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From an E Online message board: Dec 11 97
As a fellow high school grad of Pilot School/Cambridge Rindge & Latin (class of 89), I am thrilled at Matt & Ben's rise to stardom. They were always great friends in highschool, they were very directed and self-modivated, and always had a talent for the stage. It is amazing to witness these Cambridge natives fulfill their dreams. It is clear that they are also proud of their home town. I look forward to seeing Good Will Hunting and continuing to watch their careers blossom. Alyssa Krimsky
PERHAPS MATT DAMON AND HIS BUDDY BEN AFFLECK... are already jaded by all the attention and fame they have experienced in the last few years. My reasoning is from an observation by sources who says they both came in to Veruka in The Big Apple along with Affleck's younger actor brother Casey. As they sat talking in the VIP area model after model, gorgeous chick after gorgeous chick came over to them to meet them. But the trio couldn't have cared less and barely flickered an eye at these women that most men would have given parts of their body's to meet. Could it be that Damon is ready to marry Winona Ryder and that Affleck still loves Gwyneth Paltrow and is wooing her back to him? It is that, or they are in the process of planning a movie and putting all their energies into it hoping it will be another "Good Will Hunting." Rece 8/15/99
Yours truly scooped everyone when Driver confided that she and Damon no longer spoke to each other. In fact Driver was furious and very hurt over how badly Damon handled things which also included the evening of the "Golden Globes" where he flaunted his burgeoning affair with Winona Ryder in Driver's face. 7/25/99
MATT DAMON has been busily knocking out movies all of which should be hitting the movie theaters shortly. This will bring him back up to the status of high school buddy Ben Affleck who has been doing movies at the rate of sound. Aside of the steady work on his career Damon is still in a committed relationship with Winona Ryder. It's good to see someone new to fame handle it so well. 6/5/99
***
I don't think I ever knew that Matt presented at the Writers Guild awards
last year (March 5). There's a few photos of Matt presenting Alan Ball of
American Beauty with the top award at their website - nicest one at:
http://www.wga.org/pr/0400/membernews0400.html . Apparently Minghella was
also there as a nominee for Ripley.
He was also quoted for an article on the awards: MATT DAMON, award presenter: "In writing Good Will Hunting, Ben [Affleck] and I tended to create a lot of characters, because we wanted different people saying different things. You can do that with a 300-page screenplay, but when you're dealing with something that's supposed to be 120 pages long you end up finding ways to streamline. Things that weren't plot-specific were the first things to get cut out. So if there are certain things that you are really attached to, you have to kind of tie them into the plot, or else you're in danger of losing them."
More into at: http://www.writersguild.com/
Also in the NY Post another small bit on Julia Stiles in Liz Smith's column, who says of Julia: "She wouldn't mind having a 'nice dinner' with Matt. Well, who wouldn't".
In the way that one thing leads to another, I've found some stuff on Matt's father Kent. I found a link to a page which stated donations to the production of a breast cancer support video, based in Boston. Matt was listed as a major donor, and brother Kyle and his wife Lori minor donors. Under a listing of Psi Upsilon - Pi chapter, Kent Damon was the first mentioned.
I've never heard of Psi Upsilon before, but as can be guessed it is a fraternity of sorts. It's based at major universities across the country, and lists as its aims: friendship, brotherhood, special functions, community service, growth and personal development. The Pi chapter originates from Syracuse University in New York, so that's obviously where Kent attended university (I don't know what his degree is, but accounting and finance are possible majors).
Another useless fact: Kyle's real name is Kent Damon, Jr. He's been in quite a few marathons/charity runs etc in the Boston area, and often races under his real name (30-35 year category). Remember that story from the Las Vegas Journal (Feb 2000) in which Matt was spotted in Las Vegas with his father, because brother Kyle was trying to qualify for the Boston marathon. And an early article in which Kyle was on the phone trying to convince Matt to run the Boston marathon with him.
As could be expected, I loved it, and certainly more than I expected to after reading so many mixed responses and confused reactions. I haven't read the Border trilogy for a few years, but every scene brought it back to life - accurate in its language, tone and visual memories. I was surprised how effective the chemistry was between Matt and Penelope, but again my mother felt there was none. Some of Matt's scenes with Penelope I found incredibly affecting, and it certainly convinced me.
I thought Matt was outstanding, and powerful in his understated, 'I'll just look at you til you believe in me' kind of way. It amazed me how much he can emote with his eyes and simple gestures - I know we've all said it before, but he really is a master of the strong silent type who says little but expresses everything. If anyone saw the Al Pacino tribute at the Globes you could see how much Matt's been influenced by him, and his style of acting. There was one scene, introduced by Kevin Spacey, where Pacino was in focus, listening to a speech, but said nothing for quite a lengthy shot. But his eyes were constantly darting, his face reacting, and you knew exactly what was in his head. In many ways Pretty Horses plays like an extended sequence in Good Will Hunting - the swanboat scene where Matt said nothing but he completely changed the way the viewer responded to him, because you knew his controlled outward appearance barely hid the emotions within.
There were so many of those moments in Pretty Horses, and it was the sincerity and truth of his performance that stood out to me. As for the film itself, I thought some of the quick cut sequences were superb, like the breaking in of the horses and the cuts after Penelope has left on the train - one of the great 'train departure cliche' sequences, where not a word is spoken. I thought the music was effective and not overbearing, and the supporting actors just right in their roles. Penelope failed me only during one of the telephone scenes, where her reactions just didn't seem right. Even on the small screen the scenery was breathtaking, and so much more realistic than John Ford's one-shot Monument Valley westerns. And Marty Stuart's song 'Faraway' added to the final scene's ambience superbly.
I couldn't help but watch it and wonder why so few people appreciated it - how they could not 'get' some of the beautifully worked sequences, and misunderstood so much of what Billy Bob was trying to do. It did take patience, and perhaps an understanding of the novel, but the performances, the scenery, the subtlety of the dialogue and the appeal of its call to simple days and an age just a few paces forgotten certainly worked for me.
The NY Post had an item that Matt lost more than has been reported in the Dana Giacchetto story - about one million, and that he also influenced friends and Winona to invest. It claims that Matt's paid them all back.
A story in Variety about a new project for Jim Sheridan mentioned that 'I know this much is true' is still being developed for Matt to star in after a potential strike. That's good news - perfect Oscar bait, if a little too ripe for criticism.
Matt Damon has leapt to the defence of Robert Redford.
Redford has been criticised for the way he depicted Twenties life in America's Deep South in The Legend Of Bagger Vance.
Damon says the American critics were lying in wait to attack Redford for his direction of the movie.
It is being released in the UK in March.
The story tells how a stranger played by Will Smith befriends Damon and becomes his caddy in a major golf tournment. He pits his skills against real-life golfing heroes Bobby Jones and Walter Hagan .
"It's a part fantasy," Damon told Ananova.
"Bob may have taken some licence with the story but for some reason it seems as though it was his turn to get it in the neck.
"We had a great time making the film and it is beautiful to look at. I think he did a fine job. I'm proud of my work.
"I've had a great run of success so I guess it was also my turn to look down the barrel of somebody's gun. You can't win them all. You can just try."
Damon has just finished making the thriller The Bourne Identity from the novel by Robert Ludlam and is about to play a pickpocket in Steven Soderbergh's re-make of the Sixties hit Ocean's 11.
Here's something new, from Michael Musto's column in the Village Voice:
That wasn't the end of the awards mania. Wifey and I crawled to the Manhattan Center for the annual Golden Trailer Awards celebrating those short, flashy commercials that usually tower over the movies themselves. (As proof, Bedazzled, Hollow Man, and Gone in 60 Seconds all won Golden Trailers!) The evening came with dinner, and mercifully only the Krispy Kreme dessert was a play on the trailery theme; the main course was salmon, not Cheez Whiz. Also helping us eschew cheesiness were celebrity drop-ins ("I've never heard of me either," said TV's Jim Gaffigan) and even celebrity relation drop-ins (the statuettes were codesigned by Matt Damon's brother Kyle, whose work is "uniquely interactive").
***
The website for the awards is at www.goldentrailer.com and includes this:
A Work Of Art
Artists Kyle Damon and John Everdell combined their expertise to create the stunning and coveted "Golden Trailer Award."
Each award is a work of art. Standing 13" tall, the Golden Trailer Award is composed of a film reel with trailers impressed on spiraling celluloid. Each award is individually constructed in copper and plated in gold. The copper is photo-etched with the winning trailer logo. The reel and film are mounted on an delicately carved base, constructed from ebony and figured maple.
Kyle describes the award as a homage to the first engaging glimpse one has of a film.
***
To look at the award, go to http://www.goldentrailer.com/trophy.html Bagger Vance was nominated for best romance trailer, but lost to Crouching Tiger (how!)
Monday, January 29
7:20 pm (TBS) Geronimo
Tuesday, January 30
11:00 am (TBS) Geronimo
More Star Vehicles
And then there are the major star vehicles, which range from comedies to dramas to thrillers.
Damon and Pitt have projects besides "Ocean's Eleven" on the front burner. Both will appear in thrillers this fall, the former in Robert Ludlum's "The Bourne Identity" sometime in the fall and the latter with Robert Redford in "Spy Game" in what producers Marc Abraham and Doug Wick describe as "a buddy action movie about a CIA operative and his protégé, from the period of the Vietnam War to the fall of the Berlin Wall."
...
(My note:
Interesting that Matt is getting all this top billing in current
advertisements for
his old movies. Dare we assume that in spite of the lack
of box-office sucesses, Matt has nevertheless gained
recognition last year? Now, the day when they give him
top billing for "Saving Private Ryan" is when Matt will
have totally made it! :-) :-)
And, yes, Matt's new-found fans are in for a shock when
they see "Courage" for the first time, and some may come to
appreciate what an actor this guy really is.
)
The Jay and Silent Bob film started shooting yesterday, and Kevin Smith has confirmed that Matt/Ben are included with a very B-list cast. For some funny stories from Smith about the casting process, look at his columns on the www.psycomic.com site. In the last column he talked about how he finally avoided getting Heather Graham in the cast, and how David Duchovny should be there in a small role, with Judd Nelson and others.
The Dogma special edition DVD has been delayed, and will not be in stores later in January. No reason has been given for the latest delay.
(My response:
Thanks for sharing your opinion of ATPH. I am interested in
why even some Matt fans disliked it.
There are movies and there are films. Movies entertain,
films provoke. Yes, most people go to theaters to be entertained,
but there is a minority who wouldn't mind if a film does not
deliver everything in the open. I think of ATPH as a Christmas
present which comes with all kinds of parts - complicated parts
even - that require assembly. Few - myself included - would
prefer such a gift than being presented with a fully-assembled,
brightly painted bicycle complete with a shinny ribbon.
I must admit that had Matt not been the star of ATPH, I might
have been a hard sell. All things considered, however, I think
the film deserves far more cerdit than it has received. It
takes a lot of courage to turn out a film that speaks to us
quietly, if nothing else.
Thanks again for writing. And, yes, I truly enjoyed
the scenes you cited, as well as some others.
Indeed we knew about Matt's cameo role. And the reaction described here is similar to that reported elsewhere.
2. Their actual involvement
Andy Serwer: Guys, it is Andy again. What exactly -- Ben, what is your
involvement and Matt's involvement in Greenlight? Are you going to be in the TV
show at all? Could you be part of the movies? What are you going to do?
Ben Affleck: Part of our involvement, you know, it is -- obviously -- well,
no. You know, people's involvement is more apparent when you are in front of
the camera. OK. Well, you know, I can see this guy, so he must have been in the
show or movie. There is an awful lot of work that goes into what happens behind
the scenes, in terms of organizing and putting this stuff together. And that's,
you know, equally satisfying for Matt and I, which is, you know, the
satisfaction we felt has writers and satisfaction we felt as producers.
Ben Affleck: And so what we have been doing so far is, you know, helping get
this thing rolling and put together and getting people to hear about it and pay
attention to it. And we are also taking on the road executive producers of the
movie, which means that essentially we will do what executive producers do,
which is almost nothing. We will sort of laze around and be available to, you
know, give bad advice to, you know, the hard-working and dedicated men or women
trying to make their movie. Ultimately we are kind of, you know, executive
producers, typically kind of lend their name to something for the sake of
getting attention, you know, or.... One of the things we will do is try to use
what relationships we have had to, you know, assist this man and woman in
getting their movie made, and getting their movie made the best they can.
Ben Affleck: It is not the intention -- this is not an elaborate ruse to get a
screenplay for Matt and I to star in. We are not trying to get ourselves on
camera in the movie, but rather to produce the project as a whole.
Host: At some point, it is likely you and Matt would appear in the HBO TV show
as executive producers?
Ben Affleck: Exactly. Because it is a documentary on this person's process,
you know, the people who will be featured will not only be the actors, but the
crew and the behind-the-scenes people. Since Matt and I have a behind-the-
scenes presence in this project, I'm very confident that we will, you know,
show up in this TV series in that capacity.
3. How the partners met
Host: Chris, you are the lesser known of our two guests. You have a very
interesting background yourself. Could you talk a little bit about how you got
to know Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and your involvement with their work, and
how it led to LivePlanet?
Chris Moore: That's a big question. Basically, I was working as -- I actually
met Matt at Harvard but didn't know him very well there. When I quit my job as
an agent to go be a producer, I talked to Matt about being in the movies, the
first movie I was going to produce. Matt was unavailable. He was starring in
another project, but said he should meet my best friend Ben. Ben came in and
auditioned and was a genius. It was good, because I couldn't afford a casting
director anymore at this point. And we gave him the part, and we went off and
made the movie, and it ended up becoming called "Glory Days."
Chris Moore: During the time we were shooting that movie, Matt and Ben
finished the script to "Good Will Hunting" and asked me to read it. I thought
it was great, and said I would love to be involved in this process, and we got
involved together and decided to make an unlikely partnership of two stars who
are also great writers and a producer, and we went to get the movie made. It
was quite a long battle, and during those battles, we made hard decisions
together and learned to trust each other. "Good Will" turned into a big success.
Chris Moore: We decided to continue working together. We shared some offices
with our deal at Miramax films, just throw ideas around all the time, sort of
brainstorm on what we want to spend our time on and what our future needs to
be. And we came across, you know, sort of the Internet together, and wanting to
get involved with that and the media. And spent a lot of time brainstorming, as
we always do, and with our fourth partner, Sean, who also shared offices with
us, and decided that now is the time for a company like LivePlanet and these
ideas, Greenlight and Runner and the others we have, will be very successful.
***
4. What about movie projects
Host: Here is one for Ben from his old friend Ent1701. Do you feel that you
and Matt are perhaps spreading yourselves too thin -- movies, Runner,
LivePlanet, Pearl Street?
Ben Affleck: We are -- I mean, you know, essentially what happens, it just
means that he and I might do, you know, slightly fewer movies on average per
year. You can only do so much at one time. Right now, we are very excited by
dedicating ourselves to working on LivePlanet and developing this stuff. You
have to remember that most actors really only work, you know, six months out of
the year, [if] they do two movies a year. A lot of those people, obviously,
enjoy their vacation time. But Matt and I, you know, are easily made to feel
restless. Part of us feels like we have this opportunity to, you know, develop
some of this exciting stuff that we have been thinking about for a long time,
and we want to take advantage of that, because there may well come a time when
people are not interested in developing stuff that we come up with.
Andy Serwer: Guys, it is Andy again. What exactly -- Ben, what is your
involvement and Matt's involvement in Greenlight? Are you going to be in the TV
show at all? Could you be part of the movies? What are you going to do?
Ben Affleck: Part of our involvement, you know, it is -- obviously -- well,
no. You know, people's involvement is more apparent when you are in front of
the camera. OK. Well, you know, I can see this guy, so he must have been in the
show or movie. There is an awful lot of work that goes into what happens behind
the scenes, in terms of organizing and putting this stuff together. And that's,
you know, equally satisfying for Matt and I, which is, you know, the
satisfaction we felt has writers and satisfaction we felt as producers.
Ben Affleck: And so what we have been doing so far is, you know, helping get
this thing rolling and put together and getting people to hear about it and pay
attention to it. And we are also taking on the road executive producers of the
movie, which means that essentially we will do what executive producers do,
which is almost nothing. We will sort of laze around and be available to, you
know, give bad advice to, you know, the hard-working and dedicated men or women
trying to make their movie. Ultimately we are kind of, you know, executive
producers, typically kind of lend their name to something for the sake of
getting attention, you know, or.... One of the things we will do is try to use
what relationships we have had to, you know, assist this man and woman in
getting their movie made, and getting their movie made the best they can.
Ben Affleck: It is not the intention -- this is not an elaborate ruse to get a
screenplay for Matt and I to star in. We are not trying to get ourselves on
camera in the movie, but rather to produce the project as a whole.
Host: At some point, it is likely you and Matt would appear in the HBO TV show
as executive producers?
Ben Affleck: Exactly. Because it is a documentary on this person's process,
you know, the people who will be featured will not only be the actors, but the
crew and the behind-the-scenes people. Since Matt and I have a behind-the-
scenes presence in this project, I'm very confident that we will, you know,
show up in this TV series in that capacity.
***
Commented Felicity:
I think
that's the first admission from Ben that involvement in LivePlanet will result
in less movie projects for them both. And also some nice comments from Ben and
Chris about Matt's temperament, and his creative abilities.
11 May Mummy Returns 23 May Pearl Harbour 29 June A.I. 18 July Jurassic Park 3 27 July Planet of the Apes 16 November Harry PotterGangs of New York is down as a summer release, but it is likely to be much later (are they still shooting?) Not many of the biggies seem to have dates yet.
COLUMBIA TRISTAR HOME VIDEO TO RELEASE "DOGMA" SPECIAL EDITION DVD JANUARY
23, 2001TWO-DISC DVD RE-RELEASE WILL INCLUDE EXCEPTIONAL ADDED VALUE ELEMENTS
INCLUDING AUDIO COMMENTARIES, DELETED SCENES AND AN EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTARY *
All-Star Cast: Matt Damon ("The Legend of Bagger Vance"), Ben Affleck
("Reindeer Games"), Chris Rock ("Lethal Weapon 4"), Linda Fiorentino ("Men in
Black"), Salma Hayek ("Time Code"), Alan Rickman ("Galaxy Quest"), Jason Lee
("Almost Famous") and Jason Mewes ("Scream 3") * Written and Directed by
Kevin Smith ("Chasing Amy") * 1999 Theatrical Release * Insert with
Collectible Dogma Merchandise and Offers
DVD ADDED VALUE ELEMENTS
Cast and Crew Audio Commentary by Director Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason
Lee, Jason Mewes, Producer Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira
Technical Audio Commentary by Director Kevin Smith, Producer Scott Mosier and
View Askew Historian Vincent Pereira
"Judge Not In Defense of Dogma" Documentary
Complete Set of Storyboards from Three Major Scenes
100 Minutes of Deleted Scenes with View Askew Crew Intros
Weblink to the Official View Askew Site
Hilarious Cast and Crew Outtakes
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash Spot
Saints and Sinners Talent Files
Bonus! Follow the Buddy Christ for More Hijinks with Kevin Smith, Ben
Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes and More!
Talent Files (Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Chris
Rock, Alan Rickman, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek and Jason Mewes) Culver City, CA
(11/9/00) - On January 23, 2001 Columbia TriStar Home Video will release
DOGMA SPECIAL EDITION DVD. From director Kevin Smith (Clerks and Chasing
Amy), DOGMA features an all-star cast which includes Matt Damon, Ben Affleck,
Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Linda Fiorentino and Alan Rickman.
SYNOPSIS: One of the most talked about movies of the year is also one of the
funniest! In this hilarious comic fantasy from writer/director Kevin Smith,
two banished angels (Damon and Affleck) find a loophole that would get them
back into heaven. The only snag? They'll be destroying existence in the
process. In an effort to stop them, the overworked voice of God (Rickman)
taps cynical mortal Bethany (Fiorentino) to save the world by preventing the
angels from reaching their unholy destination, New Jersey. Throw in two
unlikely prophets (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), the quick-witted, yet
little-known thirteenth apostle (Rock) and a sexy, former muse with a case of
writer's block (Hayek) and you've got an hysterical and thrilling race
against time.
Rated R
128 Minutes
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround
Format: Widescreen
Languages: English, French and Spanish
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
Trailers: "Dogma"
SLP: $29.95
DVD #05614
UPC #0-43396-05614-5