I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a happy and safe Labor Day! I am taking today off, but will be back on Wednesday with a new location. Until that time, happy stalking! 
My Latest Interview with BH9021Whoa
I recently sat down to chat all things 90210 with LeeAnn from the fabulous BH9021Whoa website. (That’s her header pictured above – yep, she photoshopped her face onto Shannen Doherty’s body. A woman after my own heart, I swear!) Be sure to head over to her site to check out the interview.
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P.S. The “Luke Perry and his wife” imagery from the Real Life Couples of Riverdale video that LeeAnn mentions in the interview is pictured below. You can watch the clip here. It’s seriously the most amazing thing ever!
The “Portal” Light Installation
Today’s locale can be filed in the hidden-gem-that-is-not-a-filming-location category, much like the Barthman Sidewalk Clock in New York. (Well, it’s not really a filming location, but more on that in a bit.) This one is located in Los Angeles, though, and is a definite must-see under-the-radar spot. Looking back, I can’t remember how I first learned about Portal, the unique light installation tucked away in Little Tokyo’s Weller Court shopping center, but as soon as I did I was transfixed. I pored over images of the site, practically drooling, and immediately added it to the tip top of my To-Stalk List. But when I ventured out there a few weeks later, I was shocked at what a hard time I had locating the art piece. Walking around Weller Court, I could not seem to find it anywhere and no one I asked (even two local cops patrolling the area) had any clue as to what I was talking about (though the cops were intrigued and asked me to report back to them if I ever did track the thing down as they wanted to see it themselves). The lack of awareness on the subject was surprising considering Portal’s current popularity on Instagram. I finally managed to pinpoint the installation after about thirty minutes of searching and figured a blog post was in order so that my fellow stalkers don’t have to suffer the same confusion I did.
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Portal is the work of visual artist Akiko Yamashita, who was commissioned by the owner of Weller Court in 2014 to jazz up a lackluster exterior hallway leading to the shopping center’s elevator and rear entrance/exit that fronts East 2nd Street.
Her vision, which consists of 7,000 colorful light pixels that bounce and dance around the small corridor, was completed the following year.
To create the piece, Yamashita embedded individually addressable LED strips into the floor, sides, and ceiling of the 271.5-foot passageway.
Illumination continually moves throughout the strips, shining different colors along the way, resulting in a virtual light show.
Though the installation runs 24 hours a day, it operates intermittently, which is why I had a hard time finding it.
As you can see below, the passageway doesn’t look like much when Portal isn’t running.
But when the lights go on, it is pretty darn spectacular.
And it becomes even more so at night, as you can see in these images.
The “show” reminds me a bit of the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland, though it is not set to music.
As I mentioned, Portal has become an Instagram favorite, popping up all over the grid of countless feeds. The installation also won A’Design Award & Competition’s Silver Award in the Lighting Products and Lighting Projects Design category for 2017-2018.
If you find yourself in downtown L.A. looking for something to do, I highly recommend stopping by Weller Court to catch a glimpse of Portal. To save you the headache of pinpointing it, here is a breakdown of its exact location. The easiest method of reaching the installation is via the 200 block of East 2nd Street, as the passageway serves as the shopping center’s rear entrance. Portal is located just beyond the staircase pictured below.
Portal can also be reached from the inside of Weller Court shopping center, which is located at 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka Street. The entrance to the marketplace is pictured below.
The installation is situated directly across from the main entrance through the doorway with the red awning that is denoted with a pink arrow in the photo below.
And in the interest of being thorough, here’s a close-up image of that doorway, which serves as Portal’s entrance.
Thanks to fellow stalker Walter, I learned that Weller Court makes an appearance at the beginning of the Season 3 episode of Highway to Heaven titled “All That Glitters” as the spot where Charley Trapola (John Pleshette) hocks fake gold necklaces.
The hallway that now houses Portal is very briefly visible in the scene.
At the beginning of the 2008 action flick Hancock, John Hancock (Will Smith) is seen sleeping on a bench situated just outside of Weller Court, in front of the Bank of the West outpost at 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka Street, Suite 101.
In the Google Street View image below, the pink box denotes where the bench was placed in the scene.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Portal is located in the hallway leading to the elevator on the southern side of Weller Court shopping center at 123 Astronaut Ellison S Onizuka Street in Little Tokyo. The corridor also serves as Weller Court’s East 2nd Street entrance, which can be found on the 200 block of East 2nd Street, in between South Los Angeles and San Pedro Streets. Kinokuniya, one of my favorite area book/gift stores, is located on Weller Court’s second level directly above Marukai Market. And Demitasse Cafe, one of my fave L.A. coffee shops, is just down the block at 135 South San Pedro Street, as is Kyoto Gardens from Her, which can be found on the third floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles Downtown at 120 South Los Angeles Street.
The House from Ben Affleck’s “Men’s Journal” Photo Shoot
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times – I hate incorrect filming location information! I recently encountered some erroneous reporting which led me to stalk a site that, come to find out, does not actually have any movie or television connections (at least, none that I could dig up). Hmph! Because the property has played host to a couple of celebrity photo shoots, though, and is an absolutely stunning example of 1960s architecture, I figured it was still worthy of a blog post. So here goes. Back in June, a fellow stalker named Manon emailed me a link to a house featured in an online film locations database asking me to identify it. When I read in the description that the pad had not only appeared in the original 1960 Ocean’s 11 movie, but a James Bond flick from the same era, I just about hyperventilated. Images of the place showing the property in all of its retro glory, with decorative wood screens, bright orange front doors and a rock-walled fireplace, only served to further my intrigue. So I immediately set about tracking it down.
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Fortunately, finding this particular locale was a snap thanks to a street sign reading “Devlin Drive” that was visible in one of the images featured online. I simply headed to Google Street View, inputted “Devlin Drive, Los Angeles,” and began scanning through the various houses located there. I came across the right pad at 1344 Devlin Drive in Hollywood Hills West mere minutes later, promptly added the address to my To-Stalk List and visited it while in L.A. shortly thereafter, without doing any further research on the subject.
It was not until I sat down to start penning this post that I discovered the home was not actually featured in Ocean’s 11 – or James Bond.
Though the place would undeniably fit perfectly into either flick, I scanned through the original Ocean’s 11 TWICE and did not see it anywhere.
I also scanned through every 1960s James Bond flick that did any filming in California (as it turns out there aren’t many) and did not see the house pop up at all, so I believe that information is also incorrect.
I am still glad to have seen the striking pad in person nonetheless. Originally built in 1960 by Bray Architects, the gorgeous mid-century-style residence boasts 2 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,500 square feet of living space, a natural rock double fireplace, floor to ceiling glass windows, 0.37 acres of land, a terrace, and a garden.
Some of the interior is visible through the massive front windows and I was practically drooling upon seeing it.
The home is such a relic, I half-expected Don Draper to come waltzing into view casually sipping a martini.
Considering its authentic retro aesthetic, I am fairly certain the pad has appeared in a production or two at some point, but, surprisingly, I could not find any cinematic ties to the place in all of my research.
It has been the site of a few photo shoots, though. Ben Affleck posed at the house for the cover of the December 2017 issue of Men’s Journal magazine. The caps below come from some behind-the-scenes videos shot the day of the shoot which you can watch here and here.
Laura Dern was also photographed there for the May 2018 issue of Rhapsody magazine.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Manon for asking me to find this location. 
Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The house from Ben Affleck’s photo shoot for the December 2017 issue of Men’s Journal magazine is located at 1344 Devlin Drive in Hollywood Hills West.
Kate’s Apartment from “Picture Perfect”
I wish I could say I’ve never met a Jennifer Aniston movie I didn’t like, but that is not the case. In fact, the opposite is more true – I’ve rarely met one I truly did enjoy. Picture Perfect fits into the “didn’t like” category. If you haven’t seen the film, this review Paul Tatara wrote for CNN perfectly encapsulates the not-so-titillating storyline. The 1997 romcom did manage to get a bit more interesting years after its release thanks to a 2010 Elle magazine interview with Jen’s costar Jay Mohr in which he had this say to say when asked about his most awkward interaction with a female celebrity – “Being on the set of a movie where the leading woman was unhappy with my presence and made it clear from day one. I hadn’t done many movies, and even though they screen-tested some pretty famous guys, I somehow snaked into the leading role. The actress said, ‘No way! You’ve got to be kidding me!’ Loudly. Between takes. To other actors on set. I would literally go to my mom’s house and cry.” The interviewer immediately surmised the female celebrity Mohr was referring to was JA, but he refused to confirm or deny the hunch. It did not take long for him to spill the tea, though. You can listen to various interviews he’s since given on the subject here and here. Jen’s animosity toward the comedian apparently stemmed from the fact that she wanted then boyfriend Tate Donovan to play her love interest, Nick, in Picture Perfect, but Mohr snagged the role instead. As he tells it, she made him pay dearly for the purported slight. The duo’s onscreen chemistry definitely attests to some friction. Aniston, as plucky ad-exec Kate, really plays the whole being-annoyed-at-Nick-thing a little too well throughout the film. Her disdain for him is palpable in practically every scene and the movie kind of suffers for it, to the point that it is not really believable when she inevitably falls for him at the end. Regardless, when I came across the address of Kate’s apartment from the flick in the book Manhattan on Film, I added it to my stalking itinerary for my April 2016 trip to the Big Apple and headed over there one (rather rainy) morning while in town.
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In Picture Perfect, Kate calls a charming building situated on the corner of West 21st Street and 8th Avenue in Chelsea home.
With its red brick edifice, arched detailing, carved columns, and teal-paned entrance doors, the structure is – dare I say it – picture perfect. It is not hard to see how it came to be used as the residence of the movie’s young, free-spirited, bohemian heroine.
In real life, the 5-story complex, which was originally built in 1900, boasts 13 units, a roof deck, a ground floor nail salon, and an elevator.
The building shows up twice in Picture Perfect. It first pops up in the scene in which Kate coaches Nick, who is posing as her boyfriend for a work event, on the ins-and-outs of their fake relationship.
The site then appears again toward the end of the movie in the scene in which an on-top-of-the-world Kate leaves her apartment to head to work after very publicly “breaking up” with Nick. Little does she realize, though, how much she’s going to miss him.
For whatever reason, at some point after the movie was shot, a secondary door situated just west of the one Kate was shown exiting in the scenes, was added to the building. As you can see in the photographs below as compared to the screen captures above, the white limestone-framed entry with the arched glass awning that stands to the left of Kate’s door was not in existence when Picture Perfect was lensed.
The interior of Kate’s apartment was just a set, which I learned via Mohr’s podcast was built on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios in Queens – a soundstage that Jen walked into on the first day of rehearsals and then promptly and loudly announced to Illeana Douglas (who played Aniston’s friend Darcy in the film) right in front of Jay, “Six guys they screen-tested. Six! The one f*cking guy I hate, that’s the one they hire!” Yikes. In the immortal words of Cher Horowitz, “That was way harsh, Tai!” The scenes shot inside of the apartment set were some of the last of Picture Perfect to be lensed and by that time Jen had decided she liked Jay and instead switched her vitriol to director Glenn Gordon Caron, though Mohr never forgave her for the hell he experienced during the tumultuous shoot. Who knows if Jay’s account of the situation is true, but, for reasons I am not going to get into here, I tend to believe it is. You can check out what the interior of one of the apartments in Kate’s building looks like in real life here and here. The actual units are much less colorful and far sparser than their onscreen counterpart.
For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 
Stalk It: Kate’s apartment building from Picture Perfect is located at 301 West 21st Street in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Enter to Win a Blu-ray Copy of “Alex & Me”
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own.
Calling all soccer lovers! Get ready to fall in love with Alex & Me! It’s an inspirational tale for the whole family!
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Soccer superstar Alex Morgan scores her movie debut with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in the full-length feature film Alex & Me, available on Blu-ray™ & DVD June 19th, 2018. Also featuring Nickelodeon star Siena Agudong (from Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn and the upcoming Star Falls), the film follows the uplifting story of a young female athlete who learns how passion, determination and self-worth are needed to make your dreams come true.
Alex & Me will be available on Blu-ray (SRP $24.98), DVD (SRP $19.98) and Digital (SRP $14.99). And there are bonus features! Now who doesn’t love bonus features? They include:
• Getting to Know Alex
• Aspire to Inspire: Success in Hard Work
• Soccer, Script to Set: A Playbook on Alex & Me
• Outtakes
In honor of the upcoming release, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has created an app in which fans can make their own soccer emoji! Not only that, but they are hosting a contest in which one of my lucky readers will win a Blu-ray copy of the film.
Entering is simple! First, click below to make your own soccer emoji using the Alex & Me blog app! Choose your look, signature soccer move, and fun catchphrase!
Then post your emoji in the comment section below, click on the Rafflecopter link below, follow me on Instagram and provide your Instagram handle. If you already follow me on Instagram, you still have to click below to enter.
Now the fine print – the contest will run today through July 1st. Each household is only eligible to win Alex & Me Blu-ray via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes please.
A Little Staycation
My parents and the Grim Cheaper took me away for a little staycation this week for my birthday, which is why I have been MIA the past couple of days. I will be back on Friday, though, with a new locale!
Until then, Happy Stalking! 
Comet TV’s Monster Summer Giveaway!
UPDATE – This contest has ended. Congratulations to Sarah M. for winning the Monster Summer Prize Pack!
Calling all monster movie fans! This summer, Comet TV is hosting Monster Summer by running two classic monster movies like Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Phantom from 10,000 Leagues every Sunday night from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Not only that, but they are also hosting a contest in which one of my lucky readers will win a Comet TV Monster Summer Prize Pack!
The pack includes:
1 – Limited Edition Monster Summer Beach Towel: Only available via this promotion, catch Godzilla having a blast with one of two designs. You’ll be the envy of your friends and have some extra protection if a monster comes from the depths to destroy the planet. Score!
1 – COMET TV Monster Summer SPF Pouch: Beat the rays with this Monster Summer SPF pouch. Apply liberally to ward off the sun, The Beast from the Haunted Cave, Rodan or any other variety of lizard-like beast.
1- COMET TV Cooler: Listen, even Godzilla needs a place to keep his brews chilled. Let’s be honest, he needs to beat the heat at some point. I can see him carrying this cool-as-fire bag around to crack open a cold one.
1 – COMET TV Monster Summer Beach-Tastic Ball: Are you a ball-er? I hope so, cause you need to grab some buds, jump in the pool and play with this Godzilla Monster Summer Beach Ball. Groovy!
2 – Exclusive COMET TV Film Cards: See what COMET TV has this month, with these collector’s cards. Perfect for the Godzilla fan, the Monster-man, or the COMET TV junkie if your life!
Entering is easy – simply click on the link below, follow me on Instagram and then provide your Instagram handle. If you already follow me on Instagram, you still have to click below to enter. The contest begins today and runs through June 19th. The winner will be announced on June 20th.
This giveaway is open to US residents only. Each household is only eligible to win Monster Summer Prize Pack via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes please.
Enter to Win a Copy of “Daphne & Velma” on Blu-ray!
UPDATE – Thanks to all who entered. The winner of the Blu-ray is Ashley! Congratulations!
**Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.**
Jinkies! The smart and resourceful women of the iconic Scooby-Doo franchise come to life in an all-new mystery with the release of Daphne & Velma from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film stars Sarah Jeffery (Disney’s Descendants: Wicked World) and Sarah Gilman (ABC’s Last Man Standing), and follows the first mystery-solving adventures of Scooby-Doo’s leading ladies.
It’s an adorable film that the whole family will love!
In honor of Daphne & Velma’s release on Blu-ray and DVD last week, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has given me a Blu-ray copy of the film that one of my lucky readers can win via the contest below.
But first … Daphne and Velma, need your help! Use the embeddable Mystery Video Decryptor & Soundboard blog app to decrypt exclusive clips from the new hit film!
• Help Daphne & Velma solve their latest case by helping them decrypt the footage! Dial the knob and meters to just the right position to unlock the footage and move to the next challenge.
• Trigger fun & spooky sounds right from the movie in this fun soundboard.
PLUS! Watch the Daphne & Velma Slime Lab Video and learn how to make four different kinds of Daphne & Velma slimes featuring Velma herself, Sarah Gilman! Kids of all ages will love the gooey slime fun!
To enter to win one (1) Blu-ray copy of Daphne & Velma, simply click on the link below and then comment on this post as to who your favorite Scooby-Doo character is. The contest runs today through June 11th and is open to residents of the US only. The prize will be sent via FedEx or USPS. No P.O. Boxes please.
Happy Memorial Day
I would like to wish all of my fellow stalkers a happy Memorial Day. I hope that everyone has a safe holiday and takes a moment to remember those who gave their lives fighting for our country. I will be back tomorrow with a special giveaway and on Wednesday with a new location, so be sure to check back.