Amy Ryan is Golden in 'Gone Baby Gone'

By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan  |  December 14, 2007

When the Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday, it wasn't a surprise to see Amy Ryan's name on the list for her work in "Gone Baby Gone." But two months ago, when the actress was in Boston for a screening of Ben Affleck's movie, she seemed bemused by the early buzz. "I don't know what to make of all of that," Ryan told us about the talk that her performance as a Dorchester mom could earn her an Oscar nomination. "I've just been trying to stay focused on the work and promoting the movie." A veteran stage actor, Ryan tried to deflect the attention away from herself and toward her costar Casey Affleck and his big brother Ben, who directed the Boston-shot film. "I can't say enough about how wonderful it was to work with Casey and Ben."

Brady makes a name for himself in silly awards

But never mind the Golden Globes. The smart-alecks at Epiccarnival.com announced the 2007 Carny Awards yesterday. Of local interest is the award for Female Sports Celeb You'd Drain Your Bank Account to Sleep With. The winner was Jessica Alba, but Tom Brady's ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan finished fourth in the voting, just ahead of the QB's current girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen. In a walk, Arlington's own Dane Cook won the Celebrity Sports Fan You'd Like to Slap Award, while Bill Belichick and Curt Schilling were runners-up to Barry Bonds for Sports Figure You'd Like to Slap. . . . If the breakup of Moynahan and Brady were a boxing match, the editors at People would give the win to the actress. The cover story in the new issue revisits some very public splits - including Reese Witherspoon vs. Ryan Phillippe (as the mag bills it) and Uma Thurman vs. Ethan Hawke. People details the Moynahan/Brady break, her finding out she's pregnant with the Pats QB's child, and No. 12 taking up with Bundchen. The magazine polled readers on whether Moynahan or Bundchen was better for the three-time Super Bowl champ, and Moynahan trounced the Brazilian beauty by more than a 3-to-1 ratio.

The blogosphere can be a lively place, as BU professor Christopher Daly found out. Writing on journalismprofessor.com, Daly blasted a recent Washington Post piece about Barack Obama's ties to the Muslim world. "The front-page story by Perry Bacon Jr. connected Barrack [sic] Obama and Islam so tightly and so frequently that it really doesn't matter what else is in there. The message was: Obama =Muslim," wrote Daly. The professor, who once worked for the Post, could have stopped there, but couldn't resist taking a shot at Bacon: "Who is Perry Bacon Jr.? . . . [In] two minutes of Googling him, I learned that he graduated from Yale in 2002, so he is approximately 27 years old," Daly wrote. "Since when does the Post assign 27-year-olds to write Page 1 presidential campaign pieces?" Well, for quite a while, actually. As Seth Mnookin pointed out on his blog, Bob Woodward was 29 and Carl Bernstein 28 when the Post put them on the Watergate story. (As you might expect, Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. called Daly's comments "reckless" and "irresponsible.") Daly didn't have much to say when we called him yesterday, directing us instead to the apology he'd posted on his blog. "I did not mean to suggest that there is some minimum age requirement for writing about national politics," he wrote. "I work with dozens of talented young people every year, and I know just how capable they are . . . I regret leaving the impression that people in their 20s are somehow inherently unqualified to cover presidential politics or anything else."

The importance of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is not lost on famed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, who'll sing there tonight in the Tapestry Room. "I know she loved the arts," von Stade told us yesterday about the museum's namesake. "She created this wonderful museum and collection and then gave it all away. Amazing." Von Stade said she'll perform something "much lighter" than usual at the black-tie gala benefiting the museum's music program. "I'll keep it short and simple. I've included an aria that [Gardner] liked," von Stade said.

For their annual holiday party last night in Washington, Senator Ted Kennedy and his wife, Vicki, added a little political humor, according to someone who was there. The duo dressed as their Portuguese water dogs, Splash and Sunny, and launched into a skit. According to the e-mail we got, the Senator (playing Splash) asked: "I wonder what dog has the worst job in D.C." Vicki (as Sunny) replied: "Probably Dick Cheney's hunting dog. Can you imagine how hard it must be to retrieve the things he shoots?" Mrs. Kennedy continued: "We've got to be careful, though, not to call ourselves Portuguese water dogs anymore. We could get deported. Although I hear even General [Michael] Hayden at the CIA has a Portuguese water dog." The senator quipped back: "No, no. He's got a Portuguese Water-Boarding Dog. Very different."

Driving music

In their hipster hybrid cars, Cooper Boone and his band, including Spin Doctors guitarist Anthony Krizan and fiddle player Gary Oleyar of Loggins & Messina, pulled into town yesterday. The boys launch their Small Change/Big Planet tour today with shows at the Thomas Gardner School, the Children's Museum, and Bill's Bar. The shows' sponsor, the Music Emporium, is making a contribution to Music Drives Us, Ernie Boch Jr.'s foundation that puts instruments and music into schools.

Perfect night for a ‘Sleigh Ride’

Maestro Keith Lockhart walked from his Brookline home to Symphony Hall to ensure he was on time for last night's Boston Pops concert. On Wednesday night, Hyde Park native Lawrence E. Waters Jr., a chief warrant officer with the Massachusetts Army National Guard who served in Iraq, won over the audience as he conducted "Sleigh Ride."

Names can be reached at names@globe .com or at 617-929-8253.