Stalking the 2011 Academy Awards

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As I have mentioned countless times before on this blog, Oscar Weekend is, hands down, my favorite weekend of the entire year.  Hollywood just seems to come alive during Oscar Weekend and I honestly cannot get enough of it.  And this year was no different.  My Oscar stalking began early this past Saturday morning and continued on through late Sunday night and I think it is safe to say that the poor Grim Cheaper is absolutely beat.  Winking smile    Thankfully though, some good friends and fellow stalkers – Beth, Mary, Debbie, and Carol – were in town from Louisville, Kentucky and they let me tag along with them all weekend, so the GC did get somewhat of a reprieve.  And while this year was, sadly, not as great as previous years due to the fact that hotels have seriously beefed up their security and many would only let actual guests through their front doors, we still managed to have an absolute BLAST!  We started out our 2011 Oscar stalking adventure Saturday morning when we hit up the blue carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards – and yes, the event does actually feature a blue carpet.  The Spirit Awards are held in a tent directly next to the beach in Santa Monica and, let me tell you, this year the weather was absolutely FREEZING – and I mean that literally!  It actually SNOWED in many parts of Los Angeles this past weekend (not kidding!) and the GC and I witnessed it firsthand at one point, which I am fairly certain he was more excited about than any of the celebs that we encountered.

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When we arrived at the Spirit Awards, there was already a HUGE group camped out along the blue carpet, but we still managed to snag a pretty good spot in which to stand.  While there, I ran into celebrity stalker extraordinaire Pinky Lovejoy (pictured above), from the Pinky Lovejoy Blog, whom I had met at Alec Baldwin’s Star Ceremony a few weeks backSmile

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We had an absolute blast stalking the red carpet and just a few of the stars who were on hand include Jason Isaacs – aka “Lucius Malfoy” from the Harry Potter movies;

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Warren Beatty;

Annette Bening

Annette Bening;

Louisville Born Jennifer Lawrence of Winter's Bone Jennifer Lawrence and her Boobies - hehehe!

Jennifer Lawrence;

Amanda Peet

Amanda Peet, who is absolutely ADORABLE in person;

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Anthony Mackie;

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Terrance Howard;

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director Danny Boyle;

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Diego Luna;

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John Hawkes;

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Sarah Steele from Spanglish;

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Greta Gerwig from Greenberg;

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Samuel L. Jackson;

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Liev Schreiber;

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Aaron Eckhart, who is GORGEOUS in person;

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one of fellow stalker Owen’s favorite actors, Paul Rudd;

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Malin Ackerman;

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Amber Tamblyn;

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David Cross;

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Erika Christensen;

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Jane Lynch (YAY!);

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(I absolutely LOVE that the GC managed to snap a picture of Jane making one of her famous Sue Sylvester faces!);

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Eva Mendes;

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Jesse Eisenberg (he did not turn towards the crowd when he arrived, so we only got a picture of the back of his head);

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Jeremy Renner;

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Rainn Wilson (aka Mr. Dwight Schrute!);

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Jamie Foxx;

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Ben Stiller;

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Rosario Dawson;

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Joel McHale (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!);

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and Nicole Kidman (who is STUNNING in person) and Keith Urban.

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I LOVE the picture of Nicole above, which my friend Carol snapped.  So cute!

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Natalie Portman tried to sneak in behind Nicole and Keith, but thankfully the GC still managed to get some pics of her.  Smile

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After the Spirit Awards arrivals wrapped up, the GC and I headed on over to the Kodak Theatre to do some stalking of the Academy Awards’ red carpet.  Sadly though, everything was blocked off this year and we were not allowed to walk on the red carpet or to get very close to any of the set-up, which was incredibly disappointing.

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We did spot the above-pictured Oscar statue being hauled from the Renaissance Hotel to the Kodak Theatre, though, which I thought was absolutely hilarious.

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We then headed over to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (where the first Academy Awards ceremony was held) to see if anything was going on there.  As fate would have it, the E! channel was running rehearsals for their Oscar coverage show in the lobby of the hotel and we were lucky enough to be able to watch.  As you can see in the above photographs, Kris Jenner was on site rehearsing for the show.

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As was Ross Mathews, from Chelsea Lately.

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As luck would have it, Kris wound up leaving the hotel at the exact same time we did and she was nice enough to pose for a photo with me on her way out, which I could NOT have been more excited about.  Smile  I have actually never been a fan of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, but I will always have a special place in my heart for the series due to the fact that anytime someone encounters my family for the first time, they invariably say, “You guys need your own reality show!  You are funnier than the Kardashians!”  My good friend Nat keeps threatening to secretly videotape us and send the result to the E! channel.  LOL  I guess I can see where people are coming from, though.  Case in point – this past Friday afternoon the GC downloaded and then proceeded to spend a good ten minutes showing me an app in which one, while in a store, can scan the barcode of an item along with its price using the camera on their iPhone and the phone will then subsequently spit back a list of places where you can purchase said item for less money.  Not kidding!  I totally thought he was joking with me, but sadly he wasn’t.  Not only is that app real, but the GC fully expects me to USE it!  Oh, the things I have to put up with!  Winking smile

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On Sunday evening, while doing some more hotel stalking, I spotted Doris Roberts, from Everybody Loves Raymond and Christmas Vacation fame.  My grandma absolutely LOVES Doris, so I just had to ask her to pose for a photograph with me and thankfully she obliged, which I could NOT have been more excited about.  Smile  Other celebs that we spotted out and about this weekend, but didn’t get photographs of were Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bai Ling, Frances Fisher, Gary Busey, Ed Asner, Pat Boone, Meat Loaf, Charo, Caroline Herrera (on her way to the Oscars in an absolutely STRIKING dress), Tara Reid, Brenda Strong (aka Mary Alice from Desperate Housewives), Gloria Allred, Noah Wyle, Taylor Armstrong from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Jessica Stroup (aka Silver from 90210), Glee’s Chris Colfer and Matthew Morrison, Jennifer Lopez (who is absolutely STUNNING in person!), Renee Zellweger, Russell Brand, Kirk Kerkorian, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Harvey Weinstein, Chace Crawford, Cate Blanchett, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen (who are sooooo tiny in person it was almost unbelievable), Ron Jeremy, Jeffrey Ross, Fred Willard, Sofia Milos, Pierce Morgan, Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey, Jude Law, George Hamilton, Reese Witherspoon, Timothy Olyphant, Elton John, Craig Robinson (aka Darryl from The Office), Joanne Worley, and Antonio Sabato Jr.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: The Oscars are held each year at the Kodak Theatre, which is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.  The Grim Cheaper and I usually drive up and down Sunset Boulevard during Oscar weekend, stopping into various hotels along the way to spot celebs.  A few of the hotels we usually stalk include The Mondrian, which is located at 8440 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which is located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, which is located at 1755 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood, and the Chateau Marmont, which is located at 8221 West Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Wayne Manor From the “Batman” Television Series

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Just up the street from the Just Married mansion which I blogged about yesterday is the residence which stood in for Wayne Manor, aka Batman’s abode, in the 1966 television series and movie of the same name.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the Batman mansion and the Just Married mansion are quite often mistaken for each other due to a myriad of reasons.  So, to set the record straight – and since we already were in the area a couple of weeks ago doing some Just Married stalking- I decided to drag my fiancé a few hundreds yards up the road to also stalk Bruce Wayne’s pad.  Sadly, though, not very much of it is visible from the street.

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According to Zillow, the residence, which was built in 1928, boasts ten bedrooms, six bathrooms, a whopping 16,599 square feet of living space, and sits on over five acres of land!  And if you look at the above photographs, it is very easy to see why the property is often confused with the Just Married mansion that burned down in October of 2005.  Not only are both houses gargantuan, set far back from the road, and Tudor/Gothic Revival in style, but both were constructed almost entirely out of brick by the very same architect, Paul Revere Williams, and bear a striking resemblance to each other.  Further adding to the confusion between the properties is the fact that they are located within blocks of each other on the very same street, San Rafael Avenue, in Pasadena and have both been featured in countless productions over the years.

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Because the location rumors about the two mansions have been running rampant for so very long, this weekend I decided to try to get my hands on as many of the productions filmed on the premises as I could to try to set the record straight once and for all.  And I didn’t do too bad – the only movies I wasn’t able to track down were Topper, Three Men and a Little Lady, Executive Action, The Gumball Rally, The Bells of St. Mary’s, Sweet Bird of Youth, and True Confessions.  If anyone has those movies or has seen them in the past, can you let me know which, if either, of the San Rafael mansions was featured in them?

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As I mentioned above, the mansion’s most famous appearance was as Wayne Manor in the 1966 television series Batman and the subsequent movie of the same name that was made that very same year.  But its resume hardly ends there.

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The residence was also used as both the St. Audrey’s Home for Boys where Grace (aka Emma Thompson) was taken in by a nun . . .

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. . . and as Roman Strauss’ (aka Kenneth Branagh’s) home in 1991’s Dead Again.

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In the first Rush Hour movie, the mansion stood in for Los Angeles’ Chinese Consulate.

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As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, though, the exterior gate which appears in that movie is not the home’s real life gate.

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In 1999’s Bowfinger, the mansion was used as the residence of action star Kit Ramsey (aka Eddie Murphy).

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And in that flick the home’s real life gate does actually appear and was the site of one of the movie’s funniest scenes.

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In Scary Movie 2, the mansion stood in for Hell House/Kane Manor where most of the film’s action takes place.

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In X-Files: Fight The Future, it was used as the Somerset, England home of the Well-Manicured Man (aka John Neville).

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According to some reports that I found online, the mansion was also featured in 1986’s Stand By Me, which seemed a bit odd being that I had always heard that Stand By Me was filmed almost in its entirety in the state of Oregon.  After re-watching the flick earlier today, though, I believe that the mansion did appear once at the very end of the movie as the residence of “The Writer” (aka Richard Dreyfuss).  As you can see in the above screen captures, the front driveway area does match that of the Batman  mansion. Why would they come all the way to Pasadena to film this one brief scene, though, when the rest of the movie was filmed hundreds of miles away in Oregon, you ask?  Well, according to IMDB’s Stand By Me trivia page, an actor named David Dukes was originally cast in the role of “The Writer”.  After his scenes were shot, though, and filming had wrapped, they re-cast the role with actor Richard Dreyfuss and re-shot all of his character’s scenes.  So, since the Richard Dreyfuss scenes were filmed at a later date – I am guessing after principal photography in Oregon had already wrapped – it makes sense that they would have been shot somewhere in the L.A. area, closer to where the film was being edited.

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And if you’ll notice in the above screen captures, which were taken from the movie Dead Again, the mansion’s front window and the view from it does sort of match that which appeared in Stand By Me, which makes me think that the property was actually used in the movie, although I don’t have any concrete proof to back that up.

Fellow stalker Ivan just sent me the above screen captures from the television series Land of Giants, in which Wayne Manor stood in for the residence belonging to Uncle Trojar in the episode entitled “Collector’s Item”.  And, yes, the mansion was blown up t the end of that episode.  Thank you, Ivan!  🙂

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According to fave website OnLocationVacations, the mansion was also the site of some filming from the upcoming Dinner For Schmucks movie starring Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and Zach Galifianikis.   Besides being a filming location, the mansion was also the Pasadena Showcase House of Design in 1997.  So, I hope that at least partially puts to rest some of the locations rumors about the two landmark San Rafael Avenue mansions.  If I come across any further information, I will post it here!  And please let me know, dear readers, if you come across any information yourselves! 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Wayne Manor from the Batman television series is located at 380 South San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena.  Unfortunately, the residence is not very visible from the street.  To see the best views of the home, drive just a bit north of where the main gates are located.

Cup ‘N Cakes Cafe from “Modern Family”

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A few weeks back, a fellow stalker who identified himself as “Stepick” left a comment on my Step by Step house post informing me that a coffee shop in nearby South Pasadena had been featured in the recent episode of fave show Modern Family entitled “Moon Landing”.  Unfortunately though, Stepick did not specify exactly which South Pasadena coffee house it was.  So, I decided to do a little bit of digging to see if I could figure it out.  I came up empty-handed at first, until this past weekend when a blog named “Greetings from LA” published a post about Modern Family filming locations along with a link to this article about the coffee shop that had been used on the show.  Thank you, Greetings from L.A.!  In real life, that coffee shop is named Kaldi Coffee & Tea and, amazingly enough, I had never before heard of the place.  So, I, of course, had to run right out and stalk it, not just because I love Modern Family, but because, as those of you who read my site regularly know, I absolutely love coffee.  Like LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT.  Oh, what I won’t do for a good cup o’ joe.  But I digress.

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Kaldi Coffee & Tea, which has been in operation for over 15 years, is an incredibly charming little coffee house located inside of an old bank building.  With its brick walls, mismatched chairs, large couch, and chalk board menu, the place evokes memories of the Central Perk set from Friends.  So, needless to say, I loved it!  And, amazingly enough, when I walked through the front doors I immediately recognized the shop from another production besides Modern Family!  But more on that later.  Despite what some internet reviews have stated, I am very happy to report that Kaldi’s serves up some FABULOUS coffee.  I also indulged in a little veggie sandwich while there and I am happy to report that it, too, was fabulous!  The staff at Kaldi’s was EXTREMELY nice and not only answered all of my silly questions about the filming of Modern Family, but also let me take all the photographs I wanted.  Yay!  I loved the place so much, in fact, that I am fairly certain I am going to be a frequent stalker there.  😉

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The Kaldi’s scene from Modern Family starts out across the street from the cafe, on the sidewalk in front of the South Pasadena Public Library (a location which stood in for Haddonfield High School in Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween remake).  In the scene, Gloria (aka Sophia Vergara) takes her son Manny (aka Rico Rodriguez) and her step-son/ lawyer Mitchell (aka Jesse Tyler Ferguson) to the site of her recent car accident so that she can explain what happened.  After showing them where the accident took place, she heads over to Kaldi’s, which was called Cup ‘N Cakes Cafe in the episode, to grab some cupcakes, while Mitchell and Manny wait behind at the accident site to take pictures.  It is there that Manny tells Mitchell that his mother was actually at fault in the wreck.  When Mitchell asks why Manny didn’t tell his mom that, Manny explains “She can’t take criticism about her driving.  Once an old lady yelled at her at a crosswalk.  She honked so long, the horn ran out!”  LOL LOL LOL

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Only a small portion of Kaldi’s exterior is shown in the scene . . .  

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. . . but the interior is featured quite extensively while the threesome is eating their cupcakes. 

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And it is outside of Kaldi’s that Gloria gets into her second car accident of the week, crashing into the side of the cafe and knocking down Cup ‘N Cakes’ large pink cupcake sign, which was, of course, just a prop that was brought in for the filming.  The restaurant where Claire (aka Julie Bowen) met Valerie (aka Minnie Driver) for lunch in that same episode is located less than a block away from Kaldi’s.  It is named Bistro de la Gare, but I have yet to stalk the place.  Don’t worry, though, as it’s definitely on my list!    

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Kaldi’s also appeared in a brief scene in fave movie The Ugly Truth, in which Abby Richter (aka Katherine Heigl) and her best friend Joy (aka Bree Turner) fawn all over her new boyfriend Colin (aka Eric Winter).  Oddly enough, I had actually been searching for The Ugly Truth coffee shop for MONTHS, but couldn’t seem to locate it anywhere!  So, when I walked into Kaldi’s yesterday afternoon, I just about fell over as I immediately recognized it as the place I had long been searching for.  Funny how stuff like that happens.  😉

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The Ugly Truth also made use of the same stretch of sidewalk that appeared in Modern Family for the scene in which Mike Chadway (aka Gerard Butler) convinces Abby to purchase some hair extensions.  That sidewalk is located directly across the street from Kaldi’s.

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Kaldi’s was also featured in two scenes in the 2008 movie Role Models as Beth (aka Elizabeth Banks) and Danny’s (aka Paul Rudd’s) local coffee shop.  One of the scenes features a very funny rant by Paul Rudd over the fact that the term “venti” does not actually mean large in Italian.

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Producers completely remodeled Kaldi’s for the filming of Role Models, though, making it appear very Coffee-Bean-ish, so it almost unrecognizable from that flick.  Kaldi’s was also featured in the 2007 Anthony Hopkins’ movie Slipstream  and it will be appearing in an upcoming episode of the new television series Parenthood.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Kaldi Coffee & Tea, aka Cup ‘N Cakes Cafe from Modern Family, is located at 1019 El Centro Street, at the southwest corner of El Centro Street and Diamond Avenue, in South Pasadena.  Bistro de la Gare, the restaurant where Minnie Driver and Julie Bowen ate on Modern Family, is located less than a block away at 921 Meridian Avenue.

Paul Rudd’s Parents’ House from “I Love You, Man”

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A few weeks ago while doing some stalking in the Valley, I dragged my fiancé out to visit the house where Peter Klaven’s (aka Paul Rudd’s) parents, Oswald and Joyce Klaven, who were played by J.K. Simmons and Jane Curtin respectively, and his brother Robbie (aka Andy Samberg) lived in fave movie I Love You, Man.  And even though the Klaven house only appeared in one very brief scene in the movie – a scene which barely lasted over 2 minutes – because fellow stalker Owen had tracked down the location for me a few months back, I just had to go see the place in person.  I also wanted to stalk the residence because fellow stalker Gary, from fave website Seeing Stars, recently put together a highly detailed catalog of all of the filming locations featured in I Love You, Man – all of the  locations, that is, except for the Klaven house.  So, to complete Gary’s collection, I just had to run right out and stalk the place.  🙂

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The Klaven house shows up at the very beginning of I Love You, Man  in one of my favorite scenes in the movie – the absolutely hilarious scene in which Peter takes his new fiancé Zooey (aka Rashida Jones) to his parents’ house for dinner and they get into a detailed discussion about his lifelong lack of male friendships.  It is at this dinner that Peter learns the shocking fact that, along with a random man named Hank Mardukis, his younger brother, Robbie, is his father’s very best friend.  LOL 

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Besides the exterior of the house and the front door area, I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the home was also used in the filming of the dinner scene, as well.  

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Because the Klaven’s house from I Love You, Man is extremely long and has that Anywhere, U.S.A.-type look to it, it actually reminds me quite a bit of Matthew Perry’s residence from fave movie 17 Again, a location which I stalked back in September of last year.  In person, the Klaven house is very large, much larger than it appeared onscreen in I Love You, Man.  The residence, which was built in 1942, boasts three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and measures 3,224 square feet.  The home is very cute in person and is located on an absolutely ADORABLE street in an absolutely ADORABLE neighborhood.   According to fave website Virtual Globetrotting, actress Jo Anne Worley lives just across the street from the I Love You, Man house and from 1993 to 2000 Denzel Washington lived just around the corner.  Love it!

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Paul Rudd’s parents’ house from I Love You, Man is located at 4727 Arcola Avenue in either North Hollywood or Toluca Lake, depending on which map you consult.

Lou Ferrigno’s I Love You, Man House

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Another location from fave movie I Love You, Man  that I have been absolutely dying to stalk is the ultra modern, ultra large manse that belonged to Lou Ferrigno in the flick.  As always, I enlisted the help of fellow stalker Owen in tracking this location down.  Ironically enough, though, around that same time, fellow stalker Ashley was visiting the L.A. area and just happened to notice the Ferrigno house in the distance while driving on Fairfax Avenue.  She had yet to see I Love You, Man, but because the house was so unique looking, asked her boyfriend to snap a quick picture of it.  Well, you can imagine her surprise a few days later, when, while watching the in-flight movie on the way home, which, as luck would have it just happened to be I Love You, Man, she recognized the Lou Ferrigno house as the one she had admired from a distance just a few days prior.  So, Ashley immediately emailed me as soon as she got home to let me know of the home’s location.  Well, literally that SAME day, I got an email from Owen letting me know that he had also found the house!  LOL  I guess this was one location that I was really meant to stalk!  🙂

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The Lou Ferrigno house shows up a few times in the movie, most notably as the site of the infamous “Open House” scene in I Love You, Man, in which Jason Segel calls out a man not only for attending the event for the sole purpose of impressing a girl, but also for farting while there!  LOL  When the perpetrator leaves the house he says, “You know what, guy, I like it, but I’m thinking it might be a little bit small.”  To which Jason Segel says, “Totally, and it smells like fart.”  LOL LOL LOL

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Quite a bit of the Lou Ferrigno house was used in I Love You, Man, including the exterior,

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the back patio,

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the living room,

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and the entryway, which, as you can see in these interior photographs of the house, all look exactly the same in real life as they did in the movie.

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Ostensibly missing in real life, though, are the Lou Ferrigno statue, artwork, and memorabilia.  😉

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The Lou Ferrigno house, which, of course, does not actually belong to the Hulk star in real life, is no stranger to celebrity.  There are rumblings online that the 6 bedroom, 8 bathroom, 9,204 square foot home which sits on over an acre of land has been owned by both Merv Griffin and the Sony Company in the past.  I don’t know if that information is true or not, but the house has been the site of some very fashionable Hollywood parties, including one in 2005 for the exclusive New York/London Club the SoHo House and another for the Entertainment Group “House of Hype”.

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Sadly, as you can see in the above photograph, besides the large front gate, not much of the house is visible from the street. 

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But you can catch some great views of it if you head up Hercules Drive . . .

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. . . or down Laurel Canyon Boulevard.  (Please excuse the power lines!  LOL) 

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Big THANK YOU to both Owen and Ashley for finding this location!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Lou Ferrigno’s house from I Love You, Man  is located at 1 Electra Court in the Mt. Olympus area of the Hollywood Hills.

Jaime Pressly’s I Love You, Man House

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A few months back, I asked fellow stalker Owen for some help in tracking down all of the filming locations from fave movie I Love You, Man.  The spot I was most interested in stalking was the charming little house belonging to Denise (aka Jaime Pressly) and her brutish husband Barry (aka Jon Favreau) in the flick. Ever since seeing the movie this past March, I have been absolutely obsessed with that house.  It is just so darn cute!  And I was one hundred percent convinced that it was located somewhere in the Pasadena area.  For some reason, it just looked like a Pasadena-style home to me.  In fact, I would have bet my bottom dollar on it!  So, you can imagine my surprise when I got a text back from Owen saying that he had contacted an I Love You, Man  crew member who told him that the house was actually located in . . . Hollywood!  I absolutely could not believe it!  Hollywood probably would have been just about the last place on earth I would have searched for that house.  LOL  It’s a good thing I had Owen on the case, as I’m fairly certain this is one location I never would have found without him.  So, this past weekend, with the address in hand, I dragged my fiancé out to finally stalk the home.

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Well, that’s not exactly the whole story.  Truth be told, this is one location that I actually had to stalk twice!  LOL  A few weeks ago, my dad asked me if I would drive him to a doctor’s appointment which just happened to be right near the I Love You, Man house.  I told him I’d be happy to, as long as we could do some stalking along the way.  He, of course, said “no”, but, because I thought he was just joking around, I dragged him out to the house anyway. Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t joking around – AT ALL – and was not especially happy with me once I pulled up to the house.  In fact, I believe his exact words were, “Where the hell are we and why are you stopping the car????”  LOL LOL LOL  Karma came back to bite me, though, because when I pulled my camera out of my purse to snap a few photographs of the house, I realized that it felt rather light and my mind immediately flashed back to the camera battery that I had plugged into the charger the night before and had forgotten to put back in the morning.  UGH!  So, this past weekend, I returned to the house yet again, this time with my fiancé – and camera battery – in tow.  🙂 

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I am very happy to report that Jaime Pressly’s I Love You, Man  house is absolutely ADORABLE in person– even cuter than it appeared onscreen.  I’d even say it was worth all the trouble I had to go to to get to it.  LOL  The house definitely has a fairy tale/storybook style feel to it and is a little bit reminiscent of Hilary Duff’s house from fave movie A Cinderella Story.  So love it!  Because it is so cute, I’m actually very surprised that it hasn’t been featured in even more productions. 

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The exterior of the house is actually only featured in two very brief scenes in the movie.  It first shows up as the site of Jon Favreau’s infamous poker night party, where his “Boat Race” beer drinking game ends very badly.

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The front porch of the house next shows up as the place where Rashida Jones and Paul Rudd make up after calling off their engagement towards the end of the flick.  And from how it appears in that scene, I believe the real interior of the house was also used for some of the filming.

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I highly recommend stalking Jaime Pressly’s I Love You, Man  house as it is just so darn cute in person.  Just remember to bring your camera battery!  😉

Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location!  🙂 

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It:  Jaime Pressly’s house from I Love You, Man is located at 532 North Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood.

Jason Segel’s I Love You, Man House

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One location I have been wanting to stalk for what seems like forever now is Jason Segel’s (aka Sydney Fife’s) Venice Beach area house and “Man Cave’” from fave movie I Love You, Man.  Fellow stalker Owen actually tracked down this location for me MONTHS ago, but since I rarely get out to the Venice area, I had yet to stalk it.  So, last weekend, my fiancé and I – armed with a notebook full of Venice area locations – finally made the pilgrimage out to L.A.’s West Side to stalk Sydney’s house.  

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In I Love You, Man, Sydney Fife lives in an adorable little beach bungalow just a few steps away from the Venice Beach Boardwalk and the Pacific Ocean.  And I absolutely fell in love with the place as soon as I laid eyes on it in the movie.   But I am sad to report that the house actually looks much different in person than it did in I Love You, Man.  In fact, even though it’s hardly been a year since filming took place, had Owen not given me the address, I could have easily walked right by the home without even recognizing it.  🙁  

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As you can see in the above photographs and screen captures, changes to the house include the paint color (which I actually think was a lot cuter in the movie), the addition of two sets of hedges and a new lawn to the front yard, and the removal of the cement walkway leading up to the home’s front door.  I am guessing though, that before the movie was filmed, the house looked pretty much the same as it does today and that producers made all of the above mentioned alterations solely for the filming and then returned the home to its original state after the movie was wrapped.  It sure seems like a whole bunch of work to go through, though, and makes me wonder why producers just didn’t find a different house that more closely fit their needs to use in the movie.  But that’s Hollywood for you.  🙂

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While stalking the house, my fiancé and I, of course, had to go around back to check out the garage area which housed Jason Segal’s “Man Cave” in the movie.  Sadly, though, the garage has also changed considerably since the filming of I Love You, Man.  Besides the change in paint color, a new garage door and side fence have been added since the movie was filmed.

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But here’s the good news!  Apparently, in real life, Jason Segel’s I Love You, Man house is not really a home at all, but a fitness center and gym named Optimum Fitness.  So, this is one stalking location that looks like it is – for the most part – open to the public!  🙂  And, best of all, if you sign up here, your first class there is free!!  🙂 

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On an “Only in L.A.” side note – According to Zillow, Sidney Fife’s one bedroom, one bath house measures only 666 square feet (that’s smaller than my apartment!), yet it sold for a whopping $1,125,000 in April of 2008!  You gotta love L.A.!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Jason Segel’s house from I Love You, Man – aka Optimum Fitness gym   is located at 26 Rose Avenue in Venice.  You can visit the Optimum Fitness website and sign up for a free class here.

Paul Rudd’s House From “I Love You, Man”

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One location I have been trying to find for quite some time now is the Mid-Century Modern style abode where Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones lived in fave romantic comedy I Love You, Man.   I was dying to stalk the house not only because of its incredibly unique architecture, but also because I was such a big fan of the movie.  It’s hilarious!  Well, I happened to mention my quest in an email to fellow stalker Owen last week and it wasn’t ten minutes later that he had emailed me back with an address!  Sure enough, it was the right  house!   YAY!  So, of course, I ran right out to stalk it!  🙂

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Ironically enough, the I Love You, Man  house  is exactly where the movie purports it to be – in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.  Not only that, but the scenes where Paul Rudd drives to and from his home in the movie were really filmed along the actual streets one would take to get there in real life.  On my way to stalk the house yesterday, I was amazed to realize that I was actually passing by some of the very same buildings that Paul drove by in the movie, which was shocking to me as most driving scenes in movies are not filmed anywhere near the places where the characters are supposedly leaving from or heading to.  LOL  

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I am very happy to report that the I Love You, Man  house looks exactly the same in person as it did in the movie.  And I absolutely loved seeing it!  The house is extremely unique in its appearance and even though, as I have mentioned many times before on this blog, the modernist style isn’t really my thing, I truly love this house!  I am not at all surprised that producers chose to use it as the home of a young, fairly successful Los Angeles real estate agent and his fiance.   

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My favorite part of the house has to be the dual staircases leading up to the front door.  I just love the juxtaposition of the rounded and straight stairway, which you can sort of see in the above photograph.  So cool and, as I said before, just so unique!     

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Ironically enough, the man who lives across the street from the I Love You, Man  house pulled up while I was stalking the place.  I was really hoping I’d get the chance to talk to him and ask him all sorts of questions about the filming, but instead he gave me a look like I was absolutely out of mind for taking photographs of a random house in L.A. and immediately went inside his home.  LOL  I so should have left a note on his door saying “You obviously don’t realize this, so I really feel it is my duty to tell you –  you live right ACROSS THE STREET from the I Love You, Man  house!”   LOL  Sheesh, some people!

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Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The I Love You, Man  house is located at 3959 Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz, just around the corner from John Marshall High School, aka the Girls Just Want To Have Fun  high school.