Britney Spears – IAMNOTASTALKER

May 22, 2020May 22, 2020

Super A Foods from “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

It’s not every day a location is featured in back-to-back Oscar frontrunners, but such was the case with Glassell Park’s Super A Foods! The small mid-century market made appearances in both 2018’s A Star Is Born and 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Neither movie wound up locking down the Best Picture prize, but Super A Foods became a household name among fans, not to mention a popular stalking venue, nonetheless. I had long been familiar with the grocery store thanks to its cameo in the 2002 Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads and even blogged about it in 2011. It sure has come a long way since then, though, so I figured it was definitely time for a redo and ran right out to re-stalk it.

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Built in 1967, the one-story grocer was designed by architect Robert H. Peterson and originally housed a Food Fair market.

In 1975, Super A moved in and never looked back. The chain, which today boasts 8 outposts, was founded in 1971 by Lou Amen, who sadly passed away two weeks ago at the age of 90 after miraculously recovering from a case of COVID-19. He was still actively working for the family-run company until just a few days before his death.

Per the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Glassell Park Super A Foods “is significant as a largely intact example of a postwar-era grocery market.” The building features fabulous mid-century detailing including glazed glass, a geometric sign, and a canted ceiling.

That roofline, though!

It is at Super A that Pussycat (Margaret Qualley) and other Manson Family members dumpster-dive for food toward the beginning of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood. The segment was shot on the market’s west side, along Cypress Avenue.

The signage visible behind the women in the scene is authentic to the store, painted there long before filming took place.

The James Dean mural the group walks by upon leaving Super A is not, though. It was created specifically for the shoot on the western side of S & S Pharmacy, directly across the street from the market.

Sadly, the mural was painted over after filming wrapped and there are no vestiges of it left today.

As I mentioned above, Super A was also featured in Crossroads. It is at the supposed Alabama store that Lucy (Britney Spears), Mimi (Taryn Manning), Kit (Zoe Saldana), and Ben (Anson Mount) make a pit stop for snacks during their road trip from Georgia to California.

And in A Star Is Born, Ally (Lady Gaga) and Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) stop by Super A for frozen peas after Ally gets into a bit of a scuffle, punching someone at a bar. While sitting in the market’s parking lot nursing her swollen hand, Ally begins to write “Shallow,” the song that eventually makes her famous. Of the location, cinematographer Matthew Libatique told radio station KPCC, “If a grocery store can possibly be cinematic, it’s this one.” He also considered the site pretty central to the movie. As Libatique expressed to LAist in a 2018 interview, “It was meant to root [Ally’s] existence on the Eastside of Los Angeles. It was very important for [production designer Karen Murphy], as a designer, to make sure the character had an identity through her environment.”

Yellowcard’s 2003 “Way Away “ music video was shot at the market, as well.

And in 2019 Cuco filmed his “Keeping Tabs” music video at Super A.

The Glassell Park Super A Foods is not the chain’s only claim to fame. The former Eagle Park outpost at 2245 Yosemite Drive, which today houses a Sprouts Famers Market, made several appearances in the 1981 comedy The Incredible Shrinking Woman.

The Eagle Rock store was also featured in Travis’ 2007 “Closer” music video.

And the 2008 comedy Over Her Dead Body filmed a couple of scenes at the Highland Park Super A, located at 5250 York Avenue.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Super A Foods, from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is located at 2925 Division Street in Glassell Park.

November 16, 2018November 16, 2018

Loews Hollywood Hotel from Britney Spears’ “Everytime” Music Video

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I hate change, especially when it comes to filming locations. So I was devastated when the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, one of my favorite Tinseltown lodgings and frequent film star, was sold a couple of years ago, rebranded as a Loews, and extensively remodeled. Though I have yet to visit the place post-facelift, one look at the property’s website shows that it looks nothing like its former self, which is a shame considering its many onscreen appearances. I stalked and very briefly blogged about the Renaissance back in July 2008 and then re-stalked it again in early 2012, but never wrote a subsequent post. While going through my backlog of photos recently, I came across the 2012 pics and felt a pang of sadness knowing I’d never see the hotel in that state again. So I figured it was high time I shared the images and do a more thorough write-up on the place.

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Loews Hollywood Hotel, as it is now known, originally opened in 1970 as the Holiday Inn-Hollywood. At the time, the 23-story building boasted 462 rooms, a pool, free parking, a penthouse chapel that offered weekly Sunday church services, and a revolving rooftop restaurant/nightclub with two stages named Oscar’s. You can see what it looked like during its early years here.

In 2001, the Holiday Inn underwent a major overhaul in conjunction with the opening of the neighboring Hollywood & Highland Center. Not only was the property completely revamped and rebranded as the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa, but an entire second tower was constructed bringing the total number of rooms to 637. As part of the rehab, the revolving rooftop restaurant, then known as Windows on Hollywood, was transformed into the massive 3,594-square-foot Panorama Suite. The plush space, which is pictured below – it’s that round disc-like structure situated on the top floor of the building – boasts 270-degree views of the city, a baby grand piano, a wet bar, a Jacuzzi bathtub, a dining area with seating for ten, and one to four bedrooms depending upon the chosen configuration. You can check out some photos of its interior here and here.

The modernized 560,000-square-foot site also featured 1950s-inspired décor, a restaurant, a pool, a spa, a fitness center, an enormous amount of meeting and event space, Metro Line access, and a spacious lobby with a grand stairwell, a lounge and brightly colored furnishings.

In June 2012, the property was purchased by the Loews Hotels & Resorts chain, renovated to the tune of $26 million, and turned into the Loews Hollywood Hotel. Sadly, it now looks completely different than it did during the Renaissance days, though the Panorama Suite appears to have been left untouched.

The hotel has proven a production favorite in all of its incarnations, which should come as no surprise considering its convenient location right in the heart of Hollywood, sheer size, colorful aesthetic, and that unique rooftop suite.

Its most notable appearance (well, in my mind, at least) was as a Las Vegas lodging in Britney Spears’ 2004 “Everytime” music video, which you can watch here. Many areas of the property were featured in the production, including the front driveway . . .

. . . the entrance leading from the parking garage to the back of the lobby (my photo below shows the doors visible behind the paparazzi from a different angle) . . .

. . . the lobby’s rear hallway, where a newspaper stand was set up for the shoot . . .

. . . and the Panorama Suite.

Kenny Crandell (Keith Coogan) and his stoner buddies partied on the hotel’s rooftop back when it was the Holiday Inn at the beginning of the 1991 comedy Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead.

Adam (Brendan Fraser) checks into the Holiday Inn-Hollywood upon leaving his father’s bomb shelter in the 1999 comedy Blast from the Past. The hotel’s exterior . . .

. . . one of its rooms . . .

. . . and the lobby were all utilized in the film.

As you can see, the place looked considerably different during its time as the Holiday Inn than it did as the Renaissance.

Sylvester Clark (Angelo Tiffe) called the Panorama Suite home in the 2004 drama Collateral, though the room’s view was faked for the shoot to make it appear as if it overlooked downtown Los Angeles.

The Renaissance’s lobby masked as the lobby of the supposed Miami-area Lux Atlantic where Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) and Cynthia (Jayma Mays) worked in Red Eye.

The 2005 thriller provides a fabulous glimpse of what the interior of the hotel looked like during the time it operated as the Renaissance.

In the 2008 comedy Yes Man, Carl (Jim Carrey) attends a Yes! Is the New No! conference at the Renaissance. Both the exterior of the hotel . . .

. . . and its enormous 25,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom appear in the film.

The Panorama Suite popped up as the location of a rather grizzly murder in the first episode of American Horror Story: Hotel titled “Checking In,” which aired in 2015. (I blacked out a portion of the top screen capture below as it was a bit NSFW in its original form.)

The lobby also appeared in the episode. By that time, the hotel was operating as Loews and bearing its newly renovated look.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Loews Hollywood Hotel, from Britney Spears’ “Everytime” music video, is located at 1755 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood. You can visit the lodging’s official website here.

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017

Joseph’s Café – Where Britney Spears Met Kevin Federline

Circa 2000, I thought Britney Spears was everything! Obviously, I don’t anymore (a person can only go into a gas station restroom barefoot so many times before I start to think they’re someone I shouldn’t be emulating), but ever since watching the Lifetime biopic Britney Ever After two weeks ago, I’ve had the pop star on my brain. I blogged about an infamous location from her past on Friday –no, not one of the aforementioned gas station bathrooms, but former West Hollywood nightclub The Lounge, where she and ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake had their notorious dance-off in 2002. Today, I thought I’d post about another infamous site from her past that I first stalked back in October 2012 via the Dearly Departed Tour, which I embarked upon with my friends Kim and Lavonna. The tour was fabulous. Not only is it one of the few in Hollywood that is actually accurate with its locales, but it even introduced me to a couple of places I hadn’t been aware of, including Joseph’s Café, the spot where Miss Spears met second husband Kevin Federline in 2004.

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Joseph’s Café was originally established by Leo Abrahamian and his wife, Ovsanna, on the corner of Ivar Avenue and Yucca Street in Hollywood in 1977. While the Greek eatery has since been expanded and remodeled, it is, amazingly, still standing in the same exact spot today.

In 2000, Leo and Ovsanna’s sons, Joseph and Robert, decided to give the restaurant a massive overhaul. Along with a much needed facelift, the two also added nightly music, turning the place into a club during after-dinner hours. Joseph’s became a draw for Tinseltown’s elite almost immediately and such notables as Janet Jackson, Cameron Diaz, Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg, Nick Lachey, Vanessa Minnillo, Wilmer Valderama, Adam Brody, Kim Kardashian, Lance Bass, Cris Judd, Drew Lachey, and Vince Vaughn were all spotted hanging out there. The site was such a hotspot, in fact, that Citysearch deemed it the Number One Celebrity Club in Los Angeles in 2005.

Spears partied there so frequently that in a 2003 write-up on popular Hollywood clubs, Variety magazine reported that on Monday nights, Joseph’s was “the most likely place to spot Britney and pals pop-locking on the dance floor.” Justin Timberlake was a fan, too. In fact, the two had a reconciliation of sorts there after the American Music Awards in January 2003. The meet-up, which included kissing and hand-holding, sparked rumors that the couple might be rekindling their flame, though it doesn’t sound as if it was truly all that romantic being that Britney reportedly threw up in the middle of it.

Thankfully, no throwing up took place on the fateful night in April 2004 that Britney met Kevin. While sitting in her favorite booth at Joseph’s, she spied then backup dancer Federline and was immediately smitten. I’ll let Spears tell the touching tale in her own words via a People magazine interview from later that year – “I always sit at the same table. On the far right. In the corner. Where I can see everything. And I saw him. He was just standing there. I was like, ‘Hi, just come with me.’” Though Kevin was engaged at the time to actress Shar Jackson, who was six months pregnant with their second child, it did not stop him from pursuing a relationship with Spears and the two were engaged less than three months later.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that, as KFed clarified in People, Britney and Kevin actually first met in 2000 during Spears’ (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour. Britney was headlining and Kevin was backup dancing for her opening act, LFO. There was no love connection at the time, though. I’ll let the two break it down for you. Britney: “We saw each other in passing but never really talked. He thought I was cute.” Kevin: “Yeah, I did think you were cute. But it just wasn’t the right time. I think everything happens at the right time. That’s why we met at Joseph’s.” You can check out the couple’s entire interview here. Be forewarned – it’s cringe-worthy. While reading it, Principal’s (James Downey) memorable speech from Billy Madison came to mind. For those who have not seen the 1995 comedy, after Billy (Adam Sandler) compares the Industrial Revolution to the children’s book The Puppy Who Lost His Way during an oral exam, Principal says, “Mr. Madison, what you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.” Yep, pretty much sums up Spears and Federline’s ramblings on their relationship.

Though there are reports circulating online that Joseph’s is currently closed, when I re-stalked the place last week, it appeared to be hopping.

I was thrilled to discover while researching this post that Joseph’s is also a filming location. It was featured briefly in the 1997 movie Flipping as the spot where Tommy ‘Fat Man’ Barnett (Nick Dimitri) was killed. The club looked quite a bit different at the time, though.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Joseph’s Café, where Britney Spears met Kevin Federline, is located at 1775 Ivar Avenue in Hollywood. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

March 3, 2017March 2, 2017

The Lounge – The Site of Britney and Justin’s Dance-Off

If you are anything at all like me, you eagerly tuned in to watch Lifetime’s Britney Spears biopic Britney Ever After the evening of February 18th. If not, you seriously missed out. It was amazing – in the way that only bad Lifetime movies can be amazing. The two-hour made-for-television flick chronicled a decade of the pop star’s life in the spotlight, from her rise to fame with the release of 1998’s . . . Baby One More Time, through her many turbulent years, ending with her 2008 comeback. The moment I was most excited to see re-created was the infamous dance-off that took place between Britney and ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake in 2002. The scene did not disappoint – and got me interested in tracking down the spot where the real life event occurred. Due to the highly transitional nature of the nightclub business, though, it required quite a bit of legwork to do so.

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Thanks to the place’s non-distinctive moniker, a Google search for “The Lounge” and “Los Angeles” did not provide much information. Adding “Britney Spears” into the search mix didn’t help. But when I swapped out her name for Justin’s, I started to make headway. Kicked back was a link to this 2003 MTV.com article which mentioned that the former *NSYNC-er was partnering with The Lounge owners Art and Allan Davis to open dim sum restaurant Chi. From there, I began searching for “The Lounge,” “Los Angeles,” and “Art and Allan Davis” and was finally yielded this 2002 image of actor Lukas Haas standing outside of the club. Though The Lounge was not visible in the photo, another restaurant was. While looking at the picture, I spotted the instantly identifiable yellow-paneling and green awning of Dan Tana’s in the background. The West Hollywood eatery has been a landmark since it was originally established in 1964 and the Grim Cheaper and I have dined there on several occasions, so I recognized it immediately. From there, it was not hard to discern that The Lounge was formerly located just west of Dan Tana’s at 9077 North Santa Monica Boulevard.

The Lounge saw its beginnings in January 1999 when the Davis brothers purchased La Masia, a decades-old Spanish restaurant/nightclub. The duo eventually revamped the site, re-opening it as the Latin Lounge in 2001.

The place was an instant hit with the Hollywood set, attracting such stars as Sarah Jessica Parker, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, and Ricky Martin in its first months of operation.

The two-level supper club, which eventually dropped the “Latin” from its name, featured a small dance floor, live music, furry sconces (yes, you read that right – the light fixtures were apparently covered in fur), a leopard print bar, a chandelier that scaled two stories, colorful murals, and a mirrored mezzanine.

It was not long before The Lounge was the place to see and be seen with the likes of Matthew Perry, Hank Azaria, Hilary Swank, Melissa Joan Hart, Nicole Richie, Gisele Bündchen, Demi Moore, Brittany Murphy, Dean Cain, Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, Ethan Embry, and Tiffany Amber Thiessen all popping in regularly. Oh yes, and Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

As reported at the time by Us Weekly, on August 1st, 2002, nearly 5 months after their split, Britney and Justin ran into each other at The Lounge. Britney reportedly got upset with Justin for dancing with his new flame, Jenna Dewan – yes, the Jenna Dewan that went on to marry Channing Tatum – and it resulted in a 90-minute dance-off between the former couple and their respective entourages. Britney later denied the report, but by then it had already become the stuff of pop culture legend. Britney Ever After’s depiction of the moment (pictured below) was absolutely delicious and completely ridiculous at the same time. Though I believe it was a fairly realistic re-creation of what actually happened that night. I mean, I can’t imagine a dance-off scenario that isn’t completely ridiculous. While researching this post, I came across two images (you can see them here and here) that show Britney leaving The Lounge I believe on the night in question. Though dated August 2nd, 2002, the day following the alleged dance-off, I am guessing by the time she left the club, it was after midnight the next morning.

Though The Lounge had a pretty good run, as is typical of most nightclubs, it did not last. By 2005, the site had become Lobby. When Lobby closed, the space was transformed into Foxtail, which was owned in part by Brett Ratner, and then later Mi-6. All three clubs were insanely popular with celebrities during their brief tenures.

The exterior of the property changed considerably during those ensuing years. At the time that The Lounge was in existence, the exterior was Spanish in style, as you can see here, here, and here. By 2008, the style had shifted to Art Deco and the building was covered with a screened façade.

In 2011, the space underwent an even more drastic remodel. As you can see in the Google Street View images below from April and July of that year, the property was taken down to the studs and completely rebuilt before re-opening as Italian eatery Mercato di Vetro. So, sadly, the building no longer looks anything like it did the night of Britney and Justin’s dance-off.

Today, the site houses a restaurant/club named Doheny Room.

Much like its predecessors, Doheny Room is a major celebrity hot spot, attracting the likes of David Spade, Chris Brown, Vanessa Hudgens, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and The Game on any given night.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Lounge, aka the site of Britney and Justin’s infamous 2002 dance-off, was formerly located at 9077 North Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. The locale is now the site of Doheny Room.

March 17, 2015March 16, 2015

The ” . . . Baby One More Time” Costume

One of the most important items on my Stalking Bucket List was checked off last week while the Grim Cheaper and I were in Las Vegas. Way back in October 2010 (while doing research for this post), I learned that Britney Spears’ schoolgirl costume from her 1998 “ . . . Baby One More Time” music video was on display at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and I just about died. As I have mentioned countless times before on this site, to me that outfit is everything. I’ve replicated it on Halloween and for various costume parties more times than I can count. I love absolutely everything about it, especially the pink hair pom poms. Upon reading on Wikipedia that the costume was at the Hard Rock, I came thisclose to driving out to see it that very night. I restrained myself (or rather, the GC did) and put the stalk on hold for what seemed like eons. So when the GC informed me that we had to head out to Vegas last week, I told him that seeing the costume was our very first priority upon arriving in town.

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Prior to heading to Vegas, I called the Hard Rock Hotel FOUR times to verify that the “ . . . Baby One More Time” costume was still on display. The HR chain has a tendency of moving memorabilia from site to site and periodically rotating items, placing some in storage, and I wanted to make sure that the schoolgirl outfit was on the premises before I got too excited about seeing it. All four people whom I talked to informed me that the costume was most definitely still on display and that it was in the lobby of the HRH Tower. Upon arriving, though, we discovered that it was not in that tower – or anywhere else we looked. None of the Hark Rock employees on duty at the time had any idea where it was, either, and most said that they hadn’t seen it in years. When the VIP concierge informed me that the outfit was most likely in storage, I literally almost started crying on the spot. Talk about a disappointment! Thankfully, the GC suggested that we walk around for a bit on the off chance that we might spot it somewhere. After about 15 minutes of wandering, I caught an image of a black skirt out of the corner of my eye and immediately took off running. Sure enough, it was Britney’s costume!

For whatever reason, the outfit is currently tucked away in the hotel’s Peacock High Limit Gaming Room, which is located just to the right of the casino’s main entrance. You have to actually walk into the room and then around to the extreme right to see the costume, though, as it is situated behind a wall and is not at all readily apparent to passersby.

I was dismayed to discover that my favorite portion of the costume (the pink hair pom poms if you haven’t been paying attention Winking smile ) was not included in the display. As you can see in these photos, Britney’s entire schoolgirl outfit, including the hair accessories, thigh-high stockings and shoes, used to be on exhibit. I wanted so badly to view the complete ensemble, but, sadly, that was not to be. I was extremely excited over seeing the majority of it in person, though, and am anxiously awaiting the day when the hair ties are brought out of storage and put back on display.

While making screen captures for this post, I noticed something else about the costume that is off. As you can see below, in “ . . . Baby One More Time” Britney donned a maroon crop top, not the black bra that is featured on the hotel mannequin.

I tracked down a photo on the Britney Universe website that shows a clearer image of the crop top that she wore during the shoot.

The background dancers wore schoolgirl costumes very similar to Britney’s in the video, so I am guessing that the black bra might have been worn by one of them, or that Britney’s actual crop top was lost at some point and the black bra put in its place for display purposes.

The “ . . . Baby One More Time” music video was shot on location at Venice High School on August 7th and 8th, 1998. The original concept apparently involved cartoons, until Britney ixnayed the idea. She wanted to shoot something that would be more relatable to her fans and convinced director Nigel Dick to center the storyline around a typical school day. Spears was also responsible for creating the video’s iconic costume. In a 2009 interview, Dick said, “My idea originally was just jeans and T-shirts, and we were at the wardrobe fitting and Britney holds up the jeans and T-shirts and says, ‘Wouldn’t I wear a schoolgirl outfit?’ Every piece of wardrobe in the video came from Kmart, and I was told at the time not one piece of clothing in the video cost more than $17. On that level, it’s real. That probably, in retrospect, is a part of its charm.” Britney also explained to People magazine, “The outfits looked kind of dorky, so I was like, ‘Let’s tie up our shirts and be cute.'” And thus, one of the most iconic outfits in music video history was born. You can check out some behind the scenes photographs of the filming here, here and here.

You can watch the “ . . . Baby One More Time” video by clicking below.

Several other Britney items are on display at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, including a Washington Redskins custom-made dress and glove set that she wore for a 2003 NFL Kickoff photo shoot . . .

. . . and a “Slave” crop top that Spears donned in a commercial for the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards that she shot with Jamie Foxx.

Also on display was the outfit Katy Perry wore on the cover of her “I Kissed a Girl” single;

one of Michael Jackson’s gloves (which was virtually impossible to get a picture of due to the fact that it is so sparkly);

a handwritten letter from MJ to a friend;

the shoe stand where James Brown worked as a child;

album cover photographs that The Doors shot at the original Hard Rock Café in downtown Los Angeles (the spot where Michael Jackson filmed the video for “Beat It”);

and a jacket of MJ’s designed by Michael Bush and Dennis Tomkins.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has also appeared onscreen numerous times, including in an episode of fave show The O.C., but I am saving that information for a future post. Today, it’s all about Britney!

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Britney Spears’ “ . . . Baby One More Time” schoolgirl costume is on display in the Peacock High Limit Gaming Room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is located at 4455 Paradise Road in Las Vegas. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

March 27, 2012March 26, 2012

Red Studios Hollywood – aka Kinograph Studios from “The Artist”

In early March, my friend Tony, the fellow stalker who has the amazeballs On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream, wrote a comment on my post about the duplex where George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) lived in The Artist alerting me to a blog named Silent Locations. The blog, which is authored by business lawyer/film historian John Bengtson, features a six-part column chronicling several locales that appeared in The Artist and their connection with various silent films made during Hollywood’s heyday. I highly recommend checking out the feature and the site in general. It is fabulous! Anyway, one of the places mentioned in the column was Red Studios Hollywood, the exterior of which stood in for both the exterior of Kinograph Studios in The Artist and Maroon Cartoons in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. So I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place on a very windy Sunday afternoon two weekends ago.

The site where Red Studios Hollywood now stands was originally founded as Metro Pictures Back Lot #3 in 1915, long before the company joined forces with Goldwyn Pictures and became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. During its Metro heyday, such films as Scaramouche, Little Robinson Crusoe and The Champ were filmed on the premises. Beginning in May 1946, the lot went through a series of different owners, the most prominent of whom were Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The showbiz powerhouse couple leased the property in 1953 and turned it into the very first Desilu Studios, where they shot seasons 3 through 6 of I Love Lucy. In 1974, the lot became known as Ren-Mar Studios, an independently owned and operated facility where various production companies were able to rent out studio space. Legendary television producer David E. Kelley made his home there in the 80s and shot Picket Fences (one of my faves!), Chicago Hope, The Practice and the first two seasons of Ally McBeal. In January 2010, the lot was sold yet again, this time to Red Digital Camera Company, who renamed the place Red Studios Hollywood.

A few of the countless other productions that have been filmed on the premises over the years include The Golden Girls, The Dick Van Dyke Show, the first four episodes of Seinfeld, The Andy Griffith Show, Make Room for Daddy, Lizzie McGuire, NewsRadio, Empty Nest, Monk, and, most recently, True Blood. The series Weeds was also filmed on the lot, back when it was Ren-Mar, and during Season 4, after Agrestic burned down, producers had Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) move to a fictional seaside town named “Ren Mar” in honor of the historic studio. Love it!

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In The Artist, the back entrance of Red was used as the main entrance of Kinograph Studios, where George Valentin worked at the beginning of the flick.

As you can see above, that area was changed drastically for the movie – so much so that it is virtually unrecognizable today. A huge false front was built over the actual studio entrance for the filming and the Hollywood Rounder blog was lucky enough to get to watch it being constructed. You can check out some very cool pics of the construction here and here, the fake security guard kiosk here, and the finished product here.

Interestingly enough, when Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) is shown being dropped off at a location that is supposedly directly across the street from the Kinograph entrance, she is actually on New York Street at Paramount Studios, in front of the building that is used regularly as the Boston police station on Rizzoli & Isles.

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At one point in The Artist, George is also shown walking in between some of the Red Studios Hollywood soundstages.

The area where he walked is denoted with a pink circle above.

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Red’s main entrance on Cahuenga Boulevard stood in for the entrance to Maroon Cartoons, where the famous animated hare worked.

The courtyard just beyond that entrance was also used in the filming.

That area is denoted with a pink circle above.

On a Who Framed Roger Rabbit side-note – while doing research prior to writing this post, I came across a blurb in The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations book which, in reference to the flick’s title, stated, “No, there is no question mark, as it’s considered bad luck in a film title.” I had never before heard that bit of trivia and found it interesting, especially since my good friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong grammatical errors blog, had recently written a post which mentioned WFRR’s punctuation error. Superstition or not, I think the flick really needed the mark in its title and I found myself inadvertently adding one each time I typed “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in this post. I guess some habits are hard to break.

The music video for Britney Spears’ hit 2000 song “Lucky” was also shot at Ren-Mar and the exterior of the studio is visible in the MTV Making the Video special about the production.

You can watch Part I of the Making the Video of “Lucky” by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker John Bengtson, from the Silent Locations blog, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Tony, from the fantastic On Location in Los Angeles Flickr photostream, for pointing me to John’s site! Smile

Stalk It: Red Studios Hollywood, aka Kinograph Studios from The Artist, is located at 846 North Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood. You can visit the official Red Studios Hollywood website here. The area of the studio used in The Artist can be found on Lillian Way, in between Willoughby and Waring Avenues. The studio’s main entrance on Cahuenga Boulevard is the entrance that stood in for Maroon Cartoons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Red Studios Hollywood is not open to the public and does not currently offer a tour.

February 6, 2012February 3, 2012

Café-Club Fais Do-Do from “Crossroads”

One location that I blogged about way back in March of 2009 and had been dying to re-stalk ever since – in order to snap some interior pictures – was Café-Club Fais Do-Do, the supposed New-Orleans-area karaoke bar that appeared in the 2002 movie Crossroads. (For those who did not catch my original post on the place, in the Spring of 2001 I was an extra in Crossroads and spent a full three days filming at the Fais Do-Do – a magical experience that I will never forget.) Because the club is typically only open at night for concerts and events, though, and because the Grim Cheaper has a major aversion to paying any sort of a cover charge, since the filming I had never been able to get back inside. Until last Wednesday afternoon, that is, when I tagged along with fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, on a scouting expedition. A couple of months back, Mike actually joined the Location Managers Guild of America under the title of Apprentice and, when I heard that he was in the process of building his portfolio, I immediately (and a bit selfishly) suggested that he visit Café-Club Fais Do-Do – with me accompanying him, of course. Don’t get me wrong – the place is incredibly unique and visually stimulating and I knew that he would not only shoot some incredible photographs of it, but that it would also be a highly useful locale to have in his scouting arsenal. But mostly, I just really wanted to stalk it myself. Winking smile

The Art Deco building which currently houses Café-Club Fais Do-Do was originally constructed in 1930 and is actually comprised of two separate sections – The Club (pictured above) and The Ballroom. In its original incarnation, The Club was a branch of the First Citizens Savings Bank and Trust, which explains the structure’s uniquely rich and ornate interior. Sometime in the 1960s, the bank was converted into a jazz bar/underground club, but thankfully most of its architecturally and historically significant detailing was kept intact. During its years as a jazz club, such musicians as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, BB King, Pearl Bailey, John Coltrane, and Billy Preston were all said to have hung out there.

The Ballroom (pictured above) was originally constructed as the single-screen Variety Movie Theatre and was where the filming of Crossroads took place. I am unsure of when exactly the Variety ceased showing movies, but in 1990 the entire building was purchased by a new owner who, while still keeping the two distinct areas separate, decided to turn the venues into a nightclub and bar which collectively would be known as Café-Club Fais Do-Do – “Fais Do-Do” meaning “nighty-night” in French. And while this post on the Lon’s Place blog states that The Club area was sold to a new owner in 2010, according the film liaison that we spoke with, the same person who bought the building back in 1990 still owns it to this day.

While we were stalking the Fais Do-Do, I was extremely sad to discover that the huge two-story bar that used to be located in the center of The Ballroom and on which I had sat in Crossroads had since been removed. To me, that bar, which had a dance floor on top of it, was the coolest, most unique aspect of the entire club and I cannot believe the owner did away with it! So incredibly sad.

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In Crossroads, Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used for the interior of Club Bayou, where Lucy Wagner (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning) competed in a karaoke contest in order to win money to fix their car which had just broken down.

That’s me in the blue pants standing next to Ben (Anson Mount) in the above screen capture. Smile

The Fais Do-Do dressing room, which you can see a photograph of here, was featured in the scene in which Kit, Mimi and Lucy get ready to go onstage. Sadly, a film crew was using that area at the time that we were stalking the club so we were unable to take any pictures of it.

The GC and I recently started watching fave show The O.C. again from the beginning and, let me tell you, I just about fell off my chair when I spotted Café-Club Fais Do-Do pop up in a Season 1 episode. In “The Escape”, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom stood in for “Boom Boom”, the supposed-Tijuana-area club where Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) caught Luke Ward (Chris Carmack) cheating on her.

And, while scanning through “The Escape” to make screen captures for this post, I was shocked to discover that the little bar where Marissa almost overdosed on pain pills later in the episode was none other than the Fais Do-Do’s Club! The Club was remodeled in 2010 (as you can see in these photograph on the Lon’s Place blog) and looks a bit different now, but, amazingly enough, the actual bar where Marissa sat still looks exactly the same today as it did when the episode was filmed back in 2003!

After reading my original post on the Fais Do-Do back in 2009, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, figured out that The Ballroom also stood in for Delloser Hall, the reggae club where Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) got stoned after inadvertently eating a pot-laced cake, in fave movie Never Been Kissed.

In the extremely odd 2006 film The Gymnast, the Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom was used extensively as the place where Jane Hawkins (Dreya Weber) and Serena (Addie Yungmee) learned aerial fabric acrobatics.

In the flick, you can clearly see the club’s former bar . . .

. . . as well as the dance floor above it.

Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s dressing room also appeared in The Gymnast.

And in one scene, a business card featuring the club’s actual address, fax number, and website was even shown. So incredibly cool!

Fellow stalker Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, also let me know that the Fais Do-Do had appeared in the Season 2 episode of Arrested Development titled “Queen for a Day”. In the episode, the exterior . . .

. . . as well as The Ballroom stood in for The Queen Mary, the bar that Tobias Funke (David Cross) purchased.

The Club was also used in that episode as the restaurant where Byron “Buster” Bluth (Tony Hale) took his new girlfriend, Starla (Mo Collins), out for a milkshake.

And the dressing room stood in for the Hot Cop stripper club, from which Lindsay Bluth Funke (Portia de Rossi) hired strippers to scare her husband into selling The Queen Mary.

Back in February of 2011, while doing research for my post on The Little Door restaurant, I discovered that Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Club room was used in the Season 2 episode of Entourage titled “The Abyss”, in the scene in which the boys – Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) – gather together to watch Saigon perform.

I was shocked to discover (thanks to the Ron’s Place blog) that in 1994’s Reality Bites, The Club stood in for the bar where “Hey, That’s My Bike!”, Troy Dyer’s (Ethan Hawke’s) band, regularly played. The room was heavily dressed for the filming, though, and is almost unrecognizable in the movie.

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The Fais Do-Do Club was also featured in the Jane’s Addiction video for “Underground”.

As was the dressing room area.

Jane’s Addiction “Underground” Music Video–Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “Underground” video by clicking above.

The Club also appeared in the Destiny’s Child “No, No No, Part 1” music video.

Destiny’s Child–”No, No, No Part 1” Music Video Filmed at Café-Club Fais Do-Do in Los Angeles

You can watch the “No, No, No, Part 1” video by clicking above.

This Is 40, the yet-to-be released sequel to 2007’s Knocked Up, also did some filming in Café-Club Fais Do-Do’s Ballroom in 2011. And while the Ron’s Place blog stated that The Big Lebowski and American Gangster were also filmed at the Fais Do-Do, I scanned through both movies while doing research for this post and did not spot the place anywhere.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Café-Club Fais Do-Do, from Crossroads, is located at 5253 and 5257 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can visit the club’s official website here.

April 21, 2011April 20, 2011

Elevate Lounge from Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” Music Video

One location that has been at the top of my To-Stalk list for over two years now is Downtown L.A.’s Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge which were used extensively in Britney Spears’ music video for her 2008 hit song “Womanizer”. I first found out about this location while watching the ultra-depressing MTV special Britney: For the Record, which aired on November 30th, 2008 and chronicled 60 days in the pop star’s life, two of which were spent filming “Womanizer”. I, of course, immediately became obsessed with stalking the restaurant, but the Grim Cheaper objected every single time I suggested grabbing a bite to eat there, thinking it would be far too pricey for his tastes. It was not until this past Saturday afternoon when the two of us found ourselves hungry while doing some stalking in Downtown L.A. that I again suggested the restaurant and the GC decided it might be worth a try. Before agreeing completely, though, he first scoped the place out on Yelp and was absolutely DELIGHTED to discover a reviewer who had posted a comment with those three magic words – “fabulous happy hour”, which of course caused him to acquiesce and we immediately headed right on over there to grab a bite to eat and do some Britney stalking.

And I am very happy to report that we were NOT at all disappointed! Takami is one of the COOLEST restaurants that I have ever been to in my entire life! Located in the penthouse suite on the 21st floor of a Downtown L.A. office building, the indoor/outdoor, open-air restaurant boasts INCREDIBLE, 360-degree views of the infamous L.A. skyline.

Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge first opened in August of 2007 in what was a former office suite. The space was the brain-child of former Arthur Anderson financier Emil Eyvazoff who spent over five years touring over 100 different venues looking for the right location to build his dream restaurant. In a November 22, 2007 Los Angeles Times article, Emil is quoted as saying, “We told the two guys looking for us, ‘Make sure it’s jaw-droppingly unique.’ Then in April of ‘05 we saw [this] spot, and I think by the fourth step out of the elevator I said, ‘This is it.’” Tag Front, the design firm that was also responsible for the look of Boa, Geisha House, and Katana, was hired to design the space and, during an amazing two-year-process, gutted the 6,000-square-foot premises and brought in wood-paneled walling, a 25- by 40-foot sunken dance floor, 150 feet of sliding glass dooring, large modern couches, and a state-of-the-art DJ booth and sound system, transforming a drab office suite into the sleek, ultra-modern lounge and restaurant that it is today. And Emil was certainly spot on in his description of the place – it is most definitely “jaw-droppingly unique”. The food was out of this world, as well. And the Yelp reviewer had definitely been correct in his assessment – Takami does have a fabulous Happy Hour, which is, amazingly enough, also offered on Saturday and Sunday nights. During Happy Hour, all of the food served in the bar area of the restaurant is priced at $4 – not kidding! And the servings are huge, to boot! The GC and I tried almost everything on the menu and I just about died over the Japanese-style bruschetta, while the GC loved the Sushi Trio offering so much that he ordered a second serving of it immediately upon finishing the first.

Britney’s “Womanizer” music video was shot in Elevate Lounge, Takami Restaurant’s nightclub section, which was closed at the time we showed up to stalk the place. But our SUPER nice server asked the manager to take me on a private tour of the space when we finished dining. So incredibly cool!

Takami’s manager also could NOT have been nicer and gave me a very lengthy and in-depth tour of Elevate and pointed out where the filming of “Womanizer” had taken place. The video, which was shot on September 24th and 25th of 2008, was primarily filmed in one of Elevate’s three bar areas – the one located closest to the lounge’s main entrance.

As you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the detailed mosaic design behind the bar area which appeared in the music video is actually there in real life. Love it!

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Takami’s kitchen area also appeared in “Womanizer”, but I, unfortunately, did not get a chance to stalk that part of the restaurant.

Some behind the scenes images from the video shoot are pictured above.

Elevate Lounge also hosted actresses Sophia Vergara and Natasha Henstridge and hairstylist Ken Paves for a “Beauty Roundtable” article which ran in the March 24, 2008 issue of US Weekly Magazine.

And OK Magazine held a photoshoot with singer Colbie Caillat for their February 28th, 2008 issue at the lounge. Elevate has also appeared in episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Brothers and Sisters, and Millionaire Matchmaker. The restaurant is also something of a celebrity hot spot and such stars as Audrina Patridge, Jason Biggs, Omar Epps, Kat Von D, Brody Jenner, Frankie Delgado, and David Archuleta have all been spotted there.

Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” Music Video at Elevate Lounge

You can watch Britney’s “Womanizer” music video by clicking above.

Britney Spears: For the Record–with the Making of “Womanizer”

And you can watch Britney: For the Record by clicking above.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant and Elevate Lounge from Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” music video is located on the Penthouse level of the building at 811 Wilshire Boulevard in Downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the Lounge’s official website here. While Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant is open daily, Elevate Lounge is only open on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

April 7, 2011April 6, 2011

The “Crossroads” Grocery Store

Special Note – I attended a taping of Ellen yesterday afternoon and ended up being ON the show as one of her game contestants. 🙂 🙂 🙂 The episode will air today, so tune in! I absolutely CANNOT wait to see it! And now, on with the post . . .

A couple of weeks ago, I sent fellow stalker Chas, of the ItsFilmedThere website, on a mission to try to track down all of the as of then not-yet-found locations which appeared in the 2002 movie Crossroads. At the top of my list was the supposed Alabama-area Super A Foods grocery store where Lucy Wagner (aka Britney Spears) and her friends, Mimi (aka Taryn Manning), Kit (aka Zoe Saldana), and Ben (aka Anson Mount), made a pit stop during their road trip from Georgia to Hollywood in the flick. I knew from watching the movie’s DVD commentary with producer Ann Carli, director Tamra Davis, and writer Shonda Rhimes (who I just discovered was the same woman who created Grey’s Anatomy!) that the grocery store was located somewhere in the L.A. area and I had tried in vain to find it several times without any luck. I had also enlisted the help of my dad who, as I have mentioned before, used to work in the grocery business, and while he did have a few Super A stores that he previously consulted for, he sadly did not recognize the one that appeared in Crossroads. So imagine my surprise when Chas called me shortly after watching the movie to let me know that the grocery store was the first location he had managed to track down. Amazingly enough, all he did was input the words “Super A Foods” and “Los Angeles” into the Google search bar and the Crossroads store was the first entry that popped up! Not kidding! So, I dragged my dad right on out there to stalk the place the very next morning. Yay!

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I am VERY happy to report that the exterior of the market still looks EXACTLY the same in person as it did in onscreen.

In real life, the “Alabama’s Finest Meat & Produce” sign that was put in place for the filming reads “Carniceria”.

I was BEYOND excited when I discovered that the children’s mini merry-go-round machine that appeared in the movie was actually there in real life! So incredibly cool!

Some filming also took place inside of the Super A Foods market. In the DVD commentary, director Tamra Davis mentions that the shoot was an all-night event and that it was one of the hardest days of filming due to the fact that everyone was beyond exhausted. She also mentioned that more than a few squabbles took place that night.

Sadly, the interior of the store has since been remodeled and looks quite a bit different today than it did when Crossroads was filmed back in 2001.

The signs that appeared in the background of the scene have also since been changed, but the new ones are, thankfully, quite similar – in shape at least – to the old ones.

Crossroads was filmed in Super A Foods check stand #1, but as you can see in the above photographs, that area is much more modern now than it was in the movie. Such a shame!

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, from the ItsFilmedThere website, for finding this location! Smile You can check out his extensive Crossroads filming locations page here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Super A Foods which appeared in Crossroads is located at 2925 Division Street in the Glassell Park area of Los Angeles, just southwest of Eagle Rock.

March 29, 2011March 28, 2011

The “Crossroads” Motel

One location that I have been trying to track down for what seems like ages now is the supposed Tucson, Arizona-area motel where Ben (aka Anson Mount) played the song “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” for Lucy (aka Britney Spears) in the 2002 movie Crossroads. In the flick, Ben takes Lucy into a large, very unique-looking, surfboard-shaped glass room and proceeds to play the song for her on a piano that is stationed there. Well, let me tell you, I became absolutely intrigued with that room ever since first seeing the movie almost a decade ago and immediately added the motel to my “To-Find” list, but for whatever reason could just not seem to locate it. So imagine my surprise when fellow stalker Owen emailed me a little over two weeks ago to ask if I happened to know where that motel was. He was trying to track it down because, as he said, “the big room with the large glass windows is pretty cool”. What can I say – great minds think alike. When I told Owen that I had no idea where it was located, he got right to work in finding it. He had learned from watching the Crossroads’ DVD commentary with producer Ann Carli, director Tamra Davis, and writer Shonda Rimes that the motel was located somewhere in “the Valley” and that a production designer named Waldemar had discovered it while driving around scouting locations for the film. So what did Owen do? Yep, he went straight to the source and contacted Waldemar directly! Well, the very next day there was an email from Waldemar waiting in Owen’s inbox – with an address. Yay! As it turns out filming had taken place at the Hometown Inn in North Hills. So I dragged my dad right on out to stalk the place a few days later. (Now I would be remiss if I didn’t mention here that I, too, listened to that very same DVD commentary while trying to locate the motel and never in a million years did it occur to me to go after Waldemar himself! Owen is most definitely the master and my hat is completely off to him on this one!)

Oddly enough, the room where Ben played “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” is now a restaurant of some sort and it looks quite a bit different today than it did when filming took place back in 2002. The whole motel has an odd feel to it, truth be told, and the place seemed to be rather deserted while I was there taking pictures.

I cannot express how cool it was to finally be standing in that room, though, and thinking about the fact that Miss Britney Spears had once been standing – and singing – in that same exact spot.

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Quite a bit of the Hometown Inn was featured in Crossroads, including the front entrance;

and the pool area . . .

. . . which appeared in the scene in which Lucy speaks with her friends, Kit (aka Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (aka Taryn Manning), about the fact that her mother does not want a relationship with her.

As you can see in the above screen capture and photograph, the blue lip which surrounds the perimeter of the pool still looks exactly the same today as it did when the movie was filmed!

The Hometown Inn was not used for the filming of the interior of Lucy, Kit, Ben, and Mimi’s motel room, though. As was the case with the majority of the motel room scenes in Crossroads, interior filming took place at the now-defunct Ambassador Hotel near Downtown Los Angeles. You can see what an actual Hometown Inn room looks like here.

While we were stalking the Hometown Inn, I desperately wanted to find the payphone where Lucy called her father, Pete (aka Dan Aykroyd), in the movie, but for the life of me I just could NOT seem to figure out where it was. I knew the phone had to be situated somewhere near the motel’s main entrance because Ben’s car was visible in the background behind Lucy in the scene, but I just could not locate it anywhere.

It wasn’t until after I returned home and watched the above-pictured deleted scene that I realized the payphone was located inside of the motel’s lobby.

That payphone is, sadly, no longer there. And while I did go inside the lobby while I was stalking the motel, because I did not realize it had been featured in the movie, I, unfortunately, did not get any photographs of it.

Crossroads Behind-the-Scenes Featurette–Hometown Inn

You can watch a behind-the-scenes video of the Hometown Inn scene being filmed by clicking above.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Hometown Inn, aka the Tucson, Arizona motel from Crossroads, is located at 9401 Sepulveda Boulevard in North Hills. You can visit the motel’s official website here.