John Cusack – IAMNOTASTALKER

July 10, 2017July 10, 2017

Retro Dairy Mart from “Say Anything . . . “

“That’s L.A. – they worship everything and they value nothing.” So says Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) while lamenting the closure of a historic jazz club and its subsequent transition into a samba/tapas place in La La Land. Though I did not like the movie (as mentioned previously), I have to agree with Seb on this one. Los Angeles does often show a blatant disregard for its history, regularly razing notable buildings and sites with a nonchalant swoop of its proverbial hand. One yesteryear locale that somehow not only escaped the fate of the wrecking ball, but also popped up in La La Land is the Retro Dairy Mart in Burbank. The property’s onscreen stint in the 2016 musical has been well-documented online for quite a while now, but I was completely surprised when Greg Mariotti, from Cameron Crowe’s official website The Uncool, informed me of its appearance in Say Anything . . . while the two of us were working on our round-up of the 1989 flick’s Los Angeles locales. Since the drive-through market has been featured in two such iconic productions, I figured it was worthy of its own blog post.

[ad]

Retro Dairy Mart was originally established as an Alta Dena Dairy market in 1962.

The Alta Dena Dairy company began building the mini grocery stores in 1951, providing patrons with basic sundries like eggs, milk, sugar, and butter all from a convenient drive-up window. The cash-and-carry markets, as they were referred to, became quite popular and countless outposts were constructed across Los Angeles throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s. Though not nearly as prevalent today, there were still 82 of the shops dotting the Southern California landscape as of 2006.

The Burbank site remained in operation until 2014. When it hit the market, recent retiree Patricia Franco saw an opportunity to revitalize the space, while still embracing its retro roots. And revitalize it she did! Patricia completely revamped both the property’s interior and exterior. Over a period of five months, she added a front patio, implemented a red, white and black color scheme, planted foliage, installed new countertops and black-and-white checkered flooring, and expanded the inventory. She dubbed her new shop “Retro Dairy Mart.” It really is an adorable little spot and I am not at all surprised that it turned up in La La Land. The site looked quite a bit different 27 years prior to that, though, when Cameron Crowe pegged it as a location for Say Anything . . .

Masking as a Seattle-area gas station/convenience store, Alta Dena Dairy pops up towards the end of the movie, in the scene in which Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) asks some male friends – including a young Jeremy Piven – for advice on girls. After they share some not-so-choice pieces of wisdom with him, Lloyd can’t help but question, “If you guys know so much about women, how come you’re here at, like, a Gas N Sip on a Saturday night, completely alone, drinking beers, with no women anywhere?” Their response? “By choice, man!”

In the segment, Lloyd is pacing along the market’s east side (in the area pictured below, which is now covered by an overhang), while his friends sit across from him in front of the chain link fence that separates the mart’s parking lot from that of what is now the Burning Bonzai restaurant located next door.

Lloyd’s positioning in the scene is denoted with a pink “x” in the aerial view below, while that of his friends is denoted with blue circles.

Though the market no longer resembles its Say Anything . . . self, its slanted front roofline remains unchanged.

As do the pipes and electrical equipment visible behind Lloyd’s friends on the Burning Bonzai next door.

I cannot express how cool it was to stand there, in the footsteps of Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, and Gregory Sporleder (Hello, Coach Romano from Never Been Kissed!), 28 years after the fact, and see those pipes and wires in the exact same positioning that they were in when filming took place.

Even the ledge Lloyd’s friends sat on appears untouched, aside from a paint job.

Though Retro Dairy Mart only popped up briefly in La La Land in the scene in which Seb grabs a morning coffee, a much wider view of it was shown than in Say Anything . . . Other than the fact that the front patio area was expanded for the shoot, the site looks much the same in person as it did onscreen.

Unfortunately, the brightly-colored Californian Oranges mural seen on the wall of the Burning Bonzai building was just set decoration that was painted over after filming wrapped.

Van Beek, the jazz-club-turned-samba-tapas place that Seb laments throughout La La Land, sits directly across the street from the Retro Dairy Mart. As Sebastian explains to Mia (Emma Stone) in the movie, “I get coffee five miles out of the way just so I can be near a jazz club.” In reality, that building is the former Magnolia Theatre.

The Magnolia appears twice in La La Land – first in the scene in which Seb grabs coffee and then in a later segment in which Mia helps Seb destroy one of the bar’s signs.

Though there seem to be differing reports about its history online, from what I have gathered the Magnolia Theatre was designed by architect Clifford A. Balch in 1941. The one-screen, 797-seat venue was shuttered in 1979 when the owners lost their lease and was subsequently transformed into a recording studio named Evergreen Studios, established in part by Barbra Streisand. Though the property has since been sold and renamed numerous times, it continues to operate as a music studio. Just a few of the stars who have recorded on the premises include Frank Sinatra, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Plácido Domingo, Mariah Carey, George Martin, and Stephen Sondheim.

La La Land is hardly the first production to utilize the Magnolia Theatre.

Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) helps Lona McLane (Kim Novak) with some car trouble in the parking lot of the Magnolia after catching a flick at the theatre in the 1954 noir Pushover.

In the Season 3 episode of Columbo titled “Double Exposure,” which aired in 1973, Dr. Bart Keppel (Robert Culp) perfects his use of subliminal advertising at the Magnolia. The theatre looks a bit different in Columbo than it did in Pushover due to a renovation that took place in 1963.

Thanks to the Dear Old Hollywood website, I learned that the Magnolia Theatre is where Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) discovers that his wife is having an affair in the 1975 thriller Night Moves.

The Season 1 episode of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl titled “Glitter Rock,” which aired in 1976, also took place at the Magnolia, which the narrator says is located in a “seedy, run-down section of the city.”

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: Retro Dairy Mart, aka the Gas N Sip from Say Anything . . ., is located at 4420 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The Magnolia Theatre from La La Land is located across the street at 4403 West Magnolia Boulevard.

May 11, 2016August 21, 2018

The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa from “America’s Sweethearts”

Between our trip to New York and dealing with some matters out of state, the Grim Cheaper and I have been away from home for the better part of five weeks. While most of our traveling has not been for pleasure, I did just recently get to check an item off of my Stalking Bucket List. While in Nevada last week, we took a bit of a detour and headed out to Henderson to see The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, aka the former Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Spa and Casino which had a prominent role in America’s Sweethearts, one of my favorite movies. I had been dying to stalk the gorgeous hotel ever since first seeing the romcom back when it originally premiered in 2001 – and it did not disappoint.

[ad]

The area known as Lake Las Vegas was the brainchild of actor J. Carlton Adair, who acquired 2,245 acres of land in Henderson in the 1960s with the intention of turning it into a lakeside community named “Lake Adair.” While water rights were secured, development of the site never came to fruition and J. Carlton wound up filing for bankruptcy in 1972, dashing his dreams of a man-made desert oasis in the process. The project suffered another failed attempt before being rescued in 1990 by Ron Boeddeker of the Transcontinental Corporation, who finally got the ball rolling on creating a 320-acre man-made lake fed from nearby Lake Mead. Construction of the surrounding village of large-scale homes, lush golf courses, fancy boutiques, world class restaurants, and premiere hotels was started shortly thereafter.

One of those hotels was the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Spa and Casino, which opened its doors in December 1999.

The grand 493-room, 21.6-acre property has changed hands and names several times over the ensuing years, first in December 2006, when it became Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort. Sadly, the entire LLV area was hit hard during the recession and in 2009, the owners of the hotel defaulted on their $117-million mortgage, causing it to be taken over by a court-appointed receiver. Five weeks prior to going into foreclosure in 2012, it became The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa. The site was finally sold in late 2015 to the investment firm Pacifica Companies, but has remained operating as a Westin. Miraculously, despite all the changes, very little of the property’s Moroccan-themed design has been altered since it originally opened almost 17 years ago.

Today, the resort boasts a spa, two pools (one with a waterslide), four restaurants including the AAA Four-Diamond award-winning Marssa, a cocktail lounge, a coffee bar/bakery, a private beach that offers water activities such as kayaking and paddleboarding, access to two golf clubs, a fitness studio, and 25 meeting rooms comprising 90,000 square feet of event space.

Oh, and it also boasts some pretty amazing views.

Travel + Leisure named The Westin Lake Las Vegas one of the “World’s Best Hotels” and it is not very hard to see why. The place is absolutely magical – and feels much more like a tropical resort than a Sin City lodging.

Walking the grounds, I felt like I had been transported to a Hawaiian island (which might explain why President Obama likes the place so much).

The Westin is relaxed, low key and tranquil – in short, though located only a scant 17 miles from The Strip, it is very far removed from any Sin City melee. A stay there would most likely entail sipping tropical drinks, working on a tan, and leisurely walks by the lake. The hotel is the perfect spot for a family vacation or a romantic getaway. I already told the GC that I want to go back for a week and do nothing but lounge by the pool and stroll down to The Village at night for dinner.

Ah, yes, The Village. Just down the road from The Westin is a quaint waterside shopping center known as The Village at Lake Las Vegas.

The site boasts several shops, boutiques and restaurants . . .

. . . flanked by a beautiful Hilton . . .

. . . and surrounding the gorgeous lake.

The Village truly feels like being on another continent and while there I could think of nothing better than booking a nearby room for an extended stay and strolling down to the quaint center every night to grab dinner. You can check out all Lake Las Vegas hotels here.

America’s Sweethearts made extensive use of The Westin. For those who have not seen it, the flick is a true romp – a hilarious take on celebrities and filmdom that pokes endless fun at Hollywood. I’ve watched it countless times over the years and yet it still manages to make me laugh out loud throughout. The film centers around divorcing movie stars Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack). The former couple starred in dozens of hits together and were considered “America’s Sweethearts,” until Gwen cheated on and then subsequently left Eddie for a Castilian heartthrob named Hector Gorgonzolas (played to perfection by Hank Azaria) whom she met during the filming of Time Over Time. (The storyline was inspired in part by Elizabeth Taylor’s infamous love affair with Tim Burton during the filming of Cleopatra.) The break-up lands Eddie in a live-in healing institution, while Gwen and her career take a massive beating in the press. Audiences don’t like America’s Sweethearts apart. As Time Over Time is about to released, studio publicist Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal) decides to host the press junket far out of town in order to distract the media from Eddie and Gwen’s battling – and to divert attention away from the fact that the movie’s eccentric director Hal Weidmann (Christopher Walken) has yet to release a cut of the film for the press to screen. As Lee says, “We need to get these people out in the middle of nowhere. Once they find out there’s no movie, they can’t escape. We need to find a hotel like the one in The Shining – you know, isolated.” He settles on the newly-built Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas. Virtually all of the film takes place at the hotel.

In fact, The Westin is featured so prominently, it almost serves as a character. Areas of the property that appeared onscreen include the front entrance (though the scene shot there contained a lot of movement, so I was not able to make a great screen capture);

the beach;

the lobby stairs/The Arabesque Lounge;

the back terrace;

the neighboring Reflection Bay Golf Club;

and Rick’s Café (love the name!), where one of my favorite scenes took place.

When the movie was filmed, Rick’s Café was known as Café Tajine. You can see pictures of it from that time period here. Though certain elements, like the tile work, flooring, and curtains, have since been changed, the space still currently looks very much the same as it did when America’s Sweethearts was shot.

You can watch the scene shot at Rick’s below. I first saw America’s Sweethearts in the theatre with my best friend, Robin, who was visiting from his native Switzerland. When Lee uttered the line, “Word of advice, when you hit Formica – stop!” I started cracking up. Robin turned to me and whispered, “What is Formica?” When I explained, he began cracking up. To this day, I can’t watch the scene – or hear the word Formica, for that matter – without thinking of him.

One of the hotel’s private Casbah Villas also made an appearance as the spot where Gwen stayed with her sister, Kiki (Julia Roberts), during the press junket – and where Eddie was caught “giving himself a big favor.” Unfortunately, we did not venture out to the villas while there, but you can see a guest photograph of the exterior of one here.

The Westin boasts several Casbah Villas. The exact one used in America’s Sweethearts is the northeastern-most villa. It is denoted with a yellow arrow below.

Only the exterior of the Casbah suite appeared onscreen. Interiors were filmed on a set at Sony Studios, where portions of the movie were shot. You can see what the actual interior of a villa looks like here.

The interior of Lee’s and Eddie’s rooms were also set re-creations.

One spot I was unable to pinpoint while stalking The Westin was the restaurant where Kiki and Eddie – and then Gwen and Eddie – attempted to have dinner . . .

. . . and where Lee orchestrated a fight between Eddie and Hector.

What was shown in the scene does not match the décor or layout of the hotel’s main restaurant, Marssa (pictured below).

At the time that America’s Sweethearts was shot, Marssa was known as Japengo. You can check out some images of what Japengo looked like here. As you can see, despite the name change, little of the space has been altered and what is shown in the photos does not match the restaurant featured in the movie at all.

What is odd is that some portions of it, including the wall shelving (pictured below) and tile work, do resemble that of Café Tajine/Rick’s Café, which leads me to believe that the space was a set built at Sony that echoed the décor of the hotel. That scenario seems a bit unlikely, though, being that the restaurant was large and elaborately decorated. If it was a set, it was an extensive one, which seems like a lot of trouble to go to for a relatively short scene. But who knows?

I am also unsure of where the screening of Time Over Time took place.

While the space that was shown in the movie does bear a strong resemblance to The Westin’s Casablanca Ballroom, some things do not gibe. For instance, though the look of the real life doors seems to be a dead-on match to what appeared onscreen, the number of doors does not. I am guessing that the screening scene was shot on a set built to resemble the Casablanca Ballroom. But again, that is a lot of trouble to go to for what amounted to a relatively short segment. You can check out a wider view of the ballroom here.

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 Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, from America’s Sweethearts, is located at 101 Montelago Boulevard in Henderson, Nevada. You can visit the property’s official website here.

February 3, 2016February 2, 2016

The “Say Anything . . . ” Amphitheatre

Sorry to have been MIA the past couple of days. The Grim Cheaper surprised me on Sunday morning with a two-night trip to Big Bear to play in the snow. We had an absolute blast scurrying around in the frost and even managed to get some stalking in! I will be blogging about those locations soon, but in the meantime, on with today’s post! My recent Say Anything . . . kick is showing no signs of waning. As of late, I have been working with an awesome guy named Greg, who runs The Uncool, Cameron Crowe’s official website, to try to track down some of the 1989 movie’s unknown locales. He has proved invaluable and recently figured out that the graduation scene was lensed at Santa Monica College’s amphitheatre. I had been on the hunt for that darn amphitheatre for what seemed like eons! It was one location (of many) that constantly lingered at the back of my mind, always begging me to find it. I cannot tell you how many Google searches I did for “amphitheatre” and “Los Angeles.” I even thought I had found the right spot a few years back when I happened to walk by Blair High School in Pasadena and spotted its large outdoor theatre. Upon arriving home later that day and comparing photos I snapped to screen caps from Say Anything . . . , I realized it was not the right place. So when Greg informed me that he had found it, I was ecstatic! That happiness didn’t last long, though.

[ad]

Late last year, I recruited fellow stalker Michael, of The Golden Spoon Café and Downtown Christmas Shopping District from The Brady Bunch fame, to assist in the search for missing Say Anything . . . locations, so when I received the fabulous news from Greg regarding the amphitheatre, I immediately let Michael know. He quickly shot me an email back, though, that quelled my excitement. While doing some preliminary research on the amphitheatre, Michael discovered that the venue had been torn down. More heartbreaking still was the fact that it was only just razed in 2009! Had I only found it a few years earlier, I could have seen it in person. Despite my dismay over the demolition, I decided it was still a blog-worthy locale and recently set out to stalk where it once stood.

Thanks to a 2007 aerial view of Santa Monica College provided by Michael, I knew that the amphitheatre was formerly situated in the northeast section of the campus . . .

. . . just beyond the wall pictured below.

That area is currently a construction zone (hence the wall surrounding it), but will eventually be the site of a new student services building.

Michael also tracked down the photograph of the amphitheatre that appears below (he seriously did all of my legwork for me – thank you, Michael!), which was featured in a study of the college’s renovation performed by Christopher A. Joseph & Associates.

In Say Anything . . . , the Santa Monica College amphitheatre masked as the outdoor theatre where the supposed Seattle-area Lakewood High School graduation ceremony took place. As you can see, the venue that appeared in the scene is a direct match to the amphitheatre pictured in the image above. Oh, how I wish I had gotten to see it in person!

The amphitheatre was only featured briefly in the graduation scene and was the site of Diane Court’s (Ione Skye) famous “I’ve glimpsed our future and all I can say is ‘Go back!’” valedictorian speech.

The scene that takes place immediately following the graduation ceremony was filmed elsewhere, at a park-like location that I am as yet unsure of.

Santa Monica College was originally established in 1929 and at the time was known as Santa Monica Junior College. It was renamed Santa Monica City College in 1945 and then, in 1970, it underwent yet another name change when “City” was dropped from its title. Today, it is known simply as Santa Monica College.

The campus’ 1,500-seat amphitheatre, which was funded by the Associated Students, was built in 1967.

Besides its appearance in Say Anything . . ., the school has another show biz connection – it boasts many famous alumni, including Dustin Hoffman, James Dean, Hilary Swank, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nia Long, Laila Ali, Penn Badgley, Cam Gigandet, David Geffen, Alison Lohman, Sean Penn, Ryan Seacrest, Gloria Stuart, Buzz Aldrin, and Kristine Sutherland.

Santa Monica College is quite beautiful and, while I figured that it had to have been featured in other productions over the years, try as I might I could not find any information verifying that.

Big THANK YOU to Greg, of The Uncool website, for finding this location and to fellow stalker Michael for his instrumental help in researching it!

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: Santa Monica College is located at 1900 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica. The amphitheatre that appeared in Say Anything . . . was formerly located in the northeast corner of the campus, just north of the Art Complex and northeast of the Theatre Arts building, in the area denoted with a pink arrow below.

December 11, 2015December 11, 2015

Diane’s House from “Say Anything . . . “

I have been on a major Say Anything . . . kick lately thanks to a soon-to-be published post I recently wrote for Discover Los Angeles. While doing research for the article, I became a bit fixated on tracking down an unknown location from the 1989 romcom (one that I still have yet to find, darn it!) and in the process watched countless behind-the-scenes vignettes. Thanks to those viewings, not only did I learn an interesting fact about the movie, but I also wound up finally finding the house where Diane Court (Ione Skye) lived with her dad, James Court (John Mahoney), in the flick.

[ad]

Oddly, while Diane’s home was featured several times in Say Anything . . ., a full exterior view of it was never shown – nor were any background clues that could help aid in locating it. No street signs, no address numbers, no nothing.

But thanks to the steps leading up from the street to the front doors of the neighboring homes and the extensive amount of trees, I had a hunch that the residence was most likely located in or around the Hancock Park/Windsor Square area. Other than that small inkling, though, with this one I was at a loss. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is.

The most famous scene from Say Anything . . . is easily the iconic boom box scene in which lovelorn Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) stands outside of Diane’s window with a large boom box playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” held high atop his head. Oddly, the segment was not lensed near Diane’s house, or any house at all, but on a tree-lined stretch of North Hollywood Park, which I blogged about back in August 2012. I had never heard any sort of explanation for the weird location choice until watching “An Iconic Film Revisited: Say Anything . . . 20 Years Later,” a special feature included on the Say Anything . . . (20th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray DVD. In it, director Cameron Crowe mentions that the boom box segment had actually been shot several different ways in the street in front of Diane’s house, but that none of the takes had really worked for him. Then, on the last day of filming, while shooting the movie’s other iconic scene, in which Lloyd brushes glass out of Diane’s path at a 7-Eleven, cinematographer László Kovács noticed that there was a park across the street that might be perfect for the boom box segment. With only a few minutes of daylight remaining, cast and crew rushed over to the spot that Kovács had selected and re-shot the scene. Cameron loved the way it turned out and that was the footage that made it into the final cut. So there you have it – the reasoning behind the boom box scene’s unconventional locale.

While Crowe was talking about the scene in “An Iconic Film Revisited,” some footage of the original takes were shown.

I was absolutely floored when I noticed that a “135” address number was visible on the curb in front of the house located across the street from Diane’s in the footage. So with that address number in hand, I began searching all of the 100 blocks of Hancock Park using Google Street View and, sure enough, found the place almost immediately.

In real life, the residence, which was built in 1913, features 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2,867 square feet of living space, 3 fire places, leaded glass windows, countless built-ins, a separate in-law unit, and 0.23 acres of land.

Though said to be located in Seattle, Washington in Say Anything . . . , in actuality the home can be found right where I thought it would be, on a tree-lined street in Windsor Square.

The residence’s front walkway is the only real portion of the exterior that made it onto the screen in Say Anything . . .

The walkway was featured in the beginning of the movie, in the scene in which Lloyd drops Diane off after attending the graduation party together.

The home’s front porch was originally intended to appear in a scene, as well, but it wound up on the cutting room floor. In the scene, which is included along with several other deleted/alternate/extended scenes on the Say Anything . . . (20th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray DVD, Lloyd goes outside to smoke while at a dinner party at Diane’s house.

While doing research for this post, I came across a real estate listing for the home and was floored to see that the real life interior of it was also used in Say Anything . . .

Though there have been some changes (which is to be expected, being that filming took place 26 years ago), much of the abode still looks the same today as it did onscreen! As you can see below, the dining room is a direct match to what was shown in Say Anything . . .

As is the kitchen . . .

. . . living room . . .

. . . and stairs.

I absolutely love that little details, like the ceiling trim, have also remained unchanged.

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: Diane’s house from Say Anything . . . is located at 140 South Norton Avenue in Windsor Square.

June 27, 2014June 26, 2014

The “Must Love Dogs” House

One location that I had always wondered about, but never put much time into tracking down was the charming bungalow where lovelorn preschool teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) lived in the 2005 romantic comedy Must Love Dogs. Then, this past May, a fellow stalker named Linda challenged me to find the place and just a few days later I got an email from Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, with an address. He had seen Linda’s challenge and decided to do a little digging and, lo and behold, found the locale. Thank you, Geoff!

[ad]

Geoff was able to find the residence thanks to an address number of “1181” that was visible above the front porch in several scenes. Figuring that the pad was most likely located in Pasadena due to its Craftsman-style architecture, he began searching 1100 blocks in the area and it was not long before he found the right spot.

I was not at all disappointed when I finally saw the house in person. The place is just as adorable and picturesque as it appeared to be onscreen.

In real life, the 1921 dwelling features four bedrooms, one bath, 1,874 square feet of living space and a 0.32-acre plot of land. It was last sold for $280,000 in October 1997, which means that the people who own it today owned it at the time that Must Love Dogs was filmed. Love that! Wish I could have spoken to them while I was there.

The exterior of Sarah’s residence popped up repeatedly throughout Must Love Dogs.

Sadly, the gorgeous interior shown in the movie was just a set.

I am absolutely in love with Sarah’s décor (hello, claw-foot tub!). The entire place just looks so cozy and inviting. You can read a great Hooked on Houses article about Sarah’s interior design style here.

I managed to find some photographs of the real life interior of the residence online and, as you can see, it looks quite a bit different than what was shown onscreen. Some of the set does appear to have been modeled after the actual home, though. The built-in buffet in Sarah’s dining room is very similar to the property’s actual buffet.

And her green tiled fireplace is also very reminiscent of the the real home’s fireplace.

Sarah’s bedroom looks nothing like the real life master bedroom, though.

The two kitchens do not resemble each other, either. You can check out the real one here.

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

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from the 90210Locations website, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Sarah’s house from Must Love Dogs is located at 1181 East Elizabeth Street in Pasadena.

July 16, 2010July 22, 2010

The Coffee Gallery from “The Office”

A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me about a coffee house in Altadena named the Coffee Gallery which was featured in the Season 4 episode of The Office titled “Chair Model”. He figured that because the place was both a coffee shop and a filming location that it would be right up my alley! And how right he was! So, yesterday I stopped by my parents’ house in the hopes that I could talk either my mom or my dad into accompanying me to stalk the place as I needed someone to take a picture of me while there. Thankfully, my dad acquiesced and just before we were leaving my mom happened to ask what it was exactly that I wanted to stalk. When I told her we were heading to the Coffee Gallery she informed me that one of her neighbors, a woman named Julie, actually owns the place! Well, let me tell you, I just about fell over when I heard that and immediately ran down to Julie’s house to give her the third degree! How I never knew that my parents’ neighbor owned a coffee house when I am a complete and total coffee fiend is BEYOND me, but I digress. Unfortunately, Julie wasn’t home when I stopped by, so I was not able to get any behind-the-scenes scoop about the filming. I’ve left word with her son, though, that I am VERY interested in speaking with her, so if I do find out any good trivia, I will for sure share it with my fellow stalkers!

[ad]

The Coffee Gallery is a very cool place to hang out – and I mean that both figuratively and literally! While it is a super hip little spot, it is also blissfully air-conditioned and after walking in from the 95-degree heat yesterday, I vowed never to leave! 😉 The Coffee Gallery actually reminds me a LOT of a place in San Mateo called the Coffee Critic where I used to hang out pretty much every afternoon when I was in high school, so walking through those front doors yesterday felt like returning home. In fact, the cafes are so similar it was striking! My dad even commented on how much alike they look, but I digress once again. The Coffee Gallery is cozy and inviting and the barista who waited on us could NOT have been nicer. I can say with certainty that I will for sure be frequenting the place regularly from now on. Oh, and they serve up some great coffee, too! 😉

In the “Chair Model” episode of The Office, Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer) sets up her boss, Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell), on a blind date with Margaret, her landlady. The two decide to meet for the first time at the Coffee Gallery.

At first, Michael mistakenly believes that the above-pictured blonde woman is Margaret, even though she explained to him that she has straight brown hair and that she will be wearing blue jeans and a black top. When he first sees the blonde, though, he says, “I give her a ten for looks and a three for her ability to describe herself”. LOL LOL LOL

When he finally meets the real Margaret, he blurts out, “Ugh!” and then proceeds to pretend that he is not actually Michael Scott. He is found out, however, when the barista yells out his name to announce that his drink is ready. God, I love The Office!

The two then sit by the cafe’s front window and proceed to have a very awkward conversation about how “hot” Michael’s former girlfriend was.

The Coffee Gallery’s super nice barista also told me that the 2005 flick Must Love Dogs had been filmed on the premises, as well. The exterior of the coffee house was featured in a scene towards the end of the movie in which Jack (aka John Cusack) meets his ex-girlfriend’s father, Bill (aka Christopher Plummer), for the first time. According to the barista, the Coffee Gallery was left open during the filming of Must Love Dogs and both John Cusack and Christopher Plummer were extremely nice and posed for photographs with all of the people who stopped by on their morning coffee run. Let me just say here that I would absolutely die if I showed up at my local coffee house one morning to find a movie being filmed! Sigh! 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Coffee Gallery from Must Love Dogs and the “Chair Model” episode of The Office is located at 2029 North Lake Avenue in Altadena. You can visit their official website here.

December 28, 2009December 28, 2009

Wollman Ice Skating Rink

I’m sticking with my Christmas stalking theme for one more day – even though it’s already December 28th – as I had originally intended to publish this post on Christmas Eve, but, unfortunately, ran out of time. As I’ve said many times before, though, it’s better to be late than never! So, here goes! One New York location that definitely belongs in any collection of Christmas movie locales is Wollman Ice Skating Rink, a spot which appeared in one of my very favorite holiday flicks of all time, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. I had the pleasure of skating at Wollman Rink with my fiancé back in 2004 and absolutely fell in love with the place. With the Plaza Hotel and other New York skyscrapers towering in the background, the rink actually looks more like a picture postcard than a real life location. If you haven’t been there yourself, take my word for it, Wollman Rink is absolutely magical. 🙂

Wollman Rink was originally constructed in 1949 thanks to a $600,000 donation from New York philanthropist Kate Wollman. Kate had the ice skating rink built in honor of her parents, Jonas and Bettie, and her four brothers, William, Morton, Henry, and Benjamin. From the beginning, Wollman Rink was an immediate success, welcoming over 300,000 skaters in its first year alone. Today, it is visited by an average of 4,000 skaters per day.

Like practically everything else in New York, Wollman Rink is currently owned and operated by real estate mogul Donald Trump, who purchased and completely rebuilt the property back in the ‘90s. His name is displayed on almost every square inch of the rink, lest anyone ever forget who it belongs to. 😉 In the summer months, the rink is transformed into a small amusement park named Victorian Gardens. Wollman Rink is not to be confused with the similarly named Kate Wollman Memorial Rink, which was constructed in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park by the William J. Wollman Foundation upon Kate’s death in 1955.

Thanks to its picturesque appearance, Wollman Rink has long been a favorite of location scouts, appearing in countless movies and television shows over the years. In Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, Harry and Marv, aka “The Sticky Bandits”, plan their robbery of Duncan’s Toy Chest while skating at Wollman Rink. Ironically enough, though, before my first visit to New York, this stalker was under the mistaken assumption that the Home Alone scene had been filmed at the famous Rockefeller Center ice staking rink. It wasn’t until I started making a stalking itinerary for my first Big Apple vacation that I realized my mistake. As it turns out, New York has not one, but TWO cinematically historic ice skating rinks. But I’ll save the Rockefeller Center rink for a future post. 😉

Wollman Rink also appeared in the Season One episode of Gossip Girl entitled “Roman Holiday”, in the scene in which Blair Waldorf (aka Leighton Meester), along with her mother, her father, and her father’s new boyfriend go ice skating just a few days before Christmas.

On a side note – I am absolutely IN LOVE with the skates with the hanging pink pompoms that Blair wore in that scene!!!! I have GOT to get me a pair of those! 🙂

In Serendipity – one of my fave romcoms of all time! – Jonathan (aka John Cusack) and Sara (aka Kate Beckinsale) go for a late night skate at Wollman Rink after sharing a Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity 3 Restaurant.

After their skate, Jonathan draws the constellation of Cassiopeia on Sara’s arm while sitting on the rink’s benches.

And at the end of the movie, the two star-crossed lovers finally reunite at the rink. Wollman Rink has also been featured in Stepmom, Autumn in New York, Love Story, The January Man, The Devil’s Own, Odds Against Tomorrow, Carnal Knowledge, August Rush, A Journey That Wasn’t, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and the 2005 version of King Kong.

Celebrities also often visit Wollman Rink. In December of 2005, Tom Cruise took his then-pregnant girlfriend Katie Holmes there to celebrate her 27th birthday.

[ad]

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Wollman Rink is located inside Central Park, near the corner of Central Park South and 5th Avenue, in New York. Follow the footpath from the Park’s 59th Street entrance over Gapstow Bridge and the rink will be visible on the west. Wollman Rink is open from November through March. You can visit its official website here.