Category: Movie Locations

Big Mistake! Big! Huge!

Those of you planning to stalk the “Night Before the Night Before” party taking place at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel tomorrow night, might also want to check out another famous location just down the street. A few blocks away from the Regent is a little shop that might look familiar to Pretty Woman fans. It is the very same store where Julia Roberts, hoping to purchase a cocktail dress, gets snubbed by a group of snooty saleswomen. Later in the movie, Julia gets her revenge when she returns to the store, laden with shopping bags, and utters her famous line, “You guys work on commission, right? Big mistake! Big! Huge! I have to go shopping now!” In real life the shop is called Boulmiche and it looks pretty much the same as it did in Pretty Woman. If you would like to venture inside the store to do a little shopping yourself, don’t be scared – in real life, the salespeople are very friendly. 🙂 Boulmiche has become something of a celeb magnet as of late – attracting the likes of Jessica Simpson, Halle Berry and Eva Mendes, just to name a few.

As I mentioned in my last post, the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel is famous in and of itself – also from the movie Pretty Woman. It is the hotel where Julia Roberts and Richard Gere spend their six days together. Sadly, though, only the exterior of the Regent was used for filming; the interiors existed only on a Disney sound-stage. While the inside of the hotel is very beautiful and luxurious, I was disappointed when I visited it for the first time. I was really hoping that all of my Hollywood tour books were wrong and that at least part of the lobby had been used in the movie, but sadly that was not the case. Even the elevators were different. Even so, I would highly recommend visiting the Regent, tomorrow night or any other night, as it is truly a beautiful hotel. And you never know who might be hanging around. Last time I was there I saw Jake Gyllenhaal. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel is located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The “Night Before the Night Before Party” is taking place at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Cut, located inside the hotel. While Cut will most likely be closed off to the general public tomorrow night, you can always grab a drink in the bar right off the hotel lobby and hope for a star sighting. Boulmiche Boutique is located at 9501 Santa Monica Boulevard, at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard.

February 21, 2008
Yamashiro Restaurant – Looking Down on All of Hollywood!

On Saturday, my boyfriend took me to dinner at a former Japanese palace called Yamashiro, located in Hollywood – 250 feet above Hollywood Boulevard, to be exact. The restaurant has the most amazing views of Hollywood and surrounding LA that I have ever seen and it was a pretty incredible place to spend an evening – and the food was absolutely yummy! And, need I mention, Yamashiro has also served as a backdrop for countless movie and TV productions. 🙂

Yamashiro, which means “Mountain Palace” in Japanese, was actually one of the very first Hollywood hot spots. Built in 1914, on over seven acres of land, as a private home to the Bernheimer Brothers, it was modeled after a palace located in the Yamashiro Mountains in Kyoto, Japan. After the death of one of the brothers in 1922, Yamashiro was sold and became home to celeb hot spot the “400 Club” – an exclusive hangout for the Hollywood Royalty of the 20’s and 30’s. Sadly, during WWII the property was destroyed by vandals due to anti-Japanese sentiment, and it fell into disarray. It later became a boys’ military school. The property remained in disrepair until it was purchased by Thomas O. Glover in 1948, who painstakingly returned Yamashiro to its original glory. The pagoda, located in Yamashiro’s garden area, is actually the oldest structure in California!

While you are there, be sure to walk through the gardens on the property and take a look at the exquisite inner courtyard inside the restaurant. If you visit Yamashiro at night, keep your eyes on the Capital Records Building – the light on the spire atop the building spells out the word “Hollywood” in old Morse Code – a little tidbit of Hollywood trivia that I didn’t know until last night. You learn something new everyday!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Yamashiro is located at the very top of Hollywood at 1999 N. Sycamore Street. If you go there for dinner be sure to try the Yamashiro Crispy Chicken and the Butter Lettuce Wraps – so yummy! Yamashiro would actually be the perfect place to have Valentine’s dinner – or a romantic Valentine’s drink! Besides being a great place to eat, Yamashiro has a vast filming history – including being featured in the movies Gone in 60 Seconds, Blind Date, Memoirs of a Geisha, and countless commercials and TV shows.

February 11, 2008
“Tower, This is Ghostrider Requesting A Fly-by”

When I was in high school, back before he totally went off his rocker and started jumping on couches, I was head over heels in love with Tom Cruise! I thought he was the dreamiest! And I didn’t think there could ever be a better movie than Top Gun! Still love Top Gun, but I’ve pretty much lost that loving feeling for Tom.

During my college years, when I was just an amateur stalker, one of my friends happened to know the location of Kelly McGillis’ house from Top Gun, so, of course, I had to stalk it! Since I had yet to meet my boyfriend at that time, I had to drag my parents to this filming location. The house is located in Oceanside, near San Diego, and is an adorable little beach house. The citizens of Oceanside have been fighting for years to stop a hotel development company from tearing the house down – so if you are a Top Gun fan, you better stalk it while you still can!

Paying homage to their San Diego filming location, Maverick’s helmet, dog tags and a few other Top Gun memorabilia items are enshrined in a case at the Hard Rock Cafe, located just a few miles away in La Jolla.

The restaurant from Top Gun is also located in San Diego, but I will save that location for a future post. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Top Gun house is located in Oceanside, about 30 miles north of San Diego, at 102 Pacific Drive, overlooking the beach. The Hard Rock Cafe – La Jolla can be found at 909 Prospect Avenue, #100, at the corner of Prospect and Fay.

January 31, 2008
Win A Date With Tad Hamilton!

Being that I am completely obsessed with Josh Duhamel, one of my favorite movies of all time is (don’t laugh!) Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! In all honesty, the only thing I don’t like about Win A Date is the ending – Kate Bosworth so should have chosen Josh over Topher! 🙂 Otherwise it is a classic!

Sadly, most of Win A Date was filmed out of stalking range in Frazier’s Bottom, West Virginia, but I was absolutely floored to learn from IMDB that one scene was filmed right here in L.A.- at a little restaurant called Rae’s. Not ten minutes after finding out, I dragged my ever-patient boyfriend to Rae’s for a little stalking. We even sat in the same booth used in the movie!

Rae’s was used as the diner where Tad takes Rosalie to lunch when he first shows up in Frazier’s Bottom.

Rae’s serves really GREAT food at even more amazing prices. My boyfriend and I both ordered full meals and our check was less than $10.00! Rae’s certainly was a find and we have returned there time and time again!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Rae’s Restaurant is located at 2901 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica. They serve great comfort food at incredible prices! Make sure you bring cash, though, as Rae’s does not accept credit cards. Rae’s has been featured in many movies, including Bowfinger, Lords of Dogtown, Book of Love and True Romance.

January 29, 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
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
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
Father of the Bride House

Had a request today from a co-worker to post the location of the Father of the Bride house . Even though in the movie Steve Martin proclaims that he lives in the town of San Marino, his character’s home is actually located a short distance north of San Marino, in Pasadena. The home is beautiful in person, and looks exactly the same as it did in the movie. But rumor has it that before filming began the house was in bad shape. The filmmakers came in and repainted the exterior, added new landscaping and a white picket fence, and the rest, as they say, is movie history. The house came up for sale in 1999 and the realtor marketed it as the “Father of the Bride House” causing “stalkers” to flock to the open house in droves! I so wish I had lived in Southern California at that time so I could have toured it!

The filmmakers also returned to the same house in 1995 to shoot the sequel, Father of the Bride II.

I discovered this filming location in “The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book” by William A. Gordon – a must have stalking guide for Southern California!

Stalk It: The Father of the Bride house is located at 843 S. El Molino Ave. in Pasadena, off of Colorado Blvd. You can purchase “The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book” on Amazon. The book is updated and republished with new information almost every year. And yes, I have almost every updated version. 🙂

January 8, 2008
You’ve Got Filming Locations!

One of my favorite New York movies is You’ve Got Mail. On my various trips to NY I have tracked down a few of the filming locations.

You’ve Got Mail was filmed entirely on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The Shop Around the Corner is, in actuality – yes, you are reading this correctly – a cheese and antique shop. Very odd, I know. It is called Maya Schaper Cheese and Antiques. Only the exterior of Maya’s was used for filming and unfortunately it looks very different in person. The producers brought in a faux exterior that made the shop look much more charming than it does in real life. And let’s just say the owner of the shop was not as “enchanting” as Kathleen Kelly, either. She wasn’t very nice or talkative when I went in to ask about the filming. Not everyone loves a stalker, I guess. This location I found in the book New York: The Movie Lover’s Guide by Richard Alleman.

The Shop Around the Corner was actually based on a real life children’s bookstore in NYC called “Books of Wonder.” This is a really cute bookshop for kids and I would recommend visiting. I got this little bit of trivia and location off of the trivia link on IMDB’s You’ve Got Mail page.

One of the great benefits to stalking is that you often happen upon really great restaurants or places to visit. One of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat in New York I actually discovered while stalking You’ve Got Mail. Grey’s Papaya, located on West 71st and Broadway, serves up the BEST hot-dogs you will ever eat! Its other claim to fame is that it was the location where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks ate lunch in front of a window towards the end of the movie.

The Starbucks from YGM, where Joe makes a witty observation about decision making, is located on the corner of 81st Street and Broadway. Grab a coffee to go – all this stalking will make you tired! This location, as well as the next two, I found on the official website for You’ve Got Mail, which has a map of several filming sites from the movie.

Cafe Lalo, where Joe Fox first realizes that Shopgirl is actually Kathleen Kelly, is a very, very quaint little cafe on the Westside. I have NO idea how the heck they could possibly film anything inside of it, as the place is truly minuscule. It is really cute, though, and serves up some great espresso.

Another Westside location for YGM is Zabar’s grocery store, a fabulous gourmet store on the Westside that is unlike any other grocery store I have ever seen. It has possibly everything you could ever want – including an espresso bar, cooking utensils, and every cheese imaginable! Zabar’s was used for the scene where Meg Ryan steps into the “Cash Only” line without any cash to pay for her groceries.

Last, but not least, is the 91st Street Garden, where Kathleen and Joe finally get together at the very end of the movie. This location was easy to find, as the characters kiss right in front of a sign that says “91st Street Garden.” From that point, I just googled “91st Street Garden” and it turns out it was right where I thought it would be – on the Westside near 91st street. The garden is a bit hard to find, as it is off the beaten path in Riverside Park. It is also extremely small in person, so it was not what I was expecting. In December, there isn’t much to see, but I am sure it is absolutely beautiful in the spring and summer months!

The one YGM location that has always escaped me is Meg Ryan’s brownstone. Oh well, there’s always next year’s trip to NYC to stalk it.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Spend a day on the Westside! Maya Shaper Cheese and Antiques is located at 106 W. 69th Street. Watch out for the owner – she may bite! Books of Wonder is located at 18 W. 18th Street. Grey’s Papaya can be found at 2090 Broadway between West 71st and West 72nd streets. Get the Recession Special – two dogs and a drink for $3.50 – and eat in the window just like Meg and Tom! Starbucks is located at the corner of Broadway and 81st Street – don’t get it confused with the 50 other Starbucks on the Westside. Cafe Lalo is located on 83rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. Zabar’s is at 2245 Broadway at 81st Street – bring your grocery list! Finally, the 91st Street Garden is located in Riverside Park in between 90th and 91st Streets – but be careful, blink and you might miss it!

December 16, 2007
More 13 Going On 30!

I was pretty obsessed with finding Jennifer Garner’s apartment from 13 Going On 30 for quite some time and I finally found it earlier this year in New York! It required A LOT of pausing and rewinding my DVD of the movie, but it turns out the apartment is right where the awning of the building said it was – 51 Fifth Avenue. Most productions put fake signs or address numbers up during the filming, but in the case of 13 Going On 30, not a whole lot was changed. Even the two potted trees flanking the front doors of the apartment building were there in real life. The apartment building is HUGE and really beautiful. When I looked up at the higher floors, I could definitely picture the “Naked Guy” yelling “Sweetbottom” out of the window. And I was really hoping a car pulled up to the sidewalk so I could have a tizzy and yell “I don’t get in the car with strangers!”

And yes, I did go inside the building! The hallway and entryway were the same ones used in the movie where Jenna asks Becky if she can tell that she is wearing underwear.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Jenna’s apartment building is located near the Flatiron District of Manhattan, at 51 Fifth Avenue. I would recommend getting off the subway near the Flatiron Building – which is a site to see unto itself. The Flatiron is located at 175 Fifth Avenue and it was actually used as Jack Nicholson’s agent’s office in As Good As It Gets. Walk south from the Flatiron Building along Fifth Avenue until you see #51. The Flatiron District is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Mahattan and there are tons of cool shops and restaurants along the way that you might just want to pop into!

November 30, 2007