Walking to work today I noticed several hundred cones placed strategically down 30^th Avenue and its side streets. When the orange man told me to “Stop” at an intersection, I looked over at a green slip of paper hanging on a nearby pole.

Ah ha. An explanation in 200 words or less.

The film, “Another Night” based on the book Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn was going to be shooting during the evening, starting around 6pm. IMDB summarizes the movie with this quote:

“During his twenties, a young man works at various homeless shelters in Boston, where he often intersects with his brilliant but troubled father (2011)."

"Another Night" in book form.

Later, when I was meeting up with my roommate after work at Mexi-Q (hello $3 happy hour) we stumbled upon the crew setting up outside of a bank. Some people had stopped to watch, but no actors were present nor had filming begun. An hour and a half later, another friend joined us and we decided to migrate to dinner - but by now the curiosity was killing me, so our group paused near the set.

“No flash please,” a man said. “You can use your camera, just no flash.” And then BAM. I looked up to see Robert De Niro RIGHT across the street. We excitedly attempted to take pictures with our cell phones.

“Quiet on the set!” someone shouted. "Whoa, they actually say that?" I mumbled.

“Action!” Ah! This was thrilling. What if I told security I needed to withdraw money. Would they let me into the bank? It was a thought...

Robert De Niro's character walks into the building while cameras film him from the outside. A woman walks by, a check is written, the cameras pan out…

“And cut!” This 30-second clip must have been shoot dozens of times, but it was hardly boring for the gathering audience. I called my mother, happily explaining my movie location.

"Oh his real friends call him Bobby!" she exclaimed, like they'd grown up together or something.

So if you were strolling down 30^th Avenue on April 8^th, 2011 you were privy to the likes of Robert De Niro (too many films to name), and Director Paul Weitz (About A Boy, American Pie). We didn’t specifically see Julianne Moore or Paul Dano, but they will also be starring in the 2012 film.