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Video: ‘Boardwalk’ Buggies in Action!

Earlier today we shared some snaps of Model Ts lined up outside of John’s of 12th for the ongoing “Boardwalk Empire” shoot. Well, now there’s more of ’em! And they’re moving! Above: footage of the buggies purring as extras in old-time garb practice their Prohibiton-era struts.


‘Boardwalk Empire’ Transports 12th Street Church to Little Italy, 1923

mary helpDaniel Maurer Mary Help of Christians earlier today.

After serving as an after-hours club for one film and then a church in the Bronx for another, Mary Help of Christians is now being taken back to 1920s Little Italy, for a scene in “Boardwalk Empire.”

The Local spotted a film crew loading wooden panels into the church this morning, and Don Angst, an electrician, said that filming for the HBO show’s third season would occur Tuesday. But first, he said, carpenters will make adjustments to the endangered house of worship so that it resembles a church in Little Italy, circa 1923. The rounded pews, which are 1950s in style, will get more traditional caps, he said, and marbleized flats will be used to change the look of the altar.

“We usually make the place look better than it actually is,” said Mr. Angst.

So will the show’s star, Steve Buschemi, be making an appearance in his old neighborhood? Workers wouldn’t cough up any details about the scene, but we’ll keep an eye out as set-up continues tomorrow and Monday.


Movie Magic! Mary Help of Christians Relocates to the Bronx

Movie Shoot at Mary Help of Christians Church in East VillageDaniel Maurer Henry Barrial (right) supervises camera set-up.

A little over a month after “Girl on the Train” transformed the former Mary Help of Christians school into an after-hours club, a film crew is shooting inside the church itself today. Henry Barrial, the director of “Some Body” and “Pig,” described his latest film, “The House That Jack Built,” as an “ultra low-budget” production about a young man who buys a tenement in the Bronx using money saved up from dealing drugs out of his bodega.

So how does Mary Help of Christians come into all this? Well, it’ll stand in as a church in the Bronx where a baptism takes place in the beginning of the movie and a wedding takes place at the end. Other scenes are being shot in Jackson Heights and the Boogie Down.

Mr. Barrial found the church through Caryl Pierre, a production coordinator on the “Girl on the Train” shoot who also recommended the church for this one. The director, who is Cuban-American, said the movie will star Puerto Rican up-and-comer E.J. Bonilla as well as Saundra Santiago, best known for playing Det. Gina Calabrese on “Miami Vice.” The screenplay was written by Joseph Vásquez, the Bronx-born filmmaker who wrote “Hangin’ with the Homeboys,” starring John Leguizamo, before he died of AIDS-related complications in 1995.


‘Blood Ties’ Takes Odessa Back to the 1970s

odessaDaniel Maurer
odessa2Daniel Maurer

No, the Coen Brothers aren’t back in the neighborhood, but some vintage cars are. French actor and director Guillaume Canet is filming “Blood Ties” at Odessa (and the “travelers” who’ve been asked to leave their normal spot outside of the restaurant aren’t too happy about it). Previous shoots for the remake of French thriller “Les Liens Du Sang” took place in Brooklyn and Harlem: The Daily Mail published photos of Clive Owen mounting a motorcycle as well as kissing co-star Mila Kunis during one scene and getting married to her in another.

According to IndieWire’s Playlist blog, the crime drama, set in 1970s Brooklyn, also stars Billy Crudup, Zoe Saldana, James Caan, Noah Emmerich, Matthias Schoenaerts, Lili Taylor and Domenick Lombardozzi, and is the story of two brothers on either side of the law: “the younger of two brothers (Crudup) is asked by his older brother (Owen) to return to the underworld in order to help the family out.”

It’s uncertain which of the stars was on the set today, but one thing’s for sure: the Cesspool Man was large and in charge. Click on photo above-right.