Yesterday afternoon, as your Uncle Grambo was making his way from a haircut at Frank’s Chop Shop to meet The Senator at Georgia’s Eastside BBQ in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, I happened upon quite the ruckus at the corner of Orchard and Stanton. Not only was debris strewn all over the street, but giant boulders appear to have crushed a Ford Taurus. I’ll admit, my first instinct was to panic a little bit on the inside. But that feeling subsided when I saw someone approach one of the boulders and begin painting it. It was then I realized that we stumbled upon a movie set.

In an attempt to do some actual man-on-the-strizz journalism, your Uncle Grambo asked a few gents what movie was filming there. All I got from the union dudes were shrugs and ehs. But then, I spotted a permit that said the production was being shot by Paramount Pictures and was called “Cheese” (see photo below). Cheese? Methinks not. Although I can’t verify this, my guess is that the street was prepping for a night shoot of the Untitled JJ Abrams project, aka Cloverfield, aka 1-18-08, aka Monstrous (please don’t let it be Monstrous). I say buzz.

(Pics courtesy of The Senator’s camera phone)

UPDATE (2:45PM): Curbed is reporting that ZOMBIES attacked this same stretch of road late last night! Also, a commenter over at Gothamist thinks that the movie might be a live-action version of the `80s rock ‘em sock ‘em arcade classic Rampage. Hadn’t heard that rumour yet, but if it proves to be true, can’t wait to see that monster werewolf!

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Let’s face it, the offerings presented to us at the cineplex this summer have either been really sucky (Pirates 3, Potter, Oceans) or really meh (Transformers, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz). And while I would wholeheartedly encourage every member of the FOW Nation to get out and see flicks like Sunshine, Live Free or Die Hard, Ratatouille and 1408, there’s really only been one must-see movie to hit theaters in the last few months — Once.

This low-budget indie film, which debuted to raves at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, compassionately details the blossoming relationship between an Irish busker (Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames) and a Czech maid (Marketa Irglova) struggling to make ends meet in present-day Dublin. Not only does the film turn the entire concept of the movie musical on its ear (best soundtrack evs!), the chemistry between the film’s two leads crackles and pops in a way that I haven’t felt since Ewan McGregzies used the words of Bernie Taupin to seduce Nicole Kidman (in Moulin Rouge, natch). And if you don’t believe your Uncle Grambo, the film scores a whopping 97% Fresh rating on the Tomatometer, so it’s got that going for it.

All of which leads me to this. Thanks to some last-minute shenanigans that my friend Penny was able to pull, your Uncle Grambo was able to score a ticket to last night’s sold-out show from The Swell Season at the Gramercy Theater. If you are unfamiliar, The Swell Season is the name that the aforementioned Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perform under. Armed only with a beaten up acoustic guitar (the one from the film!) and a Yahama keyboard, the two real-life lovebirds (along with a backup keyboardist) performed a dazzling set of songs from the Once soundtrack to a rapturous crowd last night (one that included SNL’s Jason Sudeikis and the one yuppie scum dude from the Dawn Of The Dead remake). It’s been a long while since your Uncle Grambo been to a rock show with 1,500 other people who showed such adoration and respect for the evening’s performers — it was so quiet in there that, during the songs, you could HEAR THE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT rattling slightly somewhere backstage.

This was the first time that Glen and Marketa have performed in concert since the limited theatrical release of Once, and it was obvious from the get-go that the two were slightly stunned by the fans’ overwhelmingly positive reactions both to the movie and their music. While I won’t reveal any spoilers about the goings-on in the movie, I can say that seeing these two interact with each other on stage was a perfect (and almost necessary) coda to the film. They brought the same kind of passion and intensity to their performance last night that they did in the film, which fans of the film will attest is next to impossible to do. Whether they were performing key songs from the film like “Falling Slowly” and “When Your Minds Made Up” or covering tracks like The Pixies’ “Cactus” or Van Morrison’s “Into The Mystic,” the two could do no wrong in the audience’s eyes. Although the tour that they are headed out on will be brief, your Uncle Grambo HIGHLY suggests that you hit that shit up if their show comes through your town. Even if you haven’t seen Once yet, I guaran-god-damn-tee it will be the best show you see this summer.

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