Venice filming locations – IAMNOTASTALKER

January 3, 2014January 2, 2014

Abbot’s Habit from “The Truth About Cats & Dog”

Last Saturday, after stalking the Venice exterior of O’Hara’s Pub from Bad Santa (which I blogged about here), the Grim Cheaper and I decided to walk around Abbot Kinney Boulevard for a bit. At one point during our stroll, we passed by a corner coffee shop named Abbot’s Habit and I recognized it immediately as a location from the 1996 romantic comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs. So I dragged the GC right on over to do some stalking of it. And that right there is what I love about L.A. – you never know what adventure is waiting around the corner. It turned out to be quite a fortuitous stalk, too, because it led to me meeting my very favorite blogger and style icon, Emily Schuman from Cupcakes and Cashmere. But more on that later.

[ad]

Abbot’s Habit, which was founded in 1991, is actually Abbot Kinney Boulevard’s oldest coffee shop. Aside from that small tidbit, though, I could find no information whatsoever about the eatery’s history online.

I already had a Starbucks in hand (duh!) at the time that we stalked Abbot’s Habit, but the GC did not, so I encouraged him to try some of the place’s java. He didn’t end up to be a fan, but he did really enjoy their “bacon, egg & cheese” breakfast sandwich.

While the GC was eating his sandwich, I happened to check Instagram and almost had a heart attack when I saw that Emily Schuman had just posted a photograph of herself dining at Gjelina. I had heard of Gjelina before via Emily’s site and from my mom’s hairstylist in Palm Springs who had told me a few months prior that the place was his favorite restaurant in all of L.A. And while I knew that the establishment was located on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, I was unsure of exactly where. So imagine my elation when I saw that it was about three doors down from Abbot’s Habit! I mean what are the odds? Barely containing my excitement, I grabbed the GC and marched right on over there to ask Emily for a picture. And I am thrilled to report that she could NOT have been nicer, even though I was interrupting her during a meal. She didn’t even seem at all put off by the fact that I had totally Instagram-stalked her. Emily is an absolute doll and meeting her was one of the highlights of 2013 for me – particularly when she told me she “loved” my “ensemble.” The GC had been making fun of my outfit all day (especially the boots), so to hear my style guru compliment it was major validation.

In The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Abbot’s Habit is where Noelle (Uma Thurman) and Abby (Janeane Garofalo) grab coffee shortly after becoming friends. While there, a fellow patron very humorously tries to protect Noelle from a bee that has flown into the café.

That scene took place in front of the window in Abbot’s Habit’s main room.

The café was also the site of Becca Moody’s (Madeleine Martin) poetry reading in the Season 6 episode of Californication titled “Hell Bent for Leather.” Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of Abbot’s Habit were shown in the episode.

Becca’s poetry reading took place towards the back of the café’s rear room.

And while the Venice California History Site states that Abbot’s Habit was featured in the 1997 comedy Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, I scanned through the flick yesterday and did not see it pop up anywhere.

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.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Abbot’s Habit, from The Truth About Cats & Dogs, is located at 1401 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

December 31, 2013December 30, 2013

O’Hara’s Pub from “Bad Santa”

I realize that Christmas has passed, but I have one more holiday locale to write about before bidding adieu to the Yuletide season. Two Fridays ago, after reading my post on Footsies bar from Bad Santa, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, miraculously managed to track down the exterior of O’Hara’s Pub from the 2003 comedy. Being that I had been trying to find that darn bar for what seemed like eons, I could NOT have been more excited to learn the news. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk it while the two of us were in Los Angeles this past weekend. (And yes, I do realize that my outfit in the above photograph is slightly ridiculous, being that the weather was a sunny 75 degrees at the time. I had been dying for a pair of red Hunter rain boots for ages, though, and finally received them from the GC this Christmas. I don’t care that I live in the desert where it never rains, I am in love with the boots and am determined to wear them as often as possible – rain or shine. So Smile with tongue out !)

[ad]

During his search for the Bad Santa bar, Owen managed to contact a couple of the flick’s crew members, one of whom told him, “The exterior front was a built and dressed empty storefront in Venice.” With that information in hand, Owen did a Google image search for “Venice California store,” as he said, “hoping that by some minor miracle I’d recognize a building.” Thankfully, fate took hold. He went on to say, “Well, a minor miracle occurred. In the fifth row of images, I saw this picture. It was brick and had that white brick trim, so I opened the page and learned it was an antique store on Abbot Kinney. I figured perhaps the building you were after, because it shared similar elements, would be nearby. I went to Google Maps, put in ‘Abbot Kinney Blvd., Los Angeles’ and — GET THIS! — I grabbed the little yellow/orange ‘street view’ man and the very first place I dropped him on Abbot Kinney was literally right in front of the bar. And the camera was even facing the right way. Talk about luck! It must be a Christmas miracle.” Not only was it a Christmas miracle, but it was one of the best gifts I received this year! Thank you, Owen!

As the crew member had mentioned, the storefront was dressed heavily for the shoot, with an “O’Hara’s Pub” neon sign added to the exterior and a fake green façade constructed over the space’s windows and doors. Even with the changes, though, the place is still very recognizable.

I accidentally took my photos from a slightly wrong angle, so the street light in front of the bar exterior appears to be a bit farther east than it did in Bad Santa. If you take a look at Google Street View, though, you can see a correctly-angled view of the space.

Today, the O’Hara’s Pub storefront houses a clothing boutique named Heist. As the crew member told Owen, the space was vacant at the time that Bad Santa was filmed in 2003.

As I mentioned in my Footsies bar post, I am also dying to locate the interior of O’Hara’s Pub. I may have found it, too, but I need to do some more research to be sure, so stay tuned!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Heist boutique, aka the exterior of O’Hara’s Pub from Bad Santa, is located at 1100 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.

November 1, 2013September 29, 2017

“The Seventh Sign” House

NOTE – This blog was supposed to post yesterday, but somehow did not, so it looks like I am a day late and a dollar short. Sorry about that! I would like to start off by wishing my fellow stalkers a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope all of you have a fabulously spook-filled day. Smile And now, on with the post! Way back in July 2012, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I embarked upon a stalking adventure in and around the Venice Beach area. While there, he took me by an adorable little dwelling that was the main location used in the 1988 horror film The Seventh Sign. I had never actually heard of the flick at the time, but Mike figured that the residence would fit in perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood theme. And, as luck would have it, we happened to meet the longtime homeowner while we were stalking the place and he not only told us all sorts of behind-the-scenes information about the shoot, but invited us into the backyard where quite a bit of the filming took place!

[ad]

The Grim Cheaper and I ended up watching The Seventh Sign shortly after I returned home and I can’t say that I was a big fan. As I mentioned in my post about the residence belonging to Heather Langenkamp (who played herself) in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, I am not especially fond of sci-fi-style horror flicks. It was very cool to see the house that I had just stalked a few days prior featured so prominently onscreen, though. In The Seventh Sign, the two-story bungalow is where Abby Quinn (Demi Moore) lives with her husband, Russell Quinn (Michael Biehn), and their demonic unborn child.

According to the homeowner, whose parents owned the pad back in 1988 when The Seventh Sign was filmed, the property was chosen for the shoot because producers liked the fact that it was located on a corner, that it had an apartment above the garage, and that the main house and garage could both be captured onscreen in a single shot. Due to a massive amount of foliage that has since grown, that is no longer the case, though, as you can see below. Otherwise, the abode looks very much the same as it did onscreen, despite the passage of over 25 years.

In The Seventh Sign, Abby and Russell rent out that garage apartment to a rather mysterious individual named David Bannon (Jürgen Prochnow) in order to make some extra income before their baby arrives. Things don’t quite go as planned, though.

Amazingly enough, while the landing is now different, the stairs leading up to the garage apartment look very much the same today as they did back in 1988.

I was floored when the owner allowed me to pose for a photograph on the stairs, which Mike had told me played a significant role in the filming. Smile

The homeowner also informed us that an incredibly difficult-to-shoot scene was filmed in which Abby walked across a beam of light (in actuality it was a wooden bridge) from the main house to the garage apartment. The scene was very labor-intensive, expensive, required countless retakes, took several nights to complete, and in the end wound up on the cutting room floor! Ya gotta love Hollywood!

Several areas of the residence’s real life interior were also used in the filming, including the living room;

the kitchen;

and the front room. You can check out some more interior photographs of the property on an old rental listing here.

In real life, the charming little cottage, which was originally built in 1916, is not a single-family dwelling. It actually consists of three units – the main home, which features two separate apartments, one on each floor, and a third apartment located above the property’s detached garage, as was depicted in the movie.

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Seventh Sign house is located at 902 Palms Boulevard in Venice.

September 3, 2013January 5, 2017

Mitch’s House from “Baywatch”

A couple of weeks ago, a fellow stalker named Michelle posted a comment on my site asking me to track down the house where lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff) lived with his son, Hobie Buchannon (first played by Brandon Call and then later by Jeremy Jackson), on the immensely popular 1989 television series Baywatch. Ironically enough, I had already stalked the residence about a year prior, but had yet to blog about it. Back in July 2012, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I had embarked upon a Venice Canal stalking adventure, during which he pointed out countless waterfront homes that had been immortalized onscreen – so many, in fact, that I had to grab my iPhone and start taking notes! One of the dwellings that he showed me just so happened to be Mitch’s house. Because we stalked over fifty different locales on that particular day, though, I had completely forgotten about it until I received Michelle’s query. So thank you, Michelle!

[ad]

As I mentioned in my October 22nd, 2012 post about Lana Clarkson’s former home, the Venice Canal area is an absolutely gorgeous little waterfront idyll that was founded by real estate developer Abbot Kinney in the early 1900s. (You can read a more in depth history on the Canals here.) What better place for the world’s most iconic fictional lifeguard to live? In real life, Mitch’s house boasts three bedrooms, three baths, 1,665 square feet of living space, 0.06 acres of land, and it’s own private dock. The property, which was originally built in 1980, last sold in May 2001 for a whopping $900,000.

As you can see below, the dwelling is quite picturesque. I mean, it looks like it belongs on a postcard or something, especially with the two small boats docked in front!

I have never actually seen an entire episode of Baywatch (which is shocking being that, according to IMDB, the show aired in 148 different countries and on every single continent excluding Antarctica during the height of its popularity!), so I had to rely on Michelle for information about Mitch’s home. According to her, the Venice-area residence was used in establishing shots throughout the series’ first nine seasons, at which point Mitch (and the production) moved to Hawaii.

Unfortunately, quite a few changes have been made to the exterior of the property since filming took place back in 1989, the most odd of which being the removal of the rather large rear chimney. Why on earth someone would remove a chimney is absolutely beyond me.

Thanks to fellow stalker Richard, author of Emergency!: Behind the Scene, I learned that the interior of Mitch’s house was a set. Said set first existed at Culver Studios, where the series’ inaugural season was lensed. When production moved to a former-McCulloch-Chain-Saw-warehouse-turned-studio located at 5433 Beethoven Street in Playa Vista during Season 2, Mitch’s house set went with it.

Richard also alerted me to the fact that images of the home’s real life interior are posted on Zillow. Two are pictured below. As you can see, the actual inside of the residence is vastly different from Mitch’s house. You can check out some more images of the property here.

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

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Michelle for challenging me to find this location and to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for tracking it down! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Mitch Buchannon’s house from Baywatch is located at 469 Sherman Canal, on the Venice Canals, in Venice.

August 20, 2013August 19, 2013

Lindsay Lohan’s Former Venice Home

I had originally planned on writing about a different location for today’s post, but last night, when the Grim Cheaper and I sat down to watch Oprah Winfrey interview Lindsay Lohan on Oprah’s Next Chapter, I was reminded of a LiLo locale that I had stalked last November – the Venice Beach house where the troubled star lived for about a year in 2011 following a 90-day stint at the Betty Ford Center. And I just have to say here that the Oprah interview (which was best summed up in this Entertainment Weekly article written by Lanford Beard) was not only thoroughly disappointing and disheartening, but seemed entirely contrived. As someone who is quite familiar with addiction (I helped a loved one through a years-long rehab process), it did not seem to me that Lindsay was being at all truthful in the interview. Maybe she just did not want to be truthful in front of the cameras to all of America – which is fine. I just hope that she is being truthful with herself behind the scenes and that she continues to get the help that she so obviously needs. I’m rooting for her.

[ad]

Lindsay moved into the ultra-modern, 3,100-square-foot abode, which was originally built in 2007, on January 3rd, 2011. While several sources claim that Lohan purchased the residence, being that Zillow states that the place was last sold in January 2008 (for a cool $2.25 million), a full three years before Lilo moved in, that information is obviously incorrect. Lindsay only ever leased the property, which you can check out some great interior photographs of here, at what was apparently a rate of around $7,100 a month! The pad, which is surprisingly close to the street and easily accessible to paparazzi, boasts 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a two-story main living space, an ironwood patio, a floating stairway, 20-foot-plus high ceilings, poured concrete floors, a forged steel fireplace, two living rooms (‘cause one just isn’t enough), a studio, a ginormous rooftop deck (that Lindsay enclosed with bamboo fencing to keep out prying eyes during her tenure), city and mountain views, mosaic tile work, Viking appliances, European fixtures, mahogany cabinetry, and a private two-car garage.

It also just so happens to be located right next door (we’re talking thisclose) to the mirror-image house where LiLo’s ex, DJ Samantha Ronson, lived at the time. (Sam has since vacated the premises.) Ronson was apparently not very happy about her new neighbor. On Lindsay’s move-in day, she was quoted as saying, “I didn’t plan it this way.” And when a photographer asked her if she had any New Years resolutions, she replied, “No. I’m too pissed off right now.” (You can see some photographs of the interior of Ronson’s house from the time that she lived there, here.)

Samantha wasn’t the only one unhappy about the home’s new occupant. According to a New York Post article, one neighbor was quoted as saying, “Seriously, every time we heard a siren we hoped and prayed it was the police carting her off again and we would be left in peace. It was a nightmare when she was here … [Samantha Ronson] has lived here for ages and she’s never been any drama, she’s very low key and just goes about her business, but Lohan was like a hurricane, or some other natural disaster tearing through the neighborhood.” Yipes!

On January 22nd, shortly after moving into the new house, Lindsay visited nearby jewelry store Kamofie at 1350 Abbot Kinney Boulevard to try on some baubles. She was later accused of stealing a necklace from the store and wound up being charged with violating her probation and was sentenced to 35 days of house arrest at her Venice pad as punishment.

The actress kept herself quite busy while on house arrest, though, and used the Venice pad as a frequent filming location during that time. It was there that Lindsay shot her infamous commercial for penny auction website Beezid.com.

You can watch that commercial by clicking below.

She also posed for the July 2011 issue of Italian Vanity Fair at the house.

And she sat down for an interview for Air New Zealand’s On the Skycouch with Rico at the dwelling.

After Lilo moved out in January 2012, the property was used in an episode of LX.TV Open House (yeah, I’d never heard of it, either Winking smile ).

And while The Huffington Post reports that the Venice residence was featured in an episode of Million Dollar Decorators, that information is actually incorrect. The home that appeared on MDD was actually Lindsay’s Beverly Glen rental (pictured below), which she moved into in 2012.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Lindsay Lohan’s former Venice Beach home is located at 419 Venice Way in Venice. Samantha Ronson’s former home is located right next door at 417 Venice Way.

December 11, 2012December 10, 2012

The House from Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” Video

Way back in April 2010, fellow stalker Virginie (who lives in Belgium!) contacted me to let me know that she had tracked down the Venice-area home featured in Rihanna’s 2008 “Take a Bow” music video. And while I had never seen said video, nor am I a particularly big fan of Rihanna, I did absolutely love the Glee version of the song, so after receiving Virginie’s email, I decided to take a gander. And, let me tell you, I fell head over heels in love with the gorgeous “Take a Bow” house on sight. To be honest, I was practically foaming at the mouth! So I immediately added the place to the very top of my To-Stalk list, but because I do not often find myself in the Venice area, the residence, sadly, remained un-stalked until two weeks ago. I am very happy to report, though, that it was well worth the wait because the dwelling is nothing short of spectacular in person!

[ad]

The 7,456-square-foot property, which houses both a private loft-style residence and a 40-foot by 40-foot art gallery, was originally built in 2007 by du Architects for Steve Shaw, a prominent Los Angeles fashion photographer who drew up the floor plans himself. The structure, which was constructed out of wood, concrete, glass, and steel, boasts five bedrooms (the master bedroom suite features an eight-foot movie screen!), five baths, a rooftop infinity pool (with a special sensor that drains excess water whenever it rains!), an atrium, a terrace, and a sunken living room with a built-in custom sofa, gas fire pit and 11-foot movie screen (yes, the place has not one, but TWO movie screens!). Not bad for a house that sits on a miniscule 0.09-acre plot of land.

In 2009, Shaw sold the abode (how anyone could ever bear to part with this house is beyond me!) for a cool $5.6 million to none other than Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, Susan, who are now using the property as their production offices. You can check out some interior photographs of the spectacular pad here, here, here, and here. Warning – have a drool cloth ready! Winking smile

The interior of the house was used extensively in “Take a Bow”. (See what I mean? Definitely drool-worthy! Sigh.)

The front entrance also made a brief appearance.

As did the three-car garage area.

The video’s driving sequence was shot just one block south of the home, in front of the residence located at 1309 Cabrillo Avenue . . .

. . . which was apparently for rent at the time of the filming.

You can watch Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” video by clicking below.

While doing research on the property, I was absolutely FLOORED to discover that the interior had been used as the supposed San Francisco-area residence where Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) lived in the 2008 flick Four Christmases. I am ashamed to admit that I had been trying to track down this particular locale for years, but because the place was so much brighter in Four Christmases than it appeared to be in “Take a Bow”, I failed to recognize it! D’oh! (I am still on the hunt for the exterior of Brad and Kate’s house, which is apparently located somewhere in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks.)

You can see the home’s movie screen (complete with curtain!) in the background behind Vince Vaughn below. So incredibly cool!

The red-tiled bathroom that appeared in the flick, which you can see a real life photograph of here, is absolutely amazeballs!

The video for Usher’s 2008 song “Trading Places” was also filmed at the abode.

You can watch that (NSFW!) video by clicking below.

Thanks to fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, I learned that the dwelling was also used as the office of celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) in the 2009 flick Shrink. Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the property were used extensively throughout the flick.

And, when he owned the place, Steve Shaw conducted a photo shoot on the premises with actress Evan Rachel Wood (which you can check out some pictures from here).

Speaking of music videos, have y’all seen the John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John jewel “I Think You Might Like It”? The thing actually rendered me speechless! All I can say is “LOL!”

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Virginie for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The house from Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” music video is located at 1311 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. The garage area that appeared in the video can be viewed from the opposite side of the residence on the 1300 block of Electric Avenue. And the driving scene was filmed just around the corner, in front of the home located at 1309 Cabrillo Avenue.

November 29, 2012November 28, 2012

Lillian’s Apartment from “Bridesmaids”

This past Monday, the Grim Cheaper and I both had some business to attend to on L.A.’s West Side, so we decided to drive out that way together. Because his meetings were going to run a lot longer than mine, I figured I would do some stalking in the area while I waited. And I really have to give myself a major pat on the back here as I managed to get quite a bit of stalking done using the GC’s car, which does not have a GPS. I am seriously directionally-challenged and typically cannot find my way out of a paper bag, but the direction gods were definitely smiling down upon me on Monday because I managed to get to several locales with no problems whatsoever . . . in Venice, mind you – an area I am not particularly fond of due to the crowds, the sketchiness, and the lack of parking places and public restrooms. So needless to say I am very proud of myself! I feel like I can conquer the world now! Winking smile Anyway, one of the locations that I managed to successfully find my way to was the supposed Milwaukee-area apartment building where Lillian (Maya Rudolph) lived in the 2011 hit Bridesmaids.

[ad]

I should mention here that I did not particularly enjoy Bridesmaids the first time I saw it – perhaps because I was home alone at the time and had no one to laugh with. But when the GC and I randomly caught the last half of it on TV while vacationing in La Quinta last August, I was practically rolling on the floor in hysterics. Then when my good friends, fellow stalkers Lavonna and Kim, came for a visit in November they quoted the movie constantly, so I re-watched it during their stay and became just a wee bit obsessed – the airplane scene (which you can watch by clicking below – caution, it is NSFW) is SO me, I cannot even tell you! Anyway, I spent the past few weeks bugging Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to help me track down all of the locations from the flick, the final two of which he did yesterday, after which he sent me a text that said, “Can we move on from this now?” LOL (I have to say that I was seriously disappointed to learn that Joni’s Restaurant, where Lillian and Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig) had coffee at the beginning of the flick, was just a set built on the Paramount Studios backlot. But I digress.)

Lillian’s apartment was kind of a random find, actually. While the majority of the Bridesmaids establishing shots were taken in the Milwaukee area, all actual filming was done right here in Southern California. At one point in the movie, Officer Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd) mentioned that Lillian’s building was located on the corner of Craner and Rose. And while I was not aware of any L.A. street named Craner, I was, of course, aware of Venice Beach’s famous Rose Avenue and decided to begin my search there. Sure enough, I found Lillian’s apartment just a bit east of Rose Avenue, on the corner of San Juan and Cabrillo. Woot woot!

Amazingly enough, despite the fact that the building is quite beautiful and looks to be somewhat historic, I could find absolutely no information whatsoever about it online, outside of the fact that it was originally built in 1922 (thank you, Property Shark!). According to a Panoramio poster named “gregmaz”, the domicile was designed and constructed by Abbot Kinney, the father of Venice himself, but I could not find any other references which support that claim. And being that Kinney passed away in 1920, two full years before Property Shark states that the place was built, I am fairly certain that he had nothing to do with its creation.

The building shows up twice in Bridesmaids – first in a brief establishing shot before the scene in which Lillian tells Annie that she has just gotten engaged.

And next towards the very end of the movie, in the scene in which Annie and Helen (Rose Byrne) track Lillian to her apartment on the morning of her wedding.

The interior of Lillian’s apartment was just a set, though. You can check out the real life interior of two of the building’s actual units here and here.

The very same building was also featured very briefly (blink and you’ll miss it, in fact) in the 1990 movie A Girl to Kill For, in the scene in which Chuck (Sasha Jenson) and Sue (Karen Medak) are being chased by the police. (Please pardon the craptastic screen captures below.)

You can find me on Facebook here and on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And be sure to check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Lillian’s apartment building from Bridesmaids is located at 300 San Juan Avenue in Venice.

July 24, 2012July 23, 2012

Angela Bennett’s House from “The Net”

Two weekends ago, while Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were driving around looking for a parking place in Venice Beach (NEVER an easy task!), we passed by the dwelling pictured above and he announced, “That’s the house where Sandra Bullock lived in The Net.” Well, as you can imagine, I was absolutely bowled over to learn this bit of information and asked him to pull the car over immediately so that we could properly stalk the place. And while I had not seen The Net in years, stalking the home had me absolutely itching to watch it again, so I popped in my DVD of it just as soon as I got home later that night. I was a bit worried that the flick might be outdated, being that technology has advanced so far from where it was back in 1995 when The Net was filmed, but I am very happy to report that it was still pertinent to today’s world and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

[ad]

In The Net, reclusive software engineer Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) lives in a tiny beach bungalow located at the fictional address of “407 Finley Avenue” in Venice, until her identity is stolen by ruthless computer hackers who want her dead.

Sadly, as you can see below, Angela’s house looks quite a bit different today than it did when The Net was filmed 17 years ago. There is now a large fence surrounding the property and completely blocking it from view, which is ironic being that Angela had her lattice fence removed at the end of the flick in an effort to become less reclusive.

The fence also has a sign printed on it which reads, “Please don’t step in or on planters”. I am not sure if that is a message directed toward those stalkers who attempt to sneak a better peek at the property or to random passersby in general, but I am guessing the former. Either way, I got a kick out of it. Smile

In real life, the house, which was originally built in 1941, measures 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and 1,076 square feet. According to fave website Zillow, the tiny property is currently worth an estimated $833,200! Welcome to California, folks!

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the home was also used in the filming.

In the flick, after Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) realizes that her identity – and house! – has been stolen, she escapes out of her former home’s bathroom window and runs through a side fence and out onto the street toward the Venice Canals.

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER. And you can take a look at my latest post about one of my favorite to-go meals on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Angela Bennett’s house from The Net is located at 407 28th Avenue in Venice. After Angela realizes that her home has been stolen from her, she runs out of the property’s side gate on Dell Avenue and heads north towards the Venice Canals.

September 21, 2009September 21, 2009

The Matchstick Men House

Another location I dragged my fiance to while in Venice last weekend was the house used in the 2003 movie Matchstick Men. I found this spot thanks to fellow stalker Chas, who made it his mission to find EVERY SINGLE Matchstick Men location in the L.A. area. And find them all, he did! Chas’ entire catalog of Matchstick Men locales can actually be found on the Seeing Stars website, but the spot I was most interested in stalking, of course, was the residence belonging to obsessive-compulsive con man Nicolas Cage in the flick. I had absolutely fallen in love with the unique Mid-Century Modern-style home with a tree growing through its front porch when I first saw Matchstick Men in the theatre six years ago. So, when Chas mentioned that he knew where the house was located, I just about died of excitement and immediately ran right out to go stalk it! 🙂

I am very happy to report that the Matchstick Men house looks exactly the same in person today as it did onscreen six years ago. For those who don’t remember, Nicolas Cage’s residence in the flick was a very unique, very flat, one story white 50’s-style abode. But the coolest feature of the house actually had to be the large tree growing right through the roof of the front porch. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my entire life and when I first saw the movie, I remember wondering if the tree was real or just a prop added for the filming. Well, as it turns out, the front porch tree is a real feature of the house and is still there today. Love it!

The Matchstick Men house is located on a very cool street that is actually chock full of similar looking Mid-Century Modern-style homes. More than a few of them even have a tree growing through their front porch roof, too. Love it! 🙂 According to Zillow, the MM house, which was built in 1948, has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and measures a tiny 1,016 square feet.

Chas also told me that, according to the Matchstick Men DVD’s director’s commentary, the scenes that took place in Nicolas Cage’s backyard in the movie were actually filmed at another location altogether – a house located somewhere in the San Fernando Valley near Woodland Hills.

The home’s real life backyard is pictured in the above aerial image, and as you can see, is much smaller than the backyard portrayed in the movie and does not have a pool.

[ad]

If you were at all a fan of the movie – or of Mid-Century Modern-style architecture in general – I highly recommend stalking the Matchstick Men house.

Big THANK YOU to Chas for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Matchstick Men house is located at 3508 Meier Street, just outside of Venice, in West Los Angeles.

September 16, 2009September 16, 2009

The 13 Going On 30 Bar

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that the restaurant where Jennifer Garner hit on the 13-year-old boy in fave movie 13 Going On 30 has long been a thorn in my side. For whatever reason, it seems that no matter how hard I tried or how badly I wanted to stalk it, I just couldn’t seem to track the place down! I came fairly close last year, when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, managed to find what was used as the exterior of the restaurant on a cobblestone street in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. But, as fate would have it, the SoHo location turned out to be a clothing store that was used solely for exterior filming, while the interior scenes were shot at another location altogether. But where???? Finally, last week, I decided to enlist the help of fellow stalker Owen, who promised to track down a few of the 13 Going On 30 crew members and hopefully get an answer for me. Ironically enough, I had told Owen that time was of the essence in this particular stalking endeavor as I wanted to stalk the restaurant during my upcoming trip to New York. Well, come to find out, much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, it turns out that the location I was searching for was right in my own backyard the whole time! 🙂 It wasn’t an hour later that I got a text back from Owen which read “Interested in hitting on 13-year-old boys? Head to Hal’s Bar at 1349 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice”. Well, let me tell you I almost fell over right then and there! I could NOT believe that the this WHOLE TIME the restaurant had been in L.A., literally right under my nose! LOL So, of course, I immediately dragged my boyfriend right out to FINALLY stalk it. 🙂

For those who have never seen 13 Going On 30, the scene that takes place at Hal’s restaurant involves Jennifer Garner (as a 13-year-old stuck in a 30-year- old’s body) drinking some cocktails at a bar in New York with BFF Judy Greer. At one point, Judy leans over and whispers to Jennifer “Mr. Hottie behind you is totally scamming on you right now!” So, of course, Jennifer gets up to go talk to him, but instead of walking up to the older gentleman standing at the bar, she heads over to a 13-year-old boy sitting in a booth and tells him she thinks he is cute. Judy freaks out, grabs Jennifer, and says “What do you want to go to jail? I meant that guy!” to which Jennifer replies, “The man? Oh, gross!” LOL LOL LOL You can watch the entire scene here.

Amazingly enough, while the decor of the 13 Going On 30 restaurant is pretty much exactly the same in person as it was in the movie, I had a really hard time recognizing the place once there. In fact, even though I have been actively searching for this location for years, had I randomly eaten at Hal’s, I probably never would have recognized it as the 13 Going On 30 restaurant. LOL As you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, while most of the background paintings were changed for the filming, for the most part the restaurant looks very much the same in real life as it did onscreen. One of the things that threw me, though, was the fact that, in real life, Hal’s is a fairly large restaurant, but, because 13 Going On 30 only showed one small section of it, it appeared to be tiny in the movie. When I first walked in, I was shocked at how big the place actually was.

But the biggest shock for me was actually the lighting. In real life, Hal’s is extremely bright and open, with one wall made up almost entirely of windows. In the movie, though, the place seemed very dark and cozy, much like a real New York restaurant would be. As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, producers actually had all of Hal’s front windows covered over for the shoot, which really made a difference in the look and feel of the restaurant. In fact, the entire time we were there, I kept saying to my boyfriend “This place is so bright, but it was dark in the movie!!!! I don’t get it!” LOL Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

In an ironic side note – While attempting to locate the restaurant, I had spent WEEKS trying to figure out what the sign behind Judy Greer in the above screen capture spelled out. Countless times, I had Googled the terms “New York” along with all sorts of different combinations of words ending with “–ECKAS” and the phrase “bar & grill” to try to figure it out – all to no avail. Which makes sense now, being that the sign was a fake put up for decoration at the New York location where exterior filming took place.

But what doesn’t make sense is that when I finally got to stalk the restaurant, I noticed that producers had used part of the Hal’s Bar & Grill logo for their fake sign in New York. You’ll notice in the above screen capture and photograph that the oddly-placed “S” in the Hal’s Bar & Grill logo is EXACTLY the same as the oddly-placed “S” in the fake restaurant sign that was at the New York location. I’m not sure why producers went to all the trouble of creating a fake name and a fake logo that incorporated a part of the real restaurant’s real logo. Why not just use the real thing??? LOL But that’s Hollywood for you! 🙂

And, as if getting to eat at the 13 Going On 30 restaurant was not excitement enough for one day, while walking to our car afterwards we happened upon Desperate Housewife Marcia Cross sitting on a bench outside of a nearby shop. Ironically enough, the only reason I noticed her at all was because, as I walked by, she looked up and gave me an absolutely ENORMOUS smile. I was a bit taken aback by that as people in L.A. don’t typically smile like that at strangers. And it was while smiling back at her that I all of a sudden realized she was Marcia Cross! I so wanted to ask her to take a picture with me, but, as it was an extremely busy afternoon on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, I didn’t want to attract a bunch of attention to her. But, after we walked across the street, I begged my fiancé to snap a quick paparazzi pic of her for my blog – for which she also smiled. 🙂 So cool!!!

[ad]

I cannot recommend stalking Hal’s Bar & Grill enough! The food is EXCELLENT – especially the burgers! – and I had an absolute blast being there.

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hal’s Bar and Grill, aka the 13 Going On 30 bar, is located at 1349 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. You can visit their website here.