Get prepped for 'The Bling Ring'

About three years ago, I read a Vanity Fair article called "The Suspects Wore Louboutins"  about a group of teenagers who burgled millions of dollars worth of clothing, jewelry, handbags, and other property from the homes of celebrities like Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom, and Brian Austin Green. I was immediately fascinated by the whole thing, since it included Hollywood, crime, and celebrities! Hooked. Immediately.

Cut to 2013 and a film based on the article, called "The Bling Ring", written and directed by Sofia Coppola (who brought us "The Virgin Suicides" and "Marie Antoinette"), is set to hit theaters in June. Not only that, but a longer, book version of Nancy Jo Sales' article has been released. (I bought it and read the whole thing within four hours. Love.)

To prep for the film's release, you should definitely read the article and/or the book so you know what's up. You can also get some behind-the-scenes drama by watching the episodes of E!'s short-lived reality series "Pretty Wild" on Netflix - it's available for instant viewing and follows one of the teens arrested for the burglaries, Alexis Neiers. (She is the basis of Emma Watson's character Nicki, and she served as a consultant on the film, according to Sales' book.)


You see Neiers' arrest, meetings with her lawyer, and even some of her in-court appearances. It's interesting to see if you have knowledge of the case. (Otherwise, it's a vapid show about vapid people. But still entertaining, especially when high-as-a-kite Alexis leaves Sales several crazy screaming voicemails after the Vanity Fair article was published.)

Me with my copy of The Bling Ring!

I am super excited for this movie. My friend and I have obsessed over it on our first and fourth episodes of our podcast, Viewer Obsession Is Advised. It hits theaters June 14th... are you ready?

Balboa Island from 'Arrested Development' and 'Newport Harbor'

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Cult favorite "Arrested Development" is set in Newport Beach, CA, a posh Orange County city south of Los Angeles. The show's creator, Mitch Hurwitz, was born in Anaheim, CA and went to high school in Costa Mesa, CA (not far from Newport). Though set in Newport Beach, "Arrested Development" was filmed primarily in Culver City, Marina del Rey, and other areas in and around Los Angeles. However, if you're looking for a Bluth-like Newport experience, you could check out Balboa Island.

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

As a kid, Hurwitz co-founded a chocolate chip cookie business with his brother and father, so it's not hard to see where he got the idea for the Bluths' banana stand business.  There are actually two banana stands on Balboa Island, and they are within spitting distance of one another.

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

One is called Sugar 'N Spice and one is called Dad's Donut Shop & Bakery. Both seem to claim that they invented the frozen banana, and I obviously have no idea who's telling the truth. However, I have had frozen bananas from both shops, and they were both 100% delicious.

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Dad's Donut Shop actually appeared on an episode of "Newport Harbor", an MTV follow-up to "Laguna Beach". "Newport Harbor" took place mostly in Newport Beach and did some filming on Balboa Island. In episode 102, "Pretty in Pink", Chrissy, Sasha, and Courtney go there.

Screencap from "Newport Harbor".

Screencap from "Newport Harbor". Chrissy, Courtney, and Sasha
at Dad's on Balboa Island.

Dad's is located at 318 Marine Ave in Newport Beach.  Sugar 'N Spice is located at 310 Marine Ave. Nearby is a ferry that will take you across the water to the Balboa Island ferris wheel and gift shops.

Looking for the actual Bluth's Banana Stand? Unfortunately, it doesn't really exist. But the place where it was filmed does: check out my story about Fisherman's Village here.

- Story and photos by Christina LeBlanc

Beso from 'New Girl' and 'The Hills'

In episode 221 of "New Girl", Nick (Jake Johnson) and Jess (Zooey Deschanel) try to go on a date, but they can't get on the same page. And when it seems like everything is finally going right, Jess's ex Russell (Dermot Mulroney) - who, according to Nick, is "the only man [they] both loved" - shows up and makes them evaluate their date.



Photo: FOX.com.

The restaurant Nick takes Jess to is Beso in Los Angeles, CA, which is co-owned by "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria. The bar/restaurant's website describes Beso as "romantic, eclectic [and] contemporary"... kind of like "New Girl", eh?

Beso as it appeared on "New Girl".

The show made no effort to mask the location's name; since "New Girl" is set in Los Angeles, it is entirely plausible that the characters could go to an actual Hollywood restaurant (though Nick and Jess could not normally afford this kind of night out!). It's also entirely possible that Beso paid "New Girl" to be included in an episode. (I don't know the details of this particular situation, but sometimes the owners of a filming location will work out deals where their business's name/location appears in the episode if they contribute financially to the episode or offer the production special filming privileges.)

Nick and Jess confront Russell near the Beso valet stand.

If you look at this photo from Beso's website, you can see the exact spot where Nick & Jess sat on their date:

Photo: BesoHollywood.com.

Compare it to this still from the episode:

Photo: FOX.com.

You can clearly see the stairs and the open area behind them in both photos.

Beso seems to be a favorite for awkward dates: on "The Hills", Stephanie had a date here with pal Lauren's ex, Doug, in fourth-season episode "While Lauren's Away".

Want to try Beso? Entrees will run you between $25 for chicken fajitas and $95 for a 48 oz. Porterhouse. Appetizers are less pricy if you're on a budget. According to In Style magazine, celebs dine here regularly, too, including Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Victoria Beckham, and Orlando Bloom.

Beso is located at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. (You can follow them on Twitter, too: @besohollywood).

- Story by Christina LeBlanc

Akasha Restaurant from 'No Strings Attached'

In 2011's "No Strings Attached", Adam (Ashton Kutcher) and his friend Eli (Jake Johnson) frequent a bar/restaurant manned by their friend Wallace (Ludacris). I always thought it looked like a cool place in the movie, so I was glad to find out it was real! The scenes were filmed at Akasha Restaurant in Culver City.

The restaurant/bar looks almost exactly the same in real life as it does in the movie (except that when I was there Ludacris was not the bartender - lame!).

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Photo by Alana Elowitch for LiveTheMovies.com.

The exterior of the restaurant is the same as well; it has an outdoor seating area that is enclosed during the colder months:

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Akasha was also seen on the fifth season of "The Hills". Lauren, Lo, and Audrina go there in "Keep Your Enemies Closer".

I am happy to report that, aside from being a pretty cool filming location, Akasha is a delicious eatery! The food & drinks were great.

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

I highly recommend the mac and cheese and the sweet potato fries, and my cousin loved her quinoa!

You can find Akasha at 9543 Culver Boulevard in Culver City.

- Story by Christina LeBlanc

Houses from 'Back to the Future'

1985's "Back to the Future" is a film classic. I recently went to California with my cousin, who's a huge fan of the film, and we visited several of the film's locations, including the houses of Doc Brown, George McFly, and Biff Tannen.

Doc Brown's house is now the Gamble House, a museum located at 4 Westmoreland Place in Pasadena, CA.

Here's how it looks in the film:

And here's how it looks today:

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Photo by Alana Elowitch for LiveTheMovies.com.

It still looks pretty much the same, and it's gorgeous!

George McFly's house and Biff's house are also in Pasadena, on the same street.

Here's George's house in the film:

And George's house as it looks today:

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Photo by Alana Elowitch for LiveTheMovies.com.

George's house is at 1711 Bushnell Avenue in South Pasadena. Right down the street at 1809 Bushnell Avenue is Biff's house:

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Photo by Alana Elowitch for LiveTheMovies.com.

- Story by Christina LeBlanc

Adam's period mix from 'No Strings Attached'

In 2011's friends-with-benefits comedy "No Strings Attached", Adam (Ashton Kutcher) visits the apartment of his lady friend (Natalie Portman) and her roommates (Mindy Kaling, Greta Gerwig, Guy Branum), whose monthly cycles have synced up.

Luckily, Adam has brought Sprinkles cupcakes and a period mix CD for Emma.

It's both sweet and gross.

Here's Adam's period mix:

1. "Even Flow" - Pearl Jam
2. "Red Red Wine" - UB40
3. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" - U2
4. "I've Got the World on a String" - Frank Sinatra
5. "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis


To fill out your playlist, you could always include the following tunes:

"The Blood" - The Cure
"If You Want Blood (You Got It)" - AC/DC
"Red" - Taylor Swift
"It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" - Bob Dylan
"Bleed" - Hot Chelle Rae
"Pearls on a String" - Ryan Adams

Any other good ones? Hit up the comments!

Cupcake shop from 'Castle'

ABC's dark but funny detective series "Castle", starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, is filmed mostly at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, but sometimes crosses the street to film at Paramount when it needs a New York City street as a backdrop. (The show is set in NYC but filmed in Los Angeles.) Unfortunately, Raleigh does not offer tours to the public; however, Paramount does! It's not the official home of "Castle", but there will definitely be some NYC scenes you'll recognize.

At Raleigh Studios. Photo by Alana Elowitch for LiveTheMovies.com.

At Raleigh Studios. Photo by Alana Elowitch for LiveTheMovies.com.

I recently took a deluxe tour of Paramount Pictures, and one of the sets we got to walk through on their New York City street was one that had just been used for the filming of Castle's "Wild Rover" episode - season 5, episode 18 - in which a baker was murdered in his own cupcake shop.

You can see the dressed-up set of the cupcake shop's exterior in the screen cap above, as Castle and Beckett make their way to the crime scene. Here's how it looked when I was there, after the film crew had left:

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

Below is a screen cap of the interior of the shop, as Castle and Beckett interview the deceased's assistant:

 And here it is as it appeared on the tour:

Photo by Christina LeBlanc for LiveTheMovies.com.

It was no longer dressed for filming, but you can tell it's the same windows, especially since you can see the same view outside.

There were still a few cute touches from the filming left over. For instance, one of the walls still boasted cupcake wallpaper. I snapped a photo in front of it:

You can see the wallpaper in this screen cap from the show, behind Esposito:

The "Castle" crew also left the menu from the cupcake shop behind:

You can see it in the episode in this screen cap, behind and to the right of Castle:

There was one other funny touch left over from the "Castle" filming:

Yes, that's right -- leftover blood spatter still on the wall!

Same, Castle. Same.

If you're interested in taking the Paramount studio tour, you can get all the information here! Raleigh Studios is located at 5300 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood (their website is here). Paramount Pictures' studio is across the street, at 5555 Melrose Avenue. (Their website is here and tour information is here.)

- Story and photos by Christina LeBlanc