hollywood, CA

vnguyen972

vnguyen972

Well-known member
I'll be driving to San Jose, CA from Dallas, TX this weekend for Springbreak (yes I'm taking the kids)... and planned to stop by LA to visit for a day... maybe checking out places in Hollywood... like The Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fames... any dvxuser in the area could suggest anything else? any tips? anything I should watch out for? so no surprises and make the best out of my day there :-) I was wondering because I've never been there.

Thanks so much!
 
Prepare to be disappointed. Hollywood is a hole. Sorry to be negative but I remember my first trip to Hollywood, I thought it would be so cool. Now that I have worked there for years, it is pretty depressing. If you can get on some working stages or studio lots, some of them are fun and have a sense of history but as a tourist on the street, Hollywood is an awful place.

If you want to see what LA really used to look like, drive through Hancock Park, that is old LA. Hollywood turned into a cesspool in the 70s and has never been the same since.

Dan
 
While I agree I was fairly disappointed with my first visit as a tourist, it's not as dirty/grungy as they say it once was...and West Hollywood/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica are nicer and not too far away. I suppose Hollywood Blvd and the Chinese theater are worth seeing once...it's not like anyone makes movies there now, though.
 
If you want a really memorable Hollywood visit, arrange a private tour at the Paramount lot. Infinitely superior to (albeit pricier than) the tram ride at Universal.

Yeah, Hollywood Boulevard is kind of discouragingly ticky-tacky-touristy. Really one of the least interesting places, in town.
 
I had a fun time, my first time, went with an actress on a ton of the lots... thats really the only way to enjoy it, visiting the lots.
 
I agree, the Paramount and Fox lots are the best if you can find a way on. Paramount is small, all of the buildings, at least the exteriors, are old school and immaculately maintained. You get a real sense of history there. I work on the Fox lot periodically and it too has some pretty cool little corners. The Newman Soundstage where they record the orchestras for a lot of features in particular is pretty amazing to see, I was lucky enough to work on the scoring sessions for Die Hard 4 and standing there in the middle of it was mind blowing. You forget what real musicians can do these days.

West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are the same as every other wealthy shopping mall in the world. I was in Paris last year, shooting on the Champs Elysees. Same thing as Beverly Hills, same stores, same people. Then in Cannes. Same stores, same people. Even Monte Carlo, same stores, same people. High Street, any big city in the UK, same old, same old. The Grove is just a big freaking shopping mall. Farmers Market still has a tiny bit of real texture left and some good eats. Sad thing is, people now travel from shopping mall to shopping mall all over the world, thinking that they are seeing "culture". A GAP or an H&M is the same in every country. An Apple Store is the same in every country. The three cities listed above are rich, mostly white or Persian and are generic. Nothing wrong with that if that is what you are into.

The real Hollywood is now in Burbank (Warner Bros and Disney) or Culver City (Sony) or Century City (Fox), Paramount is the only actual movie studio in Hollywood. Real LA would be getting some authentic food in east LA off of Atlantic Blvd. or buying some badly made toys in the Toy district downtown or at the wholesale places in Chinatown. Hiking trails up off of Coldwater. Riding the Blue Line to the Watts Towers. Drving around the industrial parts of Watts to that crazy area that looks like a small Mexican town, every sign is in Spanish, every store looks straight out of Guadalajara. The real parts of LA are mostly approximations of foreign countries.

As a life long Angleno, what most people think is Hollywood or LA is mostly shopping. There is a lot more to LA/Hollywood than shopping malls but you have to dig and root around for it and not be afraid to travel to some edgy areas.

Enjoy!

Dan
 
Hey, how about some love for Raleigh and Sunset-Gower and The Lot? They're real lots too, albeit smaller ones...
 
dotconnproductions said:
the warner brothers studio tour isn't that horrible expensive and way more interesting than the Universal.
Click to expand...

I love seeing the tours drive around at Warners, I take a stroll around the lot on my lunch break, so I am walking along with my Warner Brothers branded 24 ounce drink, and I pass four or five tours along the way. It's actually kinda cool. Universal isn't really a tour, they show you some of the backlot, but it's mostly attractions. The Warner tours seem pretty extensive, that and they pretty much drive everywhere.
 
Look, access is always an issue. Go to Universal Studios (yeah, it sucks, but you have access with no probs.) Then catch a "tour of the stars" to tie it together. Finally a nice dinner at a Hollywood Strip restaurant. The kids will love it, but you, well.....reality will set in.

Life is that way, just like Santa Claus. Parents should support it until it is is extinguished with the extinguisher of reality. Look have some fun, enjoy the opp to show your kids how it is done before they realize it. They will respect you for revealing the truth.

(As long as they are older than 3)
 
I haven't been to Hollywood since 2004 and I only live 20 minutes away.

Now that I'm a filmmaker, we shall cross paths again..
 
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