This is a bit beyond the scope of "Monument Ave.," but I'd just like to close by saying that there seems to be a groundswell of great new actors out there. By young, I mean people who've only been in a handful of movies and haven't yet had the opportunity to turn their performances into a completely expected series of self-devised tics and gestures. ...

I've also been very impressed with Julianne Moore, Matt Damon, Claire Forlani, Ed Norton, Joaquin Phoenix, Vince Vaughn, Janeane Garofalo, and a few others in the rather recent past. Most (though certainly not all) of these folks are quirky, character-oriented performers who've only now begun to get the interesting roles. I'm glad I can finally quit pretending that the movies' biggest hopes for the future are Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz. Now if we could just find more unpretentious, absorbing directors.

At long last, there seems to be some hope out there.

1/28/99 According to yesterday's New York Daily's Michael Fink, this took place at the CAA party after the Golden Globe:

Nicholson didn't find out about the (Joe) DiMaggio story (of his death) being incorrect until Matt Damon told him the truth at the CAA party. (Supposedly someone told Nicholson the erroneous report of DiMaggio's death just as Jack was getting off the stage.)
"He didn't die, Jack," Damon said to him. "I just heard it on the radio coming over here."
"Are you sure?" Nicholson asked.
"I'm sure," Damon said.
You should have seen the look of relief come over Nicholson's face. It wasn't acting.

1/27/99 Well, it's not like last year, but Matt can be considered to have gotten a nomination. The cast of Saving Private Ryan have been nominated for the best ensemble award by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Speaking of which, it was rather unkind of director Steven Spielberg to make no mentioning at all of his cast when he accepted awards for SPR at the Golden Globes, especially with Matt sitting right in front of the stage. Remember how much Matt put himself into promoting for the film? Once the film became a b.o. hit, we hardly heard Matt's name mentioned with it any more (it's now all Spielberg and Hanks). I feel even worse for the rest of the cast who played the soldiers, the ones who did have to go to boot camp on the order of Spielberg - Ed Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davis, et. al: These guys thought they were going to the Oscars this year - I am afraid not.
Goes to show you the pecking order in Hollywood.

1/26/99 A visitor to this site sent in the following eyewitness account of -:

A close encounter with Matt this year
On Jan. 6 1999, we were spending the holidays in New York and on the last evening we went to an off-Broadway show in Soho. It was a one-man performance. We got in and the room was meant to be a flea market; the guy was trying to sell anything. We were just looking around when I spotted a very familiar face, it turned out to be Ben Affleck and you will not be wrong in guessing who was standing next to him.

After the show I was thinking if it was worth the risk to approach them and ask them to stay for a picture with us (fortunately we had our camera) and get a rude answer or be ignored. And I was really nervous. To my relief, Matt promptly said no problem, started asking questions: where we study, where we are from; he knew the players in our university football team and generally he was extremely friendly and down-to-earth. He said that the guy in the play was an old friend of his and Ben from Boston.

My companion took the picture of the four of us (Matt, Ben, me, and a relative). (Matt and Ben) look as ordinary as possible, normal people like all of us. And I feel Matt has not allowed fame to change him in any way. Of course I do not have a lot of information, only 10 minutes of conversation.

( My note: It's heartening to hear that (i) Matt is free to do his own things in spite of his spectacular surge to fame; his strategy to lead a normal life no matter what seems to be working, and, better yet, (ii) he has not allowed fame to change his real-life delightful personality; I am especially pleased to hear that he remains inquisitive about other people, a hallmark of a good actor/writer. Matty, you go boy!)
p.s. I have seen the photo mentioned and in it Matt and Ben are bundled up against the East-Coast winter weather: wool caps and parka. They were both cute as buttons, though the writer is right: they look just like ordinary people - I might not even recognize them if I saw them walking on the street like that.

1/25/99 Golden Globe Followup

• A Matt fan whose power of observation is several orders above mine has managed to piece things together about the seating arrangement last night. It seems that Matt, with Winona Ryder, is actually seated right at the "Shakespeare in Love" table, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, and Harvey Weinstein. If so, why couldn't those stupid cameras give us a good shot! What a lost opportunity. Perhaps there will be still photos in the magazines to come. This observer (Felicity!) said to keep your eye on when the group from the TV show "The Practice" walked up to the stage, as they walked right by Matt's table and supposedly you could see Matt clearly (not I - or perhaps that's the part that I didn't even sit through, having lost my patience.)
• On Entertainment Tonight, I caught a shot of Matt at the intro - it lasted for a microsecond, it seems, but that wide-eyed look was unmistakable. I thought that was it, and tried to rewind and use the still button to pinpoint that shot, to no avail.
  It was not until at the very end of the show that they finally showed our guy, like this: "While Ben Affleck was eager to join the party of the Creative Arts Agency (camera shows a quick shot of Ben, turning away, seemingly rolling his eyes and shaking his head while entering a party room) our Mark ... caught Matt Damon (shows a side view of that familiar shape of head of Matt, facing a thong of fans) signing autographs for fans (camera shows him signing, oblivious to the curious glances of the people facing him). Then they showed a very short-haired Matt - his blond hair looking like that of Jay North, the kid who played Dennis the Menace on TV - grinning, wide-eyed, talking - in that voice that we hadn't heard for too long - to someone from ET: "It's the most that I've done all day. It's fun." Apparently he was referring to signing autographs for the fans. And he wasn't at all sardonic. Then a closeup shot of that short-haired Matt, all eyes and a silly wide grin - Bambi caught in the headlights - and he was gone.
  Okay, Matt is Matt, and he is gorgeous no matter what. But I have to be honest and say that I would give anything to see him in his GWH look again. Here's a (worrisome) thought: It could be that that look he spotted last night is the Matt we will see in the last half of "All the Pretty Horses" - SPOILER HERE, do not read on if you don't want to know -

  when Matt's character, having gone through hell, seeks justice on his own. He's supposed to be Clint-Eastwood like for that part of the film, and maybe - and the more I think about it the more I think that's the case - Matt's getting used to that appearance. It would be just like him to prepare himself for a role like that.

• Did anyone catch "Hollywood Access", and was there anything of Matt there?
• Steve's site has a couple of still shots from the show.

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES
Feature; Pretty Horses Inc.
Productions begins in March in the San Antonio area.
Crew positions will be paid.
Casting: Headshots and resumes should be mailed to the production office marked, "ATTN.: CASTING."
Production office address:
Pretty Horses, Inc.
100 North Main, #803
San Antonio, TX 78205

1/24/99 The Golden Globe

Matt and Ben made a very briefly appearance tonight as presenters. All told, they were on the stage for something like 2 minutes, for which I endured hours of frankly pretty boring stuff. Matt was introduced as "soon to be in 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'" and Ben "currently starring(a hyperbole) in 'Shakespeare in Love'".

The two guys spotted almost identical tux's; Matt's has a wider lapel. Matt looks slimmer and seems pale to me, and - perhaps in honor of "Saving Private Ryan" - he was wearing his Private Ryan cut, which makes him look all the more boyish. Quick as his appearance was, his movie-star charm and engrossing smile were unmistakable. The two didn't get to say much. Matt said the opening line "We are here to present the Best Motion Picture screenplay". After that, they took turns reading out the five nominees. Then it took Matt a while to open the envelope, causing Ben to jokingly whispered to him: "Open it". To which Matt broke into one of his endearing smiles. When Matt saw who the winners were (the "Shakespeare" team), he handed the opened envelope to Ben and gave him a knowing look. Unfortunately the camera failed to give us a close-up - a real shame. Later on, when Kate Blanchette won the Best Actress (Drama) award, Matt could be seen giving her a standing ovation (and it was then that I realized just how short Matt's haircut was - too short, really - and it was then that I realize that Matt was actually seated at a table very close to the stage; he was not seated with Ben and Paltrow at what was apparently the "Shakespear in Love" table).

Hollywood has very short memory and Matt was definitely not in the spotlights tonight. Not to us, of course. And I guess I am grateful to get to see a Matt appearance again.

So, Paltrow and Blanchette are now both Best Actresses. If that's not putting pressure on Matt in "Ripley" I don't know what is. That cast in "Ripley" has just gotten even more golden. Let's hope that Matt will be back in the spotlights again next year.

The sad thing is: we will probably see very little of Matt until Ripley comes out. Well, we shouldn't complain.

I will do a little bit of personal commentary here: Of the two leading ladies in "Ripley" who both won big this night, one strikes me as cold, self-important and overly affected, the other is warm, natural, and gracious. You can guess which is which, and I can guess which one is better liked by Matt.

1/22/99

• According to a press release from Georgio Armani Corp., Matt and Ben have selected Giorgio Armani tuxedos for the Golden Globe.
• Just got my own copy of the 1/22 issue of Entertainment Weekly. There are two full-page photos of Gwyenth Paltrow, and one photo of a sleeping Matt. The Matt photo is well worth the money - it's better in print. Another find in the magazine: In a calendar of events for the year, it is mentioned that All the Pretty Horses will open in November, the most desirable month of opening for a film. "Horses" will be released by Columbia and "Ripley" is distributed by Paramount - being distributed by a major studio means that a film can get more screens and hence a better possibility for a big opening.
• Delia in Italy shared an article in a magazine over there. Read about it in my Ripley page.
• This appeared on the 1/22 MrShowBiz site:
  Damon and Affleck Get Busy
  Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have apparently recovered sufficiently from their Las Vegas jaunt last weekend and are looking to get back to work.
  The Oscar-winning "Good Will Hunting" scribes and in-demand actors are in Los Angeles attempting to bang out some of their writing commitments, report syndicated columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith.
  The buddies are said to be focusing their efforts on the Castle Rock feature "Half Way House" (although "Half Way Home" would seem more in keeping with the duality of the title of their previous hit), an ensemble drama in which they'll both act.
  In the pic, which takes place in a facility for the mentally impaired, Damon will reportedly play a patient and Affleck a counselor.
  Damon and the newly single Affleck are also said to be working on the Miramax romantic comedy "Like a Rock." For this film, Affleck will take the lead, payback for Damon getting the bigger role (and Best Actor nomination) for "Good Will Hunting."

• This from Felicity:
  Here's a quote from Billy Bob Thornton in the Houston Chronicle (first real thing of 'substance' he's said on All The Pretty Horses so far):
  And Billy Bob? He has moved up the Hollywood food chain just like Paxton, and is now on the directors' A list. In March, he'll begin shooting the film version of Cormac McCarthy's best-selling novel "All the Pretty Horses," starring hotter-than-hot Matt Damon. It's a mythic sort of work, set in Mexico and the American Southwest during the 1940s, that also has its dark edges.
  "This movie is going to be pretty where it needs to be pretty," says Billy Bob, "and ugly where it needs to be ugly. It's like this: They won't be able to use every shot of Matt Damon in this movie for a poster."
  (My note: Ouch! But if you read the novel you know that it's the way it has to be. Let's just say that I expect many scenes where I will have to look away in the later half of the film.

• Also from Felicity: In the same Movie Line mag which mentions that Matt and Gretchen Mol have zero chemistry in "Rounders", there is also a mentioning that "Ripley" is among this year's films that have the best sex scenes.

• Felicity again, regarding "Rounders" imminent opening DownUnder:
  I have to tell you about the strange marketing campaign for 'Rounders' that's happening here. The movie opens in the major cities next Thursday, but won't come to my city until Feb 11. I've only seen one print ad for it so far, and I find it to be very misleading. It's a different main poster from the US one, and is the threesome of Ed, Gretchen and Matt set amongst the backdrop of a city, with all pictured within the outline of a card (ace of clubs). There's a quote from a local Rolling Stone critic below: "Matt Damon is a winner! Rounders is stylish and fun entertainment". But the worst thing has at the top of the ad, before the actor's names: In the tradition of 'Donnie Brasco' and 'Casino'...
  Donnie Brasco? That's really going to bring people back to the theatres!
  (I might also add that it is summer in Australia and "Rounders" is not a summer-time kind of film, so I am afraid it won't make much of a dent in terms of b.o. down there either.)

1/20/99

• "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is among "Ten Movies to Look Forward to" (beyond The Phantom Menance), according to Mr. ShowBiz. Read the excerpt in my Ripley page. Also, you can cast your vote for the film there - may help it to get more notice.
• "Pretty Horses" News: According to Billy Bob Thornton, DiCaprio was never considered for Matt's role; also, production will start in San Antonio, Texas in March, according to the Texas Film Commision. Read more in my "Pretty Horses" page.

1/19/99

• Read a hilarious parody on Terrence Malick's film The Thin Red Line here "Coming to you soon: Terrence Malick's Saving Private Ryan." It is one Usenet newsgroup poster's take on how Malick would direct SPR, including some scenes for Matt. Very funny if you have seen both films. As someone commented (tongue-in-cheek): It would actually make a pretty good movie - and the last scene as described is closer to how I would have liked the last scene in SPR to play. WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS for both films.
• How Matt got the role of "Ripley", according to Gwyneth Paltrow, read about it in my "Ripley" page.

1/18/99

• The New York Daily mentioned that Matt and Ben were among those who checked into the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for the Tyson Fight on Saturday. Entertainment Tonight showed Ben at the scene but no Matt.
• zero chemistry: I was stuck in a line in the supermarket and picked up a copy of "Movieline". Caught a small blurb about "Odd Couples" in recent movies. And the very first line mentioned Matt: "Matt Damon and Gretchen Mol have zero chemistry in 'Rounders'." There was an accompaning pair of tiny photos of Matt and Mol, side by side. Now, if you have read my writings you know I am a fan of "Rounders", but I think that line just about hit it on the head as far as why that film didn't draw. The trouble of it is that it is all about the head and very little about the heart. There was no intimacy among the characters at all, or, if there was, those parts were left on the cutting-room floor. I don't think it's so much that there was no chemistry between Matt and Gretchen (it's hard to believe that two attractive young actors can't come up with a good love scene if called upon, as cold as Mol seems), but that the director, John Dahl, chose not to portray such a relationship - you don't even see the two embrace, as shown in one of the stills that came out well before the movie. And what about the Jenssen Femke character? It just defies belief that nothing happens between hers and Matt's character; and that was especially frustrating after all that build-up. Even more unfortunate is that the Matt fans have grown to expect a little more emotion from him ala GWH and even the Rainmaker. I think that's why the movie fizzled. A shame, too. I think all it took for John Dahl to liven it up was a few good love scenes and a little more humor.

  1/17/99 The L.A. Times Calendar section today has a "Sneaks '99" section, and "Ripley" is mentioned in a colored photo right inside the cover, along with films of Will Smith, Jim Carrey, Hugh Grant+Julia Roberts, Mike Myers, and "Tarzan". It's a small photot of Gwyn and Matt in the shopping scene - the one where Gwyn is carrying that big straw basket, and Matt is in that plaid shirt and tan slacks, with glasses. It looks like one of the photos we've already seen - but slightly different. In all the pictures I have seen of this scene, Matt looks extremely boyish - could easily pass for a 14 year-old. The description inside is scanty. Both "All the Pretty Horses" and "Ripley" are listed with releases coming in the last quarter. Good in that that's the season of the prestigious films (but let's hope neither one gets the "Rounders" treatment). In the "Overview" section, "Ripley" is mentioned under the "Quiet on the Set" section:

  "In addition to Kubrick (whose "Eyes Wide Shut" is due), a number of high-profile directors are delivering significant pictures in 1999. Spike Lee ... Barry Levison ... Martin Scorsese ... Franco Zaffirelli ... And Anthony Mingehella ("The English Patient") returns with "The Talented Mr. Ripley," starring the ultra-hot Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow."

• The Jan 22nd issue of the Entertainment Weekly magazine's 1999 Forecast has this mentioning of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Wrote Rebecca Ascher-Walsh:
  LORD KNOWS '99 WILL NOT PRODUCE A MOVIE as easy on the eyes as "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Directed by Anthony Minghella (responsible for lush-looking "English Patient") Ripley stars impossibly attractive foursome Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, and Matt Damon (swerving away from type to play a sophisticated murderer luxuriating in Italy). While there's enough betrayal and passion to fill a season's worth of soaps, Damon's most shocking desire remains unrequited. "It's this bizarre lust triangle between me and Matt and Jude," explains Paltrow. "Matt falls in love with Jude...[but] no sex is involved. It's very interesting but very weird."

  There is supposed to be "a beautiful picture of a sleeping Matt" that goes with the blurb in the hardcopy magazine. Here it is, click here to see it - may take a while to download. Thanks to Steve for providing this photo.

• 1/14/99
  An interesting take on Matt and others from Gus Van Sant (the directory or GWH) (thanks to Felicity, as always):
  In the December/January issue of Movieline (Gillian Anderson cover). There's an article on Gus Van Sant and Psycho, and included is this question and response.

  Q: I heard you considered Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon before settling on Vince Vaughn.
  A: I think of Matt for everything I do and we have an interest in working together again. But he's one of those under-30 guys who just didn't get it. He has some sort of difficulty with "period" films. I mean, how brilliant is Matt to write 'Good Will Hunting', but he can't watch a movie with James Cagney because, to him, he's not speaking English. It's a puzzling quality he has. Leonardo would have been fantastic. He heard about the idea right off the bat and I knew he knew that he could step into it. But I also knew he didn't really didn't want to do it. I never asked Ben Affleck directly, but I assumed he wasn't interested because he didn't say, "Hey, I'm interested." I seriously considered Joaquin Phoenix. He was interested in doing it, but he was busy, so it was either wait or forge ahead and we forged ahead.

  Matt was right about "Psycho" - it was a flop both artistically and financially.

  1/8/99 If you are suffering from Matt withdrawal big time, as I am, the following should be welcome news:

  • According to TV Now, "Rising Son" is set to appear on TV this month.
    Sun Jan 31 07:00A.M. EST TNT- Turner Television
    Rising Son
    120 minutes- USA, 1990, Video
    Directed by John Coles
    Starring: Brian Dennehy, Matt Damon, Piper Laurie Emily Longstreth, Jane Adams, Graham Beckel
    A laborer threatened with unemployment faces additional stress when his son decides to abandon his medical studies.

    Many thanks to Christi for sharing this news. Judging from the stills from this film shown in that "Matt Damon" magazine, this is well worth seeing (and taping!) If nothing else, do you not want to see a 20-year old, angel-faced Matt in black leather jacket? The film also got pretty good reviews.
    Double-bonus that it's shown early on Sunday morning. Tape it and watch on a leisure Sunday. What could be finer?

  • And many thanks to Laura for this item:

    If you rent Mrs. Dalloway,a film starring Vanessa Redgrave, there is a commercial for the Independent Film Channel starring Matt Damon and Ed Norton. It is right at the beginning of the tape. The commercial is a riot and it was filmed on the set of Rounders, with Matt and Ed in their character's costumes. Matt also appears in another IFC commercial, although briefly, at the beginning of Mr. Jealousy.

    I have never seen this commercial and so guess who's rushing out to rent a video of a film that she has already seen? This commercial has Matt and Ed in a restaurant talking to a prodigy director, a 10-year old girl (or something like that), and the two are vying for a coveted role in a (fictitious) script called "The horses are pretty" - something like that.

  1/6/99 Among the projects mentioned in a 1/4 article on the Ain't-It-Cool News (these are projects on which the site is looking for info - aren't we all?) are these:
  • 20th Century Fox's Planet Ice: Principal animation in Los Angeles. Started production on 8/1/97. Voices: Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, Drew Barrymore, Nathan Lane, Hank Azaria, Leona Olin, Jim Breuer, Janeane Garofalo. Directed by Don Bluth. This is likely to be the big deciding animated film for FOX's animation ...
  • SONY pictures' All the Pretty Horses (Adventure) (Start March) Shooting in Texas, Columbia Pictures/Miramax Films. Cast: Matt Damon, Henry Thomas; Prod.: Mike Nichols; Dir.: Billy Bob Thornton; Scr: Ted Tally. From the writer of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, the director of SLINGBLADE and starring a very interesting pair ... Willing Hunting and Elliot ... How can ya not be interested?
  • Warner Brothers' National Office (Drama) Cast (hopeful) Matt Damon. Based on the novel of the same name by David McKenna, who wrote AMERICAN HISTORY X. It centers on a 28-year old man who decides to run for President after his family is struck by a gang shooting.
  1/4/99 In spite of its fizzling out at the box office, Rounders is not without its followers. It is mentioned in a number of the Best Films of 1998 lists on the Internet. Read about them in my Rounders page .