Hollywood Week: Day 4

Day 4 saw me making a strange decision. I decided to walk from Hollywood and Highlands to the Sunset Strip. That is no short walk. It's a good thing I like walking.

Before I started my walk, I noticed something different out on the boulevard. We have a red carpet!

However, the red carpet doesn't extend too far just yet. The walk through the centre to the Dolby Theater is still covered in bubble wrap.

You can hardly blame them. A red carpet doesn't seem anywhere near as attractive or exquisite if you think about the thousands of tourists who have walked over it before you.

It was a beautiful day so I had to take a picture of the Chinese Theater in all it's glory. No matter how many times I go to Hollywood, I always get a kick out of looking at all of the signatures on the forecourt. I always tend to be the person who is more excited about the old Hollywood stars than the new (although they are exciting too). I love Mary Pickford's and Lana Turner's.

Now considering I was going to hike to the Sunset Strip, I took La Brea Ave to get there and if you continue down La Brea towards Santa Monica, you will come across an old studio which has a statue of Kermit dressed up as Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp. This is The Jim Henson Studios and was once Charlie Chaplin's Studios. I am a big Chaplin fan so you can imagine my delight when I found this at the front, which I never knew existed. 

I often get annoyed that so many important parts of Hollywood's history have been torn down to make way for new developments, so I really love the fact that they still honour such a vital piece of Hollywood history. If one man deserves to be honoured, it is Chaplin. He did so much for film, but I most admire him for how he never backed down from what he believed in, even if it was inevitable that it was going to cause some sort of controversy.

So after my close encounter with the Chaplin kind, I set off down Sunset Blvd. I have no idea how long it took me to eventually arrive at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf opposite the Directors Guild. I wasn't really worried about timing. I just enjoyed the walk and taking it all in.

I spent a few hours just people watching and writing before I met up with my friend, Michelle there. Michelle has really helped me out with Movie Critical over the years and continues to do so. It was great to see her and talk about what we are going to be working on in the future, as well as of course talk about Hollywood during Oscars season!

Michelle gave me a bit of a driving tour about where everything takes place prior to the Oscars and after the Oscars. Afterwards I continued my walk around West Hollywood. The Chateau Marmont is another beautiful hotel. One I would love to stay in one day. It is famous for celebrity spotting and played host the Vanity Fair's post Oscar party this year.

Before turning in for the night, I took another look at the how the Dolby Theater was shaping up for the big night on Sunday.

* All photos are taken by and are property of the page owner.

Hollywood Week:Day 3

Day 3 wasn't quite as busy as day 2, but still busy in itself!

Today I met up with one of my friends, Stefunny who lives in Los Angeles. Stef moved over here awhile back now from Michigan in order to kick start her modelling and acting career. She's doing very well and her career is only on the up. It was really awesome to see her.

We went to Le Petit Four on Sunset Boulevard. I hadn't been there before, but it is a really nice little restaurant. It's one of th more popular ones I the Sunset Plaza. I have noticed that it is packed every time. I kind of guessed this place was a bit of a celebrity hang out ( as most of This area of Sunset Blvd is). When we were about to walk in, all these people turned around and looked at us. Considering Stef is a model, this didn't surprise me, but she also told me that if you dress nicely everyone looks at you to see if you are famous.

Funnily enough, I ended up sitting two seats away from Australian actress,Holly Valance who was once in Neighbours and has been living in LA since she left the show. Non-Australians may remember her from Entourage as the girl Eric cheats on Kristen with when it turns out Kristen is cheating on him herself. Valance is still as gorgeous as ever.

That night I went to the taping of Russell Brand's TV show, Brand X with Russell Brand. It was a completely different Brand to what I had seen the night before. Although I do watch Brand X at home, it was a strange comparison after seeing his stand up in such an intimate venue the night before. His Brand X persona is more that of a star while his stand up was more that of a friend.

Either way Brand is still hilarious. Always quick witted and he's just a likeable guy. Every if he is somewhat picking on someone, he will always throw in a line to remind the that he is doing so Allen good nature.

The show didn't quite have the daredevil air that the episodes did last season, but that's not always a bad thing for some people. It was good to see a television show screening while I am here. There is so much work that goes into just putting one episode to air and it is an event in itself.

Worst part of the evening, definitely waiting outside in the freezing cold for the show to start. The days may beware in LA, but the nights are freeeezing!

As you are not allowed to take cameras into the studio, my camera had to do for some shots before the show started an after!

Hollywood Week: Day 2

Day 2 in LA has been absolutely insane.  Insane in an amazing way.

First thing this morning I went on the Warner Bros Studio Tour. I have been on this tour before, but it was nearly 5 years ago. The great thing about this tour is that no tour is the same. You will never see exactly the same thing and be told the same stories in 2 different tours.  So since the last time I went, I have became a "The Big Bang Theory" fan, I wanted to go again and see why I would see.

While Universal Studios is the first studio that pops to everyone's mind when they think about Hollywood studios as it, of course, is also the theme park, Warner Bros is perhaps the best actual tour. The studio tour at Universal is more of a ride, which doesn't mean it isn't fun and that you don't learn anything, but Warner Bros has groups of about 12 who have their own tour guide who takes them around, part in buggy and part on foot. It is a lot more personal than Universal.

The thing I always notice about studio tours is when they point out something on the set, which you don't recognise to begin with. Then the guide tells you what it was in, such as the park Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow ran through in "Friends" (yes, the large majority of "Friends" was filmed in LA at the Warner Bros studios and not in New York), and then you recognise it! I had one of those moments when I saw this "jungle" house.

This is Merlottes from "True Blood"! I wouldn't have guessed without Sam, Sookie or Bill out the front!

I also loved seeing some of the sets used in the James Dean classic, "Rebel Without A Cause" and the  museum with memorabilia for lots of old and new movies. There are many costumes from films such as"My Fair Lady", "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Inception". The car museum is also a must see with the space shuttle from "The Big Bang Theory" and the Weasley's car from "Harry Potter".  

And who could resist having a photo taken on the actual set of "Friends"?

Being a "Big Bang Theory" fan, a little excitement was added to the tour when we caught a glimpse of Johnny Galecki (Leonard) and Kaley Cuoco (Penny) on a break from their table reading!

So it really was a great tour given by Megan, our tour guide. So if you want to see an actual working studio in LA, do Universal for the theme park experience and do Warner Bros for the studio experience.

After the studio tour, I took a trip to Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale. I wanted to pay my respects to some of my all-time favourite actors who have left us. The main actor I wanted to see who has left us is James Stewart. I am. A massive Jimmy Stewart fan. He was such a gentleman and a brilliant actor. So I visited his resting pace, which is next to his wife's (Gloria).

The flowers are from me. I felt I needed to give him a little something for giving me happiness. I also saw one of my other all-time favourite actors, Elizabeth Taylor. Her resting place was incredibly large! It shocked me how large it was! But I am glad it is because she deserves it. I was also lucky enough to go into the Garden of Memory, which is normally locked. This area contains some major old stars, such as Humphrey Bogart and the great Mary Pickford, who's grave is pictured below.

That night I went to see Russell Brand in his stand up at the Largo. This man's stand up is incredible. He is so quick-witted and very,very funny. I admire Russell Brand greatly for how far he has come and how open he is about his past. He knows everyone knows about it and he has nothing to hide. I have met Brand briefly in the past and he is really a lovely man.

It was great seeing him in such a small venue like the Largo. It only holds about 125 people and has a really great atmosphere. It was as though Brand was talking to each person individually in the audience. He was on stage for an hour and 50 minutes and it really was as though he was sitting with a bunch of friends. Fantastic night!