IAMNOTASTALKER

Category: Movie Locations

  • Grease is the Word!

    Grease has long been a favorite movie of mine, ever since I was a little girl, actually. I still have pictures of my friend Nat and I at eight years old dressed up in her mom’s wigs and 50s clothes acting out scenes from Grease in front of the TV. One of our favorite scenes to act out was Frenchy’s slumber party when Rizzo sings “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee”. So when fave website Seeing Stars posted the address of the slumber party house I about died and dragged my dad right out to stalk it! 🙂

    I was absolutely shocked to see that the house looked exactly the same as it did in Grease, which was filmed back in 1978. In reality, the house is not actually a single family home, but a tri-plex comprised of three different apartments. In Grease, it appeared to be just one home, but if you take a close look at the house in the movie, you can see that there are actually two front doors. 🙂

    In the movie, the T-Birds show up to crash the Pink Ladies’ slumber party. They drive up in Greased Lightnin’ and park in Frenchy’s driveway, which runs along the side of the house. Rizzo decides she’s “going to get her kicks while she’s still young enough to get ’em”, climbs out Frenchy’s window and shimmies down the drainpipe on the side of the house. I am happy to report that the drainpipe is still there! 🙂 Later on in the movie, Sandy sings “Hopelessly Devoted To You” in the backyard of this home.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: Frenchy’s house is located at 4524 Kingswell Drive in Hollywood, near Los Feliz. John Marshall High School, which was the high school in Boy Meets World, Growing Pains, Pretty in Pink, the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among countless other productions, is located a short distance away at 3939 Tracy Street in Los Feliz.

  • New York Public Library

    Finally saw Sex and the City: The Movie on Sunday! I literally could not sit still in my theatre seat until the movie began I was so excited!! I must say the movie was not as good as I hoped it would be. 🙁 There were parts I absolutely LOVED and times when I felt like I was visiting with my old friends Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, and I for sure laughed and even cried. But overall I felt the movie missed its mark. It just lacked that SATC magic that was present in the TV show. Especially the ending. I think the Series Finale of the show which aired back in 2004 was a much more satisfying send off for my favorite foursome than the movie was. I need to curl up on my couch and watch the Finale on DVD again to make me feel better. 🙂

    Anyway, in the movie Carrie and Big plan to get married (don’t worry I am not giving anything away here) at the New York Public Library, in the same building that “houses the world’s greatest love stories”. The New York Library is an absolutely beautiful building and I highly recommend a stalking visit there. The library was dedicated on May 23, 1911 and has been a popular New York tourist attraction ever since. The lobby of the Library is breathtaking with sweeping white marble staircases and vaulted ceilings. The second floor is covered in dark wood paneling with gorgeous paintings lining the walls and a huge mural covering the ceiling.

    The New York Public Library was also featured prominently in the movie The Day After Tomorrow as the location where Jake Gyllenhal and his friends take refuge from the storm. It also showed up in the movies Spiderman, The Thomas Crown Affair, King Kong, and the Jen Aniston movie Picture Perfect, among many others. Update – my good friend Nat was highly dissapointed in me because I forgot to mention Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which filmed at the library! In the movie Holly Golightly and Paul run into the library, right past the Lions, and look up his book in the card catalog.

    Out in front of the library are the famous marble Lions named Fortitude and Patience who have guarded the library entrance ever since its opening in 1911. Designed by Edward Clark Potter, the Lions are now the offical mascots for the NY Library and a book has even been written about them called Top Cats: The Life and Times of the New York Public Library Lions. I absolutely love the Lions and make it a point to visit them every time I am in New York.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: The New York Public Library is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. If you are visiting New York in the Summertime, be sure to hit up Bryant Park right behind the Library. Bryant Park is absolutely beautiful in the Spring and Summer and they have a great restaurant called the Bryant Park Grill Outdoor Cafe.

  • My Birthday Plans Go Up In Flames

    For my birthday, which is coming up in two weeks, I was planning on dragging my boyfriend on the ultimate stalking adventure – a day at Universal Studios Hollywood! The last time I was at Universal was about 20 years ago and I am just dying to go on the tram ride to see the Studio’s famous back-lot, especially the Wisteria Lane set from Desperate Housewives. But Mother Nature had other plans, I guess.

    This morning, while driving in Burbank to go see Sex and the City: The Movie, my boyfriend and I were shocked to see a huge fire blazing right off the 5 Freeway. I was even more shocked – and completely and totally bummed out – when I checked the local news on my blackberry and found out that Universal Studios was on fire! How incredibly sad!!! 🙁 We pulled over to take some pictures of the fire as I had truly never seen anything like it in my life.

    According to news reports, sets from Back to the Future including the Courthouse Square and the Clock Tower were damaged in the blaze. Sets from Monk, Bruce Almighty, The Changeling, and House were completely destroyed. Such a bummer!! I was happy to hear, though, that after a 1990 fire destroyed many back-lot sets (including the Back to the Future sets) Universal was able to rebuild them for future stalkers to view.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: Universal Studios is located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City. Universal Studios is set to reopen tomorrow, June 1st, and according to Universal’s website the back-lot tram tour will be operational, as well. But several locations will be, of course, left out of the tour until they can be rebuilt or repaired. 🙁

  • Getting Carried Away!

    Break out the cosmos and the couture because today is the big day – the day Sex and the City: The Movie opens! Let me tell you, I could not be more excited!!! Hopefully I can manage to drag my boyfriend out to see it tonight, but I have yet to even broach the subject with him. Anyway, I thought I’d do a little SATC post today in honor of the big premiere.

    My family’s favorite restaurant in NYC is a little place called Lumi on the Upper East Side. My parent’s discovered the place about 4 years ago while out and about in New York and it’s been a favorite ever since. So I was absolutely floored last fall when I saw some paparazzi photos of the SATC movie being filming right in front of Lumi! In December, while we were in Manhattan, we of course ate at Lumi and I asked one of the waiters for some insider SATC info. He told me he was sworn to secrecy about the details, but that SATC did indeed film at the cafe and that Mr. Big and Charlotte were in the scene. Supposedly Charlotte’s water breaks during their meal together and the two rush off to the hospital in a taxi. CANNOT WAIT!

    Next time you are in NYC be sure to hit up Lumi. The food is INCREDIBLE, the service is spectacular and nothing tops their bellini’s!

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: Lumi is located at 963 Lexington Avenue, at 70th and 71st Streets. For more information, you can visit their website.

  • Twain’s – The Pancake Restaurant from “A Lot Like Love”

    Lately I have been obsessed with finding the Chinese food restaurant from one of my fave romantic comedies, A Lot Like Love. While I have yet to find that restaurant, I did stalk two of the others featured in the movie. Towards the middle of A Lot Like Love, Ashton Kutcher shows up at Amanda Peet’s door after just breaking up with his girlfriend, and asks her “What’s your stance on pancakes?” She replies “I’m pro pancake”, and the two head out to Twain’s Restaurant in Studio City for a late breakfast. One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie takes place at Twain’s – the scene where Amanda Peet sticks the drinking straws up her nose to make Ashton laugh. Love it! 🙂

    The next restaurant I stalked is from the very beginning of the movie, which supposedly takes place in New York. When Amanda and Ashton reconnect in NYC after first meeting on an airplane, the two head to a bar in the middle of the day to do some shots and drink some beer. The restaurant where that scene was filmed, Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet, which is actually located in Los Angeles, has the distinction of being the oldest restaurant and bar in LA. Cole’s opened in 1908 and is a City of Los Angeles Historical Landmark. It has been used in countless TV and movie productions, including Rumor Has It, where it played the San Francisco bar where Kevin Costner seduces Jen Aniston. I am dying to grab a bite to eat at Cole’s, but unfortunately the restaurant has been closed for renovations for the past two years. It is scheduled to reopen in Summer 2008 and as soon as it does, I am going to run right out and stalk it! 🙂

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: Twain’s Restaurant is located at 12905 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. According to reviews, the pancakes truly are excellent! Cole’s Pacific Electric Cafe is located at 6th and Main in the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown Los Angeles. Cole’s is currently closed for renovations, but is scheduled to reopen this summer.

  • Daddy Day Care

    While out and about with my dad this week, I decided to stalk the home used in the Eddie Murphy movie Daddy Day Care. Since my dad just retired, he has been recruited to be my new stalking side kick! I think he loves it about just as much as my boyfriend does. 🙂 Anyway, my fave stalking guide provided me with the location of Eddie Murphy’s house in the movie, so, of course, I had to run right out and stalk it.

    It is an absolutely adorable home and I can totally picture a day care center being run there. The house is HUGE – a lot bigger than it appeared in the movie, but otherwise it looks just like it did onscreen. From what I remember of the movie, much of the backyard of this home was used for filming, as well. I definitely recommend stalking this location – even if you’ve never seen the movie – because the house is just that cute!!

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: The Daddy Day Care house is located at 351 N. Congress in Pasadena.

  • A Cinderella Story

    As I have said before, I am a total sucker for a good teeny bopper movie. I still cry every time I watch the Melissa Joan Hart movie Drive Me Crazy! LOL So, a few years back, I was absolutely esctatic to have stumbled upon the filming of the Hilary Duff movie A Cinderella Story while driving in Altadena. I stopped to watch them film for a bit and got to see Hil-D from afar while she was rehearsing some scenes. Very cool! 🙂

    Anyway, the movie is about a girl who lives a real life, modern day version of the Cinderella fairy tale. It is not too hard to see why producers chose the house for the movie, as it looks straight out of a fairy tale! With its thatched roof and quaint feel, it literally looks like it was ripped right out of the pages Hansel and Gretel and placed on Calaveras Street. When the movie came out, of course, I dragged my boyfriend right out to see it. It was absolutely adorable, and I was super excited to see the house featured many times throughout the movie. 🙂

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: The Cinderella Story house is located at 1272 Calaveras Drive in Altadena, not too far from the 90210 houses.

  • The Pink House from “13 Going On 30”

    I must bow down right now to Mike over at MovieShotsLA as yesterday he found a house that I have spent many unsuccessful hours over the past two years looking for – Jenna’s pink dream house from the last scene of my fave movie 13 Going On 30. Mike said he had a hunch about the area the home was in and found it by looking at aerial shots of streets in that neighborhood. I am forever grateful! Literally, as SOON as he gave me the address yesterday, I rushed out of my house and headed over to South Pasadena to stalk the home. For this particular stalking trip I had to drag my dad along as my boyfriend was at work.

    Jenna’s pink house is, of course, no longer pink – it was only painted pink for the movie. It is A LOT bigger in person than it seemed on screen, but otherwise is completely recognizable from the movie. Jenna and Matt move into this house at the very end of 13 Going On 30, and the final scene is them sitting on their couch in the front yard of the home with a moving van in the driveway. I cannot tell you how excited I was to finally be there as this was one location I honestly thought I’d never find. Thank you, Mike!!

    While my dad and I were stalking the house, a super nice neighbor came home and filled us in on all sorts of filming information about his street. He told us that Jennifer Garner wasn’t as friendly as one would expect and that she had a big bodyguard who kept fans away the entire time they were filming. He also told us that the Kelly Clarkson video for Because Of You was filmed just across the street from the 13 Going On 30 house. That home is pictured on the left. He said that Kelly Clarkson could not have been nicer and that even after a really long day of filming, she stuck around for about 40 minutes to sign autographs for all of the neighborhood kids. He said she literally stayed until every last autograph was signed. You can watch the Because Of You video here.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: The 13 Going On 30 house is located at 1965 Fletcher Avenue in South Pasadena. The Because Of You house is across the street at 2006 Fletcher. These houses are very close to the other houses used in 13 Going On 30.

  • Greystone Mansion

    Greystone Mansion I While most mansions in Beverly Hills are well hidden from prying eyes thanks to tall gates and large trees, there is one that is open to the public on a regular basis and it’s called Greystone Mansion. The 46,000 square foot mansion was commissioned in 1928 by millionaire Edward L. Doheny as a gift to his son Edward “Ned” Doheny, Jr. Ned only lived in the home for four short months before he was found dead in his bedroom, along with his secretary Hugh Plunket, on February 16th, 1929.

    There has been much speculation surrounding the deaths of Ned and Hugh – some believe it was a bizarre murder-suicide due to a lovers’ quarrel between the two, others believe Hugh asked Ned for a raise and became enraged when he was denied and subsequently shot Ned and then himself, and still others believe Hugh suffered from a psychological disorder and shot Edward during a mental breakdown. Whatever the case may be, after his death Edward’s widow continued to live in the mansion with their five children for the next 26 years until she sold it to a man named Henry Crown. Henry wanted to tear down the mansion, but the city of Beverly Hills stepped in and purchased Greystone from him in 1965, turning it into a public park several years later.

    Greystone sits on over 16 acres and is an amazing piece of property. I highly recommend stalking it. Everyday from 10am to 5pm the public is given free reign to walk around the beautiful grounds and get an up close and personal view of the exterior of the mansion. On occasion, there are times when one can tour the inside of the mansion as well. Greystone has also been the filming location of hundreds upon hundreds of movie, TV, print, and commercial productions. Just to name a few – it was featured in Entourage as the location of Anna Faris’ photo shoot, it played Nicolas Cage’s home in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, it was the British Embassy and ball location in Jumpin’ Jack Flash with Whoopi Goldberg, it played a restaurant in The Holiday, and it was featured each week as Rory Gilmore’s school in Gilmore Girls. It also figures prominently in one of my favorite books The Prada Paradox by Julie Kenner.

    While I was at Greystone this past weekend, a production crew was setting up for a film shoot (they wouldn’t say which film) and unfortunately much of the mansion was blocked off. But a very nice security guard happened to let me in to walk around and my boyfriend snapped a pic as I stalked behind the film crew’s signs. 🙂

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!

    Stalk It: Greystone Mansion is located at 905 Loma Vista Drive in Beverly Hills. It is open everyday from 10am to 5pm. You can visit Greystone’s official website here.

  • The “Guess Who” House

    Guess Who House Thanks to fellow stalker Mike over at MovieShotsLA I was able to stalk the house from the Ashton Kutcher movie Guess Who today. I was extremely excited to stalk this house because I just found out that the back of it was used as the back of Steve Martin’s residence in the movie Father of the Bride. The front of the Father of the Bride house can be found in Pasadena, about 5 miles away from the Guess Who house location. I guess the backyard of the Pasadena house wasn’t exactly what the filmmakers were looking for, so they ventured to Alhambra and used this location instead.

    This puts to rest a long-standing argument between me and one of my mom’s good friends. She insisted that the Father of the Bride house was located in Alhambra, while I believed it was in Pasadena. Apparently her friend lives near the Alhambra house and saw Father of the Bride being filmed there. Well, it turns out we were both right! 🙂 All of the backyard scenes were indeed filmed at the Guess Who house, including the basketball scenes and the BBQ scene. Annie’s basketball hoop from the movie is still standing and you can see it in the picture to the left.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

    Stalk It: The Guess Who house is located at 500 N. Almansor Road in Alhambra. It is just a few blocks South of Huntington Drive and not too far from the 13 Going on 30 houses.