Boston, Home to Several New Movies

Living here and reading the papers we see a variety of actors in town for filming of this movie or that (see our September 10, 2007 post). A local TV show, Chronicle, did a spot on Boston movie-making last night, calling the city "Hollywood East."

You may recall that Gone Baby Gone (book written by Dennis Lehane, movie adaptation by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, directed by Ben Affleck) took place and was filmed in Boston. Another of Lehane's books, Shutter Island, is being filmed here now. The movie, renamed to Ashecliffe (the hospital where the story begins), is being produced by Phoenix Pictures, directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio. The release date is October 9, 2009.

21 is being released today and stars Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Jim Sturgess, and a host of other new actors. The movie was inspired by a real-life story of M.I.T. students who used simple math to give a blackjack player an edge over the dealer, costing Las Vegas casinos millions. The book, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, by Ben Mezrich and inspiration for the movie has received mixed reviews. We'll see how the movie goes over (Roger Ebert gave it 1 1/2 stars).

Independent film On Broadway stars Joey McIntyre (yes, from New Kids on the Block and Brookline -a Boston suburb- native). The movie is described as:

On Broadway tells the story of Jack O'Toole, a 30-something Boston everyman, who writes a play about his dead uncle as a way to reconnect with his hard-nosed dad. With no money and just his gut to guide him, Jack quits his job as a carpenter so that he can mount a production of his play on the only stage he can afford: in the back room of his neighborhood pub, on a little street called Broadway.

The Irish American film has received much local acclaim.

So what can we say? Come visit us in Boston, and maybe you'll see someone famous! If you can't make it here, maybe you can make it to one of the movies above.