Tag: Hollywood

The Culver Hotel – Old Hollywood Glamour in Culver City – Los Angeles

You are ready for a night on the town, but you would like an upscale place so you can dress up like a real adult. A place with no cover, live jazz, great drinks, friendly bartenders and elegant, historical architecture, does such a place exist anymore? Yes, Virginia, it does. It’s the Lobby Bar at the Culver Hotel.

Music playing is an integral part of the Culver Hotel experience. As the evening begins, the hotel’s Grand Lobby transforms into jazzy supper club. Vintage armchairs, classic movie projections and up-and-coming artists help create an ambiance of old Hollywood and modern times helped along with handcrafted cocktails, tasty fare and musical pleasure. You can order a ‘Good Witch’ or a ‘Cucumber Mule’ cocktail while you sit back and enjoy different interpretations of Jazz, every evening of the week after 7:30 pm. Shared appetizers or a three course dinner are just an order away. (Culver Hotel)

Alternatively, If you are in the mood for something equally “Culver-esque” but with a more contemporary playlist, go past the lobby and up the stairs. You will find the Velvet Lounge reminiscent of a 1920’s ‘Speakeasy’ with a twist of Parisian boudoir. Chic and eclectic, dark and whimsical, The Velvet Lounge is open Thursday through Saturday after 8pm and offers plenty of secluded corners to enjoy a cocktail, wine or bottle service. (Culver Hotel)

TripAdvisor.com calls the Culver Hotel the # 1 Hotel in Culver City. The Lobby Bar is a popular place where 30 somethings and older like to hang out because of the atmosphere and the drinks. The price range for food is between $11 ane $30 per person. I would judge the food good, but not great. They do take reservations and have take-out available but do not do delivery. They accepts all major Credit Cards, and while the dress cord is casual, the ambiance is classy. There also is a wonderful outdoor patio which also features the full dinner menu and drinks. Valet parking is right outside, while there are city parking garages within a short walking distance.

HISTORY

The Culver Hotel is a national historical landmark in downtown Culver City, California. It was built by Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City, and opened on September 4, 1924, with local headlines announcing: “City packed with visitors for opening of Culver skyscraper.” Originally named Hotel Hunt, and later known as Culver City Hotel, the six-story Renaissance Revival building was designed by Curlett & Beelman, the architecture firm behind renowned Art Deco buildings throughout Los Angeles, including downtown Los Angeles’ Roosevelt and Eastern Columbia buildings. (Wikipedia)

But the hotel is most famous for its long and tangled history with Hollywood and its stars. Built in 1924, the property has also housed countless Hollywood legends over its 90-year history. And Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, and Clark Gable are just a few stars who actually maintained part-time residences at The Culver Hotel. Charlie Chaplin was even the owner for a while until, legend has it, he lost the property in a poker game to John Wayne. Dwight D. Eisenhower even had a campaign office in the hotel during his run for President in 1952. Modern celebrities who have stayed there include all 4 members of the boy band 98 Degrees, Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms, Countess Luann de Lesseps from Real Housewives of New York City. (Wikipedia)

The Culver Hotel may not be an A-list actor herself, but she has appeared in the background of close to 80 projects. The historic hotel has been used in The Wonder Years, Cougar Town, The Last Action Hero, Marvels Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and many more. Numerous television shows, movies or commercials shoot in and around Culver City, and the hotel’s exterior and interior have stood in as a street in London, an apartment in Barcelona, and a café in Paris. (Travel and Leisure)

During the 1960’s, the hotel began to decline and fall into disrepair. In the 1980s, it was boarded up for a time and at risk of demolition. In the 1990s, the hotel was partially restored and reopened, joining the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, but the Culver Hotel’s modern comeback truly began after a hotelier family bought the ailing property in 2007. Since 2007, the hotel’s entire plumbing and electrical systems have been upgraded, each of the guest rooms and public spaces have been redone, all 140 handmade windows in the guest rooms have been replaced, and the public spaces have been entirely re-imagined all the while maintaining the property’s architectural integrity. The flatiron-shaped building is next door to the historic Culver Studios and a few blocks from the former Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM), now Sony Pictures.

Casts from movies like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz stayed at the hotel during filming, including the more than 100 actors and actresses who played the Munchkins in the Oz film. (wikipedia) Which will lead to another column about the Culver and its notorious place in Hollywood history which earned it the nickname, the “Munchkin Hotel”.

Culver Hotel is a must see for Hollywood History, and a great nightspot in Los Angeles!

Hours For the Hotel

Mon 7:00 am – 12:00 am
Tue 7:00 am – 12:00 am
Wed 7:00 am – 12:00 am
Thu 7:00 am – 1:00 am
Fri 7:00 am – 2:00 am
Sat 7:00 am – 2:00 am
Sun 7:00 am – 12:00 am

 

Christmas at the Grove – LA

Looking for somewhere different to spend the pre-Christmas or post Holiday time. Consider the destination mall, the Grove. The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, California, built, owned, and operated by Rick J. Caruso and his company Caruso Affiliated on parts of the historical Farmers Market. (Wikipedia)

TripAdvisor. com lists the Grove Mall as the #17 thing to do in LA out of 506.

The Grove features a large center park with an animated fountain designed by WET. Its music-fountain show plays every hour, though the feature has a non-musical program in between shows. The water’s choreography is reminiscent of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas—also designed by WET—but on a much smaller scale. (Wikipedia)

The property also has a statue, The Spirit of Los Angeles. Live shows are often performed there – on the grassy area by the fountains. (Wikipedia)

The Grove is adjacent to the iconic Farmers Market and is a modern contrast to the homey historic market and it’s collection of lower end stores and common eating places. By contrast, The Grove is a collection of elite establishments, including Nordstrom’s, Apple, Coach, Nike, and others among some very nice and swanky restaurants.

At Christmas time, the Grove becomes a beautiful place to hang out with thousand of decorations including the Grove Christmas Tree. Usually up to 100 feet or more, it is the tallest Christmas tree in the city of Los Angeles. The tree is lit every evening starting in November, beginning with their annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. The tree remains lit every evening for the remainder of the holiday season.

During the holiday shopping season, fake snow is produced periodically every evening. The mall also features an elaborately parkway with a giant Santa House where you can tell the old man what your secret wish is. There are loudspeakers playing non-stop Christmas carols, free live music in the street, and the double-decker trolley ride. An internal transit system uses electric-powered trolley cars to link The Grove and the adjacent Farmers Market with a nice 3 minute ride. It is great fun for kids, and kids at heart. In truth it is a great area for all ages with its good shopping area and eating facilities.

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rogue One Premiere – The Night Before

Los Angeles is a very famous city and the most famous part of LA is Hollywood. The Movies and their premieres are a huge business here in Tinseltown. Disney just blocked off Hollywood Blvd. and part of Cahuenga for a huge Hollywood premiere party, the opening of Rogue One, A Star Wars Story. Two streets are blocked off, there is a full size x-wing fighter in the middle of Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Pantages Theatre, and there are huge tents that cover an entire block of street for all the celebs to arrive and mingle with each other.

The Pantages is a 2700+ seat live theatre that Disney has rented and put in a state of the art projection and sound system.  And this is the holiday event of the Christmas season for Disney.

I was up on Hollywood Blvd. on Friday night and the photos that follow are what I saw. The party tents and the red carpet and the X-Wing Fighter take up two blocks on Hollywood Blvd.

They do everything big for the Movies in Hollywood.

May the Force be with you!

Doctor Strange – Journey into Philosophy

So a movie can be a trip or journey of the mind, and last night, I went to see a sneak preview of Dr. Strange, the newest Marvel movie from Disney. It was truly an amazing film on so many different levels. Yet, the most astonishing thing about the film was the deep philosophical bent that the movie had. Nothing amazingly profound, mostly every day statements that you can read on Facebook or hear your yoga practicing friend tell you over coffee/chai. But this is deep stuff for a comic book movie, and it gives the film characters footing as they go about their missions of good and evil.

Visually, the movie is stunning, and the acting matches the visual effects. The main cast of Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, and Mads Mikkelsen are excellent in their various roles which are not just typical good guys and bad guys. The story is deep and all the characters are interwoven in complex ways that make this much more than your basic Superhero movie. I will not bore you with the details of the plot except to say that it is worth your time and money.

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My connection to Marvel comics and films is long and personal. It started over 50 years ago when the oldest son of my father’s business partner gave his comic collection filled with DC and Marvel comics to me. I fell for the Marvel stories and humor and realistic life problems that those characters had much more than the black and white view of the world that DC seem to have. Plus I had most of the Silver Age comics in first editions. Hulk, Thor, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Avengers and so many other characters were to become my friends and companions. I had problems focusing on reading so those comics got me reading – which is my great passion to this day. Because my family moved so many times when I was young, a shy kid in a new town turned to the escape and adventure that these heroes and stories offered.

I saved my comics for years. My collection was filled with premiere issues, and I kept them in pretty good shape. But my collection was not stored in plastic to never be read. Mine were constantly read and re-read, so they were in only fair condition. Yet, in a time of financial hardship, I was able to sell them and they provided me with the funds to survive for a couple of months.

Later, I would appear in a Marvel film as an actor. My lines and scene ended up on the cutting room floor as they say, but if you are quick and know where to look you will see half my face in a crowd scene for about one second. And even that little amount was a total thrill.

So I am biased for Marvel vs other comic franchises, but the proof is in the movies themselves. Marvel’s characters, no matter how far fetched they may seem, they still have real daily problems like how to pay the rent or problems at school. While DC comics and their characters never seemed like they changed clothes, went to the bathroom or had acne. Marvel had humor and depth, DC was bad/good, black/white with nothing in-between which led to boring most times.

That still plays out in the humor and interesting characters of Marvel films and the dark, depressing nature of the current slate of DC based films. It all goes back to the source material and a sense of real life (in a really made up world).

Go see Dr. Strange!! It will entertain you and maybe (just maybe) nudge you to think about something in your own life. You cannot ask more from a movie than that!