Big Screen Boston Excerpt

Paul Sherman just sent us an excerpt of his new book on Boston movies called Big Screen Boston. This Boston Movie Tours exclusive is available for your reading pleasure. Click here to download the excerpt.

If you think we are crazy about Boston filming, you have to meet Paul – or you can buy his book. A film critic, Paul knows Boston movies like the back of his hand. Paul's book is a “must have” book for any proud Bostonian.

For the 2008 season, corporate and family groups can purchase the tour deluxe combo complete with Big Screen Boston to remember the Boston movie experience. Feel free to ask about this package when booking you group experience. Get more information on our Group page.

Or visit BigScreenBoston.com for information about purchasing the book.

Boston Movie Tours in the Media

Just last week, Boston Movie Tours was lucky enough to have reporter Joann Klimkiewicz from Connecticut paper, The Hartford Courant on the Boston Movie Mile walking tour. She was nice enough to put an article about her experience in the paper. This is what she said.

"Now more than ever, we need a break — an occasional respite from our everyday lives. Yes, a "daycation" — a day spent away from the office or job site, and away from chores, just to relax and play. Once again this summer, we are taking one day a week to suggest a nearby escape. Enjoy!

EXCERPT....

BOSTON — Our tour guide is about to give us the scoop on John Kerry's 12-room townhouse, here at the corner of the city's tony Louisburg Square, when a gray head pops out from the Democratic senator's ground-floor window, flashing a watering can and a smile."Hello," she says in our direction, tilting the can over a row of windowsill flowers.We wave awkwardly to this woman we don't recognize but know for sure is not Teresa Heinz Kerry. Shucks. And then the wobbly, broken window screen slams down.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

SAG Strike, Fact or Fiction?????

There has been a rumor of a strike among the actors of Hollywood for quite some time now. However, a strike does not seem to be in the best interest of the town and of the actors themselves. Even now, five months after the screenwriters settled their strike in February, Hollywood is still recovering. Reuter's reported that even the stars seem skeptical of the strike. Actors like Ted Danson and Kevin Spacey reveal their feelings towards the possible strike. Danson even said "I am a union man, but I hope for the sake of the town that we do not have a strike, that this is settled. The town is hurting way too much as a result of the writers strike. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

Spacey, nominated for his lead role in HBO's "Recount," said SAG members could renegotiate sticking points in another three years. "But right now, let's get back to work,"
According to Reuters, If the issues are DVD and new media, no one's going to be making billions of dollars in new media in the next three years, the reluctance of the celebrities make things seem positive in hope that there will be no strike. However, things are still up in the air. As viewers all we can do hope that there is no strike and that the various celebrities will keep me and the rest of their fans in mind when they make their decision.

Maybe this is a good time to pick out a show you've been meaning to pirate- I mean rent- and watch from the beginning.

Keep your fingers crossed, TV land!

Movie Studios hit Plymouth Again

Do you like to golf in Plymouth? If Waverly Oaks is your course, you may need to find another club.

In the latest developments to bring a major film studio to Massachusetts, Plymouth Rock Studios has agreed to buy Waverly Oaks golf course for movie studio project. If approved, the project is expected to bring hundreds of new jobs to the area and expand Massachusetts' footprint in the movie making business.

For some background, Plymouth Rock Studios is a $422 million, 1,260,000 square foot campus planned by renowned former Paramount Studio head Earl Lestz, former Paramount Pictures President David Kirkpatrick and the international architecture firm of Gensler Associates among others.

Get complete details on the Patriot Ledger or Plymouth Rock Studios sites.

It's a Wrap for Ashecliffe

It is time to say goodbye to the Leo watch it Boston. Last week, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese wrapped up the four month shooting of Ashecliffe, a crime drama based on the Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island. In addition to DiCaprio, the movie also stars Mark Ruffalo.

The movie has filmed throughout Massachusetts including Whittenton Mills in Taunton, the Crane Estate, Nahant, East Boston, Hyde Park and the Boston Harbor Islands.

According to the Boston Herald’s Inside Track, the last scenes were shot in the North End at the Waterfront Cafe on Commercial Street. There were also some childhood stickball scene shots up the street.

Look for the movie's release in 2009.

Bruce Willis Makes Waves in Mass!

It's true that as far as gossip and juicy stories go, Boston has been spoiled the past few months with seven films shooting in and around the city, but now with a possible Screen Actor's Guild strike looming, movie production is starting to slow dramatically. That means for the sake of this blog, I've got to dig a little deeper for Hollywood tidbits. Apparently, so do the news outlets, because the following story seems to be making a big deal.

Maybe Surrogates star, Bruce Willis, is just that big of a deal that something as simple as observing a cell phone conversation makes the news.

This week, Bruce and the rest of the cast headed down to Hopedale, MA to film some scenes for the upcoming sci-fi flick, The Surrogates. To get to the location, bright yellow signs marked "VSI" (Boston Herald reports this is shorthand for something in the script) left a breadcrumb-esque trail, and neighboring town, Milford, was not having it. In fact, a town official even said the sign trail "uglies up the town.”

And this story made the Milford Daily News.

Please, SAG, don't strike. We need some good gossip!

But that's not all, folks! Just last week, Willis and the gang were shooting in the Back Bay area of Boston. When a crew member accidentally gave a car coming from a garage the "okay" to pull out, Bruce was almost hit. He then lashed out on the poor crew member saying he didn't have time for this. However, just a few minutes later, Mr. Die Hard was walking past the garage entrance again, when his cell phone rang. He stopped everything, answered it and proceeded to gab for such a long time that he even requested a chair to sit in! Which of course begs the question: Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?