obin Williams and Jeff Daniels have been in and around town shooting RV, a road comedy about the trials and tribulations of living in one of those roadhogs. Williams has been hitting local restaurants and comedy clubs, surprising patrons at one club in a local west side neighborhood by performing an impromptu hour-long set.

  Sissy Spacek, Heather Graham and Bridget Moynahan are in town shooting the indie flick Gray Matters. Moynahan and her athletic boyfriend, New England Patriots' football star Tom Brady, showed up at the always trendy Blue Water Cafe for
dinner one night.

  John Cusack is here making The Martian Child with Amanda Peet, and he and other friends and cast members like to frequent the gorgeous patio of Brix, a sophisticated Yaletown eatery.

  Matthew Vaughan was all set to direct X-Men 3, 
shooting here this month, when he suddenly pulled out of the movie, citing family reasons. Bryan Singer had directed the other two X-Men films but bowed out of 3 to shoot Superman. Brett Ratner (After the Sunset) has been tapped for the job. Let's hope he doesn't get cold feet.

- Valerie Gregory



umors were flying that The Sentinel co-stars Eva Longoria and Michael Douglas were waging war and disrupting shooting. Turns out the two are just a couple of pranksters. Longoria is a fan of the San Antonio Spurs NBA team and Douglas is devoted to the Miami Heat. So Longoria secretly filled Douglas' trailer with Spurs' memorabilia. Douglas's retaliation? While shooting an intense scene in which Longoria rounded a corner and prepared to fire a gun, she encountered the entire crew wearing Miami hats.

  Leading ladies Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof), Cameron Diaz (In Her Shoes) and Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice) top the roster of stars making the trek north for the Toronto International Film Festival running Sept. 8-to-17. As usual, Yorkville will be the place to spot celebs in town promoting their latest offerings. Other stars rumored to be heading to town include Kevin Bacon, Claire Danes, Viggo Mortensen and Steve Martin.

  Speaking of Steve Martin, he and the cast of the family friendly flick Cheaper By The Dozen 2, have set up camp northeast of the city. Co-stars Bonnie Hunt, Carmen Electra, Tom Welling and Hilary Duff have been enjoying the gorgeous scenery of the Kawartha region while shooting scenes at Stoney Lake (near Lakefield) and Burleigh Falls (near Peterborough).

- Melanie Campbell




n-again, off-again, on-again Billy Bob Thornton production, Fade Out, is apparently off again. The movie, which was slated to go to camera this summer with Thornton (Bad News Bears), Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) and Dylan McDermott (TV's The Practice), has been shelved indefinitely.

  In other news, Tom Selleck (TV's Magnum P.I.) returned to Nova Scotia this summer to film two more Stone Cold TV movies. Selleck said if the network decided to go with the Stone Cold movies as a recurring series he would bring the productions back to Nova Scotia. Looks as though he's living up to his words.

  Rob Lowe (TV's The West Wing) was spotted throughout Nova Scotia during the summer. He was in the province filming the six-hour limited series Beach Girls for cable's Lifetime Network. Joining Lowe in the Nova Scotia shoot were Julia Ormond and Cloris Leachman.

  In town for a one-night stint early this summer for the Halifax Comedy Fest, Kevin Pollak said although he is best known for his movie roles, comedy was actually his first love. "I was doing comedy when A Few Good Men came along. Rob Reiner gave me a shot and now I've been fortunate to be able to do both."

- Vernon Oickle