We’re not sure which executive at Staples, the Framingham-based office supplies retailer, signed on to this scheme, but he or she deserves to spend a week sorting paper clips. Starting this Sunday, Staples will begin carrying “No-Return” DVDs in its 1,500 stores nation-wide.

The DVDs — produced by Flexplay Entertainment, which was founded by MIT professor Erik Brynjolfsson — are rigged so that exposure to oxygen sets off a slow chemical reaction rendering them unusable 48 hours after removing it from the vacuum-sealed package.

Now, we’re not in the business of making predictions about the viability of obviously ill-fated schemes, but back in 2003, Flexplay’s time-limited DVDs popped up in grocery stores, 7-Elevens, and Papa John’s outfits, where they demonstrated a remarkable inability to attract any consumers—and that was before the Netflix boom. What is the appeal of driving anywhere to pay $4.99 for a DVD that will self-destruct? (more…)

While big-budget Hollywood flicks may get all the headlines in the gossip pages, local filmmakers are also thriving in our movie-friendly city. Only a couple of months after local boys Eric Poydar and Brett Portanova showed their first film at the Independent Film Festival Boston, a group of young moviemakers will debut their faux-documentary Flashover at the Boston International Film Festival.

We talked to Flashover co-director Sean O’Connor about viral marketing, the difficulties of the genre, and why it’s terrifying to collaborate with someone you met on Craigslist.

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Like a lot of people we can’t wait to see the Sex and the City movie. It’s all the heavy drinking, frustration with men, and female bonding we crave, except in a different city and dressed in much nicer clothes. (Speaking of the wardrobe, we’re counting down our favorite Carrie Bradshaw ensembles on Bostonista.)

So we’re pretty excited for the movie. Note that we said excited. Not insane. Some Sex fans have crossed into stark raving lunacy in advance of the movie’s release tomorrow.

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There have been many benefits to the state’s subsidies of the film industry. We get to see famous people walking among us everyday folk. There’s the delight of seeing the landmarks we know so well featured on the silver screen, sometimes to comedic effect.

While we’re sure Gov. Deval Patrick enjoys a Kate Hudson sighting as much as we do, the state is giving away money in the hopes of bolstering the local economy. But a new study shows that Massachusetts may actually be losing cash on the deal.

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Cambridge’s People’s Republik is the unofficial bar of Boston Daily. Whether we’re talking smack over a game of darts or just looking to have a pint without pretension, it’s one of our go-to spots.

We’re not the only ones showing the bar some love. Esquire voted People’s Republik one of the Best Bars in America in its latest issue.

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There’s a bit too many CGI effects, and too much Shia LaBeouf, for us to get really excited for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Regardless of our feelings, the hype machine is kicking into full-gear for the film’s release next week, and we couldn’t be happier to see a local organization benefiting from Harrison Ford’s star power.

WBZ reports that Indiana Jones himself has become a member of the Archaeological Institute of America’s board of directors.

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It’s been a banner month for local authors and their Hollywood aspirations. Last week Ben Mezrich found out that two more of his books will be made into movies. Now, Boston Daily and Boston magazine contributor Michele McPhee is living the dream as well. Her 2002 book Mob Over Miami has been optioned.

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We always wonder who would play us in the film version of our lives. An elderly man who did maintenance on my first overcrowded undergrad apartment once told me I look like Alyssa Milano, but I think Allyson Hannigan would better capture my personality.

But if we were casting the part of Bill Buckner, we would never think to call George Clooney. But Billy Buck thinks the two-time Sexiest Man Alive should play him in a local filmmaker’s project.

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In the March 2008 issue of Boston magazine, we profiled Ben Mezrich as 21, the movie based on his bestselling novel Bringing Down the House, hit theaters. Despite the continuity problems, moviegoers seem to be happy with the result. The film has made more than $100 million since its release.

The good times have continued for Mezrich. The Globe reports today that two more of the author’s books have been optioned.

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It used to be that we Bostonians had to pack our bags and head to Los Angeles to break into Hollywood. Failing that, Toronto was the place to film scenes that took place along the East Coast. But now the magic of Hollywood has been lured to our area, and it’s so powerful it’s turned one local town into Alaska.

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