly may have been filmed on a studio soundstage. The library also appeared in a later scene in the movie as the spot where Paul first tells Holly that he loves her. And I just have to say here that I find it absolutely amazing that Audrey Hepburn’s costumes are still stylish today, almost five decades after Breakfast at Tiffany’s was filmed! I mean, how adorable is the orange jacket pictured above? But, again, I digress.

In the original Spider-Man movie, Uncle Ben (aka Cliff Robertson) drops off Peter Parker (aka Tobey Maguire) at the library, where he is supposedly going to do some studying. Peter instead goes to a wrestling match dressed as Spider-Man. When Ben later comes to pick Peter up, he gets killed outside of the library’s main entrance.

Jenna Rink (aka Jennifer Garner) and Matt Flamhaff (aka Mark Ruffalo) stage part of their “Class of 2004” photo shoot in front of the New York Public Library in fave movie 13 Going On 30.

In 1997’s Picture Perfect, the library was the site of the Gulden’s Mustard party where Kate Mosley (aka my girl Jennifer Aniston) first becomes disillusioned with the advertising world.

And while a large portion of the movie The Day After Tomorrow was set in the New York Public Library, no filming actually took place there. Instead producers built a replica of the library’s interior on a studio soundstage that they later destroyed during the massive flood scenes. According to the security guard that I spoke with, set designers spent weeks taking measurements of the interior of the library so that it could be exactly replicated for the filming.

In The Thomas Crown Affair, the inside of the library stood in for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as the Met refused to let any interior scenes be shot on the premises.

The first Ghostbusters movie actually opens with a shot of the New York Public Library and its famous stone lions, who are named Patience and Fortitude. The library has also appeared in the movies On The Town, Pickup on South Street, A Thousand Clowns, The Clock, King Kong, and You’re a Big Boy Now, and in the television series Kings.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The New York Public library is located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 42nd Street in New York City. It is open to the public daily.

March 4, 2010March 3, 2010

The “13 Going On 30” Thriller Dance Location

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.

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! 🙂

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;

the main staircase;

the second floor balcony;

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

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! 😉

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

December 31, 2008November 8, 2010

The Exterior of the Bar from “13 Going On 30”

Another filming location I have been absolutely obsessed with finding for YEARS is the New York restaurant where Jenna hit on the 13 year old boy in fave romantic comedy 13 Going On 30. Ever since the movie was released four years ago I have been searching New York City streets hoping to find the restaurant featured in the movie, but having absolutely no luck. And then, just before I left on my recent New York vacation, a light bulb went off in my head and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner! I enlisted master stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to help me find the location. And sure enough he did!

Literally less than ten minutes after challenging Mike to find the restaurant’s location, he sent me an email with the above photo! And I just about fell off my chair. Here I had been searching for this location for FOUR YEARS, even resorting to walking up and down New York streets, screen captures in hand, trying to find it, and he locates it in the space of ten minutes! The man has a gift!

It turns out that the 13 Going On 30 restaurant isn’t actually a restaurant at all, but a clothing store named Phi Boutique located on a cobblestone street in SoHo’s Cast Iron Historic District. My initial thought was that maybe a restaurant occupied Phi’s space back in 2003 when the filming of 13 Going On 30 took place, but after speaking to a Phi saleswoman earlier today I learned that that wasn’t actually the case. Before Phi took over the space at 71 Greene Street in 2004, it was occupied by clothing boutique Vivienne Westwood. Since no restaurant was ever located on the premises, my best guess is that 13 Going On 30 used the vacant storefront for filming in late 2003 during the interim after Vivienne Westwood moved out and before Phi moved in, and that the restaurant’s interiors were shot somewhere else entirely (possibly even in Los Angeles). Finding the restaurant’s interior is my next mission for Mike! 🙂

The Cast Iron Historic District is an architecturally and historically significant area of New York’s SoHo neighborhood. The Cast Iron District boasts over 250 buildings erected out of cast iron, making it the largest concentration of cast iron buildings in the entire world. All of the historic buildings were constructed between the years 1869 and 1895, when cast iron was considered the cheapest and easiest-to-use building material. At the time, different architectural designs were cast in iron inside of a warehouse and later secured into place on building facades creating an architecturally beautiful and diverse area of New York. The building that Jenna’s hockey player boyfriend stands in front of while signing autographs in 13 Going On 30 is considered by some to be the most brilliant example of cast iron architecture in the city. The building is known as the “King of Greene Street” and was built in 1872 by cast iron craftsman Isaac F. Duckworth. It was originally designed as a dry goods warehouse for successful merchant Gardner Colby and now is home to an antique store and art gallery.

Even though there is no 13 Going On 30 restaurant to stalk on Greene Street, I highly recommend visiting the area anyway. With its cobblestone streets and historical buildings, it really is an adorable area of New York.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The exterior of the restaurant from 13 Going On 30 is really the storefront of Phi Boutique located at 71 Greene Street in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. Jenna meets Matt’s fiance just next door to Phi, outside of the building located at 69 Greene Street. And Jenna’s hockey player boyfriend, Alex Carlson, signs autographs across the street in front of 70 Greene Street.