Movie set travel guide for ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’

Kevin James, currently filming the Adam Sandler flick “Grown Ups,” is still riding high after the surprise success of the made-in-Boston film “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” His shopping-mall saga earned a killing at the box office last January and continues to dominate with DVD sales.

Who knew that the goofball antics of a misfit security guard and his cast of mall-rat pals would segue … or is it Segway … its way into slacker infamy?

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" stars James as an overzealous guard on a mission to stop a group of organized crooks who take over a mall. Blart's dream of becoming a New Jersey police officer fails miserably after he blacks out during an obstacle-course test. Turns out he has low blood sugar.

In honor of the release of "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" on DVD, we offer you inspiration from the movie's locations. Time to whip out the Segway ... and the candy.

WHERE TO SHOP:
While the movie is set at the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall in New Jersey, a majority of the film was shot on location at the Burlington Mall. James, already preparing to star in a new movie called “The Zookeeper” slotted to begin filming at the Franklin Park Zoo in July, shot “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” between March and June 2008. In several scenes, many of the storefronts in the flick feature summer clothing—everything from bikinis to shorts to beach towels.

Burlington Mall, located at 75 Middlesex Turnpike, features more than 185 specialty shops and a newly renovated food court. The movie takes place on “Black Friday,” so the set features an over-the-top Santa’s Village where the villains—a crew of BMX bikers, runners and skateboarders— use the white “snow drifts” as ramps.

While the smaller shops in film showcase summer goods, many of the mall’s anchor stores like Macy’s and Sears got into the spirit and played along with the Christmas gag.

"Ugly Betty's" Jayma Mays co-stars as Blart's love interest, the owner of a hair-extensions kiosk called “Un-be-weavable.” Of course, her shop is as real as the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall.

While checking out the Burlington Mall, visit Victoria’s Secret. Waltham native Zele Avradopoulos shot a short but memorable scene at the lingerie shop that’s getting major play in the latest commercial promoting the DVD. The local actress smacks James after he implies that she’s overweight. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

WHERE TO EAT:
Legal Sea Foods, a New England dining staple, gets major screen time in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” For example, when Blart takes his oath “to protect this mall and all inside it,” he rides his Segway past the large-sized fish palace.

James shot one sequence at Joe's American Bar & Grill at the South Shore Plaza with Mays and local actress Suzanne England, a 40-year-old Mansfield mother of three. In the scene, James' Blart character gets sloshed in a bar, located at 250 Granite St. in Braintree, after accidentally downing a drink with alcohol. A drunk Blart then tells the stunning England that she's not his type.

Also, if you want to skip the big-screen restaurants and go for the real deal, James frequents one of the best steak houses in Boston, Abe & Louie’s located at 793 Boylston St.

WHERE TO STAY:
If you’re going for the ultimate “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” experience, reserve a room at the Boston Marriott in Burlington located at One Burlington Mall Rd. It’s literally steps away from the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall set.

However, if you want to stay where stars like James and his pals from the film “Grown Ups” frequent, spend a night at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Boston located at 776 Boylston St. Featuring 148 guestrooms and suites that span over 14 floors, the new Mandarin Oriental Boston officially opened its doors last October.

While extravagant in both price and amenities, the rooms boast a to-die-for view of the Back Bay. And, who knows, you may bump into the man behind “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” during your visit.

Exclusive 'Hitched or Ditched' TV viewing party

Join Loaded Gun Boston and celebrity wedding stylist Chad Michael Peters at an exclusive viewing party with Jesse and Anissa, the Boston couple featured on the new wedding-themed CW show "Hitched or Ditched" at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 at The Place located at 2 Broad Street near Faneuil Hall and the Financial District.

Click here to RSVP.

Peters helped orchestrate the ceremony for Jesse, a 30-year-old mortgage banker and Anissa, a 22-year-old systems analyst. After four years of courting, the couple is given “the ultimatum of a lifetime” and has a week to discover whether they should get married or go their separate ways.

“It was very high stress and I was working close with the producers day after day planning this over-the-top celebrity wedding,” Peters adds. “It was, in essence, a very expensive art project. I started out as the floral stylist and really moved in, with my skill set, to give some valuable insight with regard to style and certainly thinking about weddings as fashion.”

CW has titled the Boston-set episode “A Cheater In Beantown,” alluding to potential issues regarding trust and infidelity with the couple. But will Anissa and Jesse ultimately tie the knot?

“I was there in the room while the whole thing went on, but I’m not going to tell you what happened,” Peters teases. “I will say that I was caught up in the moment, with tears in my eyes and was left breathless when the bride walked into the room.”

RSVP here for the Loaded Gun Boston-sponsored event 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 at The Place to watch the show with the couple as the drama unfolds.

Click here for the latest on "Hitched or Ditched."

Ben Affleck's 'The Town' casting in Charlestown

Calling all thugs with a Boston accent. C.P. Casting is holding an open casting call for Ben Affleck's "The Town" from 3:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 29 at the Charlestown Community Center located at 255 Medford Street.

Casting scouts are looking for men and women over 18 and they're seeking all types--bad guys, neighborhood folks, cops, detectives, wives, girlfriends and mothers. But scouts are specifically looking for locals with Boston accents.

Affleck, currently in town filming the John Wells downsizing drama "The Company Men," is already in pre-production for the Charlestown-based flick "The Town," an adaptation of the blue-collar heist novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan which was written for the big screen by Peter Craig.

The homegrown talent will write, star and direct in the film following a bizarre love triangle involving a crook, a female bankteller and a FBI agent.

Graham King, producer of recently shot "Edge of Darkness" starring Mel Gibson, plans to make a return trip to the Hub with Affleck's "The Town."

Click here the lowdown on "The Town" casting call and here for the size card.

Profile on Iraq War vet and gay playwright Jeff Key

Here's an excerpt from my profile on GLBT trailblazer Jeff Key in Bay Windows:

It’s Memorial Day and Iraq War veteran Jeff Key, currently in Boston to promote his acclaimed one-man show "The Eyes of Babylon," has a take-no-prisoners tone when it comes to the basic human rights the warrior-turned-playwright believed he was fighting for when he signed up for the military in 2000.

"As we do this interview, there’s a young gay kid right now seriously contemplating suicide," he says, sitting outside of J.P. Licks in Mission Hill wearing a black "Iraq Veterans Against the War" t-shirt. "The people who claim that homosexuality is an abomination are the same people who perpetuate the atrocities currently happening in the Middle East. Just last week in Afghanistan our bombs burnt the skin off innocent women and children," Key says, with tears welling up as he speaks.

"This whole bizarre concept that they weave together as being the righteous position which includes bombing innocent people and oppressing gay people is something right out 1930s Germany," he emotes. "When will it end?"

Ask him to comment on hot-button topics ranging from President Barack Obama’s waning pledge to overturn the Clinton-era policy of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" or California’s decision to uphold the Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage, and the openly gay Marine’s simmering passion transforms into rage.

"Gay marriage is a great lightning rod because it poses a simple question: Are we Americans like everybody else or are we not? It’s so peculiar that gay men are labeled as weak, that we’re the ’weaker sex.’ When we ban together, there isn’t a stronger group. If all of the alphabet groups, all of the LGBTQs out there in the world, stick together ... there’s no stopping us."

The 43-year-old activist continues, "If you were on the frontline and you had to choose between Bill O’Reilly or RuPaul to fight beside you in a war, who would you choose? It’s a no-brainer."

Jeff Key will perform "The Eyes of Babylon" from Thursday, May 28 through Sunday, May 31, and Thursday, June 4 through Saturday, June 6. Sunday show 2:00 p.m., all others 8:00 p.m. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston), tickets $25 via bu.edu/bpt.

Click here for the complete article in Bay Windows.

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"I was really overjoyed to find that more and more people because of the Internet the world is smaller place, people can get the content with immediacy so that that wall--that culture gap that used to be there--isn’t there. It’s not like when people in Boston were wearing what people were wearing in California three years ago."

--Arlington homeboy and "My Best Friend's Girl" troublemaker Dane Cook takes a backhanded jab at Boston's fashion sense while praising the immediacy of the Internet.

"I'm from Boston, and having a baseball bat with you at all times is a very Boston thing."

--Newton native Eli Roth, currently in Cannes promoting his role in Quentin Tarantino's new WWII film "Inglourious Basterds," says his bat-wielding character engaged in a violent revenge plot in Nazi-occupied France feels oddly comfortable.

"The news out here is very much reporter driven, meaning we have to bring stories to work every day and work our sources. In Boston, many times we would rip from the paper and follow the headlines."

--Brandon Rudat, former newscaster at WHDH-TV, spills that he's more than a headline-stealing news reader over in Los Angeles.

“I was there in the room while the whole thing went on, but I’m not going to tell you what happened. I will say that I was caught up in the moment, with tears in my eyes and was left breathless when the bride walked into the room.”

--Wedding stylist Chad Michael Peters refuses to give the bride's fate away in the upcoming Boston-set episode of the CW's "Hitched or Ditched."

"It's an honor. We get to showcase our talents and do it in a fun setting with friends."

--Michael Schlow, executive chef and co-owner of the award-winning Radius and Via Matta restaurants in Boston, says his upcoming stint on Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" helped him sharpen his skills.

'The Company Men' and 'Grown Ups' filming nearby

The Back Bay area, including Boylston and Newbury streets, was teaming with celebrities today with gangs from two made-in-Massachusetts flicks, "The Company Men" and "Grown Ups" gathered within a few blocks from each other.

Crews from "The Company Men" wrapped up shooting at Daisy Buchanan's pub around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 27 and then headed to shoot an interior scene on the corner of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenues next to the Eliot Hotel located at 370 Commonwealth Avenue. Tommy Lee Jones was the featured player in the Daisy Buchanan's scene shot earlier on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Adam Sandler and his "Grown Ups" entourage including Kevin James and his former "Saturday Night Live" cohorts including Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Colin Quinn and Norm Macdonald met at the Mandarin Oriental Boston located at 776 Boylston St. for a pre-filming pow-wow. The "Grown Ups" gang then headed back to Southborough for an additional day of shooting at the Pilgrim Congregational Church and Old Burial Grounds located at 15 Common St.

The town of Southborough will reportedly snag an additional $1,330 for the extra day of "Grown Ups" filming at the church, topping off a pro-rated amount of $20,000 Columbia Pictures has already agreed to shell out to use the facility. However, an inside source tells Loaded Gun Boston that the fees paid to use the location ended up being a lot more than what was initially reported.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, "The Company Men" production is scheduled to end next week for the principal actors with a wrap scheduled for Saturday, June 6. Production for "Grown Ups" is moving to Essex, a Cape Ann town near Gloucester which will continue until mid-August.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men" and here for the latest on "Grown Ups."

--Adam Sandler and Tommy Lee Jones photos by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo

Photos from 'The Company Men' set in Marblehead

Crews for Ben Affleck's "The Company Men," the made-in-Boston film following a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing, filmed scenes with Harvard Alum Tommy Lee Jones at a private residence on Crowninshield Road in Marblehead on Tuesday, May 26. The home, with a stunning waterfront view, is the residence of Brian and Nancy McCarthy of Kelly's Roast Beef fame.

"Everyone working seemed relaxed, smiling and enjoying the beautiful weather," reports Ryan Miner from Beantown Photo, on assignment for Loaded Gun Boston. "The traffic was flowing nicely with no backups. Those who did show up to try and maybe say 'hi,' get some pics, and meet the actors or get an autograph didn’t stick around long because from the only viewpoint available filming was about a quarter of a mile away."

However, Miner says it was a tight set. "Police were stationed at the bottom of Crowninshield Road and only allowed local homeowners up the street. I heard second hand they said to a woman that they will arrest anyone trying to walk up the private road into the neighborhood."

Miner continues, "You can see a long mic boom so they may have been doing some outside filming, but the camera kept passing from in front of the left hand side of the house to around the corner, and into the area behind the light screens."

As previously reported, crews for John Wells' downsizing drama "The Company Men" are slotted to film on Wednesday, May 27 at Daisy Buchanan's pub located located at 240 Newbury St. on the corner of Fairfield.

Excluding the scene slotted with Affleck's golf club-wielding double at the Gannon Municipal Golf Course in Lynn on Tuesday, June 2, "The Company Men" production is ending later this week for the principal actors with a wrap party slotted for Sunday, May 31.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men." --Copyrighted photos by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo

Kevin James will film 'The Zookeeper' this summer

Actress Rosario Dawson has signed on to star opposite Kevin James in the upcoming made-in-Massachusetts flick "The Zookeeper," the follow-up to "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" which is slotted to begin filming in late summer.

James, in Southborough last week and Tuesday, May 26 to shoot scenes with Adam Sandler and crew for the ultimate buddy flick "Grown Ups," will play the title role in the film produced by Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. In "The Zookeeper," he plays a zoo caretaker who consults with the animals in an attempt to learn their methods of dating and mating to help him win back the woman of his dreams.

Actress Leslie Bibb has also signed on to star with James.

Franklin Park Zoo and O Ya, an upscale Japanese-fusion restaurant located at 9 East Street in the Leather District, have been singled out as possible locations for "The Zookeeper," scheduled to hit theaters on July 23, 2010.

However, an inside source says it's likely that primary production will end up in the outskirts of Boston because of the film's content and well, its crew of large animals.

Lions, tigers and bears in Boston? Not likely.

"I wonder what city or town will allow us to march circus animals through the streets?" the source teases. "And, it won't be Boston."

Click here for the latest on "The Zookeeper."

Stylist gives scoop on Boston's 'Hitched or Ditched'

For celebrity wedding stylist Chad Michael Peters, the saying “for better or for worse” has new meaning after he was summoned to transform the Fairmont Copley Plaza into a stylish wedding venue for the made-in-Boston episode of the CW’s “Hitched or Ditched” reality show airing 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 2.

Peters helped orchestrate the ceremony for Jesse, a 30-year-old mortgage banker and Anissa, a 22-year-old systems analyst. After four years of courting, the couple is given “the ultimatum of a lifetime” and has a week to discover whether they should get married or go their separate ways.

“It was very high stress and I was working close with the producers day after day planning this over-the-top celebrity wedding,” he says, phoning from his home in Fairhaven. “It was, in essence, a very expensive art project. I started out as the floral stylist and really moved in, with my skill set, to give some valuable insight with regard to style and certainly thinking about weddings as fashion.”

The floral designer’s dilemma? He couldn’t consult with the couple until three days before the elaborate wedding ceremony.

“I heard what the bride and groom liked, but there was never any direct consultation,” Peters recalls. “Early on, I hadn’t met them at all and I wanted to put my passion into it. But, it was extremely important for me that if it was going to be somebody’s wedding that it needed to have this customized, personalized touch. It couldn’t be this blank thing or you wouldn’t get the emotion they wanted for TV.”

Following a couple on the verge of tying the knot, crews were in town filming last February at The Saint located at 90 Exeter St., up and down Commonwealth Avenue near Boston University and ultimately, at the Fairmont Copley Plaza.

When Peters finally consulted with the couple, he says the groom, Jesse, initially responded negatively.

“I met with them on a Saturday and the wedding was on a Tuesday and he was being so tough,” Peters remembers. “My designs were so beautiful and he said they looked like an Easter egg. I had a party planner moment and I was like, ‘this is your wedding. Are you going to mock your wedding on national TV?’ Jesse came to me after the production and apologized and said it was that moment when I won him over.”

However, winning over the bride and groom wasn’t the only hurdle thrown at Peters. After a disastrous accident involving a boom which knocked over his original arrangements releasing over 250 gallons of water, Peters then received a call from the network asking for a sexier design that would appeal to CW’s younger, “90210”-geared demographic.

“When we got the production call from the network saying ‘step it up and make it a fashion show,’ we really wanted to take it to the next level,” he recalls. “In the end, the director and the producers, all of whom have worked on ‘The Bachelor’ and are all big league, were effusively over the top. People at the ceremony said they could feel the passion in the room.”

The 37-year-old stylist adds, “It was exactly what you want Hollywood and Boston to be. There were parts of the design that I really pounded the table. And in the end, the pounding on the table was the difference between mediocrity and a brilliant TV show.”

CW has titled the Boston-set episode “A Cheater In Beantown,” alluding to potential issues regarding trust and infidelity with the couple. But will Anissa and Jesse ultimately tie the knot?

“I was there in the room while the whole thing went on, but I’m not going to tell you what happened,” Peters teases. “I will say that I was caught up in the moment, with tears in my eyes and was left breathless when the bride walked into the room.”

But, did they get hitched? “Well, you have to tune in to find out if she got married.”

Click here for the lowdown on Peters and here for the latest on CW's "Hitched or Ditched."--Photos courtesy The CW/Clare Folger and Person + Killian Photography.

Casting Ben Affleck look-alike with golfing skills

Pass for Cambridge homeboy Ben Affleck and have mad skills with a driver and 9-iron pitching wedge? You're in luck.

Billy Dowd Casting is on the hunt for an excellent golfer who is also a look-alike/photo double for Affleck for an upcoming scene featuring the hometown actor in the made-in-Boston flick "The Company Men." You must be around 6'2" with dark hair and have a killer swing.

On Tuesday, June 2, Affleck is scheduled to make a return visit to the Gannon Municipal Golf Course in Lynn to finish scenes he shot on Wednesday, April 8.

However, based on reports, Affleck had a few issues mastering the game. In fact, Affleck hit dirt with the golf club and a bucket full of balls when he teed up at McGolf in Dedham last month.

"He had a beard and it looked weird," says McGolf co-owner Marion McInerney here, adding that Affleck wasn't happy when a patron tried to snap his photo. "He said he wants to learn the game and he doesn't want to be made fun of."

When if comes to filming the golf scene, it appears that Affleck has dropped the ball ... literally.

As previously reported, crews for John Wells' downsizing drama "The Company Men" are slotted to film on Wednesday, May 27 at Daisy Buchanan's pub located located at 240 Newbury St. on the corner of Fairfield.

Before taking over Newbury Street on Wednesday, crews are scheduled to film at a private residence on Crowninshield Road in Marblehead on Tuesday, May 26. The home, with a stunning waterfront view, is the residence of Brian and Nancy McCarthy of Kelly's Roast Beef fame.

Interested in being Affleck's club-swinging double? E-mail Dowd at companymenextras@gmail.com with a photo and details about your golfing ability. Serious inquiries only.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men."

Local Michael Schlow makes 'Top Chef Masters' cut

Michael Schlow, executive chef and co-owner of the award-winning Radius and Via Matta restaurants in Boston, is slotted to appear in an upcoming episode of "Top Chef Masters" competition reality show airing on Bravo at 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 10.

Winner of the James Beard Award for "Best Chef in the Northeast" in 2000, the Brooklyn native and former baseball player moved to Boston in 1995 to reopen Café Louis. After a three-year stint as executive chef, Schlow turned up the heat on his larger plan for Radius. Since opening the upscale restaurant located at 8 High Street in Boston's Financial District with his friend and business partner Christopher Myers, the duo successfully spearheaded several successful restaurants in Boston including Via Matta, Great Bay and Wellesley's Alta Strada.

According to Bravo, the first six episodes of "Top Chef Masters" will consist of four chefs competing against each other to name one winner. The six winners of each episode will then meet up for the final four weeks when one person will get eliminated each episode until the finale where one winner is crowned Top Chef Master.

Schlow is scheduled to appear in the premiere episode airing on Wednesday, June 10 alongside chefs Hubert Keller, Christopher Lee and Tim Love.

If Schlow wins, he'll receive $100,000 for his charity of choice, the Cam Neely Foundation.

Click here for the lowdown on BravoTV.com.

--Photo courtesy Bravo

'The Company Men' filming at Daisy Buchanan's bar

Crews for the "The Company Men," the made-in-Boston film by director John Wells and starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner, are slotted to film on Wednesday, May 27 at Daisy Buchanan's pub located located at 240 Newbury St. on the corner of Fairfield.

Production is scheduled between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. and parking restrictions will be in effect on Newbury and Fairfield Streets for most of the day.

The subterranean Newbury Street bar and restaurant, named after the flapper heroine of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," packs in the frat boy crowd and its business-suit wearing alumni.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, "The Company Men" follows a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing. Affleck plays a corporate bigwig whose six-figure salary is suddenly cut after he gets a pink slip.

Before taking over Newbury Street on Wednesday, crews are scheduled to film at a private residence on Crowninshield Road in Marblehead on Tuesday, May 26. The home, with a stunning waterfront view, is the residence of Brian and Nancy McCarthy of Kelly's Roast Beef fame.

On Tuesday, June 2, Affleck is scheduled to make a return visit to the Gannon Municipal Golf Course in Lynn to finish scenes he shot on Wednesday, April 8.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men."

Trailer for 'The Surrogates' film showcases Boston

Disney's Touchstone Pictures unveiled the trailer for the made-in-Boston flick "The Surrogates," scheduled to hit theaters on Friday, Sept. 25.

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.

In fact, the opening sequence of the trailer is set at "Artiface" and was shot on South Street in Boston. Also, the climactic end of the trailer, where almost 300 extras and actors suddenly fall to the ground and play dead, was shot on Water Street in the Financial District.

Pittsfield native Elizabeth Banks, who makes her debut as a producer in the anticipated film, tells MTV.com that her behind-the-scenes romp with futuristic robots was, well, intellectually stimulating.

"People don't actually live their lives, but they send surrogate robots to go do everything for them — their work, their relationships, everything. They just sit at home and experience it in a chair," she says.

Banks continues, "So, you have all the sensation of a life, but you don't physically live it. It's interesting, because men can be women, women can be men, and ugly people can be beautiful."

Click here for the latest on "The Surrogates."

--Photo courtesy Touchstone Pictures

Adam Sandler's 'Grown Ups' film set in Connecticut

Here we go again. Adam Sandler's buddy flick "Grown Ups," currently filming at the Pilgrim Congregational Church and the Old Burial Ground in Southborough, revisits familiar territory where several lackluster made-in-Boston flicks failed miserably.

In "Grown Ups," Massachusetts is a stand-in for Connecticut.

In fact, set designers spent hours transforming a hearse borrowed from Chesmore Funeral Home in Holliston into a Nutmeg State vehicle. According to the MetroWest Daily here, film crews swapped the hearse's Massachusetts plates with ones from Connecticut. They even added a Constitution State inspection sticker to strive for authenticity.

My question: Wouldn't it make sense to make a few changes in the script and make it a Massachusetts-set flick? I mean, it must take a lot of effort, not to mention production dollars, to physically switch out a license plate and add regional-specific visuals in order to achieve some sort of aesthetic authenticity.

However, "Growns Ups" isn't alone with its identity crisis. Here's a list of several locally-shot flicks having undergone a location switcheroo:

*The Women, released Friday, Sept. 12
A remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic starring Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Eva Mendez, "The Women" turned Boston's Newbury Street and various local locations in the South End and Copley Square area in to NYC.

*Bride Wars, released Friday, Jan. 9
Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson play best friends who are pitted against each other when their wedding dates clash. Boston is a stand-in for NYC.

*Paul Blart: Mall Cop, released Friday, Jan. 16
Kevin James stars in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," a comedy about a security guard trying to stop a group of organized crooks who take over a mall. While set at the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall in New Jersey, a majority of the film was shot at the mall in nearby Burlington and the South Shore Plaza in Braintree.

*Pink Panther 2, released Friday, Feb. 6
Martin's Jacques Clouseau teams up with a squad of bumbling International detectives in an attempt to stop a globe-trotting thief who specializes in stealing historical artifacts. Boston-area landmarks were showcased in the film ... although they were given a French manicure.

*Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, released Friday, May 1
A bachelor played by Matthew McConaughey is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends (including Ben Affleck's wife Jennifer Garner) at his younger brother's wedding. Streets in Boston, including South Street near South Station and Marlborough Steet in the Back Bay, were transformed to look like the gentrified SoHo district in lower Manhattan.

*The Proposal, release Friday, June 12
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.

Click here for the latest on Sandler's "Grown Ups."

--Salma Hayek photo shot by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo for Loaded Gun Boston

'The Boston Stranglers' flick gearing for fall shoot

With media attention focused on producer Gale Anne Hurd's "Terminator Salvation" movie hitting theaters this weekend, the Overture Films exec spills to Arrow In The Head that she's moving forward with "The Boston Stranglers," a film adaptation based on Susan Kelly's 1996 book that revisits one of our city's darker chapters.

Hurd says the film shot right after the series of 11 murders in the early 1960s starring Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda got it all wrong. In fact, investigators of the case maintained that the homicides were not committed by one person.

"The true story of something that we … we all think we know the true story now, but we don’t. Which is that Albert DeSalvo was branded The Boston Strangler, there was a movie about him with Tony Curtis as DeSalvo. As it turns out he was never convicted of the crime," the producer says here.

Hurd continues, "The film is set up at Overture and we’re in the process of casting. And we hope to shoot in the fall."

Written by Alan Rosen, the screenplay starts with DeSalvo's initial string of crimes as he maneuvers his way into the homes of women pretending to be a scout for a modeling agency. The story turns into a multi-faceted dramatization of the so-called botched police investigation, including the intense media scrutiny fueled by the Boston Herald, and a jailhouse confession by DeSalvo to convicted murderer George Nassar.

Director Brian De Palma has been linked to the project.

--Archival photo from The Boston Herald

Mark Wahlberg's 'The Fighter' casting in Lowell

Think you're a contender? Boston Casting is holding an open casting call on Saturday, May 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lowell VFW Hall located at 190 Plain St. to cast extras for the upcoming Mark Wahlberg flick "The Fighter."

While the audition is open to union and non-union actors who are 18 years of age and older, Boston Casting is specifically looking for the following:

Boxers and fighters in their 20s and 30s

Trainers

Women in their 20s and 30s with blonde or red hair

Anyone 18 years and older, particularly from Lowell and surrounding communities

"The Fighter," which is scheduled to film in Lowell beginning in July, tells the story of Boston fighter "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and how he was helped to the world lightweight championship by half-brother Dickie Eklund, played by Christian Bale.

Please bring a headshot and resume or a current photo and bio to the casting call. Click here for details. Also, click here for the latest on "The Fighter."

'Grown Ups' dust up at Woodward Elementary gym

Adam Sandler, currently filming the made-in-Massachusetts flick "Grown Ups" with stars including Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Salma Hayek at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Southborough, is using the gymnasium at the Woodward Elementary School located at 28 Cordaville Rd. to shoot some hoops.

However, Sandler's visit to the facility on Monday, May 18 reportedly ticked off a few parents.

One comment on My Southborough here suggests that Sandler kicked out a crew of kids while checking out the gym.

"I understand you walked into the very busy Woodward Elementary School gymnasium early this afternoon, and asked that all third graders enjoying recess [to] leave the gym," writes Matthew Brownell here. "Is that included in your production contract, Adam? You know, monopolizing an entire public elementary school gymnasium ... while kicking out 8-year-old children from recess for your self-ingratiating leisure?"

According to a post here, Sandler didn't "kick out" the kids. “Adam did use the gym, but, as far as we know, no one was inconvenienced. No kids missed gym or recess,” Superintendent Charles Gobron spills to My Southborough.

The "Grown Ups" script features scenes with the 12-year-old double versions of the six male stars. In a flashback sequence with their coach you can read here, there's a scene at a high school gym and at Flanders Lakehouse where the boys attend a banquet celebration in 1978 after winning a basketball game.

Will crews film the flashback scene at the Woodward Elementary School gym? Sources say "no." However, Columbia Pictures is reportedly paying the school $10,000 to use the Southborough facility.

Filming continues at the Pilgrim Church and the Old Burial Ground in Southborough until Friday, May 22 with a return visit on Tuesday, May 26.

Click here for the latest on Sandler's "Lake House."

--Photo shot by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo for Loaded Gun Boston

Melissa Leo is a contender for 'The Fighter' movie

Veteran actress Melissa Leo, recently in town at Brandeis to promote her Oscar-nominated role in "Frozen River," is in negotiations to star alongside Christian Bale and Dorchester native Mark Wahlberg in the made-in-Massachusetts flick "The Fighter."

According to Variety, Leo is set to step in the ring as Bale and Wahlberg's mother.

In "Frozen River," Leo plays Ray Eddy, an upstate New York mom pushed to the financial edge and finds herself lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. She presented the film at the Edie and Lew Wasserman Cinematheque, 415 South St. in Waltham on Thursday, Nov. 13.

"The Fighter," which is scheduled to film in Lowell beginning in July, tells the story of Boston fighter "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and how he was helped to the world lightweight championship by half-brother Dicky Eklund.

Bale, slotted to play fallen fighter Eklund who ends up in the slammer after a drug-fueled robbery spree, reportedly got into character on Tuesday, May 12 by shadow boxing Eklund on the streets of the Highlands section of Lowell.

On Monday, May 11, Wahlberg met with Eklund at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Lowell to discuss locations to film scenes for the Ward biopic. Relativity Media has stepped up to finance the film and Paramount Pictures plans to distribute domestically.

After the tour in Lowell, Bale headed to the InterContinental Boston located at 500 Atlantic Ave. to unwind. Wahlberg, Bale and now Leo will head back to Boston and Lowell to begin filming "The Fighter" in July.

Click here for the latest on "The Fighter."

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

“I love this city. It’s a really European city, the parks are so beautiful and every block you go down the scenery is gorgeous.”

--Vanna White, America's favorite letter-turner from "Wheel of Fortune," says her recent stint shooting promos for a series of episodes slotted to tape from Thursday, Sept. 3 until Saturday, Sept. 5 in Boston was F-U-N.

"When Betty White says she wants a cup of coffee, you get her a f*#king cup of coffee!"

--Legend Betty White slams Ryan Reynolds in the mock behind-the-scenes "Funny or Die" clip from the upcoming made-in-Massachusetts flick "The Proposal" starring "America's sweetheart" Sandra Bullock.

"I'm sea sick as a dog but I really don't care. This boat is unreal. If anybody doubts our fans ever ... then they can kiss my ass!"

--Dorchester homeboy Donnie Wahlberg tweets that the three-day Carnival Cruise Lines boat trip with more than 2,000 die-hard NKOTB fans was crazy and, well, made him a little queasy.

“I’m glad I broke my arm. Kevin James was really nice. He asked me, ‘How’d you break it?’ I came to see all (the stars), but Kevin James is probably now my favorite, because he was so nice.”

--Susie Swiderski, a movie fan from Westboro who had actor Kevin James sign her cast, says her close encounter with the gang from Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups" flick outside of the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Southborough was worth the pain.

First look at Adam Sandler's 'Grown Ups' flick

The gang from Adam Sandler's made-in-Massachusetts movie "Grown Ups" were on set Monday, May 18 filming a funeral scene at the Pilgrim Congregational Church located at 15 Common St. in Southborough.

All of the film's major players were at the shoot including Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Salma Hayek. As previously reported in Loaded Gun Boston, the "Big Chill"-esque buddy flick is slotted to continue shooting in Southborough until Friday, May 22 with a return visit on Tuesday, May 26.

According to photographer Ryan Miner from Beantown Photo, on assignment for Loaded Gun Boston, the majority of the scenes were shot inside of Pilgrim Church on Monday, May 18 because of the weather.

However, the rain didn't stop the parade of stars.

"Adam Sandler waved to the crowd upon arriving at the set with a coffee cup in hand. Before leaving the set for lunch, he approached the crowd and signed autographs," Miner recalls.

"Chris Rock and David Spade took time before leaving to shake hands and sign autographs. Rob Schneider was about to be driven off when he asked his driver to stop the vehicle. Schneider called a couple of girls over to his window so they could take their photos with him and get autographs."

It's not something one would expect from a funeral scene, but Miner says the cast was in high spirits ... except for a hat-wearing starlet.

"Salma Hayek was very quiet," the photographer says. "She wore a hat with a large brim which concealed her identity. Many people in the crowd didn’t even see her arrive or leave. She was so elusive."

Contact Ryan Miner from Beantown Photography here for additional photos or to use his candid shots in print or on the Web.

Click here for the latest on Sandler's "Grown Ups."--Copyrighted photos by Ryan Miner, Beantown Photo

Adam Sandler's 'Lake House' is now 'Grown Ups'

The new working title for Adam Sandler's made-in-Massachusetts flick formerly called "Lake House" is now "Grown Ups," an industry insider confirms.

Co-starring Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Colin Quinn and David Spade, crews will film at the Pilgrim Church located at 15 Common St. and the Old Burial Ground in Southborough beginning tomorrow Monday, May 18 until Friday, May 22 with a return visit on Tuesday, May 26.

Sandler's former “SNL” cohorts as well as “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” funnyman James are slotted for a 66-day film shoot beginning in May centering around a group of five guys who return to their hometown after 30-years apart for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. The film has a tentative release date of March 12, 2010.

Filming at the historical Pilgrim Church includes a funeral for the gang's beloved high school basketball coach Bobby Phantom.

A pre-production party was held at Kings located at 50 Dalton Street in Boston's Back Bay on Saturday, May 16 where a majority of the stars including Sandler, Rock, Spade, Bello (also filming "The Company Men"), James and actress Salma Hayek met up to get the ball rolling on the film.

Maya Rudolph, slotted to play Rock's wife in "Grown Ups," couldn't make the bash because she was a surprise guest on the season finale of "Saturday Night Life." Rudolph performed alongside another "SNL" alum, Will Ferrell, on Saturday, May 16 in a mock funeral scene as a confused elderly lady obsessed with nachos.

Click here for the latest on Sandler's "Grown Ups."

Steven Spielberg honored at Boston U. ceremony

Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Boston University's commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17.

Spielberg mentioned in an interview here that he was looking forward to the weekend in Boston. "I’ve been to Boston many times for a day or two, but I haven’t spent a lot of time there. It’s a great honor to receive this honorary degree, and I’m really looking forward to the day," he muses.

Loaded Gun spies say Spielberg spent the evening of Saturday, May 16 at the Boston University's Night at the Pops performance where he was surprised by his long-time collaborator John Williams, who conducted a tribute to the director including music from "Schindler's List," "Jaws" and the "Indiana Jones" series.

Scenes from two of Spielberg's movies were shot in the Bay State, including the "US House of Representatives" scenes filmed at the Massachusetts State House for the courtroom drama "Amistad" and his first blockbuster, "Jaws," transformed Edgartown in Martha's Vineyard into the fictitious Amity Island.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, there were rumors that Spielberg is considering nearby Taunton as a possible location for his upcoming epic production tentatively called "Lincoln" about the Civil War and our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.

--Photo courtesy BU Today

Donnie Klang from MTV's 'Making the Band' coming

Donnie Klang, the solo artist who maneuvered his way into the spotlight on P. Diddy's MTV reality show "Making the Band 4," is slotted to hit the Back Bay Events Center located at 180 Berkley Street on Saturday, May 23 at 7 p.m.

For those not in the know, Diddy awarded Klang a solo record deal with Bad Boy Records on the MTV show’s live finale instead of offering him a slot in the group Day 26.

The 29-year-old performer, who hit the charts with the singles "Take You There" and "Dr. Love" from the 2008 album "Just a Rolling Stone," plans to perform with a crew of up-and-coming local acts including Playback, a dance crew from Everett called Phunk Phenomenon, R&B artist Sheleah Monéa, Sash Mckay and Makio from MTV.

Klang, who had an on-and-off-again "sho-mance" with former Danity Kane artist Aubrey O'Day, is currently recording his sophomore album and hitting the road after finishing up the third season of "Making the Band 4."

The Memorial Day talent showcase is sponsored by JAMN 94.5. Tickets are $20-$35. Click here for details.

--Photo courtesy Bad Boy Entertainment

Latest tweets from the New Kids on the Block boat

More than 2,000 star-struck women shelled out $1,000 each to board the three-day Carnival Cruise Lines boat trip with the New Kids on the Block setting sail from Miami on Friday, May 15.

Homeboy Donnie Wahlberg tweets here that the three-day trip to the Bahamas has been absolutely bananas so far. "The boat is CRAZY," the Dorchester native writes. "It's about to go down. I'm a little queasy but f*** it! I'm gonna have fun and love all my people."

Wahlberg sounds like he's, well, "Hangin' Tough."

According to reports, the gaggle of women boarded the sold-out boat trip and were spotted "angling for a glimpse of the New Kids." While a large pack of ladies, many in their 20s and 30s, sported NKOTB buttons and T-shirts in an obvious throwback to the late '80s.

The shy guy in the bunch, Jonathan Knight, alludes to the fact that the voyage kicks off the band's summer concert tour. "Can't believe we are actually on the boat waiting to set sail," he muses. "Seemed so long ago we talked about doing this ... and now here we are."

Danny Wood remarks that "the cruise is amazing."

Joey McIntyre sent out a twitpic and gave the most memorable NKOTB quote from the high seas. "Ship ahoy," he tweets. "Hopefully, I'll be alive on Monday." Aye aye, captain.

Boston episode of 'Hitched or Ditched' airs June 2

A Boston-area couple will be featured on the new wedding-themed reality series "Hitched or Ditched" airing on the CW at 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 2. Jesse, a 30-year-old mortgage banker and Anissa, a 22-year-old systems analyst have been together for four years.

But will they tie the knot?

Producers of "The Bachelor" and "Wife Swap" have put a new twist on relationship-based reality shows for the upcoming CW series. Following a couple on the verge of tying the knot, crews were in town filming last February at The Saint located at 90 Exeter St. and up and down Commonwealth Avenue near Boston University.

The show takes an unmarried couple in a long-term relationship and gives them the "ultimatum of a lifetime." Presented with the option of an all-expense-paid wedding at the end of the week, the duo has the choice to say "I do" or "I don't" after spending a week with family and friends hashing out the nuptials.

The CW has ordered six episodes of the wedding-theme series with the second in the series set in Boston.

"Yes, one [episode] was filmed in Boston recently, a friend of mine was on it with her boyfriend," confirms a Loaded Gun spy.

Click here for the latest on CW's "Hitched or Ditched."

Lindsay Lohan slotted to film in Martha's Vineyard

Lindsay Lohan has reportedly signed on to star in "The Other Side," a flick following a graduate student sent to spend the summer working at a scientific institute at an island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Lohan, in her first major movie since "I Know Who Killed Me" in 2007, is set to act alongside Woody Harrelson, Giovanni Ribisi, Dave Matthews and Alanis Morisette.

Shooting is set for October and reports suggest filming is slotted for Martha's Vineyard. Her character discovers an eccentric New England community hiding a few skeletons about a horrific tragedy from the past, Variety reports.

Lohan as a grad student? Now, that's acting. While hosting a gig at The Estate on January 21, the troubled beauty must have been doing research when she reportedly checked out Harvard's campus with Caroline Kennedy's daughter Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, a current student at the iconic ivy league campus.

Her then girlfriend DJ Samantha Ronson joined the crimson-haired troublemaker on a trek through Harvard's Widener Library and the Loker Reading Room. And now, after two years of so-called recovery and a public breakup with Ronson, the "Mean Girls" actress is ready to revive her career.

"Lindsay's very aware of people's perceptions of her," director David Michaels claims here. "She's really committed to doing what she has to in order to change that."

Click here for the latest on "The Other Side."

Wahlberg and Bale will film 'The Fighter' in Lowell

Mark Wahlberg, a Dorchester native who has gone on to star in a slew of big-budget Hollywood flicks including the recent “Max Payne,” will return to his Boston roots this July with the on-and-off again flick chronicling the early days of Boston boxer “Irish” Micky Ward called “The Fighter.”

Christian Bale and director David O. Russell have signed on to go a few rounds with Wahlberg. The good news? Production of "The Fighter" has officially been greenlit to hit the gritty streets of Lowell in July.

Bale, slotted to play the boxer's half-brother Dicky Eklund, a fallen fighter who ends up in the slammer after a drug-fueled robbery spree, reportedly got into character on Tuesday, May 12 by shadow boxing Eklund on the streets of the Highlands section of Lowell.

According to the Lowell Sun here, Bale made stops at the former Highland Tap and Captain John's in Cupples Square, Ramos Package Store on Branch Street and Eklund's former home on Wilder Street.

On Monday, May 11, Wahlberg met with Eklund at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Lowell to discuss locations to film scenes for the Ward biopic. Relativity Media has stepped up to finance the film and Paramount Pictures plans to distribute domestically.

After the tour in Lowell, Bale headed to the InterContinental Boston located at 500 Atlantic Ave. to unwind. Wahlberg and Bale will head back to Boston and Lowell to begin filming "The Fighter" in July.

Click here for the latest on "The Fighter."

'So You Think You Can Dance' kicks off in Boston

The ultimate dance audition? Yep, it's heading to Boston.

"So You Think You Can Dance," the original competition dance show returning to FOX for its sixth season, is holding an open casting call on Thursday, May 28 at Boston's Hyatt Regency located 1 Avenue de Lafayette. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and contestants must be no younger than 18 or older than 30-years-old.

Auditions for season six will kick off in Boston, and producers will continue their search for America's favorite dancer in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.

Here's the lowdown:

• Thursday, May 28--Hyatt Regency Boston Boston, MA One Avenue de Lafayette Boston, MA
• Monday, June 1--Woodruff Arts Center Atlanta, GA 1280 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta, GA
• Friday, June 12--Orpheum Theatre 842 S. Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90014 Los Angeles, CA
• Friday, July 24-- (TBD) Salt Lake City, UT
  

Need inspiration? Tune in to the "So You Think You Can Dance" season five two-night premiere 8-10 p.m. Thursday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 27 on FOX.

Click here for details on the season six audition.

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"I’ve been to Boston many times for a day or two, but I haven’t spent a lot of time there. It’s a great honor to receive this honorary degree, and I’m really looking forward to the day."

--Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg says he's looking forward to receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Boston University's commencement ceremony this weekend.

“What a huge outpouring of support. I know I should have won, but I’m not upset. I was proud of how I played the game.”

--Poker princess and "Celebrity Apprentice" castaway Annie Duke plays the not-so-humble card to the Boston Herald the day after getting a tongue lashing from Joan Rivers and the boot from Donald Trump.

"It's the first time in my many, many years in Milton that I walked to work."

--Local actor Tom Kemp, who has landed parts in a string of movies including "Mystic River," "Gone Baby Gone" and the upcoming "Shutter Island," says he enjoyed shooting close-to-home scenes in the John Wells' downsizing drama "The Company Men" with Ben Affleck at the cemetery in Milton.

"There were totem poles ... they brought in a lot of evergreen trees."

--Jeff Fraser, an Essex native and frontman for the award-winning wedding band Men In Black, spills to Loaded Gun Boston about his band's role in the made-in-Massachusetts film "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock.

"My mom said to me that she'd much rather see me on the Springer show for what we did."

--Drummer Matt Lisowski of the local three-piece punk act the Pity Whores says his Foxborough-based band's appearance on "The Jerry Springer Show" in Chicago, where he reportedly stripped down to a bra on national TV, is enough to make his mom proud.

Vanna White shoots 'Wheel of Fortune' promos

Vanna White, America's favorite letter-turner from "Wheel of Fortune," was spotted shooting a commercial on the brownstone-lined West Cedar Street in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood in the early evening on Tuesday, May 12. White also shot some footage on Acorn Street in Charlestown.

The TV game show icon is in town this week to tape several promos for three weeks worth of Boston-set episodes of "Wheel of Fortune" slotted to be shot at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center located at 348 D St. in South Boston. Taping at the Convention Center is slotted to begin Thursday, Sept. 3 until Saturday, Sept. 5.

White is also scheduled to tape a commercial at the Paul Revere House and at lunchtime on Thursday, May 14 walking out of the Union Oyster House located at 41 Union Street.

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

"We do a lot of shooting around town and getting a chance to look at some of the sites. There aren't a lot of cities with more to see than Boston," Pat Sajak spilled to WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill back in March.

Click here for the lowdown

Brighton native strips down for MTV's 'The Phone'

Mitch, a 22-year-old Brighton native currently studying Nutrition at Arizona State University, had to pose nude to distract an artist while his partner and Boston College student, Rameika, looked for the clue at the artist's loft in the latest Boston-set episode of MTV's "The Phone" airing on Tuesday, May 12.

In the fourth episode called "The Russians," the personal trainer hung out in a towel at a so-called Russian sauna, found the name of a piece of music at the Boston Public Library to use as a password for a Russian informant and helped his partner dodge green lasers to snag the show's top prize of $35,000.

Mitch ultimately shared his winnings with his 22-year-old teammate Rameika from Dorchester.

Last week, Marblehead's Katelyn Kennedy, a 22-year-old broadcast journalism graduate, shared the $20,000 prize money she won with teammate Chris Hanoian in the first Boston-set episode of MTV's "The Phone."

Click here for the latest on Justin Timberlake's "The Phone."

--Photos courtesy MTV

'Shutter Island' poster debuts at Cannes film fest

While Martin Scorsese's made-in-Boston film "Shutter Island" isn't slotted to hit theaters until Friday, Oct. 2, film enthusiasts got a sneak peek of the dark thriller at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival this week.

The promo is an ominous red-and-black image featuring the fictional namesake island peering in the horizon coupled with the fortuitous Boston Harbor lighthouse alluding to the film's dramatic ending.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, two U.S. marshals (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane to an eponymous Boston-area island in 1954. During the investigation, they encounter a web of lies, a hurricane and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island.

Based on the epic novel "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane, the Boston-shot flick features DiCaprio, 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, a source here, who talked to author Lehane in Arizona, says the first 10 minutes of the movie is deeply disturbing.

Lehane's take on the footage? "Teddy (DiCaprio) walks up the hospital on Shutter Island. There's a woman patient sitting there, with a scar across her throat. She looks at Teddy, and slices her finger across her throat. He said the scene freaks him out."

Click here for the latest on "Shutter Island."

Adam Sandler's 'Grown Ups' films at Pilgrim Church

Production for Adam Sandler's "Lake House," now called "Grown Ups," co-starring Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Colin Quinn and David Spade, is heating up in Southborough this week with plans to start filming at the Pilgrim Church located at 15 Common St. and the Old Burial Ground in Southborough beginning on Monday, May 18 until Friday, May 22 with a return visit on Tuesday, May 26.

Crews are slotted to set up shop in Southborough this week and St. Mark's Street will be closed to traffic on Wednesday, May 13 through the Memorial Day holiday. Lakefront Productions will be paying Southborough $20,000, with Pilgrim Church bringing in about $25,000.

While scenes will be shot primarily in Essex and Southborough, an industry insider says Sandler will shoot a few scenes in Boston. "We are only filming about two days in Boston. The rest of the schedule will be at locations outside the city," the Loaded Gun spy confirms.

Sandler's former “SNL” cohorts as well as “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” funnyman James are slotted for a 66-day film shoot beginning in May centering around a group of five guys who return to their hometown after 30-years apart for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Filming at the historical Pilgrim Church includes a funeral for the gang's beloved high school basketball coach Bobby Phantom.

Scenes featuring the 12-year-old double versions of the six male stars, in a flashback sequence with their coach you can read here, will be shot at a high school gym and at the namesake Flanders Lakehouse where the boys attend a banquet celebration in 1978 after winning a basketball game.

Actress Maria Bello, currently filming scenes in the made-in-Boston flick "The Company Men" on Summer Street in South Boston, joins Salma Hayek and Maya Rudolph as the film's latest recruits.

Click here for the latest on Sandler's "Lake House."

'Celebrity Apprentice' diva Annie Duke raises $550k

Annie Duke, poker superstar and "Celebrity Apprentice" finalist, checked in at the Boston Harbor Hotel on Monday, May 11 hours after getting the boot from Donald Trump on national TV on Sunday, May 10.

Duke, who has attended the Texas Hold 'Em Tournament for the past three years, has maintained her competitive spirit at a Boston-area charity event and ended up raising $550,000 for the Children's Hospital of Boston.

Losing to iconic comic and "God's Love We Deliver" philanthropist Joan Rivers, the mother of four tweets here that she's glad to be done with "Celebrity Apprentice" so she "can get back to my work with la familia."

However, Duke didn't go down without a fight. After Rivers said the New Hampshire native was "worse than Hitler" and quipped that her friends were mafioso trash, Duke shot back with a snarky blog post here, claiming Trump "slow rolled" her when he deviated from his usual "you're hired" protocol by pointing at Duke and then firing her.

At the Boston charity event, Duke appears to be moving on. The 43-year-old winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker tweets that she checked in to her hotel room at the Boston Harbor Hotel at the same time as the Orlando Magic. "They are going down on Tuesday," she muses, adding that she scored tickets to tonight's Celtic-Magic playoff game.

Click here for the lowdown on Duke.

--Photo courtesy NBC Universal

House of Blues gospel brunch kicks off on May 17

Biscuits and gravy served with a side of gospel music? You bet.

A favorite of mine since first giving it a try at the Cambridge HOB in the early '90s, Boston's House of Blues on Lansdowne Street plans to bring back its world-famous gospel brunch on Sunday May 17. It's a one-of-a-kind celebration that nourishes the body and soul while making the cultural and musical gift of gospel available to all.

This must-see live music and dining event features gospel performances from local and regional artists as well as acclaimed gospel musicians.

Tickets for House of Blues gospel brunch ranging from $25-$45 will go on sale Tuesday, May 12 at 10 a.m. Gospel legend Reverend Lee will kick of the festivities on Sunday, May 17.

The menu for gospel brunch at the House of Blues has been designed by Tindaro Losurdo, executive chef of House of Blues Boston. This sumptuous buffet will feature the best of Southern Delta cuisine, including biscuits and gravy, chicken jambalaya, waffle and omelets stations, fried chicken, blackened catfish, cheese grits, eggs, sausage and bacon, carving stations, salads, assorted muffins, bread pudding, cobbler and much more.

On Sunday, May 17, there will be one seating at 11:30 a.m. Following the initial launch, dates and times for the gospel brunch are as follows.

• Sunday, May 24 at 12:30 p.m.
• Sunday, May 31 at 10 a.m and 12:30 p.m.
• Sunday, June 7 at 10 a.m.

Beginning June 14, there will be two seatings every Sunday. The first seating will be at 10 a.m. followed by a second seating at 12:30 p.m.

Tickets will be available for the Sunday, May 17 event at the Orpheum Theater box office and on the Internet here.

'The Company Men' returns to the South End

Crews for Ben Affleck's "The Company Men," the made-in-Boston film following a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing, are filming on the tree-lined streets on the corner of Shamut Avenue in the South End on Tuesday, May 12 from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. with veteran actor and Harvard alum Tommy Lee Jones.

Production is slotted for all day near South End Buttery and Joe V's at a three-story brownstone located at 5 Union Park. Set designers were busy sprucing up the brownstone on Monday, May 11 and working on the lampposts surrounding the set (they're lighting the block for an evening shoot).

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, filming first hit the Union Park area on Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17.

"The Company Men" follows a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing. Affleck plays a corporate bigwig whose six-figure salary is suddenly cut after he gets a pink slip.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, Affleck and Costner were on set on Monday, May 4 and Wednesday, May 6 at a dilapidated Victorian house located at 174 Highland Street in the Fort Hill section of Roxbury. On Tuesday, May 5, Affleck was spotted on Watson Road in Quincy Point. The scene featured Affleck driving down the road and getting out of a Volvo wagon with his family including his on-screen wife played by Rosemarie DeWitt, then entering a small neighborhood home.

Also, crews were spotted on Friday, May 8 filming a scene at a home on Houston Street in West Roxbury with Oscar winner Chris Cooper. On Monday, May 11, Affleck and Jones were filming at Milton Cemetery located 211 Centre St.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men."--Photos by Sam Baltrusis

INTERVIEW: Local wedding band in 'The Proposal'

Jeff Fraser, an Essex native and frontman for the award-winning wedding band Men In Black, is hoping the gig that he and his six-piece group filmed in May 2008 will make the final cut of the made-in-Massachusetts flick "The Proposal" starring Sandra Bullock.

In the romantic comedy slotted to hit theaters on Friday, June 19, diva boss Margaret Tate (played by 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.

In addition to the celluloid wedding reception shot with Men In Black at an old mansion near Singing Beach overlooking Manchester harbor. additional 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.

Fraser, who says his band has performed at hundreds of wedding receptions, but never at one where the bride and groom were movie stars, chats with Loaded Gun Boston about his big-screen debut in "The Proposal," the elaborate set for the flick which included fake leaves on trees and a dance floor built over the family swimming pool as well as how Men in Black landed the high-profile gig.

LOADED GUN: How did Men in Black get involved in filming the wedding reception scene in 'The Proposal' starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds?
FRASER: The drummer's sister had an in with Boston Casting and we were selected that way.

LOADED GUN: Any behind-the-scenes experiences from the shoot at the old mansion near Singing Beach overlooking Manchester harbor?
FRASER: We watched Ryan Reynolds and Craig T. Nelson's confrontation scene about 20 times. They ran it again and again with different camera angles. Ryan [Reynolds] was pretty serious in the reception scene and he didn't mingle with the extras. Craig T. Nelson was mingling, walking around smoking his cigar. He was friendly. I didn't want to bother any of the stars. Sandra Bullock was not in the scene, so I didn't get to see her. They brought in some old boats which was pretty cool. They spent a lot of time with the 'sea plane' scene.

LOADED GUN: The movie is set in Alaska but shot in Massachusetts. Did the filmmakers do anything special for the location switcheroo?
FRASER: There were totem poles ... they brought in a lot of evergreen trees.

LOADED GUN: Have you heard if Men in Black made it into the final cut of the movie?
FRASER: I haven't heard anything yet, but I'm hoping.

LOADED GUN: What are your thoughts on the dramatic influx of big-budget films to Massachusetts?
FRASER: I think it's great! I have a friend who is a local carpenter who now has steady work building movie sets. I'm looking for a way to get a spot as an extra in the new Adam Sandler movie which is being filmed in my home town of Essex this summer.

--Photos courtesy Jeff Fraser. Still from "The Proposal" courtesy of Touchstone Pictures

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"I was really humbled that Madonna came to my show."

--Lady Gaga, on set of the made-in-Chelsea video "Chillin" with DC rapper Wale and star of the Grammy-sponsored bash at Boston's House of Blues, tells MTV News that she was honored that Madonna checked out her NYC show at Terminal 5.

“It was pretty funny. I would go along with it for a little bit. Some reporters thought I was his brother.”

--Michael Schwallie, who acted as a stand-in for Matthew McConaughey during "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" filming in Boston, says he even fooled reporters as a dead ringer for one of Hollywood's hottest hunks.

“These kids, this experience, is so inspiring and so passionate. It’s thrifty, profound, high-quality theater that happens to have been created by high school students.”

--Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer muses about her experience this weekend with students at her former high school in Lexington for a play based on Neutral Milk Hotel's “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea."

"When I'm in a community and filming ... instead of just being a 'sighting,' I like to have authentic evenings playing with the band."

--Kevin Costner, currently in town filming the downsizing drama "The Company Men" with Ben Affleck, spills about the gig last Thursday night with his band Modern West at Showcase Live located at 23 Patriot Place in Foxboro.

"This is the antithesis of something like ‘American Idol.’ You have kids in the movie who would rather give up a meal than miss dance class. There’s not instant gratification on Broadway, which is very much the underlying theme of something like ‘American Idol.’"

--James D. Stern, director of the quintessential behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the revival of "A Chorus Line," tells Loaded Gun Boston that his film "Every Little Step" is no reality-show wannabe.

INTERVIEW: 5 questions about ‘Every Little Step’

There’s something still moving, and universally viable, about the musical “A Chorus Line.” Who could have imagined such an enduring piece of modern culture would arise from middle-of-the-night conversations in a dance studio?

Directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo rekindle the magic of the hugely successful Broadway musical in “Every Little Step,” a skillfully crafted documentary chronicling the behind-the-scenes events that sparked the genesis of the show. Also, for the first time in the history of Broadway, outside camera crews were allowed into the extensive audition process for the show's 2006 revival.

The directors, recently in town at Boston’s Liberty Hotel promoting “Every Little Step” hitting the Kendall Square Cinema and the Coolidge Corner Theatre this week, kick off Loaded Gun Boston’s “5 Questions” series. Stern and Del Deo chat about the now infamous tapes featuring Broadway legend Michael Bennett who died in 1987, the rumors that “Every Little Step” distorted the history behind “A Chorus Line” and whether or not their production company, Endgame Entertainment, has plans to film in Boston.

LOADED GUN: I’m a sucker for archival footage and recordings. You must have been elated to have access to the original 12-hour tapes, right?
STERN: It’s part of the reason we really wanted to do the film. The tapes were Broadway legend. It was like being put in a room with a rare unicorn.
DEL DEO: What struck us right out of the gate about the movie is that it gave us the opportunity to the follow thousands of dancers in New York, examine their lives and learn about them as they compete for different roles on ‘A Chorus Line.’ There was a natural mirror in place for us to reflect on what Michael Bennett had done 30 years earlier when he got dancers in a room. We took those tapes and were shocked by how intimate and incredible they were. We then used those tapes to bridge the past and the present and fleshed out a lot of the themes from the musical.

LOADED GUN: Any surprises after listening to the tapes?
STERN: The amount of material pulled verbatim from those tapes that ends up in ‘A Chorus Line’ surprised us. When Michael Bennett says he wanted people in the room to talk about their hopes and dreams and then says it will be called ‘A Chorus Line,’ that was pretty extraordinary.

LOADED GUN: While I’m a Bennett fan, there’s controversy that some of the history behind ‘A Chorus Line’ was distorted in ‘Every Little Step,’ like omitting some players who contributed to the musical and that Bennett took over the session that night. True?
STERN: What is true is that the idea for the session didn’t start with Michael. But he didn’t take it over that night. Once he got involved, it was obvious that he was in charge and he ran with it. There’s not really a controversy there. I’ve heard the stories but that’s not what we heard on those tapes.
DEL DEO: What we found when we heard the tapes is how Michael really opened up and was extremely intimate and personal. After he took the stage he really set the tone for the rest of the evening and allowed others to feel comfortable about talking about the most intimate parts of their lives.

LOADED GUN: Anything shocking to you after listening to the tapes?
STERN: The average age of the room was 24. Put them in room and give them wine … they’re theater people and they talk. What did happen in that dynamic is that when one tells a story, the next person wants to top it. And it’s obvious that they really didn’t give a damn that the reel was on.

LOADED GUN: Is it difficult to craft a documentary with behind-the-scenes material without creating a high-end reality show?
STERN: There are intellectual underpinnings that separate a documentary from a reality show. This is the antithesis of something like ‘American Idol.’ You have kids in the movie who would rather give up a meal than miss dance class. There’s not instant gratification on Broadway, which is very much the underlying theme of something like ‘American Idol.’

LOADED GUN: Your production company, Endgame Entertainment, has several projects in the works. Any chance you’ll film in Boston?
STERN: Sure, more so than ever because of the tax breaks. There are a couple of films that we’re working on that could definitely be shot in Boston.

Actor unveils 'Pedro' at Boston's GLBT Film Festival

Actor DaJuan Johnson will be in attendance at the Boston GLBT Film Festival screening of “Pedro" with a Q&A following the film. The screening will hit the festival at 7 p.m. Friday, May 7 at the Museum of Fine Arts

Penned by "Milk" Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, the film celebrates the life of Pedro Zamora, who was diagnosed with HIV at age 17 and was a former cast member of "Real World: San Francisco." His death at age 22 provoked a worldwide outpouring of grief.

Johnson stars as Sean Sasser, Zamora’s companion. The couple exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony on the "Real World: San Francisco" as the country watched, making history as the first gay couple to be “married” on national television.

“I didn’t watch this season of the 'Real World,' once I read the script I immediately knew it was an important piece and I wanted to be a part of it," Johnson adds.

The actor's credits include the films “Hyenas,” "Soul to Take" and “Summer Time." His TV credits include “Maneater," “Private Practice," ”Scrubs," “CSI:NY” and a recurring role alongside Kiefer Sutherland in the hit show “24."

Click here for the lowdown on the Boston GLBT Film Festival.

Marblehead native snags prize in MTV's 'The Phone'

Marblehead's Katelyn Kennedy, a 22-year-old broadcast journalism graduate, shared the $20,000 prize money she won with teammate Chris Hanoian in the Boston-set episode of MTV's "The Phone" airing on Tuesday, May 5.

Kennedy, currently living in NYC, kicked off the competition with a mafioso shoot 'em up set in Chelsea Square. Competitors Stephanie Hallett from Allston and Rob Wilson from Worcester started off strong, but had consistent issues finding the keys to their car at a impound joint in Somerville called Mike's Scrap & Metal. Apparently, a guy name Sam had issues picking up the pieces (which turned out to be a severed right thumb).

Hallett and Wilson ended up getting crushed for scrap metal.

Kennedy and Hanoian continued to the second round of the competition heading to an apartment facing the Boston Common. Kennedy spied from a room that looked a lot like Matt Damon's pad in "The Departed" on Tremont Street (with a view of the Massachusetts State House) while Hanoian searched for clues spewed by mafioso types circling Brewer Fountain.

The duo then jumped on the Blue Line T and headed to what was called Pier 17 in East Boston. There they worked together to stop an assassination attempt on two Boston police officers, with the top cop played by Quincy native Raymond Alongi.

In the nail-biting finale, Kennedy correctly answered the final trivia question and was handed a suitcase with $20,000. Instead of keeping the money to herself, she decided to share her winnings with Hanoian, an 18-year-old student from Seekonk.

There's a second Boston-set episode of MTV's "The Phone" slotted to air in the next few weeks.

Click here for the latest on Justin Timberlake's "The Phone."

--Photo courtesy MTV

Ben Affleck's 'The Company Men' filming in Quincy

Cambridge homeboy Ben Affleck, currently in town filming the downsizing drama "The Company Men," was spotted on Watson Road in Quincy Point early on Tuesday, May 5. The scene featured Affleck driving down the road and getting out of a Volvo wagon with his family including his on-screen wife played by Rosemarie DeWitt, then entering a small neighborhood home.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, both Affleck and Kevin Costner have been filming scenes at the under-construction Hodgdon House located at 174 Highland Street in the Fort Hill section of Roxbury. If you compare the before photo of the Hodgdon House here to the pics I shot on Sunday here, the transformation is already dramatic.

After shooting scenes in Quincy today, filming is scheduled to resume in Roxbury on Wednesday, May 6.

"The Company Men" follows a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing. Affleck plays a corporate bigwig whose six-figure salary is suddenly cut after he gets a pink slip. Costner, a blue-collar construction worker who reportedly is boasting a posh Kennedy-esque Boston accent, offers Affleck a job installing drywall.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men." Also, click here for additional photos from the Hodgdon House set in Roxbury.

Wale and Lady Gaga film 'Chillin' video in Chelsea

Tim Kash, a VJ at MTV News, headed from NYC to Boston at 5 a.m. Monday, May 4 to interview DC rapper Wale on the set of his latest video "Chillin," featuring pop princess Lady Gaga. Kash was joined by his MTV News cohorts, Brendan Kennedy and Nicole Salmanak.

Director Chris Robinson, who's in town to shoot the music video, crafted an "under construction" type set showcasing Boston's waterfront district with the Tobin Bridge as a backdrop. The shoot at Eastern Minerals located at 37 Marginal St. in Chelsea involved Caterpillar cranes, lots of concrete, a pink-white-and-blue tarp-like backdrop and a sweet 2009 silver-metallic Mercedes-Benz V12.

Lady Gaga was working a killer silver-and-black outfit with lace black pantyhose, topped with a leather biker captain cap. Two earphone-wearing Great Danes co-star with Wale and Gaga and were featured in a later shoot at a Cambridge clothing shop called Concepts, located at 37 Brattle St. in Harvard Square.

After the "Chillin" video filming, Lady Gaga headed over to the Boston House of Blues on Landsdowne Street to play the free Grammy-sponsored gig with Kelly Clarkson. According to a Loaded Gun Boston spy at the show, Gaga's performance was "hot, amazing, great voice, great piano playing and, of course, great costume changes. Kelly Clarkson was good too ... but Gaga stole the show."

Photographer Alex Slater captured all of the behind-the-scenes drama at the "Chillin" video in a photo essay here at the Boston Phoenix.

Locals in Boston-set episode of MTV's 'The Phone'

MTV has released the names of the four local contestants featured in the Boston-set episode of Justin Timberlake's "The Phone" airing 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5. The foursome include Marblehead's Katelyn Kennedy, Seekonk's Chris Hanoian, Allston's Stephanie Hallett and Worcester's Rob Wilson.

In the Boston-shot sequence airing tonight, two teams are challenged to "take down the mob before an assassination takes place." The goal in the mob smack down is to save the life of a police officer.

The second Boston-based episode is scheduled to air on Tuesday, May 12.

Kennedy, a Marblehead native currently living in NYC, tells Loaded Gun Boston that she got a good workout participating in the MTV reality show. "I was one of the contestants in the show and they had Raymond chase me around the city and through the T," she remarks here, referring to actor Raymond Alongi who plays the role of a Boston police officer in the episode. "It was a great time!"

While several scenes were shot in Charlestown, East Boston and the South End, local photographer Ryan Miner says Chelsea is a prime location for one of the two Boston-set episodes in the six-part series. "One of the best scenes is going to be where a man jumps off a four-story building," Miner spills to Loaded Gun Boston. "My wife and her best friend were watching the filming and ended up being extras, when gun shots are being fired, they run down a sidewalk."

Alongi, a former student of the Actors Studio in Los Angeles and a Quincy High grad, says he had a blast working on "The Phone."

"The best thing was the phone call the next day from one of the producers telling me how much they enjoyed my performance," Alongi says. "That is huge for any actor. Recognition! We thrive on making every part believable."

Click here for the latest on Timberlake's "The Phone."

--Photo of "The Operator" Emmett J. Scanlan by Mark Mainz

Kevin Costner slotted to perform at Showcase Live

Who knew Kevin Costner could sing? The acclaimed director and actor, currently in town filming the downsizing drama "The Company Men" with Ben Affleck, is scheduled to perform with his band Modern West at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 7 at Showcase Live located at 23 Patriot Place in Foxboro.

"Four years ago, this band just started playing. We did not make an announcement or a big deal out of it," he says here, adding that the group plays originals and covers of songs the "Dances With Wolves" star digs. "We want to hold an audience with our own songs. Otherwise, we may as well play in our living rooms and not ask people to pay money to come hear us play."

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, Costner joins Affleck from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, May 4 until Wednesday, May 6 at the under-construction Hodgdon House located at 174 Highland Street in the Fort Hill section of Roxbury.

In "The Company Men," Costner plays a blue-collar construction worker who offers the recently downsized Affleck a job installing drywall.

Click here for tickets to Showcase Live. And, click here for the latest on "The Company Men."

'The Company Men' returns to Roxbury's Fort Hill

Cambridge homeboy Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner are slotted to shoot scenes from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, May 4 until Wednesday, May 6 at the under-construction Hodgdon House located at 174 Highland Street in the Fort Hill section of Roxbury.

With initial scenes shot on Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14, crews are returning to film Affleck working construction on a triple-decker Victorian in desperate need of repair. If you compare the before photo of the Hodgdon House here to the pics I shot today here, the transformation is already dramatic.

"The Company Men" follows a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing. Affleck plays a corporate bigwig whose six-figure salary is suddenly cut after he gets a pink slip. Costner, a blue-collar construction worker, offers Affleck a job installing drywall.

As previously reported in Loaded Gun, there was filming in the Boston Common and the Financial District on Wednesday, April 22 and in the South End at a three-story brownstone located at 5 Union Park on Friday, April 17. On Thursday, April 16, Tommy Lee Jones was spotted on the 17th floor of Fish and Richardson at One Marina Park Drive in South Boston and moved to the shoot located at 78 Waltham St. also in the South End.

Click here for the latest on "The Company Men." Also, click here for additional photos from the Hodgdon House set in Roxbury.

--Hogdgon House photos by Sam Baltrusis

Random Shot :: Copley Square Park in full bloom

April showers bring May flowers? Above is a shot of a sea of freshly planted tulips blooming in Copley Square Park in Boston's Back Bay.

Click here for more photos from the "Loaded Gun Random Shots" series.

--Photo by Sam Baltrusis

Mansfield 'Mall Cop' mom tries out for 'Grown Ups'

Suzanne England, a 40-year-old Mansfield mother of three, will be attending the open casting call at Felt Lounge on Saturday, May 2 for the Adam Sandler flick "Lake House," now called "Grown Ups," with hopes of reuniting with her "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" co-star Kevin James.

The aspiring actress was working as an extra during a scene at Joe's American Bar & Grill in the South Shore Plaza during the "Mall Cop" filming last year and was pulled out of a crowd of about 150 hopefuls to do a featured bit with James and his on-screen love interest Amy played by Jayma Mays.

In the scene, James' Blart character gets sloshed in a bar after accidentally downing a drink with alcohol. A drunk Blart then tells the stunning England that she's not his type.

England, who has landed a slew of extra roles including parts in the TV pilots for "Bunker Hill" and "See Kate Run" as well as a scene in the Mel Gibson flick "Edge of Darkness," hopes for a big-screen repeat in the latest made-in-Massachusetts Adam Sandler production.

As previously reported, RPM Casting is holding an open casting call for Sandler's upcoming "Lake House" production at Felt, located at 533 Washington St. in Boston's Downtown Crossing area, on Saturday, May 2 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

RPM is on the hunt for men, women, teens and kids. Go here for the size card.

Click here for the latest on Sandler's "Lake House."

--Photo courtesy Jim Powers

The week in quotes from Hollywood in the Hub

"I had a ball with Jennifer. She's very elegant, yet sort of a classic woman, actress. She does her own thing, and she also doesn't bring a lot of hoity-toity false drama to the process."

--Matthew McConaughey, star of the made-in-Boston "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" hitting theaters on Friday, May 1, says his on-screen romantic interest Jennifer Garner is "keen and coy."

"I think Boston, especially the way it's been portrayed in movies recently as a burly city, a city of Irish mobsters in Dorchester -- there's a whole other side to it, a much quieter, more romantic side."

--Harvard grad and filmmaker Damien Chazelle believes his film, "Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench," will show Tribeca Film Festival guests another side of Boston.

"Boston's where I got started as a comedian, but the Coolidge is where I first got exposed to art movies."

--Bob "Bobcat" Goldthwait, in town to promote his film "World's Greatest Dad" at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, says his early days in Boston fueled his indie-flick sensibility.

"I feel like a Hollywood star."

--Mary Jo Chaisson, one of the stars of the film "Shooting Beauty," gushes to a reporter outside of the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square waiting for the big premiere of the documentary at the Independent Film Festival of Boston.

“We have more local filmmakers in the festival than we’ve ever had, [because] many local films were better than films we saw from around the world.”

--Adam Roffman, program director of the IFFBoston, tells the Bay State Banner that local films and filmmakers put in a strong showing at this year's Independent Film Festival of Boston.