Will the real Pop please stand up?

Normally, David Robinson wouldn't bother with big-screen baloney like "Music and Lyrics." But after seeing the trailer for the Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore comedy, he began wondering whether Hollywood had ripped him off. You see, while Robinson, who lives in Rockport, may be best known as a founding member of the Modern Lovers and the Cars, he was also, briefly, the drummer in a band called the Pop. So what? In "Music and Lyrics," Grant plays a former one-hit wonder whose '80s outfit was called -- you guessed it -- the Pop. "At first, I thought I was hearing things," Robinson told us. "But then other people called me when they heard the name." He became more suspicious when he saw the fictional band's logo, which looks an awful lot like the real band's logo, right down to the exclamation point. But that's not all. "Roger Prescott was the guitarist in the Pop, and his girlfriend was Drew [Barrymore's] baby sitter," said Robinson. "That's weird, right?" Formed in LA in 1974, the real Pop emulated the kings of classic British rock, and had a look to match. (See for yourself at thepop.us). We tried yesterday to reach the movie's director, Marc Lawrence, but he didn't return our call. Asked whether he'd ever form a band with a lightweight like Grant, Robinson left little doubt about the answer. "This could reflect badly on us," he said, laughing. "Hugh Grant's band should be the Pap."

Penciling in the ART of philanthropy

Best-selling writers Jodi Picoult, Robert Parker, Gregory Maguire, Susan Orlean, Ann Hood, and Jacqueline Mitchard have signed on for Alice Hoffman's reconstituted fund-raiser "An Evening With Your Favorite Authors." The event raised $1 million for the Hoffman Breast Center at Mount Auburn Hospital from 2001-04, but Hoffman had said the 2004 event was her last. Now the Cambridge novelist is bringing it back on May 21, and it promises to be different. Instead of the ballroom affairs of the past, it will be a cocktail party at the American Repertory Theatre's Loeb Drama Center followed by the authors reading or discussing their work on the ART stage. "I'm so thrilled we'll be at the ART's theater," said Hoffman, a breast cancer survivor. "People can enjoy themselves better without the formality." She said she has been encouraged by the response. "I'm always surprised at how quickly the authors say yes," she said. "If they can come, they do."

Nominations provide taste of Boston

Nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards -- the foodie world's version of the Oscars -- were announced yesterday, and they included several nods to Boston. Patrick Connolly , chef of Radius under chef/owner Michael Schlow, was nominated for rising star chef of the year, a category for those under 30 years of age. Frank McClelland of L'Espalier, Marc Orfaly of Pigalle, and Michael Leviton of Lumiere in West Newton were nominated for best chef in the Northeast, as were chefs at two Maine restaurants -- Rob Evans of Hugo's in Portland, and Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier of Arrows in Ogunquit. Ana Sortun of Oleana was nominated for her book, "Spice," in the international cookbook category. In the TV food special category, Todd English of Olives was nominated for "Food Trip With Todd English" on PBS Nationwide. The Boston Globe's Food section, which is edited by Sheryl Julian, was nominated for best newspaper section. The awards will be presented May 6-7 in New York.

The lineup for next month's Independent Film Festival of Boston looks promising. The program, to be announced today, includes films by first-time director Sarah Polley, as well as Hal Hartley, Michael Corrente, and the world premiere of writer/director Dave McLaughlin's movie, "On Broadway," which was shot around Boston last summer. Hartley's film "Fay Grim" opens the festival April 25 at the Somerville Theatre, and there's a possibility that the star, Parker Posey, will make the scene. (Producer Ted Hope and co star James Urbaniak are confirmed.) "On Broadway" screens the next night at the Somerville Theatre, and word is actress Eliza Dushku will be in the house. Also of interest is the Latin baseball flick "Rumbo a Las Grandes," which features Sox slugger David Ortiz.

Indie rocker Pete Yorn was at the First Act Guitar Studio in the Back Bay yesterday for a small set sponsored by FM radio station WFNX before heading to his Avalon concert last night.

Shooting continued yesterday on the Cape for the movie "Chatham," with actors Bruce Dern and Mariel Hemingway on the set of director/writer Daniel Adams's movie.

Alison Arnett of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.