Brother embezzles $10 million from Dane Cook

Darryl McCauley, manager and brother of Boston-bred comic and film star Dane Cook, was arraigned in Woburn District court today charged with stealing millions of dollars from the "national entertainer with local ties" over a year and a half period since July 2007.

The 43-year-old Wilmington man is charged with embezzling more than $10 million in a series of thefts.

"None of these moves were authorized by Mr. Cook," assistant attorney general Richard D. Grundy tells Woburn District Court.

McCauley, 43, who has been in charge of his half-brother's finances since the 1990s at Cook's company Great Dane Enterprises, allegedly forged a $3 million check at the Bank of America branch located at 100 Federal Street in the Financial District and transferred money from Cook's account to his account without permission.

The Attorney General's office launched an investigation two weeks before his arrest yesterday, Dec. 30.

According to a release here, McCauley was arrested yesterday in Wilmington and stored $800,000 in cash at his other residence in Maine. He was charged with two counts of larceny over $250, forgery and larceny by continuous scheme.

McCauley, according to a report here, has been Cook's go-to man for years. It seems that the older bro was the comic's boss back in the day when he worked at Burger King.

Cook, 36, who grew up in Arlington, was last spotted in Boston on Wednesday, Sept. 17 promoting his made-in-Boston flick, "My Best Friend's Girl."

McCauley, who pleaded not guilty, was ordered to surrender his passport and held on $3 million bail. He's still in custody and scheduled to return to court Thursday, Jan. 15.

Click here for the lowdown.

Lindsay Lohan's gal pal Sam Ronson spins in Boston

Lindsay Lohan's gal pal, DJ Sam Ronson, is slotted to spin on Wednesday, Jan. 21 for the Winter White Party at The Estate, 1 Boylston Place.

Click here for the lowdown. Tickets are $20 a pop.

Ronson was last seen jetting off to Miami with her crimson-haired girlfriend on Dec. 29 in preparation for their big New Year's Eve bash sponsored by SoBe Lifewater at Miami's Mansion.

No word if Lohan will make the trek to Boston on Jan. 21 to stand by her DJ. Based on her last blog post on Dec. 24 here, Lohan says she's "still going through a lot right now."

Then the infamous Lohan drops a bomb. "My father just let my family and I know, amongst others, that he had another child after my little sister Aliana, or maybe he had it before Aliana? Either way, he cheated on my mother and that really sucks," she writes.

Click here for the details on Ronson's upcoming event at The Estate.

UPDATE: Lohan is now scheduled to host the event with Ronson on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

Ryan Schulteis comes out in Boston Spirit Magazine

Move over Randy Price. There's a new TV gay in town. Ryan Schulteis, a general assignment reporter with WHDH's 7News and my latest on-air crush (sorry Anderson Cooper), comes out in the upcoming January/February edition of Boston Spirit Magazine.

Scott Kearnan, a former colleague of mine at EDGE and the current arts editor at Bay Windows, interviews Schulteis for the GLBT magazine's spotlight on Boston's gay media.

In the feature story, Schulteis chats with Kearnan about recently coming out to his family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kearnan also talks with a handful of other openly gay media types including the Boston Globe's Johnny Diaz and Emily Sweeney and, of course, long-time gay trailblazer and WHDH anchorman Price.

For the record, I'm slotted to write a GLBT travel piece for an upcoming edition of Boston Spirit Magazine.

Click here for the lowdown on Schulteis.

Schulteis photo courtesy WHDH.com

'Code of Silence' flick shoots for Michael Madsen

Mike O'Dea, a Boston-based writer and actor who earned regional ink back in 2007 while shooting his low-budget flick "Townies," has approached actor Michael Madsen's reps for the mob boss role of "Fitz" in the upcoming made-in-Boston flick "Code of Silence."

"There are only several famous actors in the business that can pull off this specific role and Madsen is one of them," O'Dea writes here. "I guarantee you if Michael Madsen is cast in the film you will see nothing less than a Oscar-worthy performance."

Based on the YouTube film "Townies," the full-length feature is ... no surprise here ... part of an Irish mob trilogy slotted to be shot during a four-week stint in Somerville beginning on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 2009.

According to IMDB here, O'Dea moved the setting of the film from Charlestown to Somerville to avoid any confusion with Ben Affleck's upcoming flick "The Town" and Donnie Wahlberg's currently-in-production pilot for TNT called "Bunker Hill."

O'Dea, who recently signed a deal with Michael Z. Gordon of My Own Worst Enemy Productions, also changed the film's online domain from TheMostRealisticMobMovieEver.com to COSTrilogy.com because ... well ... "it's shorter" and "easy to remember." Go figure.

Click here for the latest on "Code of Silence."

Dane Cook's brother allegedly robs him blind

Darryl McCauley, manager and brother of Boston-bred comic and film star Dane Cook, was arrested today in connection with stealing millions of dollars from the "national entertainer with local ties" over a year and a half period since July 2007.

McCauley, 43, who has been in charge of his half-brother's finances since the 1990s at Cook's company Great Dane Enterprises, allegedly forged a $3 million check and transferred money from Cook's account to his account without permission.

The Attorney General's office launched an investigation two weeks before his arrest today, Dec. 30.

According to a release here, McCauley was arrested this afternoon in Wilmington and is expected to be arraigned tomorrow morning, Wednesday, Dec. 31, at the Woburn District Court. He was charged with two counts of larceny over $250, forgery and larceny by continuous scheme.

McCauley, according to a report here, has been Cook's go-to man for years. It seems that the older bro was the comic's boss back in the day when he worked at Burger King.

Cook, 36, who grew up in Arlington, was last spotted in Boston on Wednesday, Sept. 17 promoting his made-in-Boston flick, "My Best Friend's Girl."

Click here for the lowdown.

More made-in-Boston mob movies from Scorsese?

Remember the story about Graham King's GK Films, recently in town shooting the Mel Gibson flick "Edge of Darkness," snagging the rights to John Martorano's life story? You know, the blood-driven hit man behind James "Whitey" Bulger's Boston-based Winter Hill Gang?

Well, the latest from the Herald here is that "The Departed" filmmaker Martin Scorsese met with Martorano separately at an Italian restaurant in the Back Bay while filming "Shutter Island" to lock down the rights to the hit man's story. If the flick is greenlit, North Shore writer and Oscar winner for "The Departed," William Monahan, will write the script.

Martorano, who murdered more than 20 people over a decade, was released from prison in 2007 after serving 12 years and two months.

Oversaturation of gang-related movies in Boston? Click here for Loaded Gun's take on the debate. And here for the backstory on the Martorano scoop.

Copley Square Hotel re-opens on New Year's Eve

The Copley Square Hotel plans to unveil its new urban-chic look on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 after a $17 million facelift.

The historic hotel's initial re-launch date was postponed from Summer 2008 to Nov. 11 to New Year's Eve after mandatory city inspections held up the renovations kicking off more than one year ago on January 24, 2008.

At this contemporary boutique hotel, guests will enjoy top-tier accommodations at a lower rate all within walking distance of many of the Boston's more popular restaurants, nightspots, shopping and attractions

Also, the revamped hotel boasts a new martini bar, formerly Domani Bar & Trattoria, called Minibar. Inspired by lounges at the W Hotels and Miami's Delano, designer/architect Stephen Sousa's Minibar boasts modern design elements including a black-and-metallic color motif and gray-leather seating surrounding a minimalist U-shaped bar area.

Click here for the lowdown.

Tom Brady pops the question to Gisele Bündchen?

En route on a private jet from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport to Boston's Logan, injured New England Patriots QB Tom Brady reportedly popped the question to Victoria's Secret model Gisele Bündchen on Christmas Eve.

Also on board were Bündchen's parents, four dozen white roses and champagne, according to TMZ.com.

Her answer? The Victoria’s Secret runway model reportedly said yes.

Brady and Bündchen have both made headlines with previous high-profile break-ups. Bündchen's ex, Leonardo DiCaprio, is slotted to return to Boston in January to finish shooting scenes for Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" and Brady's baby mama, Bridget Moynahan, is currently in town shooting "Bunker Hill," a TV pilot for TNT starring NKOTB Donnie Wahlberg.

UPDATE: According to the Boston Herald here, Bündchen was sans ring or "bridal bling" (as they word it) during a hand-in-hand trek down Beacon Street on Friday, Dec. 26. Gisele's twin sister, Patricia, says via e-mail that the TMZ story isn't true. And a source close to Brady also denied the engagement.

Also, Brady's ex Moynahan was spotted at the Four Season's Bristol Lounge on Thursday, Dec. 25.

Boston-area boys represent on MTV's 'Bromance'

As previously mentioned in Loaded Gun, casting directors from executive producer Ryan Seacrest's camp were cruising Boston's Ned Devine's at Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall searching for some fresh meat for Brody Jenner's new MTV project "Bromance."

Luke Verge, a self-described "designated party animal" and 24-year-old substitute elementary school teacher originally from Medford currently living in Las Vegas made the cut. So did 24-year-old Mattapoisett resident Gary Vaughn (pictured above).

Verge explains on his IAmOnMTV blog that he attended the "Bromance" casting call on a whim.

"I went with one of my buddies to the first casting call and someone canceled so they asked me to do an interview so I did. Looking back on it, probably one of the best accidents I've ever made," Verge gushes. "I got to meet great people and made some great friendships along the way."

Vaughn dispels any rumors that "Bromance" involves some reportedly awkward guy-on-guy action in a hot tub.

"I'm a dancer and yes I'm straight. I know it's hard to believe, but believe it. I've been dancing for 22 years now, and will continue to do so for many years to come. I'm also a teacher and choreographer."

"Bromance" premieres 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29 on MTV.

Trail named after Daniel Yakovleff in Ashford, CT

I'm rarely moved to tears by a newspaper column these days but Peter Marteka's feature on Daniel Yakovleff's father, Nord, and his quest to memorialize his 20-year-old son in today's Hartford Courant hit me on a deeply emotional level.

As many of my readers know, Yakovleff was brutally murdered in a Savin Hill apartment in Dorchester last January and his alleged killer, Steven Odegard, who he met at the Eagle bar in the South End is currently incarcerated awaiting trial scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 5.

In the piece "Memories of a Beloved Son," Marteka follows the grieving father down a snowy trail through Ashford's Josias Byles Sanctuary.

According to the column:

"In November, using the more than $4,000 donated to the trust in Daniel's memory, a trail was named in his honor. A plaque where the preserve's main trail splits off bears Daniel's name along with his birth and death dates. It was placed on a huge boulder Nord Yakovleff brought from the neighboring Boy Scout camp property."

Click here for Marteka's beautifully written column and here for the backstory on the Yakovleff investigation.

Donnie Wahlberg on the set of TNT's 'Bunker Hill'

Dorchester native and "Bunker Hill" actor Donnie Wahlberg dispels rumors to his fans via video on NKOTB.com concerning his future with the New Kids on the Block.

"I'm having a really great time acting and it's led to some questions folks about whether I'm going to make it back on the road again," Wahlberg dramatically emotes. "It's been really tough thinking about it. I really hate to break the news to you guys this way. After much deliberation and support from my friends and colleagues and much heartfelt soul searching. . ."

Wahlberg is filming the video while on set of "Bunker Hill," the made-in-Charlestown TV pilot for TNT where he plays Mike Moriarty, a Boston cop determined to protect the streets he grew up on from crime and corruption. The native also acts and shares writing credits in the made-in-Southie flick "What Doesn't Kill You" which hit the silver screen in NYC and LA.

After a dramatic pause, Wahlberg spills the beans to an adoring crew of NKOTB fans gathered in his, um, luxurious back-stage trailer. "In 2009, we'll be coming back for more face time!"

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Scott Herman makes MTV 'Real World' cast of 8

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, local 24-year-old gym rat Scott Herman snagged a spot on "The Real World: Brooklyn" slotted for the boob tube Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 10 p.m.

The former personal trainer turned wannabe actor/model from Salem, N.H. and Lawrence, MA rounds out the cast of eight (yes, my sources in NYC say this is the first season MTV deviates from its cast of seven strangers formula) with his "award-winning abs," which were featured in Men’s Health magazine.

Herman spent four months in a converted warehouse (the house boasts a front-yard beach) in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook. The homegrown hottie is currently living in NYC where he's pursuing his modeling career and plans to launch his own fitness Web site, scotthermanfitness.com.

For those looking for "the goods" on Herman, online gay pub Queerty has a revealing photo collection here.

Also, click here to learn more about my unhealthy obsession with reality TV.

Boston ranks No. 8 on most literate cities list

Boston ranks No. 8 on a list of America's most literate cities, according to an annual study examining the "culture and resources for reading" in the nation's largest metro areas.

Moving up two notches from 2007, the Hub ranks below top-rated urban enclaves Minneapolis and Seattle (tying for the No. 1 slot) in a survey analyzing six key indicators of literacy including newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and Internet resources.

The findings from Central Connecticut State University focuses on cities with populations of 250,000 or more and come at time when Boston-area newspaper circulations are declining.

Click here for the study.

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

“There were no real challenges to filming in Boston. Except for the fact we had no money. With a zero budget you have to be a real good beggar. I learned something about myself: I’m an A-plus beggar.”

--Jeff Kerr jokes to the Patriot Ledger about filming “The Child King” in Boston, a holiday story that follows two brothers upset over the recent death of their mother who set out to find proof that Santa Claus is real.

"He is arguably — I'm not saying everyone would accept this — the most influential writer who was ever born in Boston, and we should celebrate it."

--Paul Lewis, an English professor at Boston College, tells USA Today why he plans to duke it out for bragging rights to Edgar Allen Poe's geographic legacy at "The Great Poe Debate" held at the Philadelphia Free Library on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

“Things will happen very quickly.”

--Robert Papazian, one of ISG’s principals and a Belmont native, says about his plans to transform the Weymouth Naval Air Station into a $100 million multi-use film complex called SouthField Studios.

"This documentary is a provocative exploration into hyper-masculinity focusing on the behaviors and attitudes of the dominant gay male. It seeks to reveal the traits gay men find sexually exciting and the principals of gay male sexual attraction."

--Casting call from a Boston-based documentary filmmaker looking for candid interviews with gay men who have something to say about their sexuality and masculine behavior for a film called "The Cult of Masculinity."

"Four gallons inadvertently spilled onto the ground. They disinfected it and cleaned it up. It didn't appear anything of ours was impacted; it doesn't pose any problems to our system."

--Rockport's public works director Joseph Parisi tells the Gloucester Daily Times that the septic company responsible for cleaning up the portable toilets for the cast and crew of "Hatteras Hotel" accidentally dumped four gallons of sewage near the film's set.

ANTM's CariDee English takes it off at The Estate

Local fans of Tyra Banks' "America's Next Top Model" have a reason to jump for joy this holiday season. Why? Model CariDee English is slotted to host a lingerie fashion show at The Estate right before the ball drops at midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 31.

For a mere $100 for VIP admission, fans of the buxom blonde from Fargo, North Dakota can sip champagne, nibble on hors d'oeuvres and chat with the Cycle 7 winner of "ANTM." The New Year's Eve event kicks off at 10 p.m. General admission is $75.

English, who made an appearance at the WHDH-sponsored Boston Health & Fitness Expo back in 2007 to talk about her lifetime struggle with psoriasis, is slotted to host and produce a show on MTV scheduled to begin shooting in April 2009.

Click here for the lowdown.

Regional 'Happy Holidays' movie hits iTunes

Emerson grad James C. Ferguson's low-budget, black-and-white indie flick "Happy Holidays" hits iTunes in early January or, as Apple calls it "gift card month."

Shot in East Greenwich, Rhode Island for $150,00 over 14 days in 2006, "Happy Holidays" tells the story of three guys in their 30s who reunite in their New England hometown for the first time since high school.

It's the week before Christmas and, as the movie's tagline goes, ""An Athiest, a Catholic and a Jew walk into a bar..." Oh, there's a gay character as well which results in a holiday-themed comedy of errors.

The film's main actors, John Crye and Paul Hungerford, are old pals from Ferguson's Emerson years. The third, Thomas Rhoads, is a Temple grad but hung out with the Emerson crew back in the day.

Click here for the latest on "Happy Holidays" the movie.

DailyCandy announces Sweetest Things nominees

It's award season over at DailyCandy.com where they pick their fave designers, chefs, bakers, butchers and candlestick makers from 2008.

Nominees from Boston were announced yesterday and their list includes a motley crew of up-and-comers including chef Michael Leviton from Persephone, Tony Maws from Craigie on Main and the staff from Cambridge's Hungry Mother.

DailyCandy also has an "advice" category featuring Joe LaRoche from Metrosexual Movers, Meg Birnbaum from Meg Birnbaum Photography and John LaRoche from BlueGuava's new downtown floral studio.

Readers can vote for their favorites until Jan. 16. Click here for the lowdown.

'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' new trailer unveiled

Co-produced by New England native Adam Sandler, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is a comedy starring Kevin James that follows a security guard trying to stop a group of organized crooks who take over a mall.

The newly released trailer above goes into Blart's dream of becoming a member of the New Jersey State Police but fails miserably when he falls asleep during an obstacle course test.

While the movie is set at the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall in New Jersey, a majority of the film was on location at the Burlington Mall in Mass. with additional scenes shot on Centre Street in West Roxbury and South Shore Plaza in Braintree.

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is slotted for release Jan. 16, 2009.

Click here for more information.

Crap hits the set of 'Hatteras Hotel' in Rockport

Crap literally hit the streets of Rockport last week during the final few days of filming of the indie flick "Hatteras Hotel."

According to a report in the Gloucester Daily Times, a septic company responsible for cleaning up the portable toilets for the cast and crew of "Hatteras Hotel" accidentally dumped four gallons of sewage on Monday, Dec. 15 onto Phillips Avenue near the film's set in Rockport.

Of course, the public works director says it cleaned up the mess and disinfected the area.

The made-in-Mass. film stars "Prison Break" actor Wade Williams and Samaire Armstrong of "Not Another Teen Movie" as a young heiress. The thriller follows a Boston police officer (sound familiar?) who becomes sheriff of a fictional New England town called Salem Harbor. His first case is to investigate the mysterious circumstances of a teen found dead after a night of partying at the "Hatteras Hotel."

The film also stars teen idol Ryan Sypek of "Wildfire."

Primary scenes for "Hatteras Hotel" finished up shooting last Thursday at the Emerson Inn by the Sea located at 1 Cathedral Ave. Also, the Rockport Police Station transformed its space to resemble a police station in Boston.

"Hatteras Hotel" is slotted for release next year.

Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' site launches ... sort of

Oscar-winning director of "The Departed" Martin Scorsese and his golden boy Leonardo DiCaprio may be back in town next month filming re-shoot scenes for the movie "Ashecliffe" at the abandoned Medfield State Hospital located at 45 Hospital Rd.

Based on the epic novel "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane, the Boston-shot flick features DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley and was shot in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex (recrafted as the horrific Nazi concentration camp Dachau) as well as the Medfield State Hospital and Peddocks Island. Other locales include Borderland State Park, Hyde Park and Wilson Mountain Reservation in Dedham.

Also, Paramount Pictures launched a placeholder page for the flick at www.shutterisland.com. While the site gives the basic lowdown, it does raise a question about the film's title. Does this mean that the director is opting to use Lehane's book title "Shutter Island" over the movie's reported working title of "Ashecliffe"?

Or is it because Jeff Coveney from Natick and the sneaky crew at HollywoodInTheHub.com snatched up the URL to www.ashecliffe.com in January '08?

"Ashecliffe," or is it "Shutter Island," is slotted for release on Oct. 2, 2009.

Video of Alan Alda and Kate Beckinsale at Brandeis

The Los Angeles Times' Scott Feinberg posted the above video chronicling his Q&A session with "Nothing But The Truth" actors Alan Alda and Kate Beckinsale at the Edie and Lew Wasserman Cinematheque, 415 South St. in Waltham on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

The screening and forum was part of the college's "Chasing Oscar" series focusing on serious contenders for Academy Award nominations.

"This series has brought some of the most important and exciting films and filmmakers in the world to Brandeis, and it has not only the campus but the entire city of Boston buzzing," says Alice Kelikian, an associate professor of history and chair of the film department at Brandeis University.

The university successfully hosted a slew of buzzworthy celebrities including Alda and Beckinsale as well as Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo.

Hollywood East heading to Weymouth air base?

Move over Plymouth Rock Studios. There's a new TV and film sound stage complex in the works tranforming the Weymouth Naval Air Station into a $300 million project called SouthField Studios.

According to the Patriot Ledger, a Los Angeles-based group known as International Studio Group (ISG) plans to build a multi-use movie complex that will include 10 to 15 sound stages, production offices and more than 125,000 square feet of retail and office space.

The new studio, which needs to be approved and developed before being built, could serve as a post-production facility for the slew of filmmakers currently taking advantage of the state's low tax credit.

Also, SouthField Studios would be an ideal space for filming ongoing Boston-based TV series like TNT's "Bunker Hill" pilot starring Donnie Wahlberg and the Spike-TV project "War of '04."

Donnie Wahlberg filming at Quincy Medical Center

A Loaded Gun tipster says "Bunker Hill," the made-in-Boston cop drama pilot for TNT starring Donnie Wahlberg, is filming scenes at the Quincy Medical Center, 114 Whitwell Street on Friday, Dec. 19.

Crews shot scenes on the second floor of the hospital.

Also on December 18, the "Bunker Hill" production team transformed the Daily Item newsroom in Lynn into a Boston Police Department set in the Charlestown section of Boston.

On Dec. 15, they Hollywood-ized a Main Street dry cleaner into "Charlestown Floral." See photos from the shoot here.

This past weekend, crews from the Boston-set TV pilot were shooting on the Tobin Bridge and Tom Brady's baby mama Bridget Moynahan was spotted filming a scene with Wahlberg at a private residence on Mead Street also in Charlestown.

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Sneak peek of Bruce Willis in 'The Surrogates'

Here's a first look at the made-in-Boston Disney flick "The Surrogates." The sci-fi film, set in the near future where humans interact with one another through surrogate robots, stars Bruce Willis as a cop who tracks down murderers.

Slotted for release on September 25, "The Surrogates" was filmed in the Seaport District area on Necco Street as well as the Human Scale office located on 179 South Street which was transformed into a futuristic salon called "Artiface" where the futuristic robots lined up for a makeover ... or better yet, a tune up.

Click here for more info on "The Surrogates."

Photo via Slashfilm.

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"In South Boston, saying you want to act is like saying you want to wear tights."

--Brian Goodman, director of the made-in-Boston film "What Doesn't Kill You," jokes to the Los Angeles Times about his post-prison decision to pursue a career in movies.

"When I first met John, I was struck by his unyielding sense of loyalty to those close to him. John has had a complicated life and it will be a fascinating story to tell the world."

--Graham King, recently in town shooting the Mel Gibson flick "Edge of Darkness," spills to Variety that he has snagged the rights to John Martorano's life story, the hit man behind James "Whitey" Bulger's Boston-based Winter Hill Gang.

“How many more of these hoodlum stories do we need? They’re glorifying the most horrible time in South Boston’s history. The families can’t move on.”

--Former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, who plans on penning a positive book chronicling South Boston's history, says he's had enough with Hollywood's fixation with Southie mob stories.

“My next big book is about the kids who founded Facebook."

--Ben Mezrich, whose best-seller “Bringing Down the House” about MIT math geeks who outsmart Las Vegas casinos which served as inspiration for the film “21,” tells the Herald he plans to pen a book on the Harvard kids behind Facebook. The story's film rights have already been optioned.

"There’s nothing broken with the Coolidge, nothing to fix. At the same time, life is changing around us.”

--Denise Kasell, the new director of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, admits to the Brookline Tab that she hadn't been inside the theater before taking the job.

“The point of trying to attract all this business to Massachusetts isn’t simply to have Bruce Willis, Leonardo DiCaprio or Mel Gibson in town. The point is to have as many people working and as many people selling stuff as possible."

--Executive director Nicholas Paleologos says the Massachusetts Film Office plans to host a career fair at the the Sheraton Boston Hotel on Saturday, Jan. 24 from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. for those interested in breaking into the booming film industry in the Hub.

Odegard's attorney claims third-party defense

Although the forensic evidence proves otherwise, Steven Odegard's attorney John Swomley maintains that there was a third party who "wined and dined" Daniel Yakovleff and was at the scene the night of the murder.

“It’s apparent that Boston Homicide cannot walk and chew gum at the same time,” Swomley says here. “There is ample evidence that a third party did this.”

Odegard was held without bail yesterday following his arraignment on first-degree murder charges of the stabbing death of 20-year-old Yakovleff at the 41-year-old's former apartment at 56 Tuttle Street in Dorchester's Savin Hill neighborhood. The next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 5.

A former acquaintance of Odegard, who initially met the Dorchester resident online, describes the 41-year-old alleged murderer as openly gay, timid, mentally stable and not-at-all aggressive.

"He’s such a kind, gentle soul," the anonymous source remarks to Loaded Gun in an earlier report. "I couldn’t imagine him being involved with an attack or murder of another person--gay or straight. There’s no way he would be responsible for a premeditated, pick-up crime. The only possible scenario I could imagine is that he felt threatened or believed that his life was in danger."

The source says it’s plausible that Odegard could have slept through an altercation between Yakovleff and a third party "especially if drugs or alcohol were involved."

Assistant District Attorney Judith Lyons' account based on forensic evidence tells a completely different story.

“The two men went to the defendant’s home,” Lyons says. “DNA and fingerprint evidence place the two men in the apartment and only the two men in the apartment.”

Lyons continues, “The victim had been stabbed 10 times. He was on his back in a pool of his own blood with his arms bent and clenched toward his face.”

Click here for the latest on the Yakovleff investigation.

Ben Affleck unveils his Congo-based short film

Homegrown talent Ben Affleck and Rolling Stone singer Mick Jagger released a short film to help raise $23 million for United Nations efforts to pay for clean water and emergency aid kits for 250,000 people driven from their homes by renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo).

The film--“Gimme Shelter”--set to the Rolling Stones’ song of the same name, was shot last month in North Kivu province, epicenter of the latest surge in fighting.

“We made the film in order to focus attention on the humanitarian crisis in the DRC at a time when too much of the world is indifferent or looking the other way,” Affleck says at the launching at UN Headquarters in New York. “The suffering and loss we’ve all seen first-hand is staggering--it is beyond belief.”

Details released in Daniel Yakovleff murder

Steven Odegard was held without bail today following his arraignment on first-degree murder charges of the stabbing death of 20-year-old Daniel Yakovleff at the 41-year-old's former apartment at 56 Tuttle Street in Dorchester's Savin Hill neighborhood. The next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Here's the latest news from the District Attorney's office:

Assistant District Attorney Judith Lyons tells the court that evidence developed in the course of an 11-month investigation by Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk County homicide prosecutors established that Yakovleff was out with friends on the night of Jan. 16 when he separated with those friends and met up with the defendant, who had been frequenting several bars on Tremont Street.

“The two men went to the defendant’s home,” Lyons says. “DNA and fingerprint evidence place the two men in the apartment and only the two men in the apartment.”

Early on the morning of Jan. 17, Lyons says, Odegard made an unusual phone call. “At approximately 2:45 a.m., the defendant phoned his employer on his employer’s cell phone,” she tells the court. Odegard allegedly told the employer, who was expected to pick him up later that morning, “Don’t pick me up.”

Odegard called 911 about four hours later to report finding the victim’s body. When Boston Police arrived at the Tuttle Street apartment in which he lived alone, they found Yakovleff in Odegard’s bed with a knife from Odegard’s kitchen “protruding from his chest,” Lyons adds.

The knife had come from Odegard’s kitchen. “The victim had been stabbed 10 times,” she tells the court. “He was on his back in a pool of his own blood with his arms bent and clenched toward his face.”

Click here for the latest on the Yakovleff investigation.

TNT's 'Bunker Hill' filming in East Boston

A Loaded Gun tipster says "Bunker Hill," the made-in-Boston cop drama pilot for TNT starring Donnie Wahlberg, is filming in front of the East Boston court house located on 37 Meridan Street.

They're also filming scenes on Maverick Street near the MBTA Blue Line T stop.

"Donnie Walhberg and a red headed actor I didn't recognize are doing a scene there," says one Loaded Gun spy.

Production is slotted to move to Lynn later this week where they'll recreate a Boston-area police station.

This past weekend, crews from the Boston-set TV pilot were shooting on the Tobin Bridge and Tom Brady's baby mama Bridget Moynahan was spotted filming a scene with Wahlberg at a private residence on Mead Street also in Charlestown.

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Daniel Yakovleff's alleged murderer arraigned

Here's the press release from Jake Wark, press secretary from the Suffolk County's DA Office:

Steven Odegard, 41, of Dorchester is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in Suffolk Superior Court following his indictment Monday by a Suffolk County grand jury. Odegard surrendered to Boston Police at the District 11 station late last night on a warrant charging him with the Jan. 17 murder of Daniel Yakovleff.

His arraignment is tentatively expected at about 2 p.m. to allow the victim's family, who will be travelling in from out of state, to attend the proceedings. The arraignment will take place in the Magistrate's Session, located on the seventh floor of the Suffolk County Courthouse.

Click here for the backstory on the Yakovleff investigation.

Odegard indicted in Daniel Yakovleff's murder

UPDATE: Steven Odegard turned himself in late last night. Arraignment is scheduled for 2 p.m. today, Dec. 17.

Authorities are on the hunt for Steven Odegard, the Dorchester man a grand jury says murdered 20-year-old Daniel Yakovleff.

According to a release from the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, Odegard is on the run and police are urging anyone with information regarding his wherabouts to contact the Boston Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470 or by texting TIP to 27463.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 17, police discovered the body of Yakovleff with fatal stab wounds to the chest. Sources say Yakovleff was last seen leaving the Eagle bar in the South End on Wednesday, Jan. 16 and was found by authorities around 6:10 a.m. the following day.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the third-floor tenant of the apartment located on 56 Tuttle St. in the Savin Hill area of Dorchester, Odegard, told police he had picked up two men at the Eagle and brought them back to his apartment. When he woke up the following morning, Odegard called police after finding one of them had been stabbed.

Forensic evidence generated by three modes of investigation indicated that the 41-year-old Odegard, who is HIV positive, pulled a knife from his kitchen and stabbed Yakovleff several times.

Authorities stormed Odegard's new apartment located on Dorchester Ave. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 6 a.m. and he was not home.

"Investigators never gave up on bringing Mr. Yakovleff’s killer to justice and we won’t give up now," district attorney Daniel F. Conley says. "On the streets of Boston, in the sterile environment of a crime laboratory, and behind the closed doors of the Grand Jury, police and prosecutors worked hand in hand on a quiet, careful, methodical inquiry to build this case. We fully expect to hold him accountable for his actions."

Andrew Light, a former colleague who worked with Yakovleff for two years at the exclusive Liquid Hair Studios in Boston's South End, had reservations about Odegard in the beginning.

"None of us know who he is," Light said in a previous interview with Loaded Gun about Odegard. "The one thing I can say for sure is that Dan was a very good judge of character. I don’t think he would go home with some sketchy guy."

Contrary to initial reports suggesting the fatal stabbing was motivated by hate, Light believed Yakovleff was murdered by a gay man.

"I was so paranoid the first few days after finding out about Dan’s murder," he says. "I live two blocks from the Eagle and I double bolt my door now. It’s scary."

Light continues, "I’m more afraid of gay men now because I believe a gay man killed Dan."

Click here for the backstory on the Yakovleff investigation.

UPDATE: According to a Loaded Gun source who knew Odegard at one point, he has friends in Providence, Rhode Island and would go there often for support.

More mobster movies heading to Boston?

Just when you thought you've had enough shoot 'em-up action from the oh-so-mean streets of Boston, reports surfaced yesterday that Graham King's GK Films, recently in town shooting the Mel Gibson flick "Edge of Darkness," has snagged the rights to John Martorano's life story, the hit man behind James "Whitey" Bulger's Boston-based Winter Hill Gang.

Martorano, who murdered more than 20 people over a decade, was released from prison in 2007 after serving 12 years and two months.

King met Martorano during the filming of "Edge of Darkness" in Boston.

"When I first met John, I was struck by his unyielding sense of loyalty to those close to him," King tells Variety. "John has had a complicated life and it will be a fascinating story to tell the world."

Oversaturation of gang-related movies in Boston? Click here for Loaded Gun's take on the debate. And here for the backstory on "Edge of Darkness."

UPDATE: Reporter Dave Wedge picked up the story today in the Boston Herald. His colorful title? "Blood Money: Crime Pays for Mass Murderer" focuses on the response from the victims, lawmakers and a retired cop who spent years trying to solve Martorano's murders. Click here for the story.

Jennifer Lopez's 'Plan B' after 'The Governess'

As mentioned in Loaded Gun, Jennifer Lopez is scheduled to star in the made-in-Boston flick "The Governess" slotted to begin filming next month.

However, Reuters reports that Ben Affleck's ex has a "Plan B" in the works with CBS' new movie division. The film, a romantic comedy involving a single woman's attempt to conceive via artificial insemination who finds love outside of the sperm bank, is scheduled to begin filming in the spring.

The movie is aptly called "Plan B."

J-Lo's plan A, "The Governess," is also a romantic comedy featuring Lopez as a thief who poses as a wealthy widower’s nanny who must come clean when she starts to fall for the man she initially planned to rob.

Click here for the latest on "The Governess."

'Bunker Hill' filming on Main Street in Charlestown

Loaded Gun tipster says "Bunker Hill," the made-in-Boston cop drama pilot for TNT starring Donnie Wahlberg, is filming this afternoon in front of Tuttles Dry Cleaning located at 69 Main Street in Charlestown.

There are also plans to shoot near St. Francis de Sales Church located at 303 Bunker Hill Street in Charlestown. The church "on top of Bunker Hill" was established on Sept. 11, 1859 by the third bishop of Boston.

This past weekend, crews from the Boston-set TV pilot were shooting on the Tobin Bridge and Tom Brady's baby mama Bridget Moynahan was spotted filming a scene with Wahlberg at a private residence on Mead Street also in Charlestown.

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Made-in-Boston films impacted by YFG bankruptcy

"What Doesn't Kill You," the made-in-Boston flick by Brian Goodman and starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet, was slotted for a larger re-release by Yari Film Group in 2009 after a limited showing in NYC and Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 12.

However, after the YFG announced this past week that their releasing division was forced to file Chapter 11, the Los Angeles Times reports that the film is now on the hunt for a new distributor.

"What Doesn't Kill You" has earned rave reviews this past week from USA Today and the New York Times. "South Boston is the new Bronx," writes USA Today's Claudia Puig, adding that the film is "a terrific character-driven tale about small-time criminals."

Also, the release of "The Maiden Heist," another Yari Film Group release shot in Boston and starring Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and William H. Macy, could be negatively impacted by the news that YFG is filing Chapter 11.

"Heist"--a comedy of errors following three museum security guards and their attempt to steal artwork after it's been transferred to another museum--was shopped around at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, Calif. this past November. Buzz surrounding the film is extremely positive.

As mentioned in Loaded Gun, the third made-in-Boston YFG feature "The Governess" starring Jennifer Lopez is unaffected by bankruptcy news with filming slotted for early 2009.

Click here for more information.

J-Lo film proceeds while YFG files Chapter 11

Jennifer Lopez's new made-in-Boston flick "The Governess," now slotted for production in the Hub during the first quarter of 2009, is reportedly not affected by the news that its producers, Yari Film Group, has put the releasing arm of its movie business into Chapter 11 reorganization.

Variety reports that the Bob Yari surprised staffers on Friday, Dec. 12 with an e-mail warning of impending layoffs.

“Our goal is to aggressively work toward reorganizing our debt so that we can become a stronger company,” Yari writes via e-mail. “In the meantime, our production arms are distinct entities with separate financing which remain unaffected by the legal proceedings."

The news reconfirms reports that Jennifer Lopez's "The Governess" is still greelit with pre-production already in the works.

Yari Film Group recently shot two films in Boston--the Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke movie "What Doesn't Kill You" by Brian Goodman and "The Maiden Heist" starring Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and William H. Macy.

Nigel Cole's "The Governess" with Jennifer Lopez, initially scheduled to be shot in Boston this past September, has been moved to early next year.

In "The Governess," Jennifer Lopez plays a thief who poses as a wealthy widower’s nanny who must come clean when she starts to fall for the man she initially planned to rob.

Click here for the lowdown.

Bridget Moynahan spotted in Charlestown

Bridget Moynahan, Tom Brady's former gal pal and baby mama, is now in Charlestown shooting scenes with New Kid on the Block and homegrown talent Donnie Wahlberg for the made-in-Boston TNT cop drama pilot "Bunker Hill."

The Boston Herald snapped a shot of Moynahan yesterday on set of a home located on Mead Street in Charlestown.

In the pilot, Moynahan plays a Boston cop widow and sister-in-law to Wahlberg’s Mike Moriarty, a Boston cop determined to protect the streets he grew up on from crime and corruption.

Brady's ex is opening a door for Wahlberg's Moriarty in the photo here.

Veteran Hollywood tough guy Brian Dennehy will play a former mob boss turned flower-shop owner. A Loaded Gun tipster says Zume's Coffee House located at 223 Main St. and Doherty's Flowers at 219 Main St. in Charlestown have been asked to serve as locations for the TNT pilot. Dennehy's scenes will more than likely be shot at Doherty's Flowers.

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Speedo-clad duo stroll through Prudential Center

A wayward duo from the Santa Speedo Run today starting at Lir on Boylston Street at 1 p.m. were strutting around the Prudential Center mall in Copley Square around 6 p.m. this afternoon--hours after the Christmas fundraiser run for Cradles to Crayons ended.

They were wearing nothing but a red speedo, a Santa cap, shoes and ... well ... a smile.

While I laughed out loud watching the two prance past swarms of holiday shoppers, I heard someone jokingly yell, "Put some pants on, please."

Their response? "C'mon, it's for charity."

I snickered then mumbled, "Nice package!"

Click here for Marciela's revealing Flickr photostream and here for Derek Lumpkin's pics from the event. Also, click here for a video giving the, um, naked truth exposing all of those "Philly Boys" who make the trek to Boston for charity.

Indian restaurant switcheroo on JP's Centre Street

The restaurant formerly known as Cafe D and before that Arbor Restaurant located at 711 Centre Street in Jamaica Plain reopened last week as an upscale Indian eatery called Ghazal.

Talk about a revolving door.

Officially closing down on Sunday, Aug. 17, Cafe D has undergone a format change of sorts from its American comfort food cuisine to traditional Indian faves like Lamb Tikka Saagwata and Alu Ghobi.

Red, white and blue balloons greet patrons at the revamped locale, nestled between Costello's Bar & Grill and Ban Chiang House, and just a few doors down from Bukhara (Centre Street's Indian restaurant mainstay).

Dueling Indian restaurants on Centre Street? Yep.

Ghazal's decor is, in essence, almost identical to Cafe D's wooden interior except for a few pieces of Hindu artwork hanging on the wall. In fact, the knife-and-fork decals on the windows heralding a "lunch buffet" and "dinner" from Cafe D's not-so-distant past now welcomes patrons to Ghazal.

Click here for the menu.

Bevy of locals make cut on MTV reality shows

Move over Mr. Boston. There's a crop of locals in line to take away some of your nose-picking "I Love New York" reality TV thunder.

MTV unveiled its Tila Tequila-inspired "A Double Shot At Love" with its blonde Ikki twins--Vikki and Rikki--and an unlikely trio of locals currently gracing the small screen vying for some twin action.

Paul (a soft-spoken computer engineer), James (a conservative salesman with a thick Boston accent currently living in NYC) and Elise (a super-competitive lesbian trainer) all made it past the first-round eliminations on the season premiere. Watch the trio on "A Double Shot At Love" airing 10 p.m. Tuesdays on MTV.

Last June, casting directors from executive producer Ryan Seacrest's camp were cruising Boston's Ned Devine's at Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall searching for some fresh meat for Brody Jenner's new MTV project "Bromance."

Luke Verge (pictured above), a self-described "designated party animal" and 24-year-old substitute elementary school teacher from Medford, as well as 24-year-old Mattapoisett resident Gary Vaughn made the cut. "Bromance" premieres 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29 on MTV.

Also, MTV recently announced its cast for "The Real World: Brooklyn" slotted for the boob tube Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 10 p.m. Scott, a 24-year-old "muscle head" from Salem, NH, rounds out the cast of eight (yes, this is the first season MTV deviates from its cast of seven strangers formula) with his "award-winning abs," which were featured in Men’s Health magazine.

Click here to learn more about my unhealthy obsession with reality TV.

Counter-protest combats Fred Phelps' hate crew

Confirming a report in Loaded Gun on Nov. 30, a counter-protest is scheduled later today, Friday, Dec. 12 from 7:30 p.m.-8:15 p.m. to combat Rev. Fred Phelps' vitriolic, anti-gay group of supporters planning to protest the Bad Habit production of "The Laramie Project."

For every minute that the Phelps' congregation pickets the BCA with their infamous "God Hates Fags" signs, donors are encouraged to pledge a set amount to the Driving Equality Phelps-a-Thon here.

The longer the group pickets the BCA production, the larger the donation to the activist group spearheaded by Chris Mason, who makes a 85-day trek across America to all of the lower 48 states to advance LGBT equality.

Driving Equality plans to display a sign in front of the "God Hates Fags" clan tallying how much money they have helped raise for gay rights.

The show at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Black Box Theatre honors the 10th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death.

"The Laramie Project" runs until Saturday, Dec. 13. Click here for the lowdown.

UPDATE: The Phelps-A-Thon outside of the BCA raised $4,647 in 45 minutes. Click here for photos.

JetBlue announces direct flights to the Left Coast

JetBlue announced today that it will resume its seasonal service from Boston's Logan airport to San Francisco effective May 1, 2009.

The seasonal nonstop service includes three daily flights to the Los Angeles basin and three to the Bay area.

Direct flights include:

*Denver (1 daily flight)
*Las Vegas (1 daily flight)
*L.A./Long Beach, Calif. (3 daily flights)
*Oakland, Calif. (2 daily flights)
*San Diego (1 daily flight)
*San Francisco (1 daily flight)
*Seattle (1 daily flight)

"JetBlue offers the most destinations of any airline from Logan, and while all those flights are great, we know what our customers care most about is getting there on-time and having a great experience doing it," remarks Jim Celeste, JetBlue's general manager in Boston.

"Our flights to Oakland and now San Francisco make jetting off to the Bay Area easier than ever, regardless of which airport you prefer to use," he adds.

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"I was really, really scared. Really, really scared. I was really scared as in being really embarrassed but I swear to god, part of it is not having like really long speeches. Like if I had to do an Aaron Sorkin show with a Boston accent, it would be a disaster."

--Amanda Peet, playing Mark Ruffalo's wife Stacy in the made-in-Boston flick "What Doesn't Kill You," chats about her dead-on Boston accent in the film.

"I don't know what 'The Departed' was, it was almost like 'Who gives a sh*t?' I wasn't a big fan of it. I'm a fan of all the actors in it but I didn't really care about the story, who the rat in the crew is, who gives a f*ck? It's frustrating. The fact of the matter is Jack Nicholson wouldn't have lasted. There's no guys I know who act like he acts in that world who wouldn't get killed. He was an ***hole."

--Brian Goodman, a reformed Southie bad boy turned film director of "What Doesn't Kill You," slams "The Departed" in an interview with ComingSoon.net.

"These wimps from LA. I like to watch them shrivel up in the cold."

--Brooklyn-bred director Jon Avnet jokes with the Globe on location at the Union Oyster House set of the TV pilot "Bunker Hill" starring Donnie Wahlberg.

“It’s like a prerequisite to get a job that you have to have just gotten out of the can. If you added up the time that was served by all the guys working up here, you’d be over a century.”

--An anonymous tipster tells the Boston Herald for their tale of behind-the-scenes felon teamsters working on a slew of Boston films. The probe found a rogues' gallery of career criminals from the Teamsters Local 25 who worked on "The Surrogates" and "Edge of Darkness" including a convicted killer, robbers and drunk drivers.

"I go home, and my children ask, what happened today? I tell them, 'Well, my husband's fingers fell off.' And they love it."

--Nadia Delemeny muses about her double life as a Wellesley mother and a horror actress in the made-in-Medford slasher flick called "Drive-In Horrorshow."

'The Proposal' transforms Rockport into Alaska

Shot in the Bay State but set in NYC and Alaska? Diva boss Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) forces her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to keep from losing her visa status in NYC and avoid deportation to Canada. The Rockport-shot scenes act as a stand-in for ... get this ... Sitka, Alaska.

Oh, the magic of Hollywood.

Locally-shot scenes for "The Proposal" were filmed at 225 Franklin Street, Bearskin Neck in Rockport, the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton as well as scenes in Gloucester.

Bullock and her husband Jesse James of TV's "Monster Garage" were hit by a drunk driver on Friday, April 18 while filming in Gloucester. "The Proposal" is slotted for release on June 12, 2009.

TNT's 'Bunker Hill' casting cabbies in Boston

Boston Casting is on the hunt to fill several last-minute roles for the set-in-Charlestown TV pilot for TNT's "Bunker Hill" with homegrown actor Donnie Wahlberg.

The following roles are in addition to the young Hispanic gang members mentioned in a previous post here:

*Scuba diver with gear (needed for Wednesday, Dec. 10)
*Young Irish men between 18-22 (for Wednesday, Dec. 10)
* Cab driver with a taxi (for Friday, Dec. 12. E-mail photo of taxi for consideration).

Send a photo and contact info to aaron@bostoncasting.com. Oh, and be prepared for a 12-hour work day.

Also, a Loaded Gun tipster says Zume's Coffee House located at 223 Main St. and Doherty's Flowers at 219 Main St. in Charlestown have been asked to serve as locations for the TNT pilot. Exterior filming is also slotted for home on Mead Street in Charlestown and interior scenes are currently being shot at Chelsea soundstage.

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Dark side of Hollywood in the Hub gets darker

Herald's enterprise reporter Dave Wedge uncovers a hush-hush rumor that has been mere anecdotal conjecture: That the made-in-Boston film scene is just as corrupt behind the camera as the thugs we see on screen. Yes, art imitates life.

The probe found a rogues' gallery of career criminals from the Teamsters Local 25 who worked on "The Surrogates" and "Edge of Darkness" including a convicted killer, robbers and drunk drivers. One worker, Charles Doucette of Beverly, was fired from the "The Surrogates" production during the summer after wrecking a truck. He's currently in prison facing rape charges.

The checkered history stems from the Teamster Local 25 shakedown back in 2002 which led to the extortion conviction of former boss George Cashman. The new president, Sean O'Brien, claims to have removed all of the bad guys under his teamster regime. Not quite.

“It’s like a prerequisite to get a job that you have to have just gotten out of the can,” one anonymous tipster tells the Herald. “If you added up the time that was served by all the guys working up here, you’d be over a century.”

From the perspective of this journalist/blogger who has observed from the sidelines on the sets of both "The Surrogates" and "Edge of Darkness," the news comes as no surprise.

Click here for the complete story.

'Bromance' star Brody Jenner hits Rev Rock Bar

Brody Jenner, known for his bad boy antics on "The Hills," will make a pit stop away from his new MTV reality show "Bromance" 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11 at the Revolution Rock Bar located at 200 High Street.

Last June, casting directors from executive producer Ryan Seacrest's camp were cruising Boston's Ned Devine's at Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall searching for some fresh meat for Jenner's new MTV project. Bros selected to participate in the show were flown to Los Angeles, moved into a mansion and lived the celeb highlife with Brody and his D-list entourage.

Luke, a self-described "designated party animal" and substitute elementary school teacher from Medford, made the cut.

"Bromance" premieres 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 29 on MTV. Meanwhile, click here to RSVP for $20 at the Revolution Rock Bar.

MTV's rock star 'Made' shot at the Middle East

MTV's "Made"--the show that has transformed a slacker into a model, an outcast into a prom queen and a prep into a die-hard skateboarder recently--aired a new episode called "Rock Star" with footage shot in Cambridge with Semi Precious Weapons frontman and "Made" coach Justin Tranter.

In the YouTube clip above (posted by anticoialxgrl), the glam-rock vocalist showcases his wannabe rock star student Michelle's tamborine work onstage at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge on Sept. 13. While only a few minutes of the Boston footage actually made it into the final cut, the clip above gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of a cable reality show.

Also, MTV's "Made" recently taped footage for their upcoming “Head-to-Head Hip-Hop Challenge" show featuring three hip-hop hopefuls--Abby, Eddie and Christine--vying for the top prize after being coached by Boston native Cedric Crowe as well as CiCi Kelley and Sam Renzetti.

Click on the links for the lowdown on the two episodes of MTV's "Made" shot at the Middle East Upstairs and the Lynn Memorial Auditorium.

'What Doesn't Kill You' film poster unveiled

Based on a true story of two childhood friends who turn to crime to get by, Brian Goodman's "What Doesn't Kill You" starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet and Donnie Wahlberg is the latest made-in-Boston film coming from the streets of South Boston.

Click here for the full-size "What Doesn't Kill You" movie poster.

The movie is slotted for limited release in NYC and LA on Friday, Dec. 12. Click here for the latest on "What Doesn't Kill You."

Donnie Wahlberg filming at Union Oyster House

Sources say Dorchester native and NKOTB Donnie Wahlberg will be shooting scenes for the Boston-set pilot "Bunker Hill" at the Union Oyster House on Monday, Dec. 8.

Established in 1826 and a designated national historical landmark, this colorful haunt near Faneuil Hall showcases Boston's old-school charm with wooden booths and lanterns hanging from dark beams.

For those not in the know, Wahlberg stars in the Jerry Bruckheimer drama TV pilot for TNT. Tom Brady’s former gal pal, Bridget Moynahan, is slotted to play a Boston cop widow and sister-in-law to Wahlberg’s Mike Moriarty, a Boston cop determined to protect the streets he grew up on from crime and corruption.

Veteran Hollywood tough guy Brian Dennehy will play a former mob boss turned flower-shop owner.

Click here for the latest on TNT's "Bunker Hill."

Jessica Lange lights up Brattle Theatre on Dec. 9

Oscar winner Jessica Lange unveils "50 Photographs," her first collection of photography, at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, December 9.

The book signing and presentation will be followed by a screening of her star-turning role in "Frances," the 1982 film based on the life of Frances Farmer and co-starring Sam Shepard and Kim Stanley.

Here's lowdown from the Harvard Bookstore newsletter:

Actress Jessica Lange’s career spans more than 30 years and 30 films; the winner of two Academy Awards, Lange is one of the most acclaimed performers of both the screen and the stage, as well as one of its most recognizable faces. "50 Photographs" finds Lange on the other side of the camera. Originally drawn to the medium simply as a way to document the lives and growth of her children, Lange has now been photographing on and off for 15 years, approaching the art as an antidote to the constant fervor of Hollywood.

Tickets to the book signing are $5 and can be purchased at the Harvard Books Store, 1256 Mass. Ave in Harvard Square. The screening of "Frances" begins 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9. Tickes are $12 general public/$10 for Brattle members, students and seniors.

Click here for the lowdown.

Dueling Dunkin' Donuts at Back Bay MBTA station

A shiny, new Dunkin' Donuts recently opened to the right of the entrance at Back Bay station. The only problem? There's literally another DD across the way on the left-hand side of the popular MBTA train and T stop.

Yes, you're seeing double.

The older, hole-in-the wall coffee shop to the left re-opened its storefront this week after closing for renovations while the newer Dunkin' Donuts was serving up a bevy of food products and get this ... actual donuts .... to the MBTA-weary masses since November.

When I asked the server at the older DD if they're dueling for business, she laughs. "No, we're together," she explains. "They serve sandwiches but close early. We don't have food but stay open later."

I guess Dunkin' Donuts is now taking a cue from Starbucks' more-is-more concept of building competing shops within a few steps of each other. Go figure.

Pinup icon Bettie Page suffers heart attack

Bettie Page, the raven-haired pinup queen who mesmerized our country with her kitschy bangs and Madonna-whore naughtiness from 1946 to 1957, has been hospitalized after a suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Back in 2006, I participated in a phone interview with the aged beauty organized by CMG Worldwide, the company that markets her image, via her Web site.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

"You don't think I was a dirty dog for posing in the nude?" she asks one female caller who tells Page she's an inspiration.

"Well, some people do," the caller, Diane, responds.

"I used to think that God wouldn't forgive me for having done that," Page says. "You know, God isn't ashamed of the human body. When he created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were totally naked and he walked there with them and he may not have had any clothes on. God doesn't despise nudity."

Page, who refuses to be on camera during the interview, speaks with a slow, southern drawl. Somehow, the now 85-year-old lets us know that she's at peace with her past and now realizes what her modeling in the '50s means to all of us—and to American popular culture.

"I want to say one thing," she adds. "Before this interview is over, I'm sorry that I got tongue-tied here and flubbed all over myself. I was nervous to do this for some reason. Forgive me if I'm not making any sense."

Then Page speaks with a passion reserved for a woman, in the autumn of her life, trying to set the record straight.

"I wish I was young like I will be when I leave this body," she emotes. "I wish I could meet all of you and look like I did back in the '50s. I wouldn't want you to see me now."

UPDATE: 1950s pinup icon Bettie Page passed away on Thursday, Dec. 11 in Los Angeles at the age of 85.

Oversaturation of gang-related projects in Boston?

Here's an interesting e-mail exchange with one of my readers:

Q: I just wanted to write to thank you for your blog as I find it very informative regarding the movie scene here in Boston. I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on the recent surge in Boston mob/crime films and TV projects that have been produced lately or are soon to be. Do you feel that the genre at least in Boston has been oversaturated or do you feel that there are still original stories to tell? Has it reached "been-there-done-that"? --Bill H.

A: While I feel like Boston continues to be an untapped resource of material for writers and filmmakers, I do believe that there's an oversaturation of Boston mob/crime films. In fact, I chronicled a majority of the thug-related productions here.

I feel like the success of "The Departed" and, of course, Dennis Lehane's series of books including "Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone" unleashed this fascination with the "dark side" of Boston ... specifically material related to the Whitey Bulger, the so-called Irish mob and the "Winter Hill" gang.

There are several productions in the works including "War of '04," "Boondock Saints II" and "Code of Silence" and fallen TV shows like "Brotherhood" and "The Black Donnelly's" revisiting the material that was already done well in "The Departed."

However, as we've seen with Scorsese's work, folks can't get enough of gang-related material, especially if it's inspired by reality and is reworked by master storytellers.

With "What Doesn't Kill You" slotted for limited release on Friday, Dec. 12, for example, Brian Goodman explores his South Boston roots and gives a more realistic account of what Southie was like which includes a duo of street thugs pulling off small-time crimes to make ends meet. "What Doesn't Kill You" is, in essence, a cautionary tale following a man who seeks redemption after being incarcerated.

I would like to see more films from Goodman, especially his soon-to-be-shot film with Samuel L. Jackson called "The Fallen." While his work explores the darker side of Boston, he's approaching it as an insider telling it like it is ... or was.

Pop culture impacts society's perceptions of reality. And, based on what we see on both the small and silver screens, Boston seems to be this hotbed of shoot 'em up, gang-related action which is simply not true.

Long story short, there's a bevy of untapped potential for Boston-set material that we're just beginning to experience with the films inspired by Lehane's novels, Goodman's work, Scorsese's films, etc.

However, I'm hoping to see some diversity in the future. And, I'm not talking about drivel like "My Best Friend's Girl."

My fingers are crossed that the slew of upcoming set-in-Boston flicks like "The Surrogates" and "Edge of Darkness"--albeit crime related but manage to deviate from this Southie mob fixation--will showcase the Hub in a different way.

In the future, I would like to see more of the upbeat, non-thug movies that were shot in Boston (like "The Women" and "Bride Wars" were made here but set in NYC) to showcase our city in a different light.

Snag Mel Gibson's toilet at 'EOD' prop sale

Several readers checked out the two-day "Edge of Darkness" prop sale that kicked off today at 10 a.m. at the Chelsea sound stage located at 121 Webster Ave. across from the Save A Lot/Home Depot. The liquidation madness continues tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Deedy.com Blog's parents made the trek and uncovered the typical yard sale-type goods including lamps, books, kitchen goods and furniture.

However, there's one for-sale item that may be of interest to "Edge of Darkness" followers: a toilet, perhaps a crapper used by Mel Gibson himself, from the movie.

Yep, now Gibson-obsessed fans can snag a piece of made-in-Boston film history ... while worshipping the throne of a former A-list celebrity.

Talk about toilet humor.

Click here for the prop sale lowdown. And here for the backstory on "Edge of Darkness."

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"Well it was big tax breaks that brought us here. I mean, that's not my department, but that's what brought us here. I'm telling you, it did something else for the film. It suddenly grounded it in a way that wouldn't have worked in other places. You know, there's magic and rhythms to New Orleans, that something mystical could happen here."

--Brad Pitt, star of the almost-shot-in-Boston flick "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," tells Lousiana's WWL-TV that the plan to move the film from the Hub to New Orleans gave producers exactly what they were looking for.

"We would have loved to have him come in with the check, and we would have loved to meet him, but no, it was very meaningful to have an actor who's played these macho figures, to have him choose to support a domestic violence program to us was very meaningful."

--Fundraiser Nathalie Favre-Gilly from the Casa Myrna Vazquez domestic violence program gushes to WHDH-TV after learning that "Edge of Darkness" star Mel Gibson donated a check for $25,000 to the South Boston social service agency.

"The kids looked like [expletive] Abercrombie & Fitch models. If they ever tried to extort money from you, you'd kick the [expletive] out of them."

--Dana White, in town producing the Spike-TV Irish mob pilot "War of '04," slams the short-lived NBC drama "The Black Donnellys" to the Globe.

"This series has brought some of the most important and exciting films and filmmakers in the world to Brandeis, and it has not only the campus but the entire city of Boston buzzing."

--Alice Kelikian, an associate professor of history and chair of the film department at Brandeis University, says after successfully hosting a slew of buzzworthy celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda and Melissa Leo.

'War of '04' filming at Dorchester's Boston Winery

Nicknamed the "Irish Sopranos," the made-in-Boston cable TV pilot "War of '04" is currently filming at the Boston Winery building located at Ericsson St. in Dorchester.

The Civil War-era brick and stone structure is the location of the former Putnam Nail Factory and the old Seymour's Ice Cream haunt.

"They are currently filming in Dorchester, Neponset to be specific, today," writes a Loaded Gun tipster. "To be more specific, they are filming in the old Seymours Ice Cream factory on Ericsson St. in Port Norfolk (part of Dorchester)."

Starring British actor/singer Matthew Marsden (pictured), Kevin Chapman and David Patrick Kelly, the made-in-Boston two-hour cable pilot centering around Irish gang warfare is slotted to air on Spike TV. Walter Hill, an Emmy-award winner, is directing the show while Ultimate Fighting Championship Dana White is producing.

The story centers around the fallout when a Boston mob boss abruptly takes a leave of absence while rival gangs duke it out in an epic battle for control.

Click here for the latest on Spike-TV's "War of '04."

Mark Ruffalo's brother shot in Beverly Hills

Scott Ruffalo, the hairdresser brother of actor Mark Ruffalo who stars in the made-in-Boston flick "What Doesn't Kill You," is in critical condition after reportedly being shot in the head in Beverly Hills early Monday morning.

While events leading up to the serious injury of Ruffalo's 39-year-old brother remain unclear, authories say the incident took place around 1 a.m.

The "What Doesn't Kill You" star was recently in Boston to unveil his indie flick to the masses at Brandeis University on Saturday, Nov. 15.

Ruffalo, who also stars with Leonardo DiCaprio in another made-in-Boston film "Ashecliffe" directed by Martin Scorsese slotted for release in October 2009, is earning early Oscar buzz for his performance alongside Ethan Hawke in "What Doesn't Kill You" as childhood friends "who grew up in an Irish-Catholic neighborhood where small-time crimes were as common as confessionals."

The movie is slotted for limited release in NYC and LA on Friday, Dec. 12. Click here for the latest on "What Doesn't Kill You."

UPDATE: Scott Ruffalo passed away on Monday, Dec. 10 after being removed from life support. Meanwhile, the daughter of a wealthy Saudi family, Shaha Mishaal Adham, has been book for suspicion on now upgraded to murder.

Felt barmaid featured in Oxygen's 'Bad Girls Club'

Whitney Collings, a Salem State biology major from Lynnfield and barmaid at Felt in Boston's Downtown Crossing, had her gloves on in the premiere episode of season three of Oxygen's "The Bad Girls Club."

The local, who claims to have a background in boxing and was allegedly raised in the oh-so-mean projects of Boston, had her hand in a house revolt against blonde party girl Amber M. on the popular reality show.

All talk and no action? We'll have to wait and see.

Oxygen's "Bad Girls Club" held a preliminary casting call at the Liquor Store back in April 2007 while filming the season finale of "Bad Girls Road Trip" featuring players from season one.

There's no doubt Collings will represent Boston better ... and hopefully longer ... than Ripsi Terzian, the infamous poor little rich girl from Watertown who was kicked off in the second episode of season one of "Bad Girls" after a violent drunken tirade.

Does she get the "Bad Girls Club" boot?

Own a piece of Mel Gibson's 'Edge of Darkness'

Want a piece of made-in-Boston film history? The GK Films prop department from the recently wrapped "Edge of Darkness" starring Mel Gibson is selling a warehouse full of movie props, antiques, contemporary goodies, artwork and light fixtures and ... well ... a toilet.

The liquidation sale is on the loading dock of the crew's Chelsea sound stage located at 121 Webster Avenue across from the Save A Lot/Home Depot and is slotted for this Friday, Dec. 5 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Click here for the backstory on "Edge of Darkness."

Boston-based gay author gives 'Confession'

More than one month after Loaded Gun broke the news that Boston-based GLBT writer Scott D. Pomfret was questionably removed from a volunteer position at Saint Anthony Shrine in Downtown Crossing, the author of "Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir" chats with Johnny Diaz in today's Boston Globe.

"I do feel like I've lost my spiritual home," the 40-year-old author reveals. "I know the good work that I've done."

Back in September, Pomfret says he knew something was up.

"I went to the Shrine for the regularly scheduled meeting of the GLBT Spirituality Group, which met every third Wednesday of the month. As soon as I entered the Shrine’s lobby, I knew something was amiss. Our little paper rainbow flags that point the way to the meeting room were absent," he says.

As a practicing Catholic in a long-term committed gay relationship with a hardcore atheist, Pomfret explores his faith in the book (released in June 2008) with the hierarchy’s bitter attacks on same-sex marriage, adoption, GLBT seminarians, Capri pants, innate style and anything else remotely gay.

Pomfret, who works as a government attorney during the day and, with his partner Scott Whittier, is responsible for the "Romentics" series of explicit gay romantic novels at night, told Loaded Gun back in September that he was hurt by St. Anthony Shrine's knee-jerk reaction to his work.

"I felt sucker punched. Like a jilted lover. Not that I had not anticipated such a result from my book," he confesses. "But the reality was difficult, made exponentially worse by the inability of my friends at the Shrine to show either courage or courtesy, to stand in good faith and express their feelings in an open dialogue."

Click here for the Globe piece and here for my original post on Pomfret.