Dog day afternoon

Annette Bening in Back Bay yesterday. (bill brett for the boston globe)

With a baseball cap and a little dog on a leash, "The Women" star Annette Bening looked like a regular Newbury Street shopper yesterday. But Warren Beatty's better half was actually filming near Berkeley Street. Although Bening was without her co- stars yesterday, she spent Sunday with them, filming the Diane English flick in the Big Apple. Speaking of English, the writer-director was spotted yesterday afternoon chatting with Boston developer Dick Friedman between takes on Newbury Street. The two Vineyard regulars have known each other for years, and count themselves among the friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Watertown's Eliza Dushku has just signed a deal with Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox Television that industry trade publications pegged at between mid- and high-six figures. The network and studio will bring her scripts and develop projects specifically created for the 26-year-old actress, who starred in the now-canceled "Tru Calling." "This is a business of instincts," Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori told The Hollywood Reporter, "and she's proved she can do it in two projects for us."

When writer-director Paul Haggis's highly anticipated new film "In the Valley of Elah" screens at the Venice Film Festival, Charlestown native Jonathan Tucker won't be there. The actor, who also starred in Haggis's ill-fated foray into TV, "The Black Donnellys," told us he'd go "anywhere for Haggis," but he can't swing Venice. In the movie, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon, and Charlize Theron, Tucker plays the brother of a murdered Iraq war veteran.

BU alum Julianne Moore and Cohasset cutie Kate Bosworth will attend an "ultra-private" dinner on Sept. 11, hosted by Calvin Klein Inc. as part of New York's Fashion Week, the New York Post's Page Six reports.

Fresh-faced singer Josh Ritter got in on the fun at Plum TV's inaugural "Bookmark on the Beach: Cocktails & Conversation," held Sunday on Nantucket. Ritter joined a high-falutin crowd that included former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky and writer Debby Applegate, whose Henry Ward Beecher bio won the Pulitzer. The evening's main event was a debate between The Atlantic associate editor Ross Douthat and Vanity Fair's chain-smoking smart aleck Christopher Hitchens on the premise of Hitchens's latest, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." (As you might expect, Hitchens cleaned up even as he flicked his butts sandward.) Ritter restored harmony with a couple of hard-rocking anthems -- selections from his new CD "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter," which he'll promote at the Somerville Theatre Oct. 4.

You know it's nearly football season when the Patriots host their Kickoff Gala. Held last night in the first-class Fidelity Investments Clubhouse at Gillette Stadium, the fund-raiser for the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation honors one Pats player each year for his charitable work off the field. This year's winner? Fearsome defensive end Ty Warren.

Turns out it took some arm-twisting to get Chris Kirkpatrick to participate in "Mission: Manband," VH1's new reality show about four former boy band stars. "I thought it was a bad idea, a joke, really," the former 'N Sync serenader told us yesterday. "I thought it was going to be, like, 'The Surreal Life' but with boy banders. . . . How bad is that?" Assured by a producer that the show wouldn't be quite that cheesy, Kirkpatrick signed up, and he's glad he did. He and his costars -- Kingston native Rich Cronin of LFO, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees, and Color Me Badd's Bryan Abrams -- are getting along great and even talking about making some music together. (Last night, Kirkpatrick, Cronin, and Timmons kicked back at Saint to promote the show.) What does Kirkpatrick's former bandmate Justin Timberlake think of the show? "Justin's Justin. He cracks up at everything I do," said Kirkpatrick. "Just because he's a shmillionaire out there touring the earth, that doesn't change him. He's still supportive."

Leave it to the tattletales at TMZ.com to spill the beans on next season's "Dancing With the Stars." A few days before ABC could announce it themselves, the website leaked the new lineup, and guess who's on it? Gisele Bundchen. Not content to be the world's wealthiest supermodel, Tom Brady's lady is following in the footsteps of Heather Mills and Stacy Keibler. (We're betting that all of the Brazilian beauty's high-heeled runway work will pay big dividends.) Other celebs said to be strutting this season include singer Aaron Carter, Wayne Newton, Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Jane Seymour, "Beverly Hills 90210" alums Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., muscle man Lou Ferrigno, actress Nia Peeples, CNN's Richard Quest, race car driver Helio Castroneves, and Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan.

'I sympathize with today's teen idols. One flop and you're out of business.' Paul Anka

Globe correspondent Sandy MacDonald contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.