A new year celebration

Finally, the Patriots faithful have something to smile about: The team's cheerleaders released their 2009 swimsuit calendar at a fan meet-and-greet at CBS Scene in Foxborough last night. The squad also screened "Patriot Girls, Making the 2009 Calendar," the behind-the-scenes video of the ladies' Punta Cana and Dominican Republic photo shoots.

Gervais's 'Truth' and consequences

Ricky Gervais is our favorite star today. Not only because the British comedian and director filmed "This Side of Truth" here earlier this year, bringing Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey into our orbit. Or because he loves Lowell. Or because he took our call, in the midst of an overwhelming stack of requests related to his new comedy "Ghost Town." Mostly because he's witty as hell. Witness.

So, the Toronto Film Festival almost killed you, with all the interviews. What number are we today?
Two hundred and twelfth. At least I insisted on armchairs.

How'd it go, then?
I was in a room full of reporters and one woman said, "I love that part that you're a dentist, but you wore those awful manky teeth." I said, "I'm not wearing teeth, and I'm not wearing a fat suit either, in case you're asking!"

You play a very annoyed dentist in "Ghost Town," and you're known to have many pet peeves. Did you hate anything about Boston?
Here's what I noticed: The pedestrians rule, which is quite nice. They're all lawyers. "Knock me over, see what happens!" And everyone's into sports. I said, "How many times do the Red Sox play?"

We read on your blog that people are stalking you in restaurants now, reporting what you eat and speculating you're dieting when you enjoy fruit salad.
If I were on a diet, I really wouldn't start with deep-fried scampi. Don't leave out the bits that don't fit your story.

How's "Truth" coming? You know we love to see ourselves on film.
It's like a love letter to Lowell. It looks so beautiful on screen, so quaint. We want to get it ready for, probably, the end of next summer. I've screened it, for me to watch the audience. I do it to see if the jokes work. I think people are going to be blown away by Jennifer Garner and Rob Lowe, because they're so funny and they're so dry. They haven't done anything quite like this, I think.

We remember when you guys were running around with the Nerf guns, and you shot Lowe in the eye. It was a real shame, pretty as he is.
Uh, yes. I got my leading man. I said, "They've got to wear sunglasses from now on."

A magic moment

Magician Jon Stetson (above) will perform under the stars tonight at "Moondance," an Esplanade Association gala benefiting the restoration and care of Boston's favorite riverfront park. Stetson's show celebrates the 100th anniversary (this year) of Harry Houdini's death-defying underwater escape from the Charles, after his manacled jump from the Harvard Bridge, organizers say. Stetson has also served as the official medium of New York's annual Halloween Houdini séance. We're totally creeped out already.

Obama is a Shue-in

Should we be surprised that Elisabeth Shue is voting for Barack Obama? After all, the actress is married to Davis Guggenheim, who directed the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and the brief biographical film that preceded Obama's acceptance speech in Denver. "I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Democrat," Shue told us yesterday on the set of "Don McKay," shooting now in North Andover. The "Leaving Las Vegas" actress, who majored in government at Harvard, said her interest in politics has nothing to do with her day job. "As a human being, I feel it's important," said Shue. "I shy away from being a 'celebrity' who's involved in politics. I'm just a human being who pays attention." Shue, who costars in the dark comedy with Thomas Haden Church, commended Matt Damon for his blunt critique of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. "Matt is a very intelligent guy," she said.

Fact check this

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales spoke on free speech and free markets during a Ford Hall Forum lecture last night at Suffolk University.

Shedding some light on 'Darkness' and De Niro

Why did Robert De Niro really leave "Edge of Darkness"? The gossip mill's been churning since the Oscar-winning actor abruptly left the Mel Gibson cop drama last week. Both sides insist the parting was mutual and did indeed stem from "creative differences," as first reported. Still, "there's been a lot of erroneous stuff floating around," said producer Graham King, including chatter that De Niro was fired from the set-in-Boston flick. "We couldn't fire Bob De Niro. I mean, c'mon," King said. "There are a lot of rumors about on-set activities, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Somebody said to me that he and Mel didn't get along - and he was 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles when Bob was filming. They weren't even in the same scenes! Mel didn't even know." De Niro and director Martin Campbell just saw his character, a CIA crime-scene operative, too differently, King continued. Campbell sees the character as humorous, while "Bob saw it as more of a dry character," King said. As producer and financier, King had to protect the film, he added. "It's a role in a movie, it's not a marriage. It was very amicable." De Niro's spokesman Stan Rosenfield concurred. "Can you conceive a scenario where you dismiss one of the world's greatest actors after one day because he was not performing well? It's ridiculous. He'd have to be comatose."

Watertown's Eliza Dushku (inset) will get a little break from her new Fox series "Dollhouse" this month. Word from the Hollywood Reporter is that producer Joss Whedon shut down production for a few weeks to work on scripts for the drama; he'd been out of the writer's room - busy directing the show's first two episodes - and reportedly wasn't happy with the new material. Production resumes Sept. 25.

Several Sox players and their SOs were in attendance last night at "Kooza," the Cirque du Soleil show at the Bayside Expo Center. Mike and Bertha Lowell, Dustin and Kelli Pedroia, J.D. and LaSheigh Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and girlfriend Kelsey Hawkins, and Mike and Dawn Timlin all had tickets, as did hitting coach Dave Magadan and wife Monique and massage therapist Russell Nua and wife Georgia.

Celtics captain Paul Pierce and teammate Rajon Rondo were spotted lunching at Sonsie on Wednesday.

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