Tours Begin April 7th

It is just over a week away from opening day of the 2007 season for Boston Movie Tours. We just spent the day training some very talented new movie guides. Spent a good amount of time covering all the new The Departed locations including the new stop at the building where the climatic rooftop scene took place.

We also covered some of the new locations for Kevin Spacey's new 21 gambling movie. It is definitely going to be an exciting season.

The Next Good Will Hunting?

The world premiere of On Broadway will take place at the Boston’s Independent Film Festival in late April. Boston Magazie recently characterized local indie flick On Broadway as the next Good Will Hunting.

This indie film starring Joey McIntyre, Robert Wahlberg, Mike O'Malley and Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live is about a playwright who stages a production of his work in the back of an Irish pub.

Mark Wahlberg Attends Shooter Premiere in Boston

The premiere of at Shooter at Lowes Boston Common brought out all the best dressed folks in Boston. It may have helped that hometown boy Mark Wahlberg was in attendance to introduce the movie and host the after party at Felt. The nigh benefited the Mark Wahlberg Foundation. It was a great homecoming for Walberg after his Oscar Nomination for The Departed.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get close enough to Mark to grab a shot but here are some pics from the night.

PICS FROM PREMIERE

Shooter Review
3.5 out of 5 Stars

Shooter is Rambo circa 2007 where a retired sniper comes out of his cabin for one last mission (which that turns bad of course). Wahlberg shows he is a bona fide action star who carries the role like a pro. There is plenty of action and I loved all of the dialog about the art of a sniper. You could tell the filmmakers really did their homework.

On the downside, there were plenty of plot holes and some not-so great acting by some of the supporting cast. One of the main villains (toothpick guy) was just unbelievable from the start. And Danny Glover just did not fit in his role either. But if you need your fix of action, check it out.

Mark Wahlberg - From Shooter to Boxer

Mark Wahlberg is certainly one busy Boston guy. After coming a bit short on the Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Departed, Walhberg is out promoting his new Shooter movie coming out this Friday. On his Jay Leno appearance last night, Mark said it was one of the toughest physical roles he’s ever had.

Walberg also let us know he is training hard for an upcoming Boston area boxing movie with Matt Damon called The Fighter. The movie is base on the true life story of ''Irish'' Micky Ward's rise to the lightweight title. According to Variety, filming is due to start this summer.

Spring Break Brings Movies to Boston University

While the students are on the beach drinking Banana Daiquiris, Columbia Pictures is transforming Boston University into a Hollywood set for Kevin Spacey’s new movie, 21. Our guess is the campus will serve as a stand-in for MIT and some Las Vegas scenes. The movie is about the true life story of MIT whiz kids who developed a system for beating the Las Vegas odds.

If you are in the Kenmore Square area, you will probably notice all the film trucks lining the street. According BU Today, the film friendly Boston University is working with the studio while the students are away.

Both the School of Management and the College of Arts and Sciences are on the list.

Boston Film Location: Kevin Spacey at South Street Diner

The South Street Diner was center stage last Friday for Kevin Spacey’s new movie 21 starring Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne (Thanks DJ for the email).

The South Street Diner is a classic late night diner over in the South Station area. According to The Boston Herald, the nighttime film location set the stage for the stars to discuss their gambling strategy.

Will we add it to the Boston Movie Tour? Only time will tell. And thanks for the mention in the article.

Based on Ben Mezrich’s bestseller, “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions,” the movie began filming in late February 2007.

A Baby Meets The Departed

February 28th was a great day all around on a Boston Movie Tours front and on a personal side. First off, my wife and I gave birth to our 3rd child and future tour guide Katelyn. After traveling to the hospital at 7am, Katelyn was born about 12:45pm. All ten toes and fingers were in place.

Future Tour Guide. If you like baby pics, check em out here.

TIME FOR THE DEPARTED INTERVIEW

After the birth, I quickly scurried over to South Boston for a live interview with Fox 25 to discuss The Departed filming locations. There is nothing like shooting a live spot on Broadway Southie at rush hour with all the honking cars :).

The funny thing is we had planned this on the 27th and had all kinds of backup interview plans in place (Thanks Jeff Kalligeri). But the timing worked out perfectly. In the spirit of Matt Damon’s text messaging skills in The Departed, Melanie from Fox 25 and I were in contact most of the day via text messages. She probably knew about the baby sooner than most of my family. Everything went pretty well for the interview and looks like we’ll be setting something else up in April. Then it was back to the hospital.

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