Cop Comedy Coming to a Mall Near You!

Coming to a mall near you! New England native Adam Sandler is co-producing Mall Cop, a comedy about a security guard trying to stop a group of crooks who take over a mall.

According to the Boston Herald, the Boston area is the chosen location and shooting is set to begin next month. Kevin James from Hitch and The King of Queens co-wrote the comedy and is set to star.

Mall Cop reunites James and Sandler who recently worked on I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry.

Record Filming in Massachusetts

Hollywood in the hub is giving Boston that loving feeling.

According to a recent Yahoo article, movie making in Massachusetts is up over 150% from 2006 according to Nicholas Paleologos, executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office. Filmmakers have spent approximately $125 million in Massachusetts filming nine major productions including The Woman, Pink Panther 2 and The Lonely Maiden.

And pending resolution of the writer's strike, 2009 looks to be just as promising highlighted by a new Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio crime drama Shutter Island. Filming is due to begin in the spring of 2008.

Read the full Yahoo Article
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071221/film_nm/massachusetts_dc

Gone Baby Gone is In!

The Golden Globe(R) nominations were announced yesterday and Boston is well represented with at least six nominations depending on how you want to count them.

Gone Baby Gone
Our prediction of Amy Ryan earning a Best Supporting Actress nod was dead on.

In Gone Baby Gone, Ryan's character seems like she is straight from the streets of Dorchester. Her Boston accent and portrayal of a down-on-her-luck mom is as authentic as it gets. If there is one nomination that picks up the hardware, this is the one we are rooting for.

Some other notable Boston nominations...

• Local Casey Affleck was a long shot for a nomination for Gone Baby Gone but he did get a nod as Best Supporting Actor for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. How about them apples?
  

• Best Picture. Partially filmed in Boston, The Great Debaters with Denzel Washington earned a nomination.
  

• BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL. Inspired by life of Boston local Mark Wahlberg, ENTOURAGE is HBO's new staple replacing The Sopranos as a "must see." Wahlberg is also the Executive Producer.

• Boston Legal earned a nod with William Shatner picking up a nomination for BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION.
  

• Local funnyman Steve Carell got on the nomination board for the hit NBC show The Office. Carell grew up just outside Boston in the Acton/Concord area. The official nomination....BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL.

Southie Sees More Filming this Past Thurs

The movie trucks were setup all along I Street in Southie on Thursday. As we were on tour, we could not not tell exactly where they were shooting but The Quencher Tavern was in the center of activity.

Our best guess is the movie was Real Men Cry with Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet and Donnie Wahlberg. Real Men Cry has been filming all over Southie on a daily basis.

And if the filmmakers were using The Quencher Tavern, it wouldn't be a coincidence. The Quencher Tavern was used in the 1998 local gangster classic Southie. That movie also starred Peet, Wahlberg and South Boston native Brian Goodman who is directing the current flick.

Scorsese and DiCaprio Team Up Again

What happens when you mix The Departed with Mystic River? You get another potential Boston blockbuster.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are teaming up on another Boston crime drama called Shutter Island. They originally teamed up on the award winning The Departed. Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kinsley have also joined the cast.

Shutter Island is base on a book by local author Dennis Lehane (Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone). Set in the 1950s, Shutter Island follows the stories of two United States Marshals (Ruffalo and DiCaprio) who investigate a mental patient’s disappearance on a Boston area island. They uncover that nothing is quite what it seems on this mysterious island.

According to the Inside Track, Scorsese was in Boston the other day scouting locations. Keep your eyes out. Shooting is scheduled to begin in March.

Hollywood Hits Boston.tv's The Beat

All this week, Boston movie expert Jeff Coveney is hosting The Beat. Check back daily for updates for visit boston.tv.

Behind-the-Scenes Photos from Boston Music Awards

This past Saturday night, the 20^th annual Boston Music Awards took place at the Orpheum. Highlighting the bill was rock band Extreme and local Bobby Brown, who was inducted into the BMA Hall of Fame.

The pre-party was held right next door at the offices of Dream Alley Pictures and Boston Movie Tours. The highlight of my night was talking baseball with ESPN baseball guru Peter Gammons. Asking him questions about the Red Sox and their chances of obtaining Johan Santana was like watching a personalized version of Baseball Tonight.

Miss Massachusetts was also on hand along with a number of the acts. The night benefited the charity Music Drives Us, founded by Ernie Boch Jr. who was also part of the show.

Check out some of the photos

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