LOCAL BOUNTY: Last
week, Gov. John Kitzhaber broke news of a TNT pilot starring Geena
Davis to be shot in Oregon. Now, more details about the show, in which
Davis plays a bounty hunter: The pilot was co-written by Scott
Prendergast, who grew up in Portland and was president of the class of
1988 at Southwest Portland’s Wilson High School. “I wrote the original pilot with Geena Davis in mind,”
he tells Scoop via email. “[She’s] perfect for the role. Very smart,
and very funny. I always loved her as a kid, mainly because she was so
funny in the movies I saw when I was growing up.... I told her when we
first had lunch that I am also a Mensa member.” Per TNT, the untitled
drama stars the Oscar-winning actress as a bounty hunter with an “eccentric personality and unusual tactics.” It’s based on a real-life bounty hunter from California. Dean Devlin—who directed and produced the recently canceled Leverage—will direct when filming begins in April.
LOST AND FOUND: The Funhouse just got less fun. On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Clown Room in comedy venue Funhouse Lounge was stripped of its publicly accessible Wii, which contained a Super Mario Kart
game. “They can bring it back, no questions asked,” said co-owner
Trenton Shine, who says the Southeast Portland bar will attempt to
replace the Wii and “lock it down.” The bar had been open for over a
year without locking the console. Meanwhile, the rifles used by John Wayne inThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and by William Holden in The Wild Bunch
are back at Movie Madness, after being stolen from the video store last
July. The guns were apparently found in a garbage bag at Mount Tabor
Park, and were returned to the store. Erick Duane Johnson, the suspect in the theft, is still at large.
THROUGH THE WIRE: Local rapper Vinnie Dewayne is recovering from a serious car accident last week.
Although details of the accident are sketchy, the St. Johns-raised MC
posted a photo on his Facebook page showing the side of his vehicle
almost completely collapsed, along with a photo of him lying in a
hospital bed wearing a neck brace. Dewayne sustained a broken leg, ribs
and collarbone, and required surgery on his leg, according to a Facebook
message. Although still suffering from dizzy spells, Dewayne reports he
is “doing better.”
LA TAQ ATTACKS: Rodney Muirhead, owner of WW’s 2011 Restaurant of the Year, Podnah’s Pit, is opening a bar called La Taq next to his barbecue joint on Northeast Killingsworth Street.
The kitchen will be “completely separate” from the restaurant, Muirhead
says, and will focus on the type of Mexican fare often found at
Podnah’s. The bar, also owned by Laika creative director Kirk Kelley, is
tentatively slated to open in June.
DEWAYNE - IMAGE: vdewayne.com
