You have less than a week to catch a glimpse of Renee Zellweger and the rest of the “My One and Only” stars filming in and around Baltimore. After 38 days living and working in the land of pleasant living, they finish the local leg of production Monday.
“I can?t imagine anybody else doing what Renee has done,” says Producer Aaron Ryder on the set in North Baltimore at Tyrconnell, an 1826 stone mansion on a 26-acre sprawling green estate. “Her role as a young mother on a road trip with her sons looking for a husband and a father for her boys takes a certain amount of empathy and warmth and humor. …[She] keeps it light and at the same time emotional ? She?s just perfect.”
Zellweger, best known as the endearing Bridget Jones and the singing murderer Roxie Hart, is “laid-back and really very cool,” said Production Assistant Shane Tuney, a recent Towson University grad. “She has a hell of a sense of humor.”
Opposite Zellweger are familiar faces. But you have never quite seen the leading men like this, said Ryder. “It?s important for us to cast these guys ? Chris Noth, Stephen Weber, Kevin Bacon, Eric McCormick ? a little against the grain. Chris Nothis the opposite of Mr. Big [in “Sex and the City”] and Eric McCormick isn?t Will from “Will and Grace” ? he?s this dashing, young playboy. We?re taking the recognizable men who the audience has some warmth for and showing them in a different light.”
The big names have supersized talents, said Marylander cameraman Boots Shelton. “When Director Richard Loncraine asks for a subtle difference in facial expression from take-to-take, you can see they provide that ? the changes. It?s always a pleasure watching those subtleties.”
Perched beside a flowing fountain just beyond an elegant garden party scene complete with a shrimp-lemon topiary and gold chivair chairs, Producer Ryder doesn?t hide his enthusiasm for the film?s production coming to an end. Beside the challenges of making Baltimore look like New York, Boston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis in 1954 and limiting work hours due to the teenage actors who play Zellweger?s boys, Maryland?s dramatic weather also wreaked havoc on the production, Ryder said.
Following filming in Baltimore, “My One and Only” will fly to New Mexico for the only natural resource Maryland doesn?t have ? a desert. The comedy is loosely based on tan man George Hamilton?s early life with his flamboyant mother and brother.
A private party for the crew and talent will be held at Lucy?s Irish Bar, according to a source close to the restaurant formerly named Maggie Moore?s.
Cable-famous guy
If your “gay-dar” went berserk on Sunday, it?s because the wonderful, we-want-to-hug-him Ted Allen of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Iron Chef America” was in town.
At the Baltimore Chefs & Wine Experience, he taught audiences how to trust their taste buds in order to tell which wines go best with certain foods. Allen loves making crowds laugh while leading them to the culinary light, but Sunday?s event and similar occasions aren?t theright places for him to explore food and wine because fans do want pictures and to chat.
“People recognizing me is all about context ? the media landscape is so fragmented and diverse right now,” Allen said. “Chances are I?m not going to be noticed in a Wal-Mart in central Tennessee. But in Williams-Sonoma in New York, the chances are much greater. It?s nice to be a cable-lebrity.”
The 30-Second Review: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
With the deluge of comic-book movies pouring out of production studios this summer faster than you can say “superpowers,” you can bet some will just plain suck. Surprisingly, that is not the case with “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” (although I have to admit I was a little worried).
Thanks to returning director Guillermo del Toro (“Pan?s Labyrinth”), the film focuses more on a folklore, fairy tale aspect, involving a broken truce between humans and mythical creatures, rather than the Nazi-themed “Hellboy.” The makeup effects are pretty bad-ass, which means many more interesting fantasy creatures, mostly seen when Hellboy and Abe Sapien travel to the Troll Market.
It?s a bit anticlimactic ? Hellboy and crew participate in about four major battles before actually getting to the most significant battle at the end ? but at the same time, I wasn?t bored for one second. Some of the more humorous parts continue for about a minute too long ? at one point, Hellboy and Abe drunkenly sing “Can?t Smile Without You,” which is funny but gets old.
But overall, “Hellboy 2” will make comic book fans and fantasy film buffs smile, gasp and sigh in all the right places.
Mario speaks
“I?ve been blessed with a drive and the right people in my life at certain times, and even though my mother was a drug addict, she still recognized that I had a talent and was there for me. That was such a blessing because I don?t think I would have recognized my talent. I knew I loved music, but she used it as a way to keep me away from all of the craziness. When parents do recover, it?s often too late to rebuild relationships. Once you lose them, you lose them forever. Fortunately for me and my mother, it wasn?t too late. My mother has almost one year of being clean.” ? Mario, on why he?s succeeded despite his mother?s addiction to heroin.
The R&B singer and former “Dancing with the Stars” competitor will hit the high falsetto notes at Six Flags in Largo tonight and Artscape July 19. He?s promoting his new charity, the Do Right Foundation and his latest album “Go.” Play “Kryptonite,” “Do Right” and “Music for Love” on repeat.
Cocktail class
If you?ve recently ordered a classic martini in hopes of giving off a suave vibe, but the dangerously strong spirit only led to stumbles and slurs, Ted Allen suggests a gin gimlet, which is simply gin with lime juice over the rocks or a Bella Bellini ? a flute of champagne with white peach puree. This version of the drink traces its roots to Harry?s Bar in Venice, where regulars Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles knocked back a few
