Posts Tagged ‘Red Sox’

Since last week’s tragedy at the Boston Marathon, a number of celebrities and other notable stars have come together to lend a hand in their own way to support the city, from both near and far.

Former New Kid on the Block, Joey McIntyre was running in the marathon to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association and in honor of his mother who suffers from the disease. He finished the race mere minutes before the bombs went off. he’s since tweeted messages of love and support, along with Cambridge native Minday Kaling.

As a touching sign of solidarity, New York showed their love for Boston by singing Neil Diamond’s hit song, “Sweet Caroline” at Yankee Stadium. On Saturday, Diamond surprised the Red Sox fandom at Fenway, just hours after a citywide lockdown, by showing up to lead Red Sox fans in the song traditional sung a the top of the eighth inning. Diamond apparently flew to Boston before he even arranged the performance, and also told Rolling Stone, “I’m writing now and obviously affected by this situation in Boston, so I’m writing about it just to express myself.”

Victims of the bombings that are still recovering in local hospitals were surprise when actor Bradley Cooper stopped by the Boston Medical Center on Friday. Cooper is currently in town filming David O. Russell’s upcoming movie American Hustle.

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman made sure to visit Jeffrey Bauman during his visit. Bauman, lost both of his legs in the bombing, but awoke from surgery and was able to provide the the FBI with important information for their investigation. Other NFL stars, Danny Amendola and Jermichael Finley (of the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, respectively) have both pledged to give portions of their 2013 season salaries to the One Fund. Amendola will be donating $100 per catch and $200 per drop, while Finley promised $500 for both every dropped pass and touchdown to the relief efforts. “Now fans can cheer & boo me @ the same time!” Finley said on his Twitter page.

Late-night E! talk show host Chelsea Handler pledged her support to bombing victims in the form of a $25,000 donation to gofundme.com, an online recovery fund for Celeste and Sydney Corcoran, a mother and daughter from Lowell, Massachusetts, who were both severely injured at the marathon bombings.

Newton, Massachusetts, native Amy Poehler addressed the audience of her Smart Girls YouTube channel Friday by answering a viewer question on violent imagery. “It’s been tough, hasn’t it? Doesn’t it feel like we’re just bombarded with stuff now? That everywhere we go there’s just some picture that’s worse than before. I kinda feel like my eyes need a break.” She ended the video with a very simple message: “I love you Boston.” Poehler is a graduate of Boston College.

Other stars lent their support more simply. On Monday morning, “The View” co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck wore a red Boston jersey. The conservative member of the talk show panel attended and also graduated from Boston College. Likewise, Olympic gold medalist gymnast Aly Raisman was seen wearing Boston t-shirts in her aired rehearsals for “Dancing With the Stars.” The 18 year old lives in Needham, saying “It was really difficult,” of performing live on TV shortly after learning of the bombings. “I just want to say that I love everyone back home from Boston. You’re all in our thoughts and prayers.”

Last night on TLC, the sweetly popular series, “DC Cupcakes” aired an episode entitled “DC Cupcakes: Wicked Good Showdown.” The epic battle featured sisters Sophie and Katherine pitting the Soho, New York City location of Georgetown Cupcake against the newly opened Newbury Street shop here in the Boston.

The shrewd sisters, realizing the parallel baseball rivalry between the two cities, enlisted two baseball icons: Bernie Williams from the New York Yankees and Jason Varitek from the Boston Red Sox, to help bring in the crowds to help sell cupcakes. What started out as a sister vs. sister showdown ended up becoming an intense New York vs. Boston, baseball-themed cupcake competition.

Throughout the show, sister Sophie was seen taking walks up and down Newbury Street, driving their cupcake van through downtown, stopping by local watering holes like McGreevy’s, and even driving a Duck Tour full of people straight into the Charles River. The episode featured quite a bit of the goings-on in Boston, as it showed the grand opening of the Newbury Street that occurred on June 16^th of this year, and both of the sisters building a cupcake model replica of the USS Constitution for a Boston Harbor fourth of July celebration.

At the end of the competition, sister Sophie and her Boston team landed on top, though by less than $100, with all of the proceeds going to Jason Varitek’s charity, Pitching in for Kids.

It’s no secret that Boston is a great city for sports. With all 4 of our major league teams winning at least one championship in the past decade, many have taken to calling our Hub “Title Town”. As local sports fans become increasingly accustomed to attending championship parades, it’s natural to expect that many celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon.

Many of these stars long-time, hard-core, Boston sports fans, most of them with long-standing roots in the area. Brookline’s Conan O’Brien, Medford homegal Maria Menounos, and of course Ben Affleck, Matt Damon are all fans of all four of our championship winning teams. Any of them are likely to be spotted wearing their green at a Celtics game, grabbing a Fenway frank for a Sox game, chilling at a Bruins game, or kicking back at a Pats game.

Our most storied sports team, the Red Sox can claim many celebrities among their fans, including the likes of Jennifer Garner, Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Stephen King, Denis Leary, Kenny Chesney, Stephen Tyler, Arlington’s own Dane Cook, Neal McDonough (who hails from Hyannis), Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, and Mark Wahlberg.

Up until June of last year, Bruins fans felt a bit left out of the Boston sports championship frenzy. Then, thanks to the first Stanley Cup in 29 years this past June, famous fans like Dropkick Murphys’ frontman Ken Casey, celeb chef Ming Tsai, “Superbad” star Chris Mintz-Plasse (you may remember him as McLovin), “The Office” star Mindy Kaling, Newton-bred actor/director Eli Roth, Dane Cook, Denis Leary, Jim Gaffigan, and former Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath, all suddenly had something serious to cheer about.

With their 2008 champhionship win, the Celtics brought the luck of the Irish back to Boston, harkening back to the days when the likes of Larry Bird helped us hoist multiple banners years after year in the Garden. These days, famous faces like Everett’s Ellen Pompeo, Gisele Bundchen, Watertown’s Eliza Dushku, Dane Cook, Steven Tyler, Mike O’Malley, Jay Leno, and Dorchester’s Donnie Wahlberg all were seeing green. Wahlberg in particular has definitely waited for his chance to celebrate with the team, supporting them by being spotted in the stands going all the way back to the mid-90s, long before Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Shaq ever put on their clover leaf apparel.

Famous Patriots fans are a little harder to find. It seems with all their championship successes, the team causes a lot of controversy, even amongst the most stalwart and staunch Boston sports supporters. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who of course is our famed quarterback, Tom Brady’s, wife, is at every game. Donnie’s brother Mark Wahlberg also roots for his Pats, as does writer Steven King, who originally hails from not to far off Maine. Aerosmith frontman and former Brighton resident, Steven Tyler not only sang the Star-Spangled Anthem at the AFC championship game, but showed his love for his home team by sporting the sparkliest Patriots scarf this side of Michael’s Craft Supply. With the Pats defeat of the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC championship, sending them to yet another Superbowl showdown, maybe we’ll see a few more famous faces pop up at the next game!

On Friday, July 30th, Zac Efron’s first notable foray into films of a dramatic will debut with the silver screen premiere of Charlie St. Cloud. Based on the novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, by Ben Sherwood, the story takes place in the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, and relies heavily on Bay State themed elements throughout the book. In addition to the numerous references to nearby towns and local geography–the town of Revere, Swampscott, the Saugus River, Devereux Beach, Route 1A, and the Charles River, the Red Sox also play an important part of the storyline itself, with allusions to specific players, games, and descriptions of elements of Fenway Park and the surrounding area.

Despite all this, however, the movie was not shot in Massachusetts, nor New New England, nor even in the United States, but rather in scenic and woodsy British Columbia, Canada. Though the director, Burr Steers, told the Boston Herald back in the spring of 2009 that he hoped to be able to film here, Universal Pictures made a budgetary decision that made the Pacific Coast location more palatable than remaining true to the story’s literary roots.

While the screenplay was not changed the reflect the new location, locals who see the film will be able to tell you unequivocally, that Vancouver looks nothing like Marblehead. Instead, those who appreciated the local connections laid out in the novel will have to take comfort in a plethora of Red Sox paraphernalia and area references that will seem more creatively embellished than vaguely familiar, at best.

★ Watch clips of  ‘Grown-Up’ Adam Sandler give a commencement address at his old high school in Manchester, New Hampshire.

★ Maine’s Anna Kendrick spotted in London after picking up an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakout Star.

★ Former “American Idol” contestant, Cape Cod’s Siobhan Magnus, recently joined Hanson on stage for a performance.

★ Quirky film shot in Brookline gains cult following at the Coolidge Corner Theater.

★ Pop singer Rihanna takes in a Red Sox game at Fenway.

★ Drummer from Peabody gets gig in Grown-Ups movie.

★ A Beverly woman appears on TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress”.

★ Massachuestts’ Steve Carrell to leave “The Office” after contract ends next season.

★ Michael Burgess, future lender to Plymouth Rock Studios, is being indicted on 42 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

★ Matt Damon announces he and his wife are expecting their 4th child.

★ British star, Rachel Weisz, to play American Jackie Kennedy in upcoming biopic.

★ Connecticut collector owns a plethora of historically noteworthy and pop culturally relevant items, including things from Jim Henson, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley.

★ “Saved by the Bell” star “Mr. Belding” comes to McFadden’s in Boston on April 29.

★ Partly filmed in Cambridge Facebook movie could be allegorical about modern social interactions and relationships, and features the story of how the creator getting dumped.

★ New Hampshire film honored with 2010 Emmy nomination from the Boston/New England chapter of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

★ New York Magazine lists 7 things Conan O’Brien will be able to do on cable that he couldn’t do on network television. While Conan confirms that he will in fact not be returning to the NYC.

★ Fashion designer to the stars Marc Jacobs attends his business partner’s swanky wedding on the Cape.

It’s winter in New England, so why not cozy up to your favorite flick?  Even better–why not watch a movie that was filmed here and savor some familiar scenes?  Hollywood East Connection has the only list of feature films that were shot in New England for your convenience.  Simply go to our Movies In New England page and click on a state to see a list of movies filmed in that state. Here’s a refresher as well as some of our favorites:

Warm up with beach scenes from the classic thriller Jaws. Or, for a bit of comic relief, watch the hilarious Kevin James in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which was filmed at the Burlington mall.  For Red Sox fanatics, check out Drew Barrymore in Fever Pitch. Vermont residents may recognize scenes of Burlington in Me, Myself & Irene or catch Tobey Maguire in The Cider House Rules.  Our resident Mainer’s can always rely on a good Stephen King flick such as the Storm of the Century, Pet Cemetary, and The Stand.  Robin Williams visited the Granite state in the family action classic Jumangi.  And to see scenes of Connecticut, enjoy the classic remakes Yours, Mine and Ours or The Stepford Wives. Last but not least, Providence, Rhode Island was the location for several scenes in one of Ben Stiller’s first comedies There’s Something About Mary.  Watch this recut trailer and see Ben at his best:

So grab a hot toddy and cuddle up to watch one of these movie classics. Remember–buy any of these at our Amazon Affiliate store and we’ll donate 2% to The May Institute.  For a complete list of movies made throughout New England, refer to the Movies In New England page of our website.  We told you some of our favorites and now we’d love to hear some of yours!

Enjoy and have a safe and happy holiday season!

★ Tom Brady on the cover of the new Details magazine talks about modeling, children, and Gisele.

★ Brady’s beau, Gisele’s favorite Boston hotspots.

★ Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider enjoy free movies, just like us regular folks.

★ Mark Wahlberg rushed to Mass. Gen. Hospital while filming The Fighter.

★ The Beckett Bowl is back on September 10, promising more celebrities turning out for a good cause.

★ Connecticut Water Company donates volunteers and materials for “Extreme Home Makeover.”

“Dollhouse” star and Boston native Eliza Dushku has been up and down Beantown these days filming scenes for her new movie, Valediction, costarring Ben Barnes and Sarah Roemer. On June 9th, Dushku was spotted in a form-fitting, pink Herve Leger dress at Whiskey Park at the Park Plaza on Arlington Street for a Christmas party scene. Wasting no time, the homegrown star made use of her time in the hub, catching a Red Sox game and visiting relatives.

Her new production company, the aptly titled “Boston Diva Productions” will be starting on the new film, Mapplethorpe, about the iconic photographer who died of AIDS in 1989. The biopic will trace the unusual story of how the artist’s work gained him headlines only after his passing, and will star her brother, Nate, whom the actress says bears and uncanny resemblance to the late man. While in town, Dushku has also taken to tweeting updates about filming Valediction. Actor Danny Glover is also rumored to be appearing in the film. The movie is set to be released sometime next year. You can keep up with all of Hollywood East Connection’s latest updates on what’s new in everything entertainment in the New England area on our own Twitter page here.

If you’re a Boston sports fan by way of breeding, geography, or attitude and whether you’re into your Pats, Celts, Bruins, or Sox, NESN wants you to come out and show your stuff on their new trivia show, “Pocket Money”. Hosted by local comedian, Paul “Fitzy” Fitzgerald (really Nick Stevens), the self-described “World’s Metaphorically Biggest Pats and Sox fan” and blogger of TownieNews.com. Fitzy will be posing Boston sports-related trivia questions to fans at various locations in and around the Boston metro area, including local college campuses, city streets, and of course, Fenway Park. Successfully answered questions will earn participants pocket money in increments of $5, $10, and $20. The program is part of the New England Sports Network’s new commitment to bringing locally based programming to the airwaves. The show will even feature a unique interactive section on NESN.com. This facet will enable advertisers and local sponsors to engage directly with fans of the show as well as the content that is produced through its participants. The half-hour long show will tape 20 episodes in its first season, with the first episode taped at Yankee Spirits store in Swansea, Mass., on June 17.