Hollywood II

 Where to begin? Well, if you enlarge and squint you should be able to spot the obvious iconic sign….

 Hollywood

 Literally a stone’s throw from the hotel was Hollywood Boulevard. To be honest, the place is actually fairly run down, with a generous contingent of homeless people. It’s mostly populated by tacky souvenir shops, tattoo parlors, strip joints and dodgy bars.

 I loved it.

 Seriously, it was a world apart from the airbrushed and sterile mall areas that we also visited, I prefer a place that has character god-damn it, even if that character is a two dollar crack whore named ‘Chantelle’….

Obligatory photos of the stars imprints outside the Chinese Theatre above. I went for photos of Golden Age Hollywood stars, rather than your Tom Hanks and Jim Carreys…

Here is a vaguely dull street corner, but this is where Paramount Studios was first set-up in 1912 and was the site where Cecil B DeMille shot the widely accepted first Hollywood ‘movie’ (e.g not a mere two reeler) ‘The Squaw Man‘. Next is the famous Hollywood Fitness Club  where the likes of David Niven and Errol Flynn held legendary parties back in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

First picture was taken just outside the hotel. Second picture is of the famous ‘Crossroads of the World‘ which crops up in ‘LA Confidential‘ (about 30 seconds in)….

Downtown LA

There wasn’t actually a great deal to see in the downtown area, at least not of specific interest to me. The first port of call however was the aforementioned Bradbury Building – a location for pictures such as ‘Citizen Kane’ and of course, ‘Blade Runner’. Across the street at the Million Dollar Theatre was another location for ‘Blade Runner’ – you know, the bit where Pris first meets Sebastian? Yeah, that’s right, that bit…..  

Here is the Parker Centre, the home of the LAPD and site of numerous film and TV shoots. More to follow.

I have been keeping up with my cinema visits since returning, I just don’t have time to post full on reviews. I caught ‘Zodiac‘ a couple of weeks ago which was slightly disappointing. After the genius of ‘Fight Club‘ any new Fincher film is an event, and whilst it was a quite effective and occasionally creepy procedural thriller, it’s ultimately hamstrung by being based on real events – I’ll say no more to avoid spoilers. Robert Downey Jr. delivers a unsurprisingly effective performance as a obsessed alcoholic. Hmm, must have been quite a stretch for him….

 Last weekend I caught ‘Oceans 13‘ – the weakest of the three. It’s got it’s moments, and some of the camaraderie and style that graced the previous efforts are present, but the plot itself is weak and Pacino is wasted. I think I’m one of the only human beings who genuinely enjoyed ‘Oceans 12‘ (or the smuggest film in history as it’s known) and loved the first instalment, so it’s a shame to finish on a low.

June 12, 2007 | Categories: Film | Leave a comment