The Karate Kid Apartment

One of my favorite movie trilogies of all time is the Karate Kid trilogy. I believe there's a fourth one but I think it's the one with Hilary Swank, which I have no interest in seeing. I used to do Karate moves in my living room thinking I was Daniel-Son.

In the beginning of the movie Daniel and his mom move from New Jersey out to sunny California in an area called Reseda. Reseda sits in the San Fernando Valley just below Northridge (which is where many scenes in the Karate Kid movies were filmed). It's amazing how similar the apartment building looks now compared to 1984 version we see in the movie.

Above is a look at the front of the building and below is a look along the east side of the building where Daniel gets chased down by those goons. Mr. Miyagi has to step in and whoop some ass. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth a quick trip to catch a glimpse of this Filming Spot favorite.

The apartment building is located at:
19223 Saticoy Street
Reseda, CA 91335

Fun Fact: About 8 miles east of this location in Van Nuys, also on Saticoy Street is The Office filming spot.

Do you wanna go do karate in the garage? The Step Brothers House

I remember howling in the theaters when I went and saw Step Brothers. I think I even saw it twice. And these days, with movie theater prices...forget about it.

Step Brothers is a hit comedy that matches two grown ass men up as stepbrothers when their parents get married. Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly collaborate to make one of the funniest movies of the 2000's (that just sounded weird). Should I have said the 00's?

The movie begins with Ferrell (Brennan) and his mother moving into Reilly's (Dale's) father's home. The two parents head inside and the two sons stand on the front lawn in a good ol' fashioned gunslinger showdown. "You can call me Dragon." "You can call me Night Hawk."

Dale's home is located just northeast of Pasadena in Altadena. The home looks the same today as it did in the movie aside from some subtle paint changes. Some of these locations get purposely altered after filming so they become less recognizable.

The boys begin to build a relationship in their own bizarre and unsettling way. We witness them moderately mature and start looking for jobs. Dressed in tuxedos because that is the standard for any interviewing candidate, Brennan and Dale hit the town. After a day full of rejection they start heading home. This filming spot is located in the city of South Pasadena. In fact, this specific location is filmed about one block down on the same street that the original Halloween was filmed where we see Jamie Lee Curtis crossing the street in the opening sequence. The Halloween post can be found here.

If you haven't seen Step Brothers in a while, I recommend pulling it off of your DVD rack, popping it in and getting a good laugh. Now you will know where two of the locations actually are and can even visit them yourself.

Dale's house is located at:
1987 Midwick Drive
Altadena, CA

The next location shows the boys walking south on Meridian Ave, specifically at:
Meridian Ave & Mission Street
South Pasadena, CA