Dan Gross: Ryan Howard shops on crutches

RYAN HOWARD

walked with crutches as he shopped at Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting yesterday, with his fiancee

, Krystle Campbell.

Howard, who tore his Achilles tendon during Friday's elimination game against the Cardinals, was wearing an old-school maroon Phillies warm-up suit and a brace or cast on his leg.

On our blog, PhillyGossip.com, is a photo believed to be Howard riding a motorized scooter at the same Whole Foods.

Filmmakers

Jonathan Demme

,

Peter Berg

and

Alexander Payne

, and boxing greats

Joe Frazier

and

Larry Holmes

are all guests at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Oct. 20 to Nov. 3.

Payne's "The Descendants" is the closing-night film. Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones, who star in the opening-night film "Like Crazy," will be there with director Drake Domeus. Demme screens his new documentary, "I'm Carolyn Parker," and fields a Q&A after a 20th anniversary screening of "The Silence of the Lambs." Berg will attend a screening of "Friday Night Lights," based on a book by his cousin Buzz Bissinger.

Frazier will attend "Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears," and he, Holmes and Chuck Wepner also are expected at "The Real Rocky." For more info, visit filmadelphia.org.

"Calendar Girl," featuring

Corbin Bernsen

and

Gilbert Gottfried

, is one of the opening-night screenings at 8 p.m. Thursday of the FirstGlance Film Festival, which runs through Sunday at the Franklin Institute.

Tommy Avallone

, one of its producers and a digital coordinator for CBS Radio, is just back from Jamaica.

Saturday he married Alicia Gallagher in Montego Bay.

Designer

Tommy Hilfiger

told 800 fashion and design students at Philadelphia University yesterday about going bankrupt when he was 23 and starting his first store in upstate New York with $150 he earned working at a gas station. Hilfiger said that finding a balance between design and business is critical for success.

Funnyman

Joe Piscopo

, who was the grand marshal of Sunday's Columbus Day Parade, is now appearing in DirecTV commercials as the pitchman for 24K gold-infused collectible baseballs made by local company Gold Sport Collectibles. On Friday Piscopo performs with the Midtown Men, four stars from the original "Jersey Boys" cast -

Christian Hoff

,

Michael Longoria

,

Daniel Reichard

, and

J. Robert Spence -

in a show called "A Night at the Cabaret," featuring music from 1960s.

Flyers great Bernie Parent and Eagles veteran Vince Papale also will be at the show, a fundraiser for St. Norbert's School, in Paoli. The 7:30 p.m. Friday performance is at the Waterford Room in the Radisson Valley Forge. For info, or tickets visit anightatthecabaret.com.

Broke-Ass Stuart

, host of IFC's "Young, Broke & Beautiful," brings his book-signing/dance-party tour to Smith's (39 S. 19th) Friday night. He's the author of the travel series "Broke-Ass Stuart's Guide to Living Cheaply."

The party, with DJ Handsome Sam, starts at 8. For more info visit BrokeAssStuart.com.

* Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree will discuss and sign copies of his new book, The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates and Race, Class and Crime in America, from 6 to 8 tomorrow night at the African American Museum of Philadelphia (7th & Arch). For info, call 215-878-2665.

Brooklyn-based

Halle & The Jilt

play at 10 p.m. tomorrow at The Fire (412 Girard). The group is just out with its debut CD, "Lucky You," which can be sampled at halleandthejilt.com.