Names
Menounos: producer, star, trash picker
Think ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ meets ‘Superbad’ meets ‘Dexter,’ ’’ says Maria Menounos, talking about her new movie, “Serial Buddies,’’ which she and fellow Medford homey Keven Undergaro shot this week in Woburn. Undergaro (above left) wrote and directed the comic caper about a couple of serial killers, and Menounos (above right) took time off from “Today’’ and “Access Hollywood’’ to produce and star. “It’s exhausting, but we’re having a great time,’’ Menounos told us between takes at Mr. Trophy, a trophy wholesaler in Woburn where Menounos worked during college. The film, which Undergaro hopes to have ready in time to submit to the Sundance Film Festival in October, has a tiny budget, an eclectic cast (Christopher Lloyd, David Proval, and Richard Christie), and a youthful crew, including kids from Menounos’s alma mater, Emerson. “There’s no diva trip,’’ said assistant director Justine Jungels Bevilacqua, who graduated in May. “Maria’s willing to get her hands dirty.’’ She’s not kidding. To save money on props, Menounos regularly picked through curbside trash near her parents’ home in suburban Connecticut, where much of the movie was shot. “One woman came out and said, ‘Wait a second, I know you,’’’ said Menounos, laughing. The gang was back in Connecticut yesterday, where Kathie Lee Gifford’s girl Cassidy was due to shoot a scene. “My mother’s so excited,’’ said Menounos. “She’s making spinach pies.’’
A real find
Antiques Roadshow appraiser James Callahan’s $1.07 million valuation of a collection of jade carvings in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday was almost as exciting for him as it was for the owner of the items. After seeing thousands and thousands of mostly worthless knickknacks, Callahan was almost giddy about the high-value find - almost. “I was happy, definitely,’’ the Marshfield-bred Callahan told us yesterday. “Giddy is not in a New Englander’s nature.’’ Callahan says the WGBH program sees about 18,000 items at every road show, and “out of 18,000 things, 17,850 are not worth looking at,’’ he said. “The quantity of material that you’re wading through before you find anything is good is huge. It’s a lot of just stuff.’’ Ironically, the owner of the million-dollar items is a woman named Jinx Taylor. The lucky Jinx inherited the jade collection from her father, who bought the pieces when he was stationed in China in the 1930s and ’40s. Callahan said Taylor expected the collection to be worth about $10,000. She was shocked when Callahan told her to add two zeros to that guess. “You start thinking about retirement and leaving your job,’’ Callahan said. The record-breaking find should mean good ratings for the WGBH-produced “Roadshow.’’ The episode is expected to air next season, which starts in January.Zand gets the boot
It would have been a glorious homecoming for Brookline’s Nosson Zand, the religious rapper who’s been touring with fellow believer Matisyahu. But Zand, the 27-year-old formerly known as Nate, has suddenly been booted from the tour that hits the ‘Lying’ in state
There have been plenty of made-in-Massachusetts movies on the big screen these days thanks to that tax credit, but only a few have been well-liked by critics (“The Women,’’ “Bride Wars,’’ and “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past’’ didn’t help). But “Office’’ creator Ricky Gervais may fix all that. A trailer for Gervais’s movie “The Invention of Lying’’ has surfaced online, and we’re happy to report that the movie, which was filmed around Lowell, looks quite good. “Lying’’ stars Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Newton comedian Louis C.K. We only wish there was more local scenery in the preview. The movie is due out in September.Kerry lends a hand
Senator John F. Kerry dropped by a recent fund-raising party for the Woods Hole Film Festival at Quicks Hole restaurant. The night featured former Globie Charlie Sennott, who now runs the new website GlobalPost; and documentarian Beth Murphy. The festival, which runs July 25 to Aug. 1, will feature four filmmakers-in-residence: director Bestor Cram; “Sopranos’’ guy Joe Pantoliano; Ian Maxtone-Graham, who has written for “The Simpsons’’; and casting agent Carolyn Pickman, who worked on “Gone Baby Gone,’’ “The Departed,’’ and Ben Affleck’s new locally shot movie “The Company Men.’’Ready for Tedy
Pats linebacker Tedy Bruschi held a mini-camp for 54 kids at Gillette Stadium yesterday, and the pigskin peewees got an introduction onto the field over the PA system. (SBLI’s Bob Sheridan, the event sponsor, spared no expense for the kids, who were chosen via an essay contest.) Bruschi was joined by his wife, Heidi, his kids, and a few of his talented teammates.Adams joins cast
Amy Adams has joined the cast of “The Fighter.’’ Word is the “Enchanted’’ actress will play the bartender who dated and eventually married Lowell-bred boxer Micky Ward. (The movie, directed by David O. Russell, stars Mark Wahlberg as Ward and Christian Bale as the boxer’s brother Dicky Eklund. Shooting begins July 13.) “The Fighter’’ is inspired in part by “High on Crack Street,’’ an HBO documentary that was directed by writer Richard Farrell. A Lowell native, Farrell has a new book, “What’s Left of Us,’’ which he’ll read from tonight at Cafe Azteca in Lawrence. Geoff Edgers of the Globe staff contributed. Read the Names Blog at www.boston.com/namesblog. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 
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