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a forum for sharing news among Matt fans.

Updated 1/3/2003

Happy New Year!

• From a Big Matt Fan:
  Thanks again, everyone, for another great year of Matt gossip. Can you believe it's been 5 years since Good Will Hunting came out? We've seen some spectacular highs and some depressing lows, a baffling and bewildering assortment of rumors, and of course, the persistent and perpetual appearance of The Black Sweater.
  Though we've all had our own private lives to deal with, our little Matt obsession has been a highly entertaining diversion, thanks to all your dedication.
  Here's to an even better 2003, for Matt and for all of you!
  BTW: I was watching the movie review show "Hot Ticket" and they previewed next week's show which features performances that should have received Oscar nominations, but did not. They showed Matt in TTMR, so it may be one to watch. As you know, last month, Entertainment Weekly also included Matt's Ripley performance on their list of performances that Oscar snubbed. Guess people are looking back and remembering what should have been...
• From Felicity:
  • From a summary of each studio's performance in 2002, from the LA Daily News:
    Universal Pictures experienced a drop from second place in 2001 to fifth. Its two biggest hits of '02 were the Matt Damon action picture "The Bourne Identity," which earned a healthy $121.6 million, and Eminem's feature debut, "8 Mile," which surprised the industry with a $51.2 million opening weekend and a cumulative gross of $114.1 million to date. The studio's next-best performers released in 2002 were solid hits -- "Red Dragon" at $93 million and "The Scorpion King" at $90.4 million -- but didn't have quite enough steam to cross the $100 million barrier.
    "It wasn't a record-breaker, but I believe this was a great year for Universal," said Rocco. "As a major, we had the fewest number of films released, and when you look at the profitability, we were consistent."
    The biggest black mark for Universal was the abysmal performance of "The Truth About Charlie," which was a major box-office flop with a domestic gross of $5.3 million.
  • Bourne finished as the 19th most successful film of the year with $121 million (Sum of all Fears was one slot below with $118 million). An amazing result.
    
  • Matt's episode of Will & Grace aired in my city for the first time, but the whole final scene (group choir, confrontation with Jack) was not included. How is it shown in the US? I know it was a "super-sized" episode, but I wouldn't have expected a major scene to be cut.

• From our ever-reliable Felicity:
  • End of year greetings everyone!
  • How's this for one of the most gorgeous pics of Matt I've ever seen (but Odessa does look to be aged about 15). From nysocialdiary.com and taken at the Kenny Gordon Foundation Benefit (Confessions movie and auction), where the couple allegedly revealed they were engaged: here (Photo also shown as today's feature pic).
    Story at here.
  • From backstage.com, notice about a new program in development at LivePlanet:
    LivePlanet is 'L.A.' Bound
    By Nellie Andreeva
    Following their collaboration on the short-lived interactive drama "Push, Nevada" this fall, ABC and Touchstone TV are back in business with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's LivePlanet. This time around, the LivePlanet principals, including Sean Bailey and Chris Moore, have set their sights on the City of Angels. The new project, "Los Angeles," is described as a one-hour drama about nine strangers whose lives become interconnected through random events. Zack Helm is writing the script for the show, which is in the early stages of development. Bailey is spearheading the project for LivePlanet and will serve as an executive producer alongside Moore and Helm. Helm's writing credits include the upcoming feature "Sector Seven" from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Among other projects, LivePlanet is working with HBO and Miramax TV on the second installment of "Project Greenlight," the reality series revolving around aspiring filmmakers.
  • Another story about the "Los Angeles" show : here.
  • A story on early press reactions to "Gerry", from the NY Observer: here
  • "Confessions of a dangerous mind" is out in limited release (LA/NY) from tomorrow.
• And from Bec:
  This is from the Melbourne paper, The Sunday Age. It's a quote from The Panel host (Matt was a guest while here) Tom Gleisner, about the highs and lows of the show this year.
  "Another personal highlight was Matt Damon, who totally shattered the image of spoilt young actors on tour by simply being a genuine, unaffected, interesting bloke."

• ...(Let's) hope for a satisfying and productive year ahead, with hopefully challenges for Matt greater than a Farrelly Brothers movie.
• The "denial" story on EW is at here, With a good pic from the Sydney premiere of Bourne: here.
• Matt was on ET Wednesday in a really old video (circa "Rounders") promoting "It's a wonderful life" on Theatrevision, where popular movies are given full voiceovers for the blind and partially sighted.
  The process is described here.
• From the Boston Herald's Inside Track:
  Photo at here
  Hollywood It Boy Matt Damon, left, and a couple of pals from Cambridge Rindge & Latin rapped about racism and diversity in the WB56 studios the other day for a segment to air on the station's `Day of Harmony' special on Feb. 27. The three former classmates (that's actress Fanshen Cox and R & L teacher Jamal Prince, not shown) discussed how their high school embraced the rainbow and in doing so, churned out more tolerant and understanding individuals. Moderating the taped round-table was Matt's mum, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, a founder of Lesley College's master's degree program in conflict resolution and peaceable schools. Ya think she's proud of her kid? (Photo courtesy of WB56)
• From a Melbourne paper (the Herald-Sun) and their review of 2002:
  EARNING a big thumbs up from us during their visits to Melbourne were several laid-back and friendly international stars. Heading the list was Hollywood golden boy Matt Damon, who disproved the theory that all Tinseltown types were demanding and had huge entourages. Damon travelled light during his promotional visit for spy thriller The Bourne Identity, bringing only girlfriend Odessa Whitmire and her mother for the trip. The Oscar winner was a sport, going out of his way to make time for his many fans and happily heading to a pub for us so we could get a shot of him pulling a beer
• Here's an excerpt from an old Megan Mullally (cast member on "Will & Grace) interview from Next:
  You all are notorious for having such a good time on the set. Does that make it strange when you have guest stars coming in? Oh, I think they like it more, because everybody's so friendly. It probably makes them feel more at ease. But Cher... Nobody knows Cher. It's not like she's ever been here or we've really talked to her. There's no interaction. Everybody else is totally normal and they come and they rehearse. But Cher gets, like, flown in and dropped off by like a helicopter onto her spot, and we roll the cameras and then they lift her back up again into the clouds.
  So who have been your favorites? Matt Damon was really funny on the show, and he's a really nice guy.
  The W&G producers have also stated separately that the episode with Matt is the best they've had so far with a celeb guest-star.

• Lots of goodies from Felicity -- I thank many others who sent in similar items:
  • Some pics from the Confessions charity screening and party:
    With Miramax exec Jon Gordon, and here.
    Thumbnail pics with Odessa: here, and here.
  • Latest gossip from the Sun (UK):
    J-Lo cancels wedding after bust-up with best man Matt
    J-LO�s �1million Valentine�s Day wedding to BEN AFFLECK is off � because of the diva�s bitter feud with his best pal MATT DAMON.
    Pals say Jennifer had a blazing row with Matt, who was supposed to be best man, after finding out he tried to talk Ben out of marrying her.
    A source says: "They still love each other and want to get married some day � but it won�t happen on Febuary 14.
    "Jen feels like there are three of them in the relationship and is terrified Matt will poison Ben against her."
  • Here's a rarity: pictures of Matt and Odessa where both of them look happy!! Taken from the Confessions after-party in LA last week - the photos are in a series: here, here, here,and here.
    And another photo of Odessa at the Confessions party in NY: here.
  • I found most of the photos above at a new site that's worth checking out - a variation of wireimage. http://www.filmmagic.com/.
  • From Boston Herald's Inside Track:
    Damon dad says Good Will isn't Hunting for bride yet
    by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa
    Friday, December 20, 2002
    Don't start searching for the bridal registry, because no, Cambridge homey Matt Damon is not engaged! And we hear there probably won't be a little robin's egg blue box under galpal Odessa Whitmire's Christmas tree.
    Rumors flew that ``The Bourne Identity'' stud and his 27-year-old steady were headed down the aisle right behind Matt's best bud, Ben Affleck, and his bootylicious bride-to-be Jennifer Lopez. But it ain't so.
    ``No, he's not engaged,'' Matt's dad, Kent Damon, told us. ``Everyone's writing that he is and all these people are coming up and congratulating me. But marriage isn't in the picture right now.''
    Well, what about a Christmas engagement, dad? What gal wouldn't want a little something from Tiffany's in her stocking?
    ``He's dating a wonderful woman,'' said Damon pere, ``but he's got too much on his plate at the moment to think about marriage.''
    In fact, Matt's organizer is so jammed, he can only make it home to Cambridge for about three hours over the holidays. The family's going down to New York to spend Christmas at his digs.
    Damon has been dating Odessa - who used to be Ben Affleck's personal assistant - a lot longer than Ben's been dating J. Lo. Which, of course, sparked the engagement rumors. And Matt said he feels bad denying them.
    He told the syndicated TV show ``Extra'' that he feels guilty every time he says ``We're not engaged'' because ``it sounds like an indictment of her.''
    As for Ben and J. Lo., Kent Damon said she's busy planning a concert tour to promote her new album, ``This Is Me . . . Then'' so they have not made any wedding plans as far as he knows. Do stay tuned . . . .
  • From Time's list of the year's top TV shows:
    10. PROJECT GREENLIGHT (HBO)
    If you loved the TV show stay the hell away from the movie! Giving a Cinderella director a chance to shoot an indie film, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and company revealed the machinations and love that go into even the most disaster-blighted flicks.
  • The episode of "A Wedding Story" 'starring' Matt's Harvard room-mate, and where Matt attended the ceremony, will be aired on TLC January 16.
  • From the Chicago Sun-Times:
    WHAT A TRIANGLE! The story that Matt Damon is opposed to best pal Ben Affleck marrying Jennifer Lopez is being denied by everyone concerned. A story in the London Sun claimed J. Lo canceled wedding plans after learning Damon was trying to convince his fellow Oscar winner to dump Lopez.
    Trust me, folks, this story is a total crock--a tale as tall as the John Hancock Center.
  • The NY Post is reporting that Matt is now engaged, officially: http://www.pagesix.com/celebritynews/51975.htm
    DONE �HUNTING': DAMON TYING THE KNOT
    By VICTORIA GOTTI
    Actor Matt Damon's next project could be wedding plans.
    The "Good Will Hunting" hunk announced last week at a star-studded gala that he and Odessa Whitmire, Ben Affleck's former personal assistant, are getting hitched.
    The couple showed up arm-in-arm to a New York benefit hosted by actor-director George Clooney and Miramax producer Jon Gordon on Wednesday night and soon broke the news to friends as Whitmire's 3-carat diamond sparkled.
    Damon met Whitmire, 27, in September 2001, when Affleck, Damon's longtime buddy, checked into rehab.
    While Damon has never had trouble talking about his affection for Whitmire, he and his rep have shot down months of engagement rumors.
    "I'm not engaged," Damon, who dated Minnie Driver and Winona Ryder, told The Post this past June.
    "I have no plans to get married or have kids. I've got my nephews. That's about all the responsibility I can handle right now," he said.
    Sources told Page Six a month ago the couple were tying the knot, but Damon's rep "[didn't] know anything about that."
    But now Damon has followed Affleck's engagement to Jennifer Lopez with his own.
    Before the end of Wednesday night's benefit, which raised over $200,000 for the Kenny Gordon Foundation, Damon, 32, said he was retiring his black book, buxom babes and staunch bachelor ways.
    While Damon was tight-lipped about when or where the marriage will happen, one source said the ceremony wouldn't take place until Affleck and Lopez exchange their vows - which is expected to happen sooner than later.
    Last month, Lopez said in a televised interview that Affleck got down on one knee, popped the question and she answered, "Yes." Affleck and Lopez met last year on the movie set of "Gigli."
  • Some gossip from "Woman's Day" magazine in a story titled 'Winona's on suicide watch' - gist is that she's never recovered from Johnny Depp:
    After years of those ill-fated flings, in 1998 she met 'The Bourne Identity' star Matt Damon. They shared a house and, according to long-time friend Angie Bartlett, Winona saw "a glimmer of Johnny" in Matt. I often saw her out with Matt and would ask her what he was like. She laughed that it bugged him the way she'd say, "Johnny would do this, Johnny would do that." Matt would say to her matter of factly, "But Johnny's gone." The problem was, he wasn't gone - in Winona's eyes.
    Disillusioned Matt hung in for two years until March 2000, reluctant to split with Winona because of her unstable state.
    "Matt held back because he knew Winona was very fragile and vulnerable," says a producer friend. "She took pills as if they were M&Ms. He told me, 'She's just my type.' But Matt couldn't take her Jekyll and Hude behaviour. One minute she'd be rational, the next a wacko berating him and screaming abuse."
    [Years later] Within weeks, Winona learnt that Matt was parading his new girlfriend Odessa Whitmire around Hollywood. It was one blow too many. Just three weeks after Matt and Odessa went public, the security guards were dragging Winona out of Saks.
  • An EW story on the best reality series planned for next season, including PGL: here
  • The engagement has been denied, yet again. I really wish the writers would do a little research and get their facts right - a few actually claim Matt and Odessa met at Ben's rehab facility. From AP:
    Matt Damon denies engagement rumors
    (12-23) 18:14 PST LOS ANGELES (AP) --
    Rumors of Matt Damon's engagement have been greatly exaggerated, according to the actor's publicist, who says he and Odessa Whitmire are only dating.
    "The rumor that he's getting engaged has been fabricated over the past couple of weeks, but it's not true," Damon's publicist, Jennifer Allen, said Monday.
    According to one rumor, the "Saving Private Ryan" star told friends he and Whitmire had gotten engaged last week.
    "He is dating Ms. Whitmire," Allen said. "But he is not engaged."
    The couple met when Whitmire was working as an assistant to Damon's friend and "Good Will Hunting" co-star, Ben Affleck.
  • Most of this would appear to be false, from the Chicago Sun-Times:
    THE RING THING: Congrats to Oscar winner Matt Damon, who is taking a page from best buddy Ben Affleck and getting engaged. Damon was overheard by the New York Post telling pals at a big New York gala last week that he and girlfriend Odessa Whitmire�Affleck�s former personal assistant�were making it official. Whitmire is sporting quite the gorgeous 3-carat diamond, which may pale next to Jennifer Lopez�s pink diamond ��skating rink,�� but is still very nice, just the same. The couple met under very trying circumstances�in September, 2001, when Affleck (with Damon�s help) checked himself into the Promises rehab clinic in Malibu, Calif. Industry sources say that Damon�s initial attraction to Whitmire centered on his respect for how she helped support his lifelong best friend in those difficult days. The romance grew from that friendship.
    They have been openly public about their relationship for nearly a year, but up to now have denied all engagement rumors.
    There is no date set, though it is assumed Damon and Whitmire won�t walk down the aisle until Affleck and J. Lo exchange their vows�widely thought to be happening sometime later this year.
  • From the Boston Globe, another update on filming for "Stuck on you" - maybe they're looking at Rockport for the whole shoot?
    Scouting Rockport for one film
    By Carol Beggy and Stephanie Stoughton, Globe Staff, 12/24/2002
    HOPING FOR A ROCKPORT LANDING A crew from the production company of the Brothers Farrelly - that would be Bobby and Peter - have been out scouting in Rockport, where the writing-producing-directing guys hope to film their next comic adventure, ''Stuck on You.'' The movie, much in the vein of the brothers' previous efforts, will star Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins. A crew was up there late last week, and, with the needed approvals from the Rockport Board of Selectmen, filming will begin in February. ''They need to get the town's OK, but it's winter, and this will be a great project for the area, so we're hopeful,'' said Robin Dawson, the head of the Massachusetts Film Bureau and a Rockport native. Dawson, who headed up the state's film agency until it was zeroed out of the budget last summer, said her two-person private operation has been helping field the scouting requests. ''We've been busy,'' said Dawson, who tapped the local film community and Hollywood types to create the private film bureau. ''We're going to be talking to more of the business community so that we can keep the work coming in.''
  • A collection of good Matt photos, mostly very familiar: here
• B. wrote:
  I found this picture in the premiere issue of Show People. Here is the article that goes along with it:
  This is Our Youth
  by Kenneth Lonergan, Garrick London Theater
  In this gently satiric dark comedy, a trio of young, disaffected, rich New Yorkers, played by Damon, Casey Affleck, and Summer Phoenix, spend 24 hours high on drugs and dissecting the meaning of life under President Ronald Reagan in 1982.
  Praise: "...Matt Damon is outstanding as the bullying, hustling, drug-dealing Dennis. Here, you think, is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, but, when Damon's face lights up in a wicked grin, you become suddenly aware of the delightful child Dennis must have once been..." Faint Praise: "Unfortunately Damon's natural wholesomeness sometimes envelops the menace, narcissim and vulnerability that make up Dennis's character. Even when delivering a verbose panic attack about death...Damon seems too neat and tidy to let his character fully breathe."

• Kelly ( MattDamonFanPage.com, MattDamonForum.com) wrote:
  french website CineMovies has posted a clip from the movie Gerry. You can watch it here.
  Also, I've started a Gerry thread on my message board where you can see pictures from the movie, read reviews, and share thoughts on the movie. The thread is located here
• From Felicity:
  • From the NY Post - nice familiar pic with the story: here
    We hear . . .
    THAT George Clooney, Matt Damon and Miramax producer Jon Gordon will co-host a special screening of "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" tonight to benefit the Kenny Gordon Foundation and a party after at Metronome, where the top auction item will be a golf outing with Damon, Clooney and producer Jerry Weintraub.
  • There's one pic of Matt at the LA Confessions premiere (not quite looking his best, but the ring and bracelet are again on display), from a Czech photo site at here
  • A Julia Roberts fansite was reporting a separate New York premiere for Confessions on 19 December, but I haven't seen any other references to it.
  • Matt's episode on Bernie Mac is repeated tonight (Wednesday).
  • From the Boston Herald's Inside Track - looks like they've settled for Miami as a compromise instead of LA or Hawaii. There's no information yet on the Florida Film Commission sites.
    We also hear the fab Farrelly Brothers are interested in a few days of shooting ``Stuck On You,'' starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, in Rockport in February. Talk about a ray of sunshine in the dead of winter! The filmmakers' peeps will meet with the selectmen soon about setting up shop for their Siamese-twins comedy in Bearskin Neck and on Main Street. Which shouldn't be too busy after the Christmas hols!
    After Matt and Greg wrap it up in Rockport, they'll head to Miami for the rest of the ``Stuck'' shoot.
    And who could blame them?
  • From Jeanette Wells' column at MSNBC:
    Damon's just dating
    Sandra Bullock has been spreading rumors that Matt Damon is engaged to his personal assistant. But Damon�s spokeswoman says they�re bunk. While promoting �Two Weeks Notice,� her new flick with Hugh Grant, Bullock told reporters that her �Force of Nature� co-star Ben Affleck probably hates the uproar that his engagement to J. Lo has caused. �Ben doesn�t like publicity,� Bullock told the Calgary Sun. �I know he�d much rather have had it play out like Matt Damon�s engagement to Odessa.� Damon has been dating Odessa Whitmire, Ben Affleck�s assistant, for two years, but his spokeswoman says rumors of their engagement are �totally untrue.�
  • Here's the story from the Calgary Sun:
    EVERYBODY'S HAPPY
    Bullock starred opposite Ben Affleck in Forces of Nature.
    She says she�s thrilled he�s engaged to Jennifer Lopez.
    �Ben�s a sweet, wonderful, goofy guy. I�m so happy that he�s so happy.�
    She says she doubts Affleck is thrilled his engagement became such a public affair.
    �Ben doesn�t like publicity. I know he�d much rather have had it play out like Matt Damon�s engagement to Odessa.�
    Bullock says she�s pretty certain Damon recently got engaged to Affleck�s personal assistant Odessa Whitmire, whom he�s been dating for almost two years.
    Affleck has played Cupid for Damon more than once.
    When Affleck was dating Gwyneth Paltrow, he introduced his friend to Winona Ryder, who was Paltrow�s best friend at the time.
  • The official site for the "Win Without War" group, of which Matt is a supporter, actually lists him as the first celeb name of the group - more information at the site: http://www.moveon.org/
  • The casting for "This is our youth" in London is being further downgraded - Freddie Prinze Jr is the latest addition.
  • The repeat of Matt's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" is scheduled for 4 January.
  • The poster for "Gerry" doesn't appear to be available yet. Here's a link to poster sites matched to the film.

• From Felicity:
  • Matt did attend the "Maid in Manhattan" premiere.
    Thumbnail pics at Wireimage
    Arrivals: here, and here
    Pics of Matt and Ben at the theatre: here, and here
    But no pics of Matt at the after-party...
  • A quote from Matt in a story about the premiere in Newsday, on potential wedding gifts:
    Matt Damon, the best buddy of J. Lo's fiance, Ben Affleck, was equally stumped.
    "If they announce a date, I'll actually have to start thinking about that," he said. "I can't even buy a Christmas gift for Ben because the guy's already got everything, so their wedding will be tricky."
  • A report on the party for "Confessions" in LA, from the San Bernadino Sun. I think Matt missed the premiere because of extended negotiations to choose the Project Greenlight Top 10:
    The after-party at the W hotel was also pretty fun and exciting. And crowded. Spotted in the packed lobby, bar and patio areas: Barris himself; the "Ocean's Eleven" crew of Matt Damon, Brad Pitt (sans Jennifer), Don Cheadle and Elliott Gould; Dick Clark; Cindy Crawford and her husband, Rande Gerber; Lili Taylor; and Jacqueline Bisset. All chowed down on yummy prawns, asparagus, flatbreads, cheeses, risotto and sushi.
  • A rumor from Beverlyhills213.com:
    I'm told that while watching the classic movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on cable recently, Matt Damon had a brainstorm. What, he pondered, would be the possibilities of him taking the Robert Redford role and best buddy Ben Affleck doing the Paul Newman part? He immediately called Ben, who loved the idea, and now the two are huddling quietly with agents and producers trying to get the remake off the ground.
  • ** I didn't even consider "Gerry" to be a candidate for the Independent Spirit Awards, so it was a nice surprise to see it nominated for two awards, especially Gus for Best Director.
  • From the NY Daily News:
    By REBECCA LOUIE, SUZANNE ROZDEBA, DAKOTA SMITH and BEN WIDDICOMBE
    ... "I can't even buy a Christmas present for Ben because the guy already has everything. So on their wedding, I'll be truly stumped," Damon said.
  • From Star Magazine, and repeated in my local Woman's Day magazine this week:
    Good Will behavior
    Monday December 9, 2002
    Matt Damon's girlfriend Odessa Whitmire doesn't have a thing to worry about. The actor was at a hotel bar in Manhattan when a drop-dead-gorgeous fan sashayed over and asked if she could take a picture sitting on his lap. Matt said OK, but that he'd have to call his girlfriend first. Odessa said fine and Matt posed with the gal, but he was a perfect gentleman.
  • A link to a LA Times story about the "Win Without War" group: here
  • From Roger Friedman's column, where he confirms that Matt bypassed most of the press at the premiere, and then did not attend the after-party. Friedman also criticises Ben, Jennifer and the party afterwards: here
    At the theatre, none less than Caroline Kennedy, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon sneaked in. Only the first went on to the party, which was surprising since Roberts has a financial interest in the movie and Damon is Affleck's best and lifelong friend. But I couldn't blame them.
  • Matt has signed a letter opposing the "war rhetoric toward Iraq": here
  • Here's the official announcement about Blockbuster's support of Project Greenlight:
    The December "Premiere" magazine has a short piece on "The Informant", but again, nothing we haven't read before:
    Hollywood's new wave: Radio's 'This American Life' gets a big-screen break
    He was late to meet his dinner date, but aspiring screenwriter Scott Burns couldn't turn off his car radio. "I actually circled the restaurant until they ran out of show," he says. The show was National Public Radio's 'This American Life'. The broadcast was about Kurt Eichenwald's best-seller "The Informant: A True Story", and delved into one of the most corrupt corporate scandals in history. It "had everything I've always wanted to put in a movie," Burns says. So that's exactly what he's doing with Section Eight, the production company of Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. If all goes as planned, Soderbergh will direct Matt Damon next fall in the film version, titled "The Informant", for Warner Bros., about a corporate whiz kid who exposes a food price-fixing conspiracy. "It's the most exciting story you'll ever read about soybean prices," says Life's producer and host, Ira Glass.
    Original NPR broadcast available at http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/00/168.html
• Bec wrote:
  From YAHOO:
  Celebrities endorse letter asking U.S. president to stop war rhetoric toward Iraq Mon Dec 9, 4:05 PM ET
  LOS ANGELES - Mike Farrell and Anjelica Huston will release a letter Tuesday signed by a hundred celebrities who want President George W. Bush to stop his war rhetoric toward Iraq.
  The letter reportedly is signed by stars including Kim Basinger, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Lange and Martin Sheen, publicists for the event said Monday.
  Details of the letter weren't released.
  Bush has threatened military force against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein saying the dictator has amassed weapons of mass destruction that pose a danger to the United States.
  United Nations weapons inspectors are searching Iraq for such devices but have turned up little so far.
  Farrell, who plays a veterinarian on the television drama "Providence," previously compiled a celebrity-endorsed letter in June asking U.S. senators to vote against a plan to bury the nation's nuclear power waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
  Co-signers of that letter included Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins, Rob Reiner, Barbra Streisand and Harry Belafonte.
  On July 9, senators voted 60-39 in favor of the Yucca Mountain project.
• Kelly wrote:
  Matt is featured in another custom built video game system. This one is called Dogma 2: Electric Boogaloo and you can play it at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ.
• Sent in by P.:
  December 11, 2002
  Dear Mr. President: Stop the War Talk
  Matt Damon, Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson and others sign a letter asking President Bush to avoid war.
  By MAUREEN HARRINGTON (People Mag.) Damon take on the role of dove in a letter to the White House. ( CPS/LFI)
  On Dec. 10 about 100 stars made like '70s R&B singer Edwin Starr and declared that war (huh!) is good for absolutely nothing. Or at least a war against Iraq. Celebs including Matt Damon, Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson and Noah Wyle signed a letter asking President Bush to avoid an armed conflict. Said actor Mike Farrell, an organizer: "Such a war will increase human suffering ... damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world."
• David wrote:
  I don't suppose you know where I could purchase an original poster for Gerry? I haven't been able to track one down online.
• Lisa wrote:
  There are new pictures of Matt on wireimage here

• From a Big Matt Fan:
  Gerry has been nominated for two IFP Independent Spirit Awards, for Best Director and Best Cinematography.
  Honestly, I'm not surprised or even disappointed the it didn't receive any performance nominations. I'm just pleased that the film was represented. It means that there is an appreciation for the film that hopefully, will translate into greater interest when the film is released.
• From Felicity:
  • A link to the trailer for Gerry: here
    And a positive review for Gerry: here
  • A premiere that Matt's more likely to attend is for "Confessions of a dangerous mind", which is set for LA on 11 December.
    I've been watching for reports on the Maid In Manhattan premiere, and would guess there's a strong chance Matt could attend. But is he in New York - there have been no sightings of him anywhere for a couple of weeks?
    I can't find a press release for the early list of who is attending the premiere.
  • Project Greenlight has a new sponsor in Blockbuster.
    And from Skynews.co.uk:
    Hold tight girls - George Clooney is in town promoting his latest flick Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. George told me he has no plans to appear in the Bridget Jones follow-up movie. But he is planning to team up again with good friends Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Co in Oceans 11 2.
    This time, though, there will be plenty of real life stars, too. There'll be lots of action and hopefully an appearance by my fave singing diva, Barbra Streisand. George said shooting should get under way by next summer. Who said the Rat Pack was dead?
  • Hollywood.com has an interview with Matt, which I think is taken completely from the Fort Lauderdale Q&A, including the following quote. There's also an interesting quote about Chris O'Donnell. http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/story/t4/feature/1701227
    You've worked with a lot of great people, but who would you like to work with that you haven't had the chance to yet?
    Damon: Wow. If you asked most actors, they would tell you Marlon Brando is one of the greatest actors this country has ever produced. It would be great to work with him, but unfortunately he doesn't work too often anymore. I remember when Ed [Norton] did The Score with [Robert] De Niro and Brando. I read the script and said, "Dude, this script sucks, what are you doing?" and he's like "Yeah, but it's De Niro and Brando! I get to do scenes with De Niro and Brando! We'll fix the script along the way, man."
  • Blockbuster is running a competition to promote Project Greenlight, and is giving someone the chance to meet Matt, Ben and Chris Moore at the PGL2 announcement in Sundance next year: here
  • A rumor from Skynews.co.uk:
    While Ben Affleck may have just announced his wedding plans for J.Lo he has not forgotten his best buddy and fellow Oscar-winner Matt Damon. Matt recently starred in London's West End to great acclaim in This is Our Youth. However he was not idle while over here. My spies reveal that he and Ben are planning to open a London version of their LA cafe Confidential right here in the UK.It won't be like Britney's or Planet Hollywood, but a small intimate cafe. It will serve coffee and light meals - and get this - it will have a rock performance area.
    Matt has found his dream location just off Theatreland and the plan is to have the cafe open by next summer. Still don't expect Matt or Ben to be behind the bar - both are working on movies back to back throughout next year. One thought though boys - Fashion Cafe anyone?
  • Bourne Identity's worldwide take is at $191,761,990. This makes it the 19th highest grossing movie so far this year (domestic and international).
• From Adam: Gerry poster and trailer
• Kelly wrote:
  Just thought I'd share my thoughts on the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron DVD as I haven't really read much about it. It came out on DVD and VHS in the states on November 19th.
  I definetely enjoyed the DVD and it was well worth the US $20 that I paid at Best Buy. But I was surprised by how little Matt Damon is featured in the DVD. First, there is no mention of Matt anywhere on the box, not even in the bottom credits where it lists everyone involved in the movie. Matt does have a page in the "Cast & Crew" section, and the biofilmography that they give is pretty thorough. There was no mention of Matt in the main featurette about Animating the Film. Matt does appear for about 15 seconds in the "Music of" featurette, where he talks about how good Bryan Adams was. And I listened to the entire director's comentary and Matt wasn't mentioned once there either. ... But it is a nice movie, especially if you have kids or younger siblings to watch it with.
• From a Big Matt Fan:
  Not much on Matt, but here are a few bits that might be of interest:
  • From http://www.hotbutton.com:
    SEAN BAILEY looks like Ben Affleck�s brother� not that he looks like Casey Affleck. But he looks like he could be the second most sexy cop on NYPD Blue or the young dad of a two-year-old on any commercial trying to skew to hip 30somethings.
    But he is none of those things. He is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of LivePlanet, the production company best known for being home to Matt Damon and the aforementioned Mr. Affleck. And he seems as satisfied being just those things as Matt and Ben seem� which is to say, not at all. He�s young, smart and hungry to push the envelope. He and his partners, who include the now-infamous celebrity Chris �The Screaming Guy On Project Greenlight� Moore, started LivePlanet with the idea that it would be a convergence company, combining film, TV, the internet and who knows what else in the creation of new programming. But the internet bubble burst and even after coming to the company with a lot of experience, Sean, Chris, Matt and Ben have all gone through the mill together and learned one key lesson� good work is good work, in whatever format.
    And so, LivePlanet, which as Sean describes, was founded with the idea that they have passed on Good Will Hunting because it was too conventional, is open to anything and everything� everything that stirs their passions. (That would include Good Will Hunting these days.)
    Bailey does what many smart interviewees do to their approaching interrogators. He interviewed me. And being the egomaniac I am, I obliged and told him all kinds of junk. But in between stories about my first pimple and my grooming tips for graying hair, we got to share some interesting perspectives on the business, none of which bear repeating right now.
    The whole breakfast was just another reminder about the humanity of all of this. It�s so easy to simplify LivePlanet into a vanity company from two growing celebrities. But it�s much more than that to Sean. And spending a little time with him, you get the distinct impression that it�s a lot more than that to Matt & Ben & Chris� which is very encouraging.
    If there was anything that really stays with me, besides Sean Bailey being a good guy who loves movies, it�s that in the last two years, they have learned a key to survival that is too often forgotten in this town: Say no.
  • From Reuters, yet another Bourne-like project:
    Snipes Doing 'John Doe'
    HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Wesley Snipes is about to lose his memory for Sony-based Revolution Studios.
    The actor is set to star in the sci-fi actioner "John Doe," which revolves around a man who suffers from severe memory loss. As he puts his life back together, he discovers that he also possesses superhuman capabilities that he can't explain. During a quest to uncover his true identity, Doe must elude a relentless assassin who knows his secret and is determined to keep it hidden by any means necessary.
• From Bec:
  Yet another fascinating article from an Aussie mag, this time Woman's Day. A psychic analyses Ben's various relationships, in an article called "Who Is Ben's Soulmate?", before concluding, "Looking at the people in Ben's life and the strongest emotional and spiritual connection he has, he'd be better off with Matt Damon!" The photos of Ben and Matt, and Matt and Odessa also come with this caption, "Ben and Matt might marry J.Lo and Odessa respectively, but are they really meant for each other?" Even I can't believe I read the article!

• Bec wrote:
  According to New Idea....a really reliable source lol!....Chris Affleck is not happy with Ben's choice of wife, and Ben asked Matt to have a "quiet word with her"...which apparently didn't achieve anything. I love trashy mags!
• From Kelly:
  NewsAskew posted some screenshots from the game including the picture that's attached (see right) showing Matt Damon. In the game Matt Damon tries to destroy Ben and J.Lo.
  ... I obtained some screenshots of the game, including a picture of Matt Damon going after Jen... They are all featured on my Jen Saves Ben page at MattDamonFanPage.com. Feel free to use them as you'd like. A direct link is: here
• From Felicity:
  • From newsaskew.com, here's a still of Matt in the video game Kevin Smith made for Ben/Jen:
  • Here's yet another long interview from the LA press junket for Bourne, but it does have some questions and responses not seen before and a nice introduction - taken from the Manila Bulletin:
  • And here's another radio interview from Melbourne, where Matt talks about the Minnie Driver break-up, his relationship with Odessa, Ben and JLo and the rumors of Ben and Nicole Kidman.
  • Here's an unwitting comparison from Matt on quotes about three months apart:
    Speaking about Winona a fortnight ago: "She's about as classy as they come".
    Speaking about Odessa in the Australian radio interview above, late August: "She's about as cool as they come".

• From Cindy Adams' column in the NY Post, on Thanksgiving:
  Ben Affleck. This year he is interested in the legs and thighs and breasts of a bird named Jennifer who is definitely no turkey. Last year, after passing the gravy with the family, he, brother Casey and Matt Damon hit the Charles Hotel in Cambridge where, for dessert, they ordered up a room decorated with friends, emptied the minibar and partook of their own brand of sweets. Next day, off they went to the 60-year-old colonial in Truro Ben bought for mom, Chris, and walking a new little baby German shepherd. This year, as we've all heard, his puppy love has grown a bit more adult.
• From the LA Times: A sweeps-timed wedding on NBC's "Will & Grace" generated the program's second-largest audience ever, according to Nielsen Media Research estimates, with the show attracting 24.3 million viewers Thursday -- dropping time-slot competitor "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" to its smallest audience this season.
  The only "Will & Grace" to draw a bigger audience was broadcast in February and also featured a major guest star, Matt Damon. On Thursday's installment, Grace (Debra Messing) married a character played by Harry Connick Jr., culminating a romance that had been building for weeks.
• Another anti-Ben article from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

• Erika wrote:
  Hi, guys. Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood (I get them mixed up sometimes) reported that Ben Affleck will be People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive this year. Man, I guess it really pays off publicity wise to date J.Lo. Out of all of the drop-dead gorgeous leading men in Hollywood, I would never have thought they would have selected Ben. Cute? Okay, but I don't know about sexy. And the SEXIEST MAN ALIVE? Never.
  Agreed. But it's no coincidence that this stuff comes out just when his film is about to come out - it's all part of the PR machine for which Hollywood is famous. I can't complain - I think Matt got that kind of treatment when GWH came out. Grin an bear it, even if you have to pinch your nose!
• From Felicity:
  • Matt on Ben as Sexiest Man Alive in People magazine online: "Ben's really loyal and really honest, really smart, really funny," says Matt Damon, Affleck's best buddy since boyhood. "He's got more going for him than just about anyone I've ever met."
    Affleck was more of a partyer than was his neighbor Damon, two years older and a pal since 1980. But the two "weren't heartthrobs by any means," says Damon's brother Kyle, 35. "They weren't even considered cool kids. They were drama geeks."
  • George Clooney was talking again about the possibility of an Ocean's sequel last night at the Solaris premiere. From Matt in a British radio interview for Ocean's 11 earlier this year:
    Did you miss each other when the filming finishes? When the film ended for me, I would still go back at lunchtime and play basketball with the crew members. I then went away to Paris to do some additional photography on a movie I was doing, but I was still calling the set to make sure everyone was alright. It was like leaving summer camp early!
  • From a British interview for Bourne:
    Half-an-hour or so in Damon's intelligently personable company, it becomes clear that the initial impression of a modern-day Ron Howard is slightly off target. Even though he talks about his obsessions with the Boston Red Sox baseball team and, of all people, Radiohead ("I listen religiously to their music") with the enthusiasm of a true fan boy, he has the mark of a bigger man, more suited to the long shadows of the centre stage. When he moves on to air his admiration for Robert Redford, who directed him in TLOBV, you start to wonder whether he might have what it takes to step up to that Classic Actor league...
    [Later] Did he pick up any tips on how to safeguard his privacy from Robert Redford, perhaps?
    "Yeah, we spoke about a lot of stuff, but I would be wary to air it. I was riding him about stories from Ordinary People because I really love that movie, so I learned a lot about directing and acting. But he's a private guy and no one pressed him about his private life unless he felt like talking about it. If he wanted to go out to dinner with his girlfriend and all of us then we'd go out to dinner".
  • In the "World of Nick Adams" program of last year, Matt is listed as a "Patron" of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps. The charity's website lists Matt as a contributor of $10,000 or over last calendar year.
  • On the personal trainer question - I don't think Matt's ever said that he has a permanent trainer. He instead employs (or is given) specific people for films, eg kali expert, judo expert, weapons expert, boxing expert (all for Bourne
  • From the Boston Herald:
    Farrellys are Stuck On shooting their new film in Hawaii
    by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa
    Monday, November 18, 2002
    Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the South Shore's funny filmmakers, have a most-excellent plan: To shoot their next flick, ``Stuck On You,'' in Hawaii in February.
    The only problem is, the studio isn't exactly doing a hula dance over it!
    ``See the movie takes place in Los Angeles,'' Bobby told the Track. ``But we want to film it in Hawaii and re-create Los Angeles there. The studio doesn't get why we just can't film it in L.A.''
    Well, jeez, talk about Dumb & Dumber! Who wouldn't take Waikiki over West Hollywood? The Big Island over big egos? Don Ho over Hollywood Boulevard 'hos?
    ``We always film on location,'' Bobby went on. ``We like the whole atmosphere. It's kind of like summer camp. Whereas if you film in L.A., it's just like going to work all day, then going home.''
    And where's the fun in that????
    Anyway, ``Stuck'' will star our favorite Cambridge homey, Matt Damon, and sometime-Vineyardite Greg Kinnear as Siamese twins who are joined at the hip.
    One wants to be a movie star so his brother reluctantly agrees to head out to the Left Coast.
    Bobby, who hit last week's VIP opening of Saint with his lovely wife, Nancy, said they'll probably do a scene or two locally before heading - hopefully - for the Aloha State.
    And, yes, there will be the trademark Farrelly Brothers show-stopping gross-out scene.
    ``I think we'll have to shoot them in the bathroom,'' he said.
    Of course.
  • There's a story on everything eventually. From an article in the Boston Globe about cars used in movies, and a guy whose job is to find the cars:
    Also around is the ratty 1971 Nova driven by Matt Damon in ''Good Will Hunting.'' ''We bought it, primer-and-all, in New Hampshire, and the producer loved it just the way it was,'' said Anderson.
• Bec wrote:
  • Just got the new issue of Entropy - the University of South Australia paper, and there's an interview with Matt in it. There's nothing new in the interview, but here's what the interviewer said about Matt -
    "I personally consider Matt Damon one of the smartest people in Hollywood, especially considering his age. He has worked as an award winning writer, producer and actor as well as finding time to support struggling screenplay writers through his Project Greenlight. I found out he's a pretty top bloke in real life too when I caught up with him recently as part of his Australian promo tour for The Bourne Identity.
  • From The Adelaide Advertiser
    19.11.02
    Matt Damon is following the path of his best friend, Ben Affleck, who is going to marry Jennifer Lopez.
    The New York Post reports that Damon has popped the question to 27-year-old girlfriend Odessa Whitmire - who used to be Affleck's personal assistant - and Whitmire said yes.
    Damon's spokesman would say only :"I don't know anything about that."
• Fellow Damon Fan wrote:
  Asheville Citizen-Times - Living Section, Sunday, November 17, 2002. Matt Damon dates our own Odessa - by Susan Reinhardt
  Typically, I don't write a gossip column, but a few kernels have come this way that cannot be ignored. A young woman named Odessa Whitmire, who was a studen at Erwin High School, is dating movie star Matt Damon. And it could be getting very serious. If it hasn't already. Damon is the star and screenwriter who shared a 1998 Oscar for "good Will Hungint" with his long-time friend and sidekick, Ben Affleck. Since then, the two have enjoyed soaring careers and blazing high-profile romances. Affleck has been spotted around Asheville in a red Ferrari and has darkened the doors of several downtown restaurants and bars. Last week, as Ben and J.Lo announced their engagement, I wondered if Damon's may soon follow, giving Asheville's Odessa a real life Cinderella story. Not that she was ever pitiful or swept cinders. To hear her former Erwin High teachers tell it, she was an exciting and talented young lady, a one-of-kind unforgettable girl with a feisty streak. Plenty of sources already have Matt and Odessa engaged. But the family, who has been in the area for years, is saying little. Damon, a clean faced actor with frat-boy features, is best known for films such as "Saving Private Ryan", "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Ocean's Eleven" and "The Legend of Bagger Vance," in which he played a golfer who's lost his swing. In real life, he hasn't lost his swing with the women. His past fleet includes poor old Winona "Itchy Palms" Ryder, Clair Danes and Minnie Driver. Bur for at least the past year or so, he's been dating Odessa, flying her here and there, publicly discussing his fondness for the girl, who was a personal assistant to Affleck. Odessa Whitmire's family own Whitmire Monument Co. on Patton Avenue. While lots of tabloids and magazines have said the couple are engaged, I don't want to print rumors. So I called the monument company and asked if the stories were true. Odessa's uncle, Rufus Whitmire, answered and was polite but noncommittal. He told me not to believe all that stuff I'd been reading online. What I found on the Internet were conflicting reports of the engagement rumor. A Fox News site claimed in a report posted last month that Damon and Whitmire were engaged. Another Internet site has the actor denying any forthcoming nuptials. "I'm not engaged, " he said. "I don't know where the rumors came from, but I always feel guilty when I say that because I have a great girlfriend and every thime I say we're not engaged, it sounds like an idictment of her." He does say that theirs is a "committed, serious relationship." He also said there's no real difference in dating someone famous and dating someone "unknown". "Dating is never easy," he said in one interview, "but those problems have nothing to do with celebrity or lack of it. It all depends on the person. There is no pressure from Odessa to move our relationship to another level, and that's comforting." I wanted to verify all of this and decided to call Odessa's old high school. Linda Anders, the bookkeeper at Erwin, remembers when Odessa was a fresman in 1990. Her picture is in the yearbook. The office staff at Erwin said they lost track after her sophomore year. Former English and drama teacher David Voyles had plenty to say about his former student. "What I remember is she was brilliant, one of the top students," Voyles said. "She was very independent and incredibly creative in drama. She was a hoot, one of the funniest kids I've ever had. I don't think she ever graduated from school She left Erwin. But I remember at the time, she was one of the smartest kids I ever had." As for her bursh with fame, Voyle said he was surprised but could see this happening. "It's really fascinating hearing about her being with Matt Damon. " I can see her being in a crowd like that. I just wonder if he knows what he's in for," he said, laughing. "I'm surprised she's not in movies herself. She had that kind of talent." Wanting to confirm everything, I decided to take a trip to the Whitmire Monument Co. for one more shot at an official quote about this local girl and the big movie star. Her Uncle Rufus Whitmire, blue-eyed and smiling kindly, shook his head no. "If there was any type of announcement to be made," he said, "I'm sure we'd announce it. You'd think if anybody knew, I would, being her uncle." I asked him to please have Odessa's daddy call me. I wrote a note with my phone number, knowing by Rufus's amased face, it was a lost cause. I borrowed a notepad and scribbled a final plea. "Please call me at 1-800-DESPERATE. I'll be sure and buy my headstone here when I die!"
  Same pic of Odessa w/ Damon wearing black suit.
• Y.S. wrote, in response to the query about Matt's trainer:
  You can contact either his Agent: Mr. Patrick Whitesell 310*248*2000
  or his publicist: Ms. Jennifer Allen 310*289*6200

• Allison wrote:
  I have the Entertainment Weekly with the interview with Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, and the Sun's report is not entirely accurate. They do mention 'Ocean's Twelve', but it's in sort of a joking manor. The interviewer asks "Let's say both of your films ['Solaris' and 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'] bomb. Does this have ramifications for what you can do with Section Eight [Soderbergh and Clooney's production company]? Clooney responds: "Ocean's Twelve, baby!" and Soderbergh says "Put that on the fast track."
  Earlier in the same interview, the interviewer asks what's next for both of them, and Soderbergh mentions 'The Informant': "We do have...'The Informant (a true-life corporate whistle-blowing tale), which I want to do with Matt Damon..." Unfortunately he doesn't say when this could happen, and another place in the article it mentions Soderbergh wanting to take some time off now.
  Hope that helps clear it up some!
• S. wrote:
  ... I thought you might know who Matt Damon's personal trainer is, or how to find out. I am trying to get this info for a friend in L.A. who is willing to spend whatever it takes to get a top-flight trainer. I've noticed that Matt Damon seems to have complete control over his physique -- he is able to look exactly the way he wants to look for each picture. So he must have a great trainer.
  Thanks very much for any help you can give!!
  P.S. I am assuming this is public information... i.e., that Matt has mentioned it in an interview somewhere. I just can't seem to find it. Thanks again...
  If anyone know, please write to me and I will forward the info to S.

• From Felicity:
  • People online has a story about the Florida benefit:
    Damon's Good Will Funding for a Friend
    Matt Damon steps into the role of hero to help raise money for an ill producer's medical expenses.
    By LINDA MARX
    In 1997's The Rainmaker, Matt Damon played a lawyer fighting for a cancer patient who falls victim to a crooked insurance company and is unable to afford the cost of medical treatments. In a cruel twist, Damon learned last winter that Lisa Maniscalco, 40, a producer and legal consultant on the film, was diagnosed with the same type of blood cancer, acute myelogenous leukemia, as the character in the movie. When Maniscalco's insurance policy was canceled in June, Damon, 32, stepped in. On Nov. 8 the actor hosted a benefit at a Fort Lauderdale film festival, which raised more than $40,000 -- including $10,000 from the star himself -- for her medical bills. Says Damon: "I'll continue to raise money and awareness as long as Lisa needs it."
  • There's a nice photo with the story, taken at Deauville: here.
  • I've found another story about the Florida event at the University of Miami's website. You need to register at the site to read the story, but here's an excerpt:
    As far as the future is concerned, Damon recently did a cameo in Kevin Smith's new film, Jersey Girl, starring Affleck. Also in the works is a movie by the Farley Brothers (Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin). "It's about adjoined twins with Greg Kinnear. He's older than me, but the rational is that I have 90 percent of the liver so he's aging faster. Again, it's a comedy." Damon came across as someone who strives to be an average guy and does not carry the superstar demeanor. He entertained the audience and took the praise he received with humble appreciativeness. The oddest question of night came from a woman in the front row, "You inspire me, and I'm a screenwriter, and you've inspired me to write. I think I may have some sort of blood disorder, and I was wondering if I might talk to you for a moment after the show?" Damon's response, "I'm not a doctor." Perhaps Florida should pay more attention to the advice of its guest speakers.
    The story is at here. Photos are at: here, (another pic of the ring and the plastic bracelet - there's got to be a reason for it - any guesses??). and here.
  • The latest Us Weekly magazine has the story on Matt and Odessa's "near-engagement", but there probably aren't many details that are new and haven't been leaked to the press already.
  • Variety reports that Ben is now up for the main role in "Paycheck", the John Woo take on "Bourne Identity", which Matt turned down after taking "Stuck on you". Small world.
  • There's a script review of "Stuck on you" at Corona, and it's not favourable.
    I can't link it directly, but go to here and then the "My Loose Thread" column.
  • The line from EW about Ocean's Twelve being fast-tracked was probably in jest. From EW online:
    EW Let's say both of your films bomb. Does this have ramifications for what you can do with Section Eight? CLOONEY ''Ocean's Twelve,'' baby!
    SODERBERGH Put that on the fast track.
  11/15/02
  • From Felicity:
    • From NY Post:
      Matt betrothed
      NOT only is his best bud Ben Affleck ready to walk down the aisle (with Jennifer Lopez), but so is Matt Damon. Sources tell PAGE SIX that Damon has popped the question to his 27-year-old girlfriend, Odessa Whitmire, who used to be Affleck's personal assistant. Whitmire said yes. Damon's rep would only say: "I don't know anything about that." A double wedding, maybe?
    • The stories started in the Marilyn Beck/Stacy Jenel Smith column:
      ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: Matt Damon might actually beat best buddy Ben Affleck to the altar. You might recall that Matt started dating Ben's former personal assistant, Odessa Whitmire, quite a while ago. Well, now, Us magazine reports that Matt's thisclose to proposing to Odessa. It's reported that Ben and Jennifer Lopez will be married on Valentine's Day, even though she's still legally hitched to Cris Judd.
    • From Ted Casablanca's column at eonline - sightings:
      Matt Damon, checking out the indie flick Bowling for Columbine at the Loews Cineplex on 19th and Broadway. Joined by a g-friend on this weekend evening, M.D. was ever the gentleman, holding the door open for fellow moviegoers and even agreeing to a photo with one of the employees. Perhaps best bud Ben should take nice note?
    • The quote from Extra was repeated in the NY Post and most other news outlets:
      DAMON: BEN'S LIFE WITH J.LO BOOTY-FUL
      By KATE SHEEHY
      Actor Matt Damon has finally broken his silence on best buddy Ben Affleck's engagement to butt-blessed babe Jennifer Lopez, insisting his longtime pal has never been happier. "Even when he lost his virginity, he wasn't this happy," the Hollywood star quipped of Affleck, 28, in an interview aired on "Extra" last night.
    • From Corona's Film Listings, under the sequel for Ocean's Eleven:
      November 12, 2002... In this week's latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney told the magazine that, from all of their upcoming films in development at their production company Section Eight, Ocean's Twelve is the most likely to be put on the fast track. [Scoop sent in by 'Internet 24-7'; originally appeared in Entertainment Weekly.]
    • From the Sun, in a story on Ben hiring FBI bodyguards to protect JLo:
      Ben�s obvious concern for J-Lo�s safety has won praise from his friend MATT DAMON, who co-starred with him in the film Good Will Hunting. A close pal of the pair said: �Matt told Ben it�s the best thing he could have done to give him peace of mind.
      �And he�s knocked out with all the high-tech James Bond wizardry being used.�
    • From MSNBC - this will go on for months:
      Meanwhile, Britain�s Now magazine is reporting that the wedding will be catered by Spago and that Affleck�s buddy Matt Damon will be best man.
  • C. wrote:
    I still don't know what to believe, especially after reading what he said in Florida about not being engaged but feeling bad everytime he has to say it. I really think he'd come clean.
  11/14/02
  • Our thanks to Christine, who wrote:
    Hi there! Two items for today.
    From the imdb.com website, November 13: Matt Damon to Wed?
    Hollywood hunk Matt Damon looks set to follow in the footsteps of his best pal Ben Affleck - by also getting married. Following the announcement that Affleck is engaged to his superstar belle Jennifer Lopez, sources say that Damon is also on the verge of asking his girlfriend of a year, Odessa Whitmire, the big question. One source tells American magazine Us Weekly, "They're very serious. He's not far away from proposing." Bourne Identity star Damon, 32, and 27-year-old Whitmire grew close when she was working as Affleck's personal assistant.
    Also, in case this hasn't been posted before, here is the link to the article confirming that the "lawsuit" filed against the playwrights of "Matt & Ben" is a hoax: here.
  • From Erika:
    I found this on IMDB NEWS.
    Matt Damon has finally spoken out about his best buddy Ben Affleck's relationship Jennifer Lopez - and he gives the pair his blessing. Until now, Affleck's Good Will Hunting co-star has remained tight-lipped about the fling - which was confirmed at the weekend when Lopez revealed she and Affleck are engaged. But Damon told viewers of TV show Extra on Monday night he'd never seen his childhood pal happier. He said, "Even when he lost his virginity, he wasn't this happy."
  • And a big thanks to Jessica for sharing this amusing story:
    Once again, thank you so much for your wonderful site (that I faithfully read everyday)! If it wasn't for your site I would have totally missed seeing Matt Damon altogether. I apologize for sending this so late but the birthday weekend didn't end until very late last night!
    About two weeks ago my boyfriend bought tickets for me to go to the Matt Damon charity event for Lisa Maniscalco. Each seat was $25 and all benefits were donated to the leukemia foundation in Lisa's name. The excitement was too much at first to handle being that it was the start of my birthday weekend. I had such high hopes of getting an autograph and a picture with Matt (the ultimate birthday gift).
    We arrived at Las Olas Riverfront around p.m. and got a really good spot in the front of the barricade. We waited about an hour and a half, and limo after limo came and went as I waited with bated breath for Matt to arrive. Finally the event coordinators were running up and down the red carpet speaking into their walkie talkies that Matt's limo has been circling the block and would be there in less than a minute. Cops were prepared to make sure no one rushed him as he got out, but a decoy limo came first and then Matt appeared in a Cadillac SUV with a screen t.v. and major tinted windows. He then jumped out of the SUV and quickly signed autographs to the guys beside us who were going to sell them later. I started taking pictures immediately of him from when he got out of the limo to when he was signing autographs. When I screamed his name to take a picture he was quickly escorted to Lisa's mother who he embraced for a long time.
    The best part that I can tell you from this wonderful experience is that he is as kind and sincere as people say and his baby blues are beautiful! I was two feet away and I couldn't get over just how good-looking he really is. His smile really does say a thousand words. He was then hussled down the carpet to talk to some interviewers and then go inside to host the charitable event. I noticed that his girlfriend was no where in site.
    Once inside I sat about 20 rows in front of him. When he walked in he got a standing ovation and told us that "booing was not allowed!" It was very cute. We then got to watch a collection of all his movies starting from Mystic Pizza all the way to Bourne Identity. After that, a moderator interviewed him and then the audience got to ask questions. He spoke about how he got started in the business, growing up with Ben, writing the script of Good Will Hunting, project greenlight, and then he told everyone that wants to get into the business to keep pushing and keep believing in what you love cause that when it all pays off. All in all even though I did not get my picture with him or my questioned picked it was great seeing someone I admire as a role model and in my opinion one of the greatest actors in my lifetime!
    I also promise to send my pictures ASAP, my scanner is not cooperating this evening!
  • Mary Z. wrote:
    I would absolutely love to know what Matt Damon really thinks of his best friend's engagement to J-Ho.
    I work for a magazine in ... and I was standing next to Ben Affleck briefly last week when he was filming "Jersey Girl" on west 57th Street in front of my building. Jennifer Lopez was standing in the shadows. He was running into the Hard Rock Cafe with a baby seat in his hands. He is not that good looking in person at all!
  • From Felicity:
    • There's a story and video of the Fort Lauderdale appearance at Extra's site. The video includes footage of Odessa at the Taipei and Sydney Bourne premieres: here.
      Matt Damon arrived to the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival with a deep sense of purpose. The 32-year old leading man is trying to raise money for a woman who worked on his 1997 hit "The Rainmaker." She has leukemia and her insurance company won't pay for special treatments, just like the plot of the movie. Damon says, "She put her blood, sweat, and tears into a movie about the same thing, so it's really a sad situation."
      Damon sat down with "Extra" for a no-holds barred discussion. Damon revealed he'd like to star in a sequel to "The Bourne Identity.� But Matt admits he's not ready to give Arnold and Vin Diesel a run for their money. He says jokingly, "I think their money is safe."
      Damon also talked about his girlfriend, Odessa Whitmore. He wants to set the record straight on reports the two are about to get married. He says, "I'm not engaged. I don't know where the rumors came from. But I always feel guilty when I say that because I have a great girlfriend. And every time I say, 'We're not engaged,' it sounds like an indictment of her."
      Damon even shared some concern for his former flame, Winona Ryder, who was convicted of shoplifting last week. He says, "I spent a few years of my life with her. She's about as classy as they come. So I know she's going to be fine."
    • Also from Extra's site:
      Lopez also confirmed reports she and Ben have visited a church in Boston, though they don�t have plans to wed there. While there is no word on when, Ben's "Good Will Hunting" co-star and long time friend Matt Damon tells "Extra" that he can't wait to share their special day. He says, "He's never looked as happy as he is now. I�ve known him for 22 years, I�ve never seen him this happy. Even when he lost his virginity he wasn�t this happy."
    • From Teen Hollywood's site:
      Damon To Take Up Yoga
      "The Bourne Identity"'s Matt Damon is to follow in actress pal Gwyneth Paltrow's footsteps and take up yoga in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment.
      The actor has approached Kirsten McGee, who plays the yoga teacher in Sex And The City, and hopes to set up a tuition regime.
      A source says, "At the moment his schedule is such that they haven't managed to set a date but they hope to set up something soon."
  • A Big Matt Fan wrote:
    Maybe I'm just biased, but Matt really does seem to be in a class of his own. While so many other young stars spend their days involved in destructive, extravagant, self-indulgent pursuits, Matt really does seem to want to use his fame for good. You get the sense that he participates in fundraisers, not for the perks or publicity, but because he feels a real commitment to the cause or to his friends. Chris Moore has called him very "loyal," and every story you hear seems to confirm that.
    It's interesting to me that the woman he's helping with the Ft. Lauderdale function isn't an old friend from high school, a family member, or a major player in the entertainment industry. She was the production secretary on "The Rainmaker," a slightly older woman who probably wouldn't have drawn the eye of the average young male lead. Yet not only did he get to know her, years later, he expended a great deal of time, energy, and expense to help her. I just can't imagine very many other actors who would do that for someone like her.
    Anyway, I'm glad that people are beginning to see what a kind, decent, truly generous young man he is.
  11/12/02
  From Felicity:
  • Here's a report from the Fort Lauderdale Q&A on aint-it-cool-news, with an introduction from webmaster Harry Knowles:
    Report from a Q&A with Matt Damon!
    Hey folks, Harry here... I met Matt Damon on the set of ALL THE PRETTY HORSES and actually found him to be one of the brightest actors I've met thus far. I remember our conversations regarding Kubrick and the knowledge he gleamed from one of Stanley's cohorts. So this writer's assessment about the coolness of one Mr Damon, well I can confirm. Here's the latest, he talks a tad about a sequel to BOURNE IDENTITY below... Hey Harry,
    I'm A Long Time Reader, But First Time Contributor. I'd Really Appreciate If You Posted This Because I Think It Has Some Really Great Information. Well, Here Goes:
    This evening I went to a Question and Answer session with Matt Damon. When I walked into the theater it was being held at, I was only a bit of a fan.
    I had seen many of his movies, and though he was a very good actor. But that�s pretty much as far as it goes. I didn�t know much about his personal life, other than the fact that he was best friends with Ben Affleck. When I walked out of the theatre, however, I had been totally enraptured by Damon. My respect level of him went from nothing (because I knew nothing about him) to an incredible amount. Don�t believe anything else you hear about Matt. He truly is an incredible person. Now, here is how the evening�s proceedings went.
    First off, the president of the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival explained why this was being held. Though I had already knew, it didn�t seem as if most of the other people did. A woman named Lisa, who was Matt�s friend, and who had worked on The Rainmaker with him was going through exactly the same thing as the character in The Rainmaker. She had Leukemia, and the insurance companies were not being nice. To make a long story short, she was being screwed over. Matt had already donated 20,000 dollars to this girl, and now they were using the ticket prices (25 bucks) and the after-party ticket prices (175 bucks; I did not go to this for obvious reasons) to donate to the girl as well. This was simply wonderful. Next, they showed about a fifteen-minute montage of most of Matt�s films. Peopled clapped at different levels when different films came on. I noticed that the films with the most claps were Dogma, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Good Will Hunting. After that, the lights came back on, and Matt began to talk.
    Some weird guy asked the first question. It was about life imitating art and art imitating life. Matt basically answered by saying that even this session had an ulterior motive; helping his friend.
    I cannot remember every single other question, because I didn�t write it down, but here is what I do remember. He talked about a sequel to The Bourne Identity and said that he would only do it if he thought it was better than the first. He said that audiences are smart enough to realize when someone is �milking the cash cow.� He also talked about his upcoming conjoined twins movie with Greg Kinnear and the farrelly brothers. He said that he was very excited to be doing a comedy. There was also mention of a very small independent movie he had made with Gus Van Sant that is being released sometime in February.
    The rest of the questions and answers had to do with the formation of his career, advice to people who want to get into the industry, and other questions having to deal with him and Ben Affleck etc. During all of these questions, he kept reiterating the fact that you should never give up, and no matter what other people tell you, keep on pushing. When one girl asked if Ben and Matt had as many girls around them as they do today, he replied by saying that they were major geeks. He said that you should take this example; at your school, do the popular people even take turn around to tell the drama and film geeks the time of day? No, so that should answer your questions. I didn�t find this very helpful, because I am one of those film geeks.
    Anyways, the final thing I found to be most interesting of all was when he was asked about a second script. He said that Ben and he mainly wrote Good Will Hunting so that they had major parts in a movie they could play. He then proceeded to say that the past five years (since GWH) have been incredibly hectic. Him and Ben have had hardly any time to hang out. He then continued by saying that just the other day he was on the set of Jersey Girl filming a cameo, and him and Ben started talking. They both hoped that someday in the near future they could set up time for them to write another script, but for now, they have too many movies in the near future.
    All in all, this is one of the most fun nights I�ve ever had. I fell as if I had spent an incredible 90 minutes. At the end of this session, I realized just how much I really do love movies.
  • "Inside Edition" had a story on the Fort Lauderdale benefit on Monday's show.
  • Here's a link to an interview on British radio, 4 September. There are some fun answers to trick questions included (usual boring Bourne stuff first):
  • From the Dallas Morning News:
    Wilson's peek easy on eyes
    11/11/2002
    By ALAN PEPPARD / The Dallas Morning News
    In the room the women come and go talking of Gwyneth Paltrow. One presumes that's how T.S. Eliot would have described a Saturday night gallery reception had he lived in the age of celebrity.
    There's a stark directness to the pictures of Dallas photographer Laura Wilson, much like the woman herself � hushed, yet potent.
    There is another side, however, that can be seen in her show "Making Movies," which opened Saturday at the Boyd Gallery in Deep Ellum.
    Like the proverbial fly on the wall, Laura has captured some of the biggest film stars of the day relaxed and unguarded. Viewing her images of Ms. Paltrow, Paul Newman, Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Murray, Matt Damon, Gene Hackman, Eddie Murphy and Anjelica Huston with her sculptor husband, Robert Graham, is a delicious and sinful indulgence akin to chugging the sacramental wine rather than contemplating it as the blood of Christ.
    Many, but not all, of the pictures were the result of her unusual access as the mother of three actors, Andrew, Owen and Luke Wilson . The fact that her sons have been romantically linked with camera-friendly subjects such as Ms. Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Sheryl Crow hasn't hurt mom's portfolio, either.
    The Boyd Gallery show features a striking color portrait of Ms. Crow seated in a leather chair in her L.A. back yard. "Bob Dylan gave her that shirt," Laura says offhandedly, conferring an extra dollop of magic on the picture.
  11/11/02
  • From Kathy (thanks!):
    Movie Poop Shoot has posted a mini-interview with Matt and there are photos included.
  • Blakeleigh wrote:
    Last night on CBS Saving Private Ryan came on!! It was really good, the first time I had ever seen it. But it was so sad!! Just thought that I would let everyone know! :)
  • From Felicity:
    • This is cool - the Japanese poster for Bourne: here.
    • Cindy Adams on the Winona verdict:
      Listen, it's a town where an orange has a longer shelf life than a starlet. We're talking Fickleville. So she was feeling low. So no Matt Damon in her life anymore. No Johnny Depp anymore. She needed excitement. Nothing wrong with that. I understand that. Me, too. I'd trade her my old Marc Jacobs for that young Matt Damon any day.
    • It's taken me a while, but here's a report from the Florida event - from the local expressgaynews.coml photo at here.
      Going to the Matt
      Star Does Benefit to Aid Sick Friend
      Mary Damiano
      Fort Lauderdale residents got their own taste of Hollywood glamour Nov. 8, when Matt Damon (pictured right, with Mayor Jim Naugle) made a red carpet arrival at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
      The actor and Oscar-winner screenwriter made an appearance at FLIFF to raise money for former Hollywood, Florida resident Lisa Maniscalco, who is fighting leukemia.
      Damon and Maniscalco met while working on The Rainmaker, in which Damon played a lawyer representing a patient with leukemia whose insurance policy is canceled.
      When the film�s scenario played itself out in Maniscalco�s situation, Damon pitched in to help.
      His appearance at the festival raised money for Maniscalco�s medical treatment. Fans paid $25 each to watch clips of Damon�s films at the Las Olas Riverfront Theatre and to participate in a Q&A session with the actor. FLIFF donated $10,000 to the cause, and hundreds of people also paid $175 each to attend a party with Damon, held at a private Fort Lauderdale residence.
      But watching Damon walk the red carpet was free. Channel 10 News� anchor Lisa Petrillo hosted the outdoor festivities, held in the downstairs plaza at the Las Olas Riverfront. When Damon arrived, he greeted fans, posed for photos and signed autographs.
      Petrillo interviewed him briefly and told the audience about Lisa Maniscalco�s situation. FLIFF Executive Director Gregory von Hausch presented Damon with a variety of FLIFF souvenirs and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle presented him with the key to the city.
      In the theater, after clips of Damon films including The Rainmaker, Courage Under Fire, Dogma, and the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, Damon spent nearly an hour answering questions from the audience with his trademark down-to-earth good-natured humor.
      Elsie Maniscalco, Lisa�s mother, praised Damon for coming forth to help. She also spoke about the chemotherapy treatments her daughter must endure and the constant fights with the insurance company to pay for necessary medical treatment.
      Later, at the exclusive party at a waterfront mansion, guests dined, drank and danced. Damon and Elsie Maniscalco addressed the crowd again, about the nightmare Lisa Maniscalco is enduring.
      �The insurance companies do this because they think people won�t fight back,� Elsie Maniscalco said. �This is my kid. They messed with the wrong Italian.�
      To make a donation to Lisa Maniscalco�s medical expenses, call Elsie Maniscalco at 770.983.1820, or visit lisamaniscalco.com - http://www.lisamaniscalco.com/
    • I have no idea why, but American Idol reps were supposedly at the party in Florida. From the Film Festival's site:
      Also attending the Official Party for Matt Damon from the Fox Television mega hit American Idol, Judge Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, Host Ryan Seacrest and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.
    • A little more from the Festival's web-site (which works about every three days):
      Matt Damon appeared at FLIFF on Friday 8th November and following a ten montage of his career, there was a Q&A with the sold-out crowd of over 400.
      Afterwards, Matt boarded a yacht at Las Olas Riverfront that took him to the party at John Cahalin's 20,000 square foot house...where over 500 revelers awaited Damon.
      A 20' outdoor movie screen showed his clips throughout the night. All proceeds benefited a friend stricken with leukemia.
  11/7/02
  From Felicity:
  • Liz Smith on Nick Adams:
    MAYBE YOU saw photos this week of famous stars at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood where they raised money for Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang camps. These do good things for kids with threatening illnesses. You should have been there to observe Warren Beatty, speechless with emotion, accepting a huge sunflower presented to him by one of the cancer-surviving children. His wife, Annette Bening, who had already given a rollicking good performance earlier, along with Julia Roberts, wiped tears from her eyes as they watched. (The Beattys know from kids; they have four of their own.)
    The children were touching, singing a special song written and led by Carole King. Only Paul Newman himself, the excellent actor/founder of this charity, could have brought out such stellar souls as Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Mena Suvari, Joanne Woodward, Chris O'Donnell, Goldie Hawn, Danny DeVito, Bruce Willis, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy and Edward James Olmos.
    Oscar-winner Ms. Woodward declared her admiration for the starry reading of "The World of Nick Adams," saying, "I told Tom Hanks if he ever wants to perform at the Westport Theater, he has a role. And wasn't Bruce Willis brilliant?!"
    Bruce, who was sitting with his ex-wife Demi Moore and their three girls, grinned and squeezed his kids affectionately while one of them fed Daddy a chocolate.
    Are you surprised at how generous the biggest stars are? Believe me, this evening oozed warmth and caring from its billion-dollar cast. They acted like mere mortals who love children. There was much more "attitude" given by some of the photographers who are over-eager to snap and sell their wares. But the stars were there for two reasons - the kids and Paul Newman.
    And the result? $2 million raised in one night.
  • From the London Sun:
    MATT DAMON went to a college reunion � and bought each of his 36 classmates a �2,200 Rolex watch.
    The Hollywood heart-throb�s generous gesture cost him almost �80,000. A pal said: �He wasn�t showing off � he just wanted to let friends know he hadn�t forgotten about them. It was a shock when he turned up. Everyone thought he would be far too busy hob-nobbing with the rich and famous.�
  • From an interview in the UK "Film Review" magazine, taken from the LA press junket, a longer version of a quote seen previously:
    Liman can�t come up with enough superlatives to describe Damon�s work and dedication to this movie. "He was unbelievable. I just can�t imagine having a better ally in this endeavour. Forget about how smart he is, he did win the Academy Award for writing, he�s such a committed actor and committed to the process. Last week he called me from London in the middle of the night, because he woke up remembering something he�d forgotten to tell me about trimming a shot. That�s the kind of focus Matt has."
  • From a story about actor Steve McQueen in the LA Times:
    McQueen, says Bartok (programming manager of the American Cinemateque), has become the "archetype for a certain style of American male actor. You can see it in a lot of younger actors, like Paul Walker for example. Everybody says that about Matt Damon -- you can see certain McQueenisms in his performance."
  • From an old CNN article about the Farrelly Brothers:
    The Farrellys aren't "watering down" their humor, despite the criticism they've received. They're already planning a new movie called "Stuck on You." It's a comedy about Siamese twins.
    "They're happy to be Siamese twins," says Peter Farrelly. "They feel blessed. But the rest of us have to go through the world alone. And they don't. And because they have this great attitude, they have a lot of friends. They were the kings of the prom. You know, they were in the state championship hockey team. You know, they're the goalie. And it's just they're a couple of winners who happen to be Siamese twins."
  • From the Miami Herald:
    Festival star is 'nice guy' Matt Damon
    BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
    [email protected]
    The 17th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival gets a dose of Hollywood glitz tonight in the form of Oscar-winning screenwriteractor/all-around nice guy Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity, Good Will Hunting), who will be the recipient of a career tribute, followed by a Q&A session and a party to benefit leukemia research.
  • And the Sun-Sentinel's report:
    Special events: An evening with actor Matt Damon benefiting leukemia causes starts tonight at Fort Lauderale's Las Olas 23, 300 SE First Ave., as part of the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival. There's no cost to attend Damon's red-carpet arrival at 7:30 p.m. The Q & A at 8 p.m. is $25. Tickets to a private reception, beginning at 9 p.m. in east Fort Lauderdale, are $175. Call 954-525-3456.
  • From the Chicago Sun-Times - as we would probably expect, Matt has been in touch with Winona:
    Friends rally 'round Ryder
    November 8, 2002
    BY BILL ZWECKER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
    While calls and e-mails about Winona Ryder coming to this desk have been mostly negative (''She's getting what she deserves,'' etc.), the former Oscar nominee is drawing strength from a small but high-profile group of friends, former colleagues and even ex-lovers!
    A source close to the actress tells this column that her "Mr. Deeds" co-star Adam Sandler has been especially concerned--leaving her funny voice-mail messages, sending flowers and amusing notes. Also passing on words of encouragement have been Woody Allen (who directed Ryder in ''Celebrity'') and her ''Alien: Resurrection'' co-star Sigourney Weaver.
    Ryder also reportedly has heard from Robert Downey Jr., a fellow star who certainly understands the media firestorm created by embarrassing legal problems. Though Downey actually went to prison for his drug-related problems, Ryder, of course, is not expected to face much more than a fine, a suspended sentence and community service.
    Even Ryder's former beaus have stepped up to the plate. There has been at least one call from Matt Damon, but quite a lot of support from ex-boyfriend Dave Pirner, whom Ryder herself calls ''still one of my best friends.'' When Pirner has not been able to reach Ryder, he, like Sandler, leaves very personal voice-mail messages--but instead of jokes, he plays to his own talents: He sings.
    According to my source, Ryder has been particularly touched by a loving letter sent to her by ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp and his current love, French actress and model Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children
  11/7/02
  • Felicity wrote:
    • From USA Today, in which "Stuck on you" is confirmed: here
      Jittery superstars do a dramatic reading for charity
      By Kelly Carter USA TODAY
      HOLLYWOOD � Misery isn't the only thing that loves company. So do nervous actors. And the Kodak Theatre's backstage was full of them Monday night when some of Hollywood's best participated in a reading of The World of Nick Adams to raise money for kids with life-threatening illnesses. The event benefited The Painted Turtle Camp in Lake Hughes, Calif., Paul Newman's newest Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for Children.
      "For me, personally, it's fun being backstage with Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson and Paul Newman and them being nervous," Matt Damon said. "I was nervous, but at least it validates your own nerves when you have the greatest actors in the world telling you that they have butterflies."
      Hanks was glad to be part of a charity event that required more than simply showing up.
      "I think all of us were scared and nervous backstage," said Hanks, who spoke with a thick Italian accent for the first time in his career. "I did it for the artistic fear factor."
      Some of the same famous actors took part in last November's staged reading in New York of Nick Adams, A.E. Hotchner's dramatic adaptation of a series of short stories by Ernest Hemingway. That event also was a benefit for the Hole in the Wall Gang camps.
      At the Kodak, Nicholson portrayed Hemingway and narrated. Damon reprised his role as Adams, a World War I ambulance driver and the young hero of many Hemingway stories.
      Producer Lou Adler, whose wife, Page Hannah-Adler, co-founded The Painted Turtle, said it was Nicholson's first stage appearance since the 1950s. The two sit side by side at Lakers games.
      "I think everybody was here to see Jack," Hanks said. "The rest of us were like the Lakers girls. We were like the Jackettes behind him."
      Julia Roberts, Mena Suvari, Goldie Hawn, Annette Bening, Brian Dennehy, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Chris O'Donnell, Edward James Olmos, Gary Sinise, Bruce Willis and Joanne Woodward, Newman's wife, also took part.
      Roberts, who also took part in the New York reading, said she enjoyed her fellow actors' performances.
      She was eager to enjoy the after-party, held in the theater's lobby, with hubby Danny Moder. "And I'm going to leave you for him," she said before turning away to join her better half and hobnob.
      Damon, meanwhile, says he has agreed to star with Greg Kinnear in a FarrellyBrothers film about twins conjoined at the hip.
      "It's really funny, but it also has a lot of heart," said Damon, who has very small roles in the George Clooney-directed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl. "It's its own animal. You have to see it."
    • There's also a story and pictures at "In Style" magazine's site: here.
    • Matt and Paul Newman
    • Um, a ring? here and here.
    • There's an Army Archerd piece in Variety on the benefit, but I can't access it. This is from "Showbiz Briefs" on yahoo, but is probably not the whole story:
      HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - A billion-dollar cast filled the stage of the Kodak Theatre Monday night -- and they all worked for free. The event, "The World of Nick Adams (news)," was a benefit for the Painted Turtle Camp, the newest member of Paul Newman (news)'s Hole in the Wall Gang Camps for seriously ill kids.
      The complete talent list: Annette Bening (news), Matt Damon (news), Brian Dennehy (news), Danny DeVito (news), Danny Glover (news), Tom Hanks (news), Goldie Hawn (news), Kevin Kline (news), Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson (news), Chris O'Donnell (news), Edward James Olmos (news), Julia Roberts (news), Gary Sinise (news), Mena Suvari (news), Bruce Willis (news), Joanne Woodward -- and a small, late appearance by Warren Beatty (news).
      (An all-star fund-raiser was also performed last Nov. 19 at N.Y.'s Avery Fisher Hall with many of this same group of thesps.)
      Nicholson as Hemingway was "the glue that held the show together," said Lou Adler, who produced with Kevin Duncan. He hadn't been on a stage since 1958 -- but no one was ever more comfortable.
    • A story from the LA Times about "Nick Adams", but there's nothing on Matt: here
    • The E! Online clip is also available here.
    • From the Boston Globe:
      IRONMAN DAMON Local artist Kyle Damon helped raise nearly $30,000 for the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program - part of the nonprofit Educators for Social Responsibility in Cambridge - by completing the Ironman USA triathlon in Lake Placid, N.Y., over the summer. He and younger brother Matt (yes, the actor) worked both coasts to attract funds. Kyle finished in the top quarter of his age group and raised so much money that Janus pitched in about $5,000. As part of the Janus Charity Challenge, the top three fund raisers at each individual Ironman North America event get rewarded with money to be donated to the athlete's favorite charity.
    • Here's a fun interview from a UK magazine. With a cute photo from Deauville: here
      Quotes:
      It�s worth noting that Damon displays none of the airs of stardom. He arrived at the interview dressed down in shirt, and trainers. �He is,� says one of the handful of press flunkies around, �an absolute sweetie.� He�s got no entourage at all. No security. His film company are contractually bound to give him a couple of minders, but he didn�t want them.
      So what does the future hold for Damon? His name has been in the frame recently to play both Batman and Superman in upcoming new versions of the superhero franchise, but his laughs off the idea. �Do you really think I look like either?�
      So, what�s Damon�s philosophy on life? �I guess that it would be �engage every day.� Live it. That�s something I�ve always felt about acting in general, actually. There are a lot of things that I look back on that I�ve done that are really embarrassing � two films, which I won't name in particular. But I tried my best, and there we are. It happens. The worst thing that you can say about yourself is �What if?� What if I�d taken that opportunity a bit more seriously? Or what if I�d refused that offer? Life is just too darned short for regrets,� he says. �So, on to another day.�
    • From a Portugese interview, more photos from a UK photo session: here and here.
  • Erika wrote:
    just wanted to let you guys know that I saw Matt on Access Hollywood last night. They were asking him about what he thought of Ben being in J.Lo's new video. He said that he hoped Ben didn't try to sing or dance because he wanted him to continue to have a career in Hollywood. It was kind of funny. You could tell he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea.
  11/6/02
  • An eye-witness account from the Big Matt Fan:
    The Kodak Theater was packed, fully sold-out judging by the absence of empty seats. On the right half of the stage sat the orchestra. On left side, a group of graduated platforms held an assortment of miscellaneous chairs and an old-fashioned office desk. A couple of extremely large potted palms completed the set. After a brief film documenting the purpose behind the event (to raise money for the Hole in the Wall camps), the actors walked on to the stage in single file and stood to meet the applause before they retreated to chairs. As this was a "staged reading," most actors carried the script with them as they performed.
    The play opened with Jack Nicholson playing the part of the older Earnest Hemmingway. He was the primary narrator, relating the semi-autobiographical stories of 19-year old Nick Adams, portrayed by Matt. Over the course of the evening, he takes us through a sequence of transformative events including an awkward break-up with his high school sweetheart, encounters with hitmen, boxers, and drunken floozies, and eventual enlistment in the ambulance division of the Italian army. Matt, as Nick, is in every scene.
    Hollywood is a small town, isn't it? I was struck by the fact that Matt had worked with five of the actors in the production before. Tom Hanks played a boisterous Italian soldier who shared an amiable comraderie with the Matt's enthusiastic young officer. Chris O'Donnell played his best friend, and honestly, there was a convincing conviviality between them that almost makes one wonder if they've mended any past differences between them. Brian Dennehey was his father for the second time in Matt's career (the first in "Rising Son"), showing a paternal tenderness that may have been a residual effect from their prior collaboration. Matt's interaction with Julia Roberts and Danny Devito was somewhat less involved, though it was interesting to find them sharing scenes once again.
    A few of the performances seemed a bit hammy, in my opinion. Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, and Kevin Kline seemed particularly determined to command the spotlight, but they were entertaining. I thought Matt gave a sensitive, nuanced performance, perhaps a little more reliant upon the script than some, but then, he had the entire play to learn while most simply had a single scene to perform. I especially enjoyed his exchanges with Mena Suvari (as his fiance), Joanne Woodward and Brian Dennehey (as his parents), and Chris O' Donnell (as his best friend). In some of the other scenes, Nick is really little more than a witness to the characters he comes across. Yet, with his natural air of youthful optimism, it's no wonder he was chosen to play the role of a wide-eyed young man in search of adventure.
    All in all, it was a memorable production, certainly one worth seeing.
  • From Felicity:
    • there are lots of "Nick Adams" pics availble at wireimage.com, although they are all thumbnails. Wireimage is claiming exclusive coverage, so they may not show up elsewhere.
      • Photos of rehearsals
      • Performance
      • After party arrivals
    • Here's the poster for this year's "Nick Adams" - very similar to last year.
    • Extra is promoting a story covering the event on Tuesday's show.
    • Here are photos at yahoo of rehearsals for Nick Adams:
      • Matt and Goldie Hawn
      • Matt, Gary Sinise, producer Lou Adler and writer A.E.Hotchner Text from the picture: Writer A. E. Hotchner (L) confers with actors Gary Sinise and Matt Damon (R) and producer Lou Adler (wearing hat) during rehearsal for the production of 'The World of Nick Adams based on the short stories by Ernest Hemingway, November 3, 2002 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The event is set for November 4 is an all-star staged reading to benefit Paul Newman 's Painted Turtle Camp for chronically and terminally ill children and their families. Hotchner adapted Hemingway's book for this staged reading.
      
    • Extra has a story and the video online: here
      Matt Damon says, "Paul Newman called me up and to me, I�d sell used cars if he asked me to."
      The celebrities joined Mr. Newman in a staged reading of "The World of Nick Adams," where Jack Nicholson portrayed Ernest Hemmingway and Annette Bening and Julia Roberts got to giggle their way through the performance. Damon says, "I don't care if you're Tom Hanks or Paul up there, you're nervous!"
    • There's an article at EW Online about sequel plans for summer hits. Including here:
      As returns from the international box office and DVD sales trickle in, there appears to be a host of films from the class of summer '02 that are on the blockbuster bubble. Chief among them: Matt Damon's Universal thriller ''The Bourne Identity'' and Paramount's ''The Sum of All Fears,'' featuring Ben Affleck's turn as CIA analyst Jack Ryan. Each spy film generated about $120 million in U.S. ticket sales, nearly doubling its reported budget. And each is its studio's No. 1 film of the year so far. Nonetheless, sequel scripts have not yet been commissioned.
      • From the Boston Globe Saturday:
        Actor Matt Damon was at the Hampshire House for Champagne Veuve Clicquot's Halloween party, but the evening was stolen by celeb chef Ming Tsai, who came dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants; it took the 400 or so others at the event more than an hour and half to figure out who he was. A clue might have been that SpongeBob was hanging out with fellow chichi cooks Todd English(dressed all in black - no costume) and Ken Oringer, still on crutches.
        The Veuve Clicquot costumed bash is an annual event, held each year in a different city.
  • From Diane:
    I've been reading your website for a few weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. I would never of heard anything about Matt as I live in Canada and we don't get much news about Matt up here.
    Perhaps you can put on your website to go to " www.biography.com/2002 and vote for Matt as the best Movie actor. The winner will be announced in December.
  • Thank you, Meg, for writing and for sending in the photo of a muddy Matt playing football:
    I just wanted to let everyone know that Saving Private Ryan will be on channel ABC this Saturday at 8:00, 7:00 cental.
  11/2/02
  From Felicity:
  • The last of the major interviews for Bourne has finally arrived locally. It's in the British "Total Film" magazine, October 2002, and includes the harshest comment yet (and there's been a few to choose from) about Bagger Vance:
    Start of interview:
    Matt Damon is sitting on an armchair, laughing gleefully, taking the piss out of Michael Bay. "He has that low-angle shot he loves to use," he says, trashing the upholstery of an upmarket London hotel, "where he goes slo-mo in one direction and the actor turns in the opposite direction. It's in every one of his movies. It's in the fucking "Rock", it's in "Armageddon", so you end up seeing this..." Cue Damon re-enacting a classic Bayism, with Total Film looking up for a camera's eye view of the actor striking a "heroic" pose, for just as long as he can keep a straight face. Which is about three seconds.
    Bay, it's fair to say, won't be joining Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Smith on Damon's list of collaborators...
    (on "Pearl Harbor") "Yet I felt the movie ended up being edited, by Bay, with some kind of MTV, year 2000 cynicism, which undercut the performances. What ends up happening is you get these people saying these saccharine things, you get a violin swell and it ends up looking like the actors aren't pulling their weight. They get abandoned."
    Evidently, Matt Damon speaks his mind. There's no publicist-aided, celeb bullshit here. In a conversation laced with wit and profanity, what's shocking is his frankness - perhaps a by-product of his unconventional upbringing...
    There's little defence for the mystical golf caddy crap of TLOBV ("I never thought the script was great, I just wanted to work with Redford")
    (on "Ocean's Eleven") "Soderbergh's pretty incredible," Damon enthuses, sparking up one of the many Marlboro Lights he'll smoke during our first meeting. "We all felt lucky to be there. There was no place that any of us would rather have been at that point in our lives. Would I do a sequel? In a second."
    (again, about Minnie/Oprah) "That's not true and I don't know how that rumour got started".
    (on the difficulties of writing with Ben) His current situation is a case in point. When we speak, he's in London starring in TIOY, Kenneth Lonergan's play about '80s consumerbrats. A few days later, when Total Film shares a cigarette with him backstage, the problem is brought into sharp focus. The night before, Affleck flew in from LA to catch the show. But that was it. A flying, 12-hour visit. Hardly conducive to collaborative writing. Still, Damon's sanguine about the situation, talking of taking a break from acting to go back to New York and "probably write", sticking to a pact he's made with himself.
    "I don't want to do anything I don't think has the chance to be great, so I'm being very, very particular about scripts. Businesswise it would be smarter for me to do a bunch of movies right now, but I'd much rather just sit on it and whatever happens, happens. If it comes to a point where they're not giving me work then I'll just write my own thing again..."
  • From a separate interview with Franka Potente. Screen tests in Venice?
    "I went to Venice four times to screentest with Matt Damon and still they weren't calling. That's when I called my agent and said: 'I want to withdraw.' And then they called."
  11/1/02
  • Felicity wrote:
    Warren Beatty's out (of "Nick Adams") - from the NY Post:
    TRAGEDY KEEPS WARREN BEATTY OUT OF LINEUP WARREN Beatty backed out of the biggest benefit in Hollywood with just a week to go, but his rep swears he had a good reason. Beatty was to appear Nov. 4 in a reading of Ernest Hemingway's "The World of Nick Adams," adapted by Hemingway's biographer A.E. Hotchner, at a Kodak Theater gala benefiting Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. The reading is to be performed by Newman, his wife Joanne Woodward, Jack Nicholson (as Hemingway), Matt Damon (as Adams), Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Edward James Olmos, Brian Dennehy, Danny DeVito and Annette Bening. The L.A. Philharmonic is performing and hard-to-come-by tickets are $500 each. Beatty's rep Pat Kingsley says the star was asked to go to Minnesota to campaign for the late Sen. Wellstone, and asked if someone could replace him. Gary Sinise was available. Then Wellstone's plane crashed, so Beatty's trip was off, but he didn't try to get his part back. "Warren thought it best to leave things the way they were," Kingsley explains. "He was quite close to Wellstone."
  • Ali wrote:
    I read what J. said about Matt and Ben and how the rag sheets seem to always want to write that they are fighting no matter how often they both admit that it is a bunch of BS! Well, all I can say is that conflict sells and anytime they think they can show that there's animosity between life long friends like Matt and Ben, they (being the rag sheets) figure they can make a little money off it. Do I think it's a shame; of course I do! But, what do you expect? Matt and Ben are in the spotlight and the rag sheets will try to make any money off them that they can. I will always first and foremost take stuff from "the horses mouth" before I lend any truth to what the rag sheets say. My advice, don't pay any attention to them and they'll find something new to lie about soon enough.
  10/30/02
  • Our thanks to a student at Hotchkiss, who wrote to say:
    Yes, it is ture that Matt Damon did visit our school. He is not only very good-looking but also very intelligent considering he did attend Harvard and all. His answers on our panel gave a refreshing look at the filming business. He also seems to be a really nice guy in general. I met him and he is real down to earth.
    On a side note, I think it is rather funny that a visiting member from Choate stole that poster we made. And also Hotchkiss students are usually honest and they would have never lied about Matt Damon and other prominent guests coming on Blue & White Weekend. We were glad to have him and others for two days. But remember that Matt Damon is not on a totally different level from everyone else-- he just happens to also live an extroadinary life and there are plenty of others like him.
  • Caroline wrote:
    I think Matt was in Boston this past weekend. I saw him driving through Kenmore Square with Odessa.
  • We thank Shanna, who wrote:
    Just to clear this up, there is no lawsuit pending against the creators of "Matt & Ben". It was a publicity stunt to get tickets sold.
  • From Felicity:
    • Here's a strange interview, which is neither complimentary nor critical, but there are some interesting observations and quotes. From a South African newspaper: here.
      Including:
      There must be another persona behind the affable public Matt, a tight coil of restraint that could easily pop. But it's difficult to reach. "The good image and control is a Catholic influence from having essential shame for who you are," he explains. "You have to cover up and pretend you are someone else."
      Damon admits that he has conflict about being an actor and the obscene amount of money that comes with the A-list pool of talent. "Ideally, the plan is to work as hard as they're paying you," he says, squirming. "I would feel guilty if I took an enormous salary and the movie didn't work. I can't cope with doing things half-assed. I'm battling with this internal conflict. But it doesn't mean I'm not going to take the money. It's something I talk to my family about. It's a question of what do we do with this money that has come into our lives."
      At this moment, Damon looks as if he should be sitting in a rural church community. His eyes are steady, and all that is missing is a straw of wheat and a pair of dungarees. He views the world in a peculiarly innocent manner. There is no room for jealousy, pride or greed.
      "I think jealousy is a waste of an emotion. Trust is the centre of everything. If you're in a relationship or a job where you're jealous, then get out because you're wasting your time."
      As for evil, he believes there is no such thing. "I guess I believe there's good in everybody. I have friends who believe there is evil in the world and there are evil people. But I think there's always a pinlight of redemption in a dark tunnel."
    • From Movieline's annual "100 Most" list, with the full list here.
      47 Most non-BS new action star: Matt Damon
      49 Actually, most all-around non-BS actor: Matt Damon
    • An article on the Fort Lauderdale Festival and Matt's appearance: here.
    • This is timely: a large size pic of Matt and Paul Newman performing "Nick Adams" last year: here,
    • From the Fort Lauderdale Festival site:
      Meet Matt Damon
      Friday, November 8th at 8:00pm at the Regal Las Olas.
      This is a live event with Matt Damon. We will show clips of Mr. Damon's work followed by a live Q&A where he will field your questions. Tickets are $25. Fast Passes are not applicable. Followed by a post-show party at $175 per person...all proceeds benefits a friend of Matt's stricken with Leukemia.
      In 1998, Matt Damon shared the Best Screenwriter Academy Award with Ben Affleck for 'Good Will Hunting' in 1998. He also gained a Best Actor nomination for his acclaimed role as a working-class genius. Since then he's gained acclaim for films as diverse as The Talented Mr. Ripley, Saving Private Ryan and The Bourne Identity.
  • Jessia wrote:
    Thank you so much for the news (about the Ft Lauderdale Film Festival) !!! I live in Ft Lauderdale and was interested in going to the film festival but knowing that Matt will be participating makes it even better!! It just so happens that it is my birthday that weekend! What a present!!! I will keep you informed!!
  • J. wrote:
    I just have a question. I was wondering why people are still saying Matt and Ben are no longer buddies. I've seen them on tons of shows since that rumor first surfaced, and Matt himself said none of it was true. But, it seems like every week someone has a comment or article stating this as fact. I'm confused.
  10/27/02
  • "The Rainmaker" was shown this evening on the Warner Brothers channel.
  • T. wrote:
    Matt Damon will be appearing at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival on November 8, 2002. These events have recently been added so they may not be updated on the www.fliff.com website but you can get more details by calling the festival website at 954-525-FILM.
    I hope that Matt Damon fans who can attend will appreciate the info!
  • Sarah wrote:
    Bad news, Push Nevada is getting cancelled! Last Thursday's episode was the last one. Good thing Matt wasn't too involved in that project. : )
    In and article from The Knoxville News Sentinel:
    'That Was Then' And 'Push' Getting The Ax
    ABC is dumping freshman Friday drama "That Was Then" and giving highly regarded, but low-rated "Push, Nevada" a short reprieve, after which time it, too will leave the schedule.
  10/26/02
  • From Felicity:
    Here's a press release about the Bourne DVD, and it looks like Matt will not be doing a commentary track:
    $120 million box office hit!
    THE BOURNE IDENTITY
    Starring Academy Award(R) Winner Matt Damon
    Explodes on DVD/VHS January 21, 2003
    'A new action hero is Bourne' - Clay Smith, Access Hollywood
    UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ - THE BOURNE IDENTITY, the $120 million box-office hit from Universal Studios Home Video, ignites on DVD and VHS January 21, 2003. A gripping action-packed hit, THE BOURNE IDENTITY stars Academy Award(R) winner Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an amnesiac struggling to regain his memory in a race against time for his life. Filled with fiery fight scenes, exciting car chases and edge-of-your-seat thrills, THE BOURNE IDENTITY is a must-have for any home entertainment library. The wide-screen and full-framed DVD version will be priced at $26.98 S.R.P. ($19.95 M.A.P.). The VHS will be rental priced. Order close is December 17, 2002 for DVD and VHS.
    DVD BONUS FEATURES REVEAL EXCLUSIVE FILM SECRETS
    Filled with more than 10 hours of intriguing behind-the-scenes bonus features sure to blow audiences away, THE BOURNE IDENTITY DVD includes:
    -- A never-before-seen alternative ending
    -- Explosive deleted scenes
    -- Featurette: The making of THE BOURNE IDENTITY
    -- Commentary by director Doug Liman
    -- Moby music video "Extreme Ways"
    -- Production notes
    -- Cast and crew biographies and film highlights
    -- The original theatrical trailer
    SPECIAL DVD-ROM FEATURES
    THE BOURNE IDENTITY DVD-ROM contains interactive games only available on the DVD including:
    -- Blueprint Chase
    -- Observation Room
    -- Memory Match
    -- Stop the Enemy
    -- Snapshot
    DVD-ROM TOTAL AXESS FEATURE PACKS POWERFUL PUNCH
    Universal Studios Total Axess enables DVD-ROM users to unlock special bonus materials not included on THE BOURNE IDENTITY DVD through an exclusive hotlink to the Universal Studios Total Axess website. By simply inserting the DVD into their DVD-ROM drive, users will be immersed in the action and adventure of their favorite DVD through an online destination packed with exclusive never-before-seen video and pictures, behind-the-scenes footage, downloads, contests and more.
    MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR MARKETING SUPPORT
    Universal Studios Home Video will support the release of THE BOURNE IDENTITY VHS/DVD with a multi-million dollar media campaign that will heighten awareness through television, radio, and Internet advertising, generating over 1 billion consumer impressions. The title will also be trailered on the upcoming home video releases of Minority Report, Undercover Brother and Blue Crush.
    CONSUMER PROMOTION
    When consumers purchase any two of the following DVDs -- THE BOURNE IDENTITY, BLUE CRUSH, ABOUT A BOY, and UNDERCOVER BROTHER -- between January 1, 2003 and April 21, 2003, they will receive two FREE DVDs!
    
    • Rumor file: Matt and Ben could attend a horseracing meeting this weekend at Arlington Park, as they're said to be friends with one of the horse owners. here.
  • Sandra wrote:
    Don't know if this is all old news to you but check out this link. Apparently someone wrote and performed a play about Matt & Ben and they didn't like it and sued. As you do!
    See here.
  • And more from Sandra:
    Found following story on this link
    HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) � Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear are in talks to star as conjoined twins in the Farrelly brothers� comedy "Stuck on You" for 20th Century Fox.
    The project is one Peter and Bobby Farrelly have been working on for over a decade, but that was put on the backburner after the brothers decided they wanted to work on a movie about the Three Stooges instead.
    "They've never written a script they've directed right away," the Farrelly�s partner in Conundrum Entertainment Bradley Thomas tells Variety. "They always like to let a script sit there and gestate. They come back with new ideas that improve it. That's always been their process and 'Stuck on You' has long been their favorite script."
    The story focuses on one of the conjoined twins who decides he wants to make it big in Hollywood, and convinces his brother to go along with the ride.
    "These guys are winners, they are never victims," Peter Farrelly tells the trade. "The key to all of our films is that they had heart and this is especially true in 'Stuck on You.' "
    Damon, 32, who most recently appeared in Doug Liman�s "The Bourne Identity," will be starring next in George Clooney�s "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and Kevin Smith�s "Jersey Girl."
    Kinnear, 39, is starring as Bob Crane in Paul Schrader�s "Auto Focus" this winter and he�ll soon begin shooting Nick Hamm�s "Godsend" with Robert DeNiro.
    Production on "Stuck on You" is set to start in February.
    
    Beth and Kathy also sent in this item - thanks!.
  • More from Felicity:
    • From Variety:
      Farrellys Eye Damon, Kinnear for Twins Comedy
      By Michael Fleming
      NEW YORK (Variety) - Filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary") have committed to direct "Stuck on You," a comedy about the adventures of conjoined twins.
      The brothers have begun negotiations with Matt Damon and they hope to have Greg Kinnear round out the twin bill. Filming will begin in February and 20th Century Fox is eyeing a late fall release.
      The Farrellys had been expected to direct "The Three Stooges" next; they will instead make that film for Warner Bros. in early 2004.
      "Stuck on You," based on a 10-year-old script, is the story about what happens when one conjoined twin decides to follow his dreams of making it in Hollywood, and persuades his sibling to go along for the ride. The Farrellys wrote it with their "Dumb and Dumber" co-writer Bennett Yellin and with Charlie Wessler.
      The project once nearly got made with Jim Carrey and Woody Allen. It was ultimately back-burnered because the Farrellys rekindled a dream to craft a new adventure around the Stooges characters originated by Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerome "Curly" Howard. The Farrellys spent the winter and spring writing with Mike Cerrone a contemporized script featuring the Moe, Larry and Curly characters.
      But the brothers also did a rewrite on "Stuck on You," and decided to switch the order because Damon and Kinnear became available.
      "They've never written a script they've directed right away," said Bradley Thomas, the brothers' partner in Fox-based Conundrum Entertainment. "They always like to let a script sit there and gestate. They come back with new ideas that improve it. That's always been their process and 'Stuck on You' has long been their favorite script."
      Even though the Farrellys have done their funniest work in the R-genre, both "Stuck" and the "Stooges" films will be PG-13 rated. Farrelly stressed that even though the conjoined twin characters drive the comedy in "Stuck on You," the film does not make sport of the handicapped.
      "These guys are winners, they are never victims," said Peter Farrelly. "The key to all of our films is that they had heart and this is especially true in 'Stuck on You."'
    • Here are the details on 'Paycheck':
      From Variety:
      John Woo Eyes 'Paycheck'
      Tue Oct 22, 4:10 AM ET
      By Dave McNary
      HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Filmmaker John Woo (news), last in theaters with the Nicolas Cage (news) bomb "Windtalkers," is in talks to direct "Paycheck" for Paramount Pictures.
      The futuristic tale, based on a short story by prolific sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, revolves around a man who can't remember what he has done for the past two years. The protagonist must seek clues to his whereabouts using common objects such as a ticket stub and bus token to uncover a government secret.
      Woo also is attached to direct "The Divide" at Disney. He spent two decades in the Hong Kong film industry before making his U.S. debut with "Hard Target" in 1992. Since then, he's also helmed "Broken Arrow," "Face/Off," and "Mission: Impossible II."
      Brett Ratner ("Hannibal") had been in talks to direct "Paycheck" before committing to "Superman"; Kathryn Bigelow (news) ("K-19: The Widowmaker") also had considered the project.
      "Paycheck" was originally published in 1953. Film adaptations of Dick's short stories have included "Minority Report," "Total Recall" and "Blade Runner," released shortly after Dick died in 1982.
    • And the Hollywood Reporter: Woo set to cash big 'Paycheck' for Paramount
      Tue Oct 22, 4:18 AM ET
      By Zorianna Kit
      LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- John Woo (news) is in negotiations to direct Paramount Pictures' "Paycheck" for producers John Davis and Michael Hackett. The project is aimed to go into production in February.
      "Paycheck" reunites Woo with Paramount, for which he directed the blockbuster feature "Mission: Impossible 2," starring Tom Cruise (news), and "Face/Off," a co-production with Buena Vista Pictures that starred Nicolas Cage (news) and John Travolta (news).
      Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, "Paycheck" is a futuristic tale of a man who has part of his memory erased and begins to find clues to his whereabouts for the past two years. Dean Georgaris adapted the screenplay, which saw Brett Ratner attached to direct. However, Ratner departed the project last month to direct Warner Bros. Pictures' "Superman" (HR 9/25).
      Woo, repped by Endeavor, most recently directed MGM's costly flop "Windtalkers," starring Cage. Davis is in production on Revolution Studios' "Daddy Day Care," starring Eddie Murphy (news) and Anjelica Huston (news).
    • The John Woo connection: from a story on Access Hollywood online, just after Bourne came out:
      Just two week's after Ben's best bud Matt Damon made his action debut in The Bourne Identity, action director John Woo took notice. "I would love to work with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. I really like those guys."
      When Access told Matt about Woo's admiration, Matt joked: "Well, tell him to call me."
    • Paycheck would seem a lot less likely because it's about amnesia (again), and would have similarities to Bourne: amnesia + John Woo action. But the Farrelly brothers movie would pretty risky.
      The "Stuck on you" project was originally mooted in 2000 - from cinematter.com:
      The Farrelly brothers direct this comedy about siamese twins, and what happens when one wants to be an actor. Woody Allen is rumored to play one of the twins (he doesn't have a liver, so he's aging faster than his brother.) Jim Carrey and Matt Damon has been rumored for the other twin.
  10/24/02
  • Trice wrote:
    matt damon will be on will and grace thrusday 24th... at 9:30pm/8:30pm
  • Caroline (many thanks) wrote:
    Jonanthan Soroff is a pretty laid-back interviewer.I usually don't take his questions seriously.
    Improper Bostonian - pretty good magazine about the in/outs of Boston-sports, volunteering opportunities, culture-Wang, Colonial, ART, new restaurants etc. It reminds me of Time Out NY / Time Out London.
    Here is an interview that Matt Damon had with Jonanthan Soroff

    JS: What's the most fun you ever had making a movie? 
    MD: That's tough, because GWH was obviously incredible. It took us six years to get it made, so it was ovewhelming to be on the est of that movie. But for pure fun? Ocean's Eleven.
     
    JS: Speaking of GWH, do you think Southie is actually crawling with undiscovered mathematical geniuses?
    MD: It very well could be.
     
    JS: What bugs you more: a real Boston accent or a fake one?
    MD: A fake one. Go look at any movie ever done about Boston by someone who isn't from here, and you'll find a horrible Boston accent. (I agree with Matt on this one).
     
    JS: Things you miss most about living here?
    MD: My family, and the Red Sox. Being able to watch them at Fenway. If I'm in NY, I hve a satellits, so I can see the Red Sox, and Bruins games, Celtics games, Patriots games. But, say, when I'm in London doing a play of something, there isn't the appreciation for Boston sports in London that there should be, so I have to follow them in the paper or make lots of phone calls.
     
    ( I guess Matt doesn't have a laptop computer or just can't be bothered to find an adapter and plug it in. If he did, he'd be checking out boston herald, boston.com, and mlb.redsox.com - Oh well....). 
     
    JS: Didn't you get the to throw out the first pitch at a Sox game not long ago?
    MD: Yeah, but in classic Hollywood style they scheduled me to be somewhere else immediately afterward. I wasn't even going to get to watch the game. I argued with them until nine o'clock. (A smart man :). How can you throw out the first pitch and not see part of a Red Sox game?).
     
    JS: Where do you keep your Oscar?
    MD: In NY, I finally bought a place, so I finally have someplace to put it.
     
    JS:Is thera little shrine?
    MD: [laughs] No. It's pretty much sitting there, gathering dust (hmmm.. I bet it is sitting next to his autographed Red Sox baseballs :) )
     
    JS:  In The Bourne Identity, your character had amnesia, which is one of those things you only ever see in the movies or on soap operas. Ever actually meet somoene with it?
    MD: No, and when we were getting ready to do that movies, the director said, "Look, this isn't an illness picture. We're not doing Rain Man here. Amnesia's a plot device, so don't go overboard on it."
     
    JS: Would you actually make a good secret agent?
    MD: No. I don't keep secrets very well.
     
    JS: What one talent do you have that would make you a good spy?
    MD: Lying to journalists.
     
    JS: You and Ben Affleck have been playing musical starlets for the past few years. Which one of you do you think will be first to get married?
    MD: Oof, I don't know. That's a tough question. Maybe it'll be like the Oscars, and it'll happen on the same day. 
     
    JS: Strangest part of being a movie star?
    MD: Doing interviews is right up there.
     
    JS: Do you feel like a movie star?
    MD: No.
     
    JS: What do you think of when you hear that term?
    MD: Brando, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe. Cary Grant....
     
    JS: Well, when was the last time you felt like you could go somewhere in public and be anonymous?
    MD: I still feel like that.
     
    JS: C'mon. It's not like you can go to the supermarket without causing some kind of commotion.
    MD: Sure, I can. I go places all the time and no one recognizes me. In NY, no one seems to care too much. I've been in London the past few months, and everybody's very cool there.
     
    JS: Ginger or Mary Ann?
    MD: [long pause] Mary Ann. Although, why not both?
     
    JS: Boxers or briefs?
    MD: Boxer briefs, like these guys (pulls waistband of Calvin Klein underwear out of pants)
     
    JS: Who signs more autographs - you or Ben?
    MD: Well, a lot of people who ask for them are doing it for money. Most of the time, when you go to a premiere or something, the guys are professionals. So Ben and I both have this habit of asking them what we're getting out of it. We also have this theory that if we saturate the marketplace, we can iterally make our autographs worthless. It seems to work for awhile. If you sign as many pictures as you can at those events for the pros, they seem to disappear for a time. But for other people, I don't turn them down  (This is also true in the baseball autograph signing market. There are a lot of professionals out there trying to get baseball autographs. Very aggressive people... I'm not really impressed by these aggressive baseball signing people. I met a bunch last year at spring training for the Red Sox).
     
    JS: Who'd win in a celebrity death match - you or Ben?
    MD: Well, Jason Bourne would beat Jack Ryan. Definitely. But Ben's got me on size. He's about 6'3" or 6'4". Although I have to say, I've got a lotta heart.
     
    JS: If you could have revenge on one person from your past, who would it be and why?
    MD: Hmm. I don't know. I don't really have revenge fantasies. I try to make careful choices so that I don't end up in that position, so there's nobody I've felt so slighted by that I'd like to go burn their house down. (nice answer - very diplomatic - jeez... what kind of question was that anyway? Awful.... I would never have answered it.)
     
    JS: Strangest things you ever read about yourself?'
    MD: There's a lot that isn't true, but I don't know that any of it is particularly strange. I've heard everything from I'm getting married, any number of times, to women I don't even know. They were saying that Ben and I were gay when GWH came out. I mean, most of it's pretty funny. People ask if it's invasive, and it's so often incorrect that it's not so much invasive as amusing.
     
    JS: Funnist thing you ever saw about yourself in a tabloid?
    MD: Fore pure entertainment, the thing that got the biggest guffaw was when GWH came out, they took a paparazzi shot and put me on the cover of Playgirl. that was hilarious. Me on the cover, with an article inside comparing young Hollywood actors to big stars from the old days. I think I got compared to James Cagney.
     
    JS: Not bad. Any stalkers?
    MD: Nope.
     
    JS: Now that you earnt he big bucks, what's your biggest indulgence?
    MD: I actually live pretty moderately.
    
    JS: No  hot-air balloons, or AK47s?
    MD: No. I've got my apartment in NY, but I'm not sure that's an indulgence [laughs]. I've got to have somewhere to live.
     
    JS: What kind of car do you drive?
    MD: I don't have a car. (smart man - no car in NY is the way to go - too many parking problems)
     
    JS: What? No car?!
    MD: No. I live in NY, and when I'm in LA, I rent.
     
    JS: So there's nothing?
    MD: Not yet. I guess I need more free time to go overboard.
     
    JS: Last question. If I write a screenplay, will you star in it?
    MD: If it's good. 
    

  • From Felicity:
    • From the Hollywood Reporter:
      Stars coming out to aid Newman's labor of love
      Oct. 22, 2002
      By Robert Osborne
      It was, says producer Lou Adler, "amazingly easy" to pull together that high-kilowatt dream cast that'll be appearing -- just in case you haven't heard or bought a ticket yet -- Nov. 4 at Hollywood & Highland's Kodak Theatre in A.E. Hotchner's adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The World of Nick Adams" stories. Adler's referring to Jack Nicholson (as Hemingway), Matt Damon (as Adams), Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Julia Roberts, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Bruce Willis, Joanne Woodward, Goldie Hawn, Edward James Olmos, Brian Dennehy and Danny DeVito. In this era when it often takes light-years to firm up even one juicy name for a project, pulling together this lineup is just short of miraculous. The one-time-only event, being co-produced by Adler with Kevin Duncan and directed by Gordon Davidson, also includes 32 members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya. "First and foremost, they're all doing it because it's a fund-raiser for a great cause," Adler says, meaning the Painted Turtle camp, the first West Coast counterpart of Newman's remarkable Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, which began in Ashford, Conn., in 1988 as a camp for kids with life-threatening diseases. (Since '88, six similar HITW situations have opened. This newest one begins operating next summer 40 miles north of Los Angeles in the Lake Hughes/Lake Elizabeth region near Magic Mountain; by 2004, it'll be serving some 1,000-1,500 kids.) This same Hemingway/Hotchner material was performed with great success last year at New York's Avery Fisher Hall. Says Adler: "When it was decided to do it at the Kodak, Paul called everyone who'd participated in the East -- including Julia, Matt, Morgan, Kevin -- and invited them to participate again. When schedules were checked, a few weren't available, but most said yes immediately. It shows the level of enthusiasm, I think, that not a single performer on either coast asked to look at the script before agreeing to be part of this." ... For Newman, the role he plays brings him full circle in his celebrated career: In 1956, he played the part of the Battler in an NBC-TV adaptation by Hotchner of one of Hemingway's "Nick Adams" stories. Six years later, he reprised the role on the big screen in Fox's "Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man" (another project scripted by Hotchner). Adds Adler: "Paul being Paul, he doesn't like to waste time. The reason Nov. 4 was picked for the Kodak event was twofold. It was one of the few dates the theater was available that coincided with Paul planning to be in California (for a racing event)." After that, he's booked on Broadway beginning Nov. 22 for the next nine weeks in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," with Jane Curtin, Stephen Spinella, Frank Converse and Mia Dillon. Newman did the play this past summer with great success at the Westport (Conn.) Country Playhouse, where Mrs. Newman, Joanne Woodward, is now the artistic director.
    • K. wrote:
      I found this on Philly.com. It's an article about Jersey Girl and Ben Affleck. here.
      At the very end of the article there is this.
      "From March through June next year, I've scheduled writing time with my brother [actor Casey] and Matt [Damon, his Good Will Hunting cowriter and costar]. We've set aside that time not just to begin but actually complete a project."
      "Starting is easy," the prolific actor says. "Finishing is hard."
    • Here's the details on the Hotchkiss school appearance:
      Blue & White Weekend, October 25-26, 2002
      FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2002
      5:30 - 7:00 pm
      Registration for Hotchkiss Fund Class Agents and Parent Agents
      Harris House
      7:00 - 8:30 pm
      �Filmmaking and Education� A discussion panel of award-winning filmmakers across the Hotchkiss decades Athletic & Fitness Center Field House Panelists include:
      • John Avildsen �55 (Rocky, The Karate Kid)
        
      • Julia Parker Benello �88 (Blue Vinyl: A Toxic Comedy)
      • Lisa Chandler �82 (A Little Princess, Someone Like You)
      • John Heyman P �05 (Home Alone, Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
      • Stanley Jaffe P �05 (Kramer v. Kramer, Fatal Attraction)
      • Laurence Mark �67 (Jerry Maguire, Finding Forrester)
      • Christopher Meledandri �77 (Ice Age, Trial by Jury)
      • Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, The Bourne Identity)
      Moderated by Headmaster Robert H. Mattoon, Jr.
      8:30 - 10:00 pm (following �Filmmaking and Education� panel)
      Coffee and dessert for Senior Class, parents, and alumni
      Harris House
  10/20/02
  • An excited reader wrote:
    **MATT DAMON WILL BE AT THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL IN LAKEVILLE, CT THIS WEEK.** My details are very sketchy, but I know he will be speaking there either Thursday or Friday in some panel about theater of some sort. I was at Hotchkiss, a prep school, today because I go to Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT and play field hockey and we played them today. I had been hearing rumors about Matt Damon being there but I didn't think they were true. Well low and behold when we were in the locker room walking past the window to view the boys varsity waterpolo game there is a sign posted with a picture of Matt Damon holding a sign that said "Hotchkiss Waterpolo #1" (my friend stole it before I got to it.....I will try to get her to scan it so I can send it in to you guys). From then I knew the rumors were true so I asked around and found out some stuff. I was there this weekend, he's going to be there next weekend. What are the odds.
  • Item sent in by Bec:
    YOU'VE BEEN FRAMED: Matt Damon; A real swinger
    Sunday Mirror, 10-13-2002
    Swing batter, batter, batter, schaa-wiiiing, batter! Ahem. Aaah Matt Damon - such a nice boy, isn't he? While some Hollywood superstars relax by crashing cars, getting caught with hookers and smoking crack cocaine, this all-American boy heads off to thepark for a wholesome game of the US's favourite pastime, baseball.
    And look - doesn't he do well! It must be all those rippling muscles he's developed since beefing up for his role in the action flick The Bourne Idenity. Matt's used to winning - he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting in 1997,but still, he didn' t look as pleased about that as he did about scoring a home run (or whatever it is they call a point in this silly game of American rounders) down the park. Obviously, the simple things in life please Matt. But why is he playing out without best pal Ben Affleck? Is Ben too cosied up with La Lopez to think about his old mucker Matt? Is Mr Damon just trying to show Ben he has plenty of mates to play with, actually. Maybe this is his way of saying `Ner-ner, ner-ner-ner'. Oh alright, we did say maybe.
  • From the Big Matt Fan:
    I just got back from a screening of "Gerry" at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The venue was entirely appropriate because the movie, more than most, is very much an "art film." As you know, "Gerry" is the story of two young men who get lost in the desert. Yet, really, the film is less about who they are or what happens to them, than it is about the experience of being lost--the growth of self-doubt, the panic in the unfamiliar, the sense of disorientation, desperation, and ultimately, despair. The film conveys this beautifully, with some striking cinematography that at times, resembles Ansel Adams prints brought to life. It can be, by Van Sant's own admission, "stylistically challenging." Many of the shots are extraordinarily long, perhaps a little too long.. However, on the whole, I think they effectively convey the excrutiating agony of what the characters go through.
    Matt and Casey are both great in the movie, with a comfortable chemistry that seems entirely real. Some early scenes are surprisingly hilarious, making one long for another collaboration that would recapture that energy.
    However, one must caution that this isn't a movie for the masses. Plot is secondary to mood, and despite some strong performances and interesting visuals, I think many may come away bored and confused. I believe "Gerry" is a metaphorical film about the universal experience of being lost, not about the specific characters. That's why both boys call each other "Gerry," which according to Van Sant, is meant as a nickname meaning "fuck-up," and is not meant to be their real names. If you decide to watch "Gerry," don't try to view it with a conventional, "What happens next?" mindset. Instead, recall the times you personally have been seriously, frighteningly lost, and I think you'll get a whole lot more out of the film.
    The screening I attended was part of a retrospective on Van Sant's work, and the director was there to answer questions. Of note:
    1) Someone asked why he chose to work with sexy actors. Gus seemed unsure how to respond, but answered that he worked with people he was interested seeing on screen.
    2) A question arose regarding his involvement with the actors in Good Will Hunting. He mentioned that Matt had auditioned for "To Die For," and for a while, was actually going to be the movie before Joaquin Phoenix. He said he'd worked with him on some scenes and thought he was a great actor. Curiously, he also mentioned that through Casey, he'd gotten to know Matt and Ben a little better, and had even hung out with them a bit before a Miramax person told him about their script.
    3) Apparently, "Gerry" was originally supposed to be shot with a digital camera in the deserts of Nevada during Matt and Casey's off days on "Ocean's Eleven." However, the more they talked about it, the more resources they thought they should put into it.
    4) The initial plan was to improvise the dialogue. However, the closer they got to shooting, the more nervous they got about it, so they did put together a 30-page script. Days before the shoot in Argentina, they began to rethink that, and because it was so cold, they actually burned the script for warmth. Then, they decided that wasn't such a good idea after all, so they tried to remember what they had before. The result, it seems, is sort of an amalgam of scripted and improvised dialogue.
    ...
  • From Felicity:
    • Here's the summary of the Improper Bostonian story, from their website. The article is not available online: here:
      Soroff/On Matt Damon Matt Damon discusses the difficulties of following Boston sports from London, his no-car movie star lifestyle and his chances in a fight with Ben Affleck. BY JONATHAN SOROFF
    • Another photo from Rex of the Stomp premiere.
    • How's this for a strange photo: I think it's from the NY initial screening or party for GWH. From left: Patrick Whitesell (agent), Vin Diesel, Ben, Matt and Matt's brother Kyle.
    • This one's an interesting close-up (the eyes!) from the Ocean's junket - I think:
    • For Kathy - "The Informant" was first mentioned in the "Details" interview of earlier this year, and then a Liz Smith interview in April, and at that stage was planned for late 2002. This changed when Steve Soderbergh decided to have a year off, and the screenplay is apparently still not finalised. It would be a top-shelf project (definitely not in the second choice category), but is without a confirmed start date.
  10/19/02
  • Lorri wrote:
    found some stuff
    Here is where the main gerry page is for the viff..... and here is where a bigger photo is.
    there are newer pics of matt at wireimage as well.... here at the "pulse: A Stomp Odyssey" World Premiere. cheers....oops and someone sent me this link as well. It's a downloadable interview with matt talking about his "jersey girl" cameo... here.
  • A nice note from Sandra (thanks!):
    Thank God (or equivalent) for you people, now I can get all the latest updates and pics and stuff.
    Can't begin to describe how jealous I am of you.
    Did I get to see SNL? NO!
    Did I get to see Will and Grace? NO!
    Do I get to see all these interviews and stuff? NO!
    We don't get any of that stuff here in Belgium, well we will get that Will and Grace episode eventually I guess, but that is besides the point. I had to wait to Sep 25 to see the Bourne Identity, Sep 25!!!!! That was the premiere date. I did steal a huge Bourne Identity banner from the cinema though as compensation, what? a fine customer like me am entitled to some benefits
    BUT I did get to see him for real in 'This is your youth'. It was June 15, the very last show. A friend had arranged it as a surprise. We flew to London that same day for a long weekend, we walked around West-end around seven. My friend David was in a hurry it seemed and I was a bit annoyed because we were on holiday and I wanted to relax and have a look around.
    Anyway we arrived to the Garrick theatre and David says: we have tickets to a play here. At this point I'm quite edgy and said: what is it, what play?, (don't like surprises, they might be crappy and then you have to pretend that you like them and all that) He points to the poster behind me and all I see with fat letters is MATT DAMON. From there on everything is in sort of a blur.
    The play was good, I thought Casey was especially good, it is a really small intimate theatre and you see everything so clear. I think at one point Matt almost forgot his lines but he recovered quite nicely. We got to see him in only underwear in one scene (wearing something underneath as well but one can pretend).
    If Leo and Tobey are doing the play as well, like it is rumoured, I will gladly go again just to compare talents, that would be good for a laugh.
    I can fax you my ticket as proof if you insist but the I have to take it out of the frame.
    Any way thanks for a great page.
  • A reader wrote:
    On page 18 of a free Boston paper called the Improper Bostonian there is an interview with Damon. It is a question and answer session with him and Jonathan Soroff called Soroff/On. I don't have time to transcribe it, maybe you could ask someone to do it for you.
  • From Felicity:
    • A larger pic from the Stomp premiere, via yahoo: here.
    • From the National Post:
      Us Weekly editor Bonnie Fuller finally has something to crow about: She points out in this week's issue that Matt Damon mentioned the magazine twice when he recently hosted the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. He even opened a sketch by reading an issue of Us.
    • Matt and his mom went to the premiere of "Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey" in NY Thursday night (it's a new documentary for IMAX).
      Pictures at here.
    • Here's another interview from the London Bourne junket in May/June which gives a little more information on progress of "The Informant". And a few other quotes - taken from unreel.co.uk

      Q. Does that mean you don�t have any film roles lined up?
      A. No, for the first time in so many years, I�ve got nothing lined up. Steven Soderbergh has said he might want me to do a film with him, but that�s probably about a year and a half away. So you know, I have time to write now. That said, if a great movie part with a great director came up in the meantime, I�d probably find it hard to say no. I�d probably be on a plane. I�d probably go do it.
      Q. Given all that work, are you very deliberate about the choices you make? Do you lie awake at night worrying whether you have made the right decision?
      A. Now we�re talking about it, I�m thinking maybe I should lie awake at night. I mean, this movie was easily a full year of my life between the preparation and shooting of it. Yet I made the decision very quickly, very impulsively, and I never looked back. I�m really very happy with the finished film too.
      
      Q. its five years now since �Good Will Hunting� came out. I wonder what you hadn�t anticipated about fame and success.
      A. Well, it was strange to begin with. In the few months after �Good Will Hunting�, things got a bit crazy. To go from zero to a 100 was more overwhelming than I had expected -- and I think Ben would say the same thing. But we�re not like the hottest things anymore. I think both Ben and I are somewhere in the middle now and we have a better perspective on things too. 
      
      Q. I was talking to her [Franka] earlier and she said she was worried at her audition in case she was a lot taller than you.
      A. People think I�m shorter than I am because I take so many pictures standing next to Ben [Affleck].
      
      Q. Come to think of it, you always seem to have a movie coming out. Ben couldn�t help but clash with you.
      A. Yeah, I am coming to the conclusion that I�m a pretty restless character, if not a workaholic. A couple of months ago I got back to my apartment in New York from a long shoot and I thought, I�m just gonna sit around and do nothing. But then I read this play and one day later I was on a plane to London to go and do it. The truth is, a lot of my energy goes into my work and I�m so excited by it. I mean, I don�t do skydiving for a hobby, nothing outlandish. I like to do probably what a lot of people do -- I read, watch movies, watch sports, and spend time on the relationships that matter to me. So maybe I�m boring as hell in the rest of my life, I don�t know. But when I read a good piece script I really want to be part of it.
      
      Q: So what are the pluses and minuses of being a movie star?
      A: Very few things would be in the minus column for me right now.  The pluses are incalculable.  Doing this work, working with the people I have worked with.  My life has been like a dream.
      

    • "The Informant" actually has elements of two Russell Crowe movies - "Beautiful Mind" and "The Insider", including paranoia, whistleblowing and mental health issues. Thankfully, the real life character who is the basis of the book has many of Matt's characteristics, so he's a natural fit. But there's hardly a romantic moment to be found, sorry Mei-Ling. With its theme of corporate collapse and insider trading it is very topical, however (at this time - maybe less so when it's eventually released).
    • Random stuff:
      There's a section in the new "Us Weekly" on the stars' first loves. It includes a small story and photo of Matt and Skylar.
    • ET mentioned that Matt was nominated at the GQ Awards. The ceremony was held in NY Wednesday night, but he didn't appear.
  • Kathy wrote:
    I thought this article was a bit odd.
    * Archer Daniels Midland. Actor Matt Damon just signed on to star in Warner Bros.' feature-film version of The Informant: A True Story, the tale of the ADM 1990s price-fixing scam by New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald. Filmmaker Steve Soderbergh will direct the movie. Actress Julie Roberts, who starred in Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich, is believed to be interested in The Informant, but a Warner Bros. spokeswoman would not confirm it. The movie's screenplay is still in development, she says.
    According to recent interviews that Matt gave overseas, he hasn't taken on any new movies due to bad scripts. According to this the screenplay is still in development and yet he has signed up. Either Matt is getting desparate for work, or this is his first A-list offer. Strange.
  • Kathryn of Edinburgh wrote:
    The cover for the BI SE is completely bizarre - I hate it! Just how big are his shoulders?? He looks like Arnold Schwartznegger! The poster was fine; why couldn't they have stuck with that? You never know what's going on inside marketing departments...
    And on another note, I did see Bourne a few weeks ago. I didn't initially like it that much - although it is different and original - I like it more now. I didn't really think Matt had much chemistry with Franka, and ome of the plot points seemed to come out of nowhere (for example, the scenes at Franka's ex's house seemed a little contrived).
  10/16/02
  • From Felicity:
    • The "Bourne Identity: Collector's Edition" is now available for pre-ordering on amazon.com. No details are on the site yet of the special features, with the DVD to be released 21 January 2003. The cover's a little strange though.
      Details at here.
    • In a USA Today story about upcoming films on financial intrigue, confirmation about what we already knew, except for the Julia Roberts bit:
      * Archer Daniels Midland. Actor Matt Damon just signed on to star in Warner Bros.' feature-film version of The Informant: A True Story, the tale of the ADM 1990s price-fixing scam by New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald. Filmmaker Steve Soderbergh will direct the movie. Actress Julie Roberts, who starred in Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich, is believed to be interested in The Informant, but a Warner Bros. spokeswoman would not confirm it. The movie's screenplay is still in development, she says.
      Soderbergh said he was taking a year off, and then going ahead with the project that came together first. If the screenplay is still in development, it could still be a long while off. There's only one main female role as Whitacre's wife, who in the book isn't given that much to do, and is not suited for Julia Roberts. But the book is superb and would make a great movie with thriller potential (if very depressing and non-mainstream).
    • Here's the details of the Special Collection Bourne DVD, from dvdfile.com.
      License to thrill - 12:01am Proving he can give James Bond a run for his money, the Matt Damon superspy thriller The Bourne Identity became this past summer's dark horse blockbuster, grossing over $125 million at the domestic box office alone. Universal Studios Home Video will release the hit thriller on January 21st in separate 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and pan & scan versions. Each release features Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround tracks, an audio commentary by director Doug Liman and Damon, deleted scenes and an alternate ending with commentary, a Spotlight on Location featurette, the Moby "Extreme Ways" music video, the trailer, and ROM features including links to the Universal Total Axxess web portal with additional exclusive content (TBA). Retail is $26.95.
      I don't know why the DVD was delayed, maybe just to stand out from the Christmas onslaught and promotion of other films, or to ensure it's been released in all other markets first. I was hoping for some footage of the international tour, but it doesn't seem to be included.
  • Bridget wrote:
    I was looking on the NBC website, and now (for the Will & Grace Matt episode) it says "Next On..." but then it says 10/24...which would be next week....so I would just check both weeks.

• Shanna wrote:
  For the few who still have not seen Matt�s Emmy-nominated performance on Will & Grace, NBC.com has announced that they will be rerunning the episode next week, Oct 24th. Program your VCRs!!
• Bridget also wrote:
  They are re-airing the Will & Grace episode with Matt, AGAIN...this Thursday on NBC.
• From the Big Matt Fan:
  Update on BI's weekend take:
  Ranked #36, $130,410 on 161 screens for a PSA of $810. Total: $120,939,505. Other films with a lower PSA include Austin Powers in Goldmember ($575), Ballistic: Ecks v. Sever ($605) and XXX ($656), and The Four Feathers ($748 --boy, that one's dropping like a stone).
• From Felicity:
  • From the "We Hear" section of the NY Post:
    THAT Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are bent out of shape over some bogus nude photos of the two pals circulating on the Internet . . .
  • From an article on issues of billing in London plays:
    All this, says co-producer Clare Lawrence, has been achieved without a single billing tussle. 'Matt [Damon] appreciated the fact that he wasn't being held up as the leading light of a company, and that they [Damon and co-stars Summer Phoenix and Casey Affleck] were all taking on the show together.'
  • Matt has apparently now filmed his one scene cameo in "Jersey Girl".
  • "Bourne Identity" continues to perform really well in Australia, remaining at second in its third week, and almost beating opener "Road to Perdition". Bourne also had the best per-screen average of any movie in the top 20, apart from an IMAX movie.
    The ongoing question remains: when will the Bourne DVD be released or announced? It remains 27th in the charts after 18 weeks - almost $121 million total.

10/11/02

From Felicity:

• Birthday news from the Boston Herald:
  Matt Damon and a pack of about 20 pals celebrated the Hollywood hunk's birthday at Ristorante Fiore the other night. Matt, his dad, Kent, and the rest of the posse chowed on Fiore's famous bombolotti pasta, antipasto, shrimp scampi, chicken fiore, veal saltimbocca and a tiramisu birthday cake. ``They had a great time,'' said Fiore Colella, who has known Matt's dad for 20 years. Damon turned 32 on Tuesday.
• From a NY Daily News story on Taye Diggs:
  "Brown Sugar" director Rick Famuyiwa understands Diggs' frustrations. "If you're Taye and you're trying to further your craft and you are continually offered the black leading male role in a romantic comedy, it's hard to break out of that box, whereas a Matt Damon can play an action hero and turn around and play Mr. Ripley," he says. "I think Taye should be in that same category, but often those that are making or casting the films don't consider African-American characters unless it's specifically written in the script."

10/10/02

• A big thanks to Julie, who wrote:
  SPOILER Last weekend I went to see a pre-screening of "Gerry". I don't know if anyone else has seen it, but I didn't see anything about it on your web page and thought you might like to know about the movie. "Gerry" is definitely a different type of movie. There is almost no dialog and what dialog does exist is improvised. Basically the camera is either showing Matt and Casey walking, or the landscape. There are some shots that last for 10 to 15 minutes with just them walking around, not talking. The talking that does exist is hilarious. The dialog in the entire movie could easily fit on 2 pages - double spaced! The prolonged silence gives you a chance to really understand the situation that the characters are in. Matt looks great throughout the movie, however, about halfway through he wraps his T-shirt around his head and face. "Turbaned up" as he called it. For a large portion on the movie only his eyes are visible. I really enjoyed the movie and I can see why it is causing a stir, however, I don't think I could sit through it more then once. The silence is almost excruciating - not unlike the plight of the characters.
• From Felicity:
  From the NY Post's Page Six column:
  Still the Boss
  BRUCE Springsteen's star wattage at the "Saturday Night Live" after-party at Man Ray drowned out lesser luminaries like host Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Paul Thomas Anderson, Tom Petty, Richard Belzer, Steven Van Zant and the "SNL" cast. All eyes were on Bruce, who sat with wife Patti Scialfa and graciously chatted with fans in the restaurant's basement. Damon seemed remarkably ego-free as well, chuckling when some joker shook his hand and said, "Mr. Affleck, I really love your work."
  • From the LA Times, another review of the SNL premiere, which originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune. Matt's again praised while the show is criticised: here.
    Saturday's meager 28th-season debut--enlivened only by Bruce Springsteen's songs, Robert Smigel's ever-wicked cartoon and guest host Matt Damon's virtuoso attempts to pump up a dozen flat sketches--saw "SNL" sliding into the same sloppy patterns of recent years...
    There is still the amenable, big-name guest host slapped like duct tape onto every skit that doesn't feature a stock character and most of those that do. All credit to Damon for trying to do more than just go through the motions as the show attached his celebrity to the automatic milking machine. But with 10 starring and five featured comic actors this is, or was, or could be, a comic ensemble.
  • There are three paparazzi photos of Matt in New York, which appeared at Rex Features today:
    • Matt and Odessa (probably)
    • At a petrol station
    • here Matt and his golf clubs
  • From the NY Daily News' horoscope section:
    CELEBRITY PROFILES: An effort to save the tradition of the theater is what Matt Damon had in mind when he signed on to do stage production this year. Libra folks find the preservation of art of paramount importance and would rather do high art and take a fraction of the salary they could get for a pop-culture product if it means helping a dying art form. Damon's seriously driven Capricorn moon reveals an unstoppable work ethic.
  • "This is our youth" has a new cast in London - Colin Hanks, Kieran Culkin and Alison Lohman. The age median has certainly dropped.

10/9/02

• From Felicity:
  • From the Boston Globe:
    Good-will gathering at Harbor Hotel By Carol Beggy and Stephanie Stoughton, Globe Staff, 10/8/2002 GOLFING FOR CHARITY A gust of testosterone almost knocked us over at the sports-star-studded Sean McDonough Charitable Foundation fund-raiser at Boston Harbor Hotel. But, heck, what a crowd it was at Sunday's gala: speedskating champ Dan Jansen, baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, and NFL coaching great Bill Parcells. Matt Damon showed up at the hotel with - aw - his dad, Kent. The Damons spent some time chatting with Palmer as lots of fans milled around. In a speech, sportscaster McDonough noted that nice-guy Damon made the party just a day after his ''Saturday Night Live'' appearance, which ''says everything you need to know about Matt.'' We thought that Damon - who did make yesterday's McDonough charity golf outing - would be chosen in an auction that allowed the highest bidder to have first pick of the available celebrities for a course partner. But the winning bidder, Boston Concessions owner Joseph O'Donnell, chose Parcells. Also among yesterday's golfers at the International Golf Course in Bolton: chef-restaurateur Todd English, Celtics great Bob Cousy, Sox legend Jim Rice, and golfer Brad Faxon. McDonough's foundation expects to raise between $85,000 and $100,000 for children's charities.
  • From Army Archerd's column in Variety, via yahoo:
    Archerd: "SNL" crowd tunes into Bush speech
    Mon Oct 7, 9:37 PM ET
    By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist
    HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - "Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV)" executive producer Lorne Michaels and his band of merry men were tuned to their prize subject, President George W., on Monday night.
    "I'm sure you'll find some response (to his speech) this Saturday," Michaels promised me.
    He also admitted they had scrubbed a segment on Dub-ya on the season's premiere show (Saturday) when Matt Damon (news) hosted and handled a host of cartooned impressions masterfully. A segment on the prez had been tried out -- but Michaels said, "When we found out he was to speak Monday, we decided to wait and see."
  • Another SNL review from the Courant: here
    Including: Host Matt Damon was an asset in both of those sketches, game to go where the writers sent him. In the Springsteen sketch, the Boston native did the most convincing accent the skit ever got, as well as the truest line - "FleetCentah, you'll nevah be the Gahden!" (Though that line's appeal, necessarily, had to be regional.)
  • And EW's Hot Topic column is also attacking SNL: here.
  • Here's a larger scale photo of the SNL party pic from pagesix.com - I can't recognise the girl next to Matt, but Odessa is sitting on her left: here
  • Speaking of Odessa, Roger Friedman changed a line in his column from the early edition which I saw (and copied yesterday). The original version was "his girlfriend Odetta", which became "his fiancee Odessa Whitmire".
  • A rare quote from Matt about Odessa in a "TV Soap" interview:
    But he's now found happiness with Odessa Whitmire, the one-time personal assistant to Ben Affleck. Just don't ask him to talk about it.
    "I have the same girlfriend that I've had for a while. No new romance. I'm a very lucky guy. She's got too many great qualities to talk about."
• Wrote the Big Matt Fan:
  While I was disappointed that the (SNL) show was not better, I still enjoyed seeing Matt perform. I am also gratified that most of the reviews are giving Matt credit for doing what he could with poor material. The show wasn't great, but believe me, it's been far worse. I think SNL is one of those things he's always wanted to do. He's mentioned that it's one of his favorite shows, and having Springstein there must have made the experience seem like a dream. Now that he's checked that off his list of Life Goals, let's hope he finds some really good film work really soon.
• Aubree wrote:
  Happy Birthday to Matt! I hear that SNL was good? Im sure it was. I set my VCR to tape it, but somthing happend and it didn't. Does anyone know when it will be shown again? This information would really mean a lot to me! Thank you so very much.

10/7/02

• Vanessa wrote:
  October 8th, Matt Damon's Birthday!!! So Happy Birthday Matt. He is 32. Wahou getting old. No, I am just kidding. So let's have a little quiz. Where will he be? NYC? Boston? L.A? And what present will Matt have from Odessa Withmire, his girlfriend?? If anyone has the answer please tell it to the column.
• Emily wrote:
  My name is Emily C___ and I was wondering if you had the email address of the fan, Becky who sent you some info that you thanked her for on your website? I met her in a stand-by line for SNL this weekend which we waited in for about 18 hours, and we were leaving, my friend and I forgot to get her email or home address....so I figured you would have her email if she sent you something. If you can help me out, thanks a bunch.
  Becky, if you see this, please write to me and I will put you in touch with Emily.
• News from Felicity:
  • A picture of Matt and his father at the SNL after-party, from pagesix.com: here.
  • Roger Friedman of foxnews.com on the party:
    Boss, Matt Damon Live, 'Til 4 A.M.
    Bruce Springsteen, the E Street Band and Matt Damon made it Sunday Morning Live yesterday. The gang partied at Man Ray on West 15th Street until 4 a.m. Sunday after kicking off the hottest Saturday Night Live in years.
    They were joined by Edward Norton, Parker Posey, directors Paul Thomas Anderson and Steve Brill (who each directed SNL player Adam Sandler in features this year), as well as rocker Tom Petty, and Law & Order star Richard Belzer.
    Of course SNL actors Tracy Morgan, Maya Rudolph, Jimmy Fallon, Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz, Seth Meyers, Chris Parnell, Chris Kattan, newcomer Fred Armisen, and producer Lorne Michaels were all there too.
    Damon, who brought along his whole family including his parents, their own partners, his girlfriend Odetta, and a bunch of actual friends, told me it was a relief to be in the same close space with Springsteen. "No one wants to talk to me," he said. "Not when Bruce is around." Nevertheless, plenty of people wanted to congratulate Damon on a successful premiere.
    Springsteen held court in the Man Ray dining room downstairs, sharing the banquet with wife Patti Scialfa. At various times they chatted with Norton and with Michaels, who made sure to get face time with the Boss before the hordes came in.
    Bruce was self-effacing and low key as usual. He told me that the huge tour for The Rising is set to continue for some time. "We have 100 dates," he said. "But I like getting the new music out there for the fans."
    Bruce and Patti almost missed Tom Petty completely, but the rockers met up for a few seconds before going their separate ways.
    Petty stayed upstairs at Man Ray, where most of the E Street Band including Steve Van Zandt, Max Weinberg and Danny Federici were hanging out. If you're hoping as I was that Van Zandt's Sopranos character Silvio will be getting as much airtime in future episodes as he did last week, it's not happening.
    "I'm back to one line here or there starting next week," Van Zandt said. But really, he should be up for an Emmy from episode 3 so that's enough in the long run.
    SNL has almost never let the press in to one of its after parties before Saturday night, so maybe this is the beginning of a new d�tente on all sides. With the show riding a crest of popularity again, and the cast an especially warm group for the first time in years, it made sense all the way around.
  • From USA Today:
    'Bush' hiding, 'Cheney' in charge on 'SNL'
    Saturday Night Live returned for its 28th season over the weekend with a 6.5 rating and a 16% share of the audience, according to overnight metered markets. That's down 14% from 2001, when the show had former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani just after the Sept. 11 attacks. No one played President Bush, because Will Ferrell has left the show. But Darrell Hammond as Dick Cheney spoke with Bush via cell phone. A new Bush is in the works, a spokesman says.
  • Fan reviews of the SNL episode are at: here
  • From the Boston Globe:
    CELEB WEEKEND Matt Damon spent time poking at New England, the FleetCenter, and the Bawstan accents on Saturday Night Live over the weekend. So we wouldn't be surprised if he took some wicked ribbing from locals at last night's kickoff for the Sean McDonough Charitable Foundation's ''Celebrity Golf Challenge.'' Busy Damon served as honorary celebrity golf chairman, though we're not sure whether he's going to make the actual golfing event today in Bolton. Yesterday 's party at the Boston Harbor Hotel featured an auction and appearances by many of the sports figures planning to golf. Among the scheduled players: Cleveland Browns QB and 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch, golfer Brad Faxon, Celtics legend John Havlicek, Olympian Dan Jansen, former New England Patriots coach Bill Parcells, and Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer.
  • From a SNL fansite - screen captures of the episode: here.
    Matt's smile on the introduction is gorgeous: here.
  • Globephotos.com has thumbnail pics from outside the SNL party, including photos of Matt and his mother: here.
  • Here's the review from the NY Post:
    Including: First, the good news: Host Matt Damon's portrayals of Justin Timberlake and the young Hannibal Lecter were among the show's highlights. He also helped boost every other sketch he was in, no matter how weak the material.
  • Push, Nevada is expected to be cancelled this week. Another strike for LivePlanet.
• From the Big Matt Fan:
  In all honesty, it was a pretty bad show. SNL, over the course of its nearly 30 years, tends to have it's ups and downs. At the moment, it's in a definite valley. The departure of Will Farrell and Cheri Oteri has left a pronounced vacuum because many of the stronger characters were their creations.
  Matt came out, as usual, to an enthusiastic response. People really do seem to like him, and as you'd expect, he seemed slightly surprised and enormously grateful for the applause. To me, he seemed a bit thin. Still adorable, but of course, it makes him look even younger than usual.
  His intro included a joke about Martha Stewart's stockbroker, a brief Mike Tyson impersonation, and a bit about American Idol. Of course, that lead into the Britney/Justin "dance-off" sketch in which Matt was rather hilarious, more because of his dancing than the writing.
  I knew the show was in trouble when the second major sketch featured that prissy animal show host. It was always one of the weakest characters last season, usually relegated to the last half hour. Matt did his best, and his reaction shots were precious, but it was hard to escape the fact that the main character just isn't funny.
  On the whole, I thought Matt did what he could with very poor material. He certainly did not hold back, whether he was shouting into the camera during the "Boston guys" sketch, or screaming into the microwave in the "Donatella Versace Pockets" segment. I think he had a great time, though he must have felt, at some point, that the writing just wasn't what it used to be.
  However, I really don't think this will have any signficant effect on his career, negative or positive. Celebrities have been doing this show for nearly 30 years, and the only host I've ever seen it hurt was Steven Seagal, whose appallingly wooden performance on the show has become legendary. The show was bad, but not memorably so. By next week's episode with Sarah Michelle Gellar, it will be pretty much forgotten.

10/7/02
News from Felicity:

• There's pics of Matt and others outside Man Ray for the SNL after-party on Wireimage: here.
• There was a live radio/Internet broadcast Sunday night on a Boston radio station as part of the preliminaries to the golf tournament. Matt was interviewed with Sean McDonough, the host.
  Matt said there was a Yankees-Red Sox skit prepared for the Weekend Update, but it had to be taken out and a new skit re-written when the Yankees lost yesterday. He didn't really say anything else about the show, except "we had a lot of fun".
  Sean called Matt "one of my nicest and dearest friends" who is "exactly the same person I took a liking to 10 to 12 years ago. Every time I meet him I look for hints of a change or ego", but never sees any difference.

10/5/02

• Blakeleigh wrote:
  On the E! channel, they have a new Rank about the 15 most funniest movies and Matt says something about "Meet the Parents". He looked really cute! LOL! Just thought I'd let you'll know that! They usually show the same Rank a bajillion times so you should be able to catch it easily! Talk to you'll later!
• From Felicity:
  • Any early predictions for SNL? I'm guessing the black sweater, an appearance by Casey instead of Ben, probably a song, and some ripping on previous movies.
  • A promo clip of the SNL show (with Matt and Jimmy Fallon) is available at: here, With stills at: here, here, and here.
  • A Spanish interview with Matt about Bourne, writing, Leo and 9/11: here.
  • Another Spanish interview with brief quotes on people like Gwyneth and George. There's also a video clip at the site (in English/Spanish) which is fun to watch. here
• Conan report from a Big Matt Fan:
  FYI: Comedy Central re-runs the previous night's Conan O'Brien at 1 pm and 7 pm PST.
  As for the show, Matt entered to loud and lengthy cheering, so much so that Conan had to wait awhile for them to finish. Matt grinned at the audience and said, "Thanks, guys! You, know, I just live down the street," to which Conan joked, "They'll all follow you home." Matt wore jeans and this bright green t-shirt, and seemed fairly relaxed.
  Conan opened with a story about how he never bumps into celebrities, but last Christmas in Boston, he and his brothers and sisters escaped to a bar around 9 pm. The place was empty, but when he sat at the bar, he got a tap on his shoulder. It was Matt with his friends, and the two had a chance to sit and talk for a while.
  Back at the studio, they talked about Bruce Springstein as a guest on SNL. He rehearsed that day in the building, and apparently, both Matt and Conan came in early to watch him. (They really do have a lot in common.) Conan asked if there was anyone else that intimidated him, and so Matt told his Clinton bathroom story, complete with a Clinton vocal impersonation.
  Conan mentioned that there was a recurring sketch on SNL where the characters talk in Boston accents. He asked Matt if he was planning to do that. Matt said that you never knew which ones would air, but that it was one of the selects. Conan asked if he had trouble doing the Boston accent because when he'd done the show, he'd had a hard time with it because he'd forgotten. Matt answered matter-of-factly, "Well, I'm a professional actor." Huge laughs. He then went on to say that if he was listening at that bar in Boston, he'd remember that when he had a few drink in him, the accent came pouring out.
  Conan then talked about how he'd heard that people call him Ben. Matt said what was worse is that people always said, "Matt! Where's Ben?" as if they were always together. Conan joked about how people expected them to go down the street in a bicycle built for two.
  That's about all I remember. (It was pretty late last night.) Matt was amusing, and Conan seemed to really like him. They have a lot in common (Boston, Harvard, Springstein), so I wouldn't be surprised if they become friends. It wasn't Matt's most uproarious appearance, but it was still delightful. From a current interview with Ted Tally:
  I have a theory that every movie is somebody's favorite movie, somewhere. Well, my favorite movie is All the Pretty Horses which seven people saw. I don't go by box office popularity

10/4/02
From Felicity:

• Another report on the weekend's charity auction and golf tournament from the Boston Globe:
  A good cause
  Matt Damon will serve as honorary host of the Sean McDonough Charitable Foundation Celebrity Golf Challenge. McDonough, the Red Sox television voice and host of a daily sports talk radio show on WWZN (1510 AM), started the foundation with a stated mission of raising funds for children's charities in Massachusetts. The tournament will be Monday on the Oaks Course at The International in Bolton, but on Sunday evening at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Damon will host a celebrity draw party and auction. Among those who are expected to participate are 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch, PGA Tour star Brad Faxon, John Havlicek, former Olympic gold medal speedskater Dan Jansen, Bill Parcells, and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. For information on the foundation and how you can contribute, call Erin Siano at 617-984-0660.
• Rita Wilson is also on Conan tonight, so Matt will get less time. SNL has sent out a press release announcing two new cast members.
• Just found more photos from Matt's Will & Grace episode. Available at the choir's website - can't link to the individual photos: here.

10/3/02

• Bernadette wrote:
  Just thought I'd send some very interesting information...kinda juicy if you ask me :)
  Source: http://www.abstracts.net/jennifer-lopez/ October 1, 2002 - The Star reports Matt Damon has sensibly advised best pal Ben Affleck against getting Jennifer Lopez's name tattoed on his body. Matt lectured to Ben, "Who do you think you are? Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie? Nothing lasts forever." The advice worked for Affleck
• Felicity wrote:
  • From the Boston Globe:
    Damon swings through; Jae's run nears end; 'Mystic River' nights
    By Carol Beggy and Stephanie Stoughton, Globe Staff, 10/2/2002
    BUSY TIMES FOR DAMON Hollywood nice guy Matt Damon is going to have a busy weekend in an effort to support two local causes. Damon is slated to be in town Friday to participate in part of the fund-raiser for the Massachusetts Film Bureau (a privatized reincarnation of the state-funded Massachusetts Film Office that was zeroed out of the budget this summer). However, he may also try to catch Bruce Springsteen 's concert at the FleetCenter that night, we are told, before making his way to the film bureau's after-party. Damon and Springsteen will both be in New York City on Saturday, when they host and serve as musical guest, respectively, of the season-opening edition of ''Saturday Night Live.'' Ah, but Damon's weekend doesn't end there. He's on tap to be part of events Sunday night at the Boston Harbor Hotel to serve as the celebrity MC for the Sean McDonough Charitable Foundation's ''Celebrity Golf Challenge'' kickoff. The party will feature an auction and appearances by many of the sports figures who will golf Monday at The International golf course in Bolton. Among them: 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch, pro golfer Brad Faxon, Celtics legend John Havlicek, Olympic gold-medal speed skater Dan Jansen, NFL coaching great Bill Parcells, and baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. No word on whether Damon will golf, but expect by then that he'll be exhausted.
  • From Marilyn Beck/Stacy Jenel Smith:
    MEANWHILE: Lou Adler has his old buddy Jack Nicholson lined up to play Ernest Hemingway in "The World of Nick Adams" -- the one-night-only, all-star benefit for The Painted Turtle Camp, the latest of Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camps for children with life-threatening ailments. A fall 2003 opening is anticipated for the Lake Elizabeth, Calif., camp -- of which Adler and his wife are cofounders.
    "Jack was the first person I called, and he didn't even ask what it was I wanted him to do," reports Adler, who's producing the extravaganza. "He just said, 'Yes.'" Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Goldie Hawn, Danny DeVito, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening are also among the A-listers joining Newman and Joanne Woodward onstage Nov. 4 for the fund-raiser at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

10/2/02

• Our thanks to B., who wrote: hey! there's a pic of Matt with Odessa in the November issue of Teen People. Nothing fancy, just a candid. :)
• Ditto to Jodi, who wrote: hi matt will be on the E! channel on october 9th at 12:00pm with jules asner revealed
• And Felicity wrote:
  • From the Boston Herald's Inside Track
    Good will golfing
    Hollywood hotshot Matt Damon, fresh from his ``Saturday Night Live'' hosting gig, will tee off with a pack of jocks at Red Sox broadcaster Sean McDonough's charity golf tournament Monday.
    Bagger Vance's favorite duffer will join Heisman Trophy-winner Eric Crouch, baseball Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, Olympic speed skater Dan Jansen and former Patriots coach Bill Parcells on The Oaks course at The International Golf Club in Bolton for the event.
    Proceeds benefit The Jimmy Fund. But of course.
    More information at Sean McDonough's site: here
  • From Variety, another report on the international box office:
    'Bourne,' 'Tuxedo' Show Muscle Overseas Tue Oct 1, 3:50 AM ET
    By Don Groves
    SYDNEY, Australia (Variety) - The fall season for the overseas box office perked up last weekend, sparked by muscular openings from "The Bourne Identity," "Minority Report" and "The Tuxedo," as well as hot holdover business for "Signs."
    "The Bourne Identity" drummed up $8.6 million from nearly 2,000 screens in 20 markets, boosting cume to $23.9 million. German co-star Franka Potente ("Run Lola Run") helped propel the thriller to top spot in Germany, capturing $2.6 million in 504 locations, beating "The Sum of All Fears" by 2 percent and "The Scorpion King" by 53 percent. In France, where the Doug Liman-directed spy saga is largely set, "Bourne" brought in a solid $1.7 million on 433, 4 percent bigger than "The Fast and the Furious."
    The Matt Damon starrer picked up $1.6 million on 229 in Australia, with previews, trailing the soph session of "Austin Powers in Goldmember." It pocketed a potent $391, 000 on 45 in Belgium and $362,000 on 73 in Austria.
    (I'm starting to love the comparisons with seemingly irrelevant movies to make the new film look more impressive. All from the minds of marketers.)
  • NBC's official SNL site is promoting Matt as an Emmy-winner for Saturday's show...

10/1/02

• From Felicity:
  • Gerry is now scheduled for release in LA and NY on February 7, 2003.
  • A good interview from the French paper Le Monde, which is mostly about Gerry: here.
  • Good memories of "Rounders" here. The guys who wrote the film have a new movie out called "Knockaround Guys" and in a chud.com interview talk about both films:

    Brian Koppelman: We learned this lesson on Rounders. Whatever little things happen as your movie's getting released and the immediate reaction, it's meaningless as an artist or creator. We'd do these interviews, and people couldn't comprehend it. Now it's become a cult classic. We get emails, people all over the place know that movie by heart. So for us, the machinations don't matter. We just want to make the movies.
    David Levien: We want it to do well, it makes life easier. Rounders did do well.
    
    Nick Nunziata: It opened at number one, right?
    
    David Levien: Yes.
    
    Nick Nunziata: It's one of the films I play for a lot of my newer friends to gauge their tastes in movies.
    
    David Levien: To try to ground them.
    
    Brian Koppelman: Nice.
    
    Nick Nunziata: It was a big victory for me when Damon chose poker over Gretchen Mol.
    
    David Levien: You've got to go to ESPN.COM on Bill Simmons' season ending awards article.
    
    Brian Koppelman: 36 quotes from Rounders.
    
    Nick Nunziata: I don't want to spend all of our time with Rounders, but much of your script made it to the screen?
    
    David Levien: 100%. We were on the set every day.
    
    Brian Koppelman: He (John Dahl, the director) was so inclusive of us.
    

  • Here are the links to the ESPN articles: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/020411.html
  • Taken from a profile on a golf caddy who works at a Las Vegas course:
    The course record goes to Jordan, and the course jester award to Pesci, but Miyata says that two celebs stand out as Shadow Creeks� most die-hard players.
    "Matt Damon and George Clooney were out here every day for a month when they were shooting Ocean 11 here," he says.
    Damon got hooked on the game while filming "The Legend of Bagger Vance," a story of a downtrodden golfer and his mystical caddy. Miyata says that Damon seems to take the game much less seriously than he did during the filming of Bagger. Most days, Mr. Goodwill Hunting shot his usual round in the high 90�s or low 100�s while cutting up with Clooney on the course.
    "Matt just goes out and has fun with his friends," Miyata says. "Clooney is the same way, he just wants to be with his friends. Matt and George got to be good friends out here. That is what it was all about."
  • A new version of an old studio photo: here.
  • An old pic from GWH: here.
  • Two pictures of Matt and Odessa at Deauville: At the Bourne party: here
    During the screening (or before the introduction): here.
  • An AP story on Saturday Night Live which only briefly mentions Matt: here.
  • An interview with audio clips from the Hoyts website: here
    Including:
    Question 6: What sort of things do you do to stay down to earth?
    Answer: It's kind of tough in L.A. At least when I'm in L.A., you don't get a sense that... I mean people daily paper is Variety, you know, they don't read the L.A Times, they read the Hollywood Reporter or Variety so they can tell you anything that's going on within the industry, but they don't really know, they're like "we bombed who?" (laughs) "triple X really kicked ass at the box office" (more laughs) . One of the reasons I do like New York is it's not dominated by the industry which tends to be pretty proud of itself. I like kind of staying in touch with kind of a regular city like New York and, you know, my friends, my family. I go to a fair amount of plays, I have a lot of friends who are actors. I tend to go to plays, unless I hear somethings great, I tend to go to plays in which I have a friend involved. I do read a fair bit of fiction and non-fiction if I have the time. Right now because The Bourne Identity did well I've spent my time reading scripts because I've just started getting a bunch of scripts handed to me again for the first time in a couple of years.
  • Bourne did do well in Australia in its first week, on a relatively small number of screens. As an example, "Sum of all fears" was on sixteen shows per day at a local cinema when it opened, and Bourne was only on five.
    Its per-screen average was almost $3,000 higher than Goldmember, which came first (in its second weekend).
    A link to the Australian box office charts: here.
  • Here's the cool German poster for Bourne: here.
  • From a German interview at focus.de, my translated version of a question and response:
    FOL: You have filmed in Spain, Czech Republic, France, Argentina and America. How does your girlfriend thereby understand?
    Damon: She is herself from the industry and knows the film business since she was 18. She was the female assistant of Billy Bob Thornton and afterwards for my friend Ben Affleck. She knows the connections and has a great understanding of my occupation. In addition she travels with me, we nearly always spend very much time together in strange countries. That is nearly like a paid vacation!
• From a Big Matt Fan:
  Excerpts from an article from a message board, that looks like it's from one of the trades:
  Mel Gibson, Matt Damon and Jackie Chan were B.O. heroes over the weekend as "Signs" continued to dominate Japan, Mexico and parts of Europe, "The Bourne Identity" enthralled auds in Australia and several Euro territories, and "The Tuxedo" dined out handsomely in Singapore.
  'Bourne's' Potente perf in Germany
  "The Bourne Identity" edged out "Signs" in Germany, helped by "Run Lola Run's" Franka Potente, capturing roughly $2.2 million in three days on 500 screens, including sneaks. That was 20% ahead of "The Sum of All Fears" and 12% bigger than "Panic Room," Universal's Randy Greenberg said Sunday.
  The Damon starrer picked up $1.6 million in four days on 196 locations in Australia, with previews, trailing "Austin Powers in Goldmember," which wooed $1.7 million in its soph session lap (dropping by 41%) and a fab $5.9 million in 11 days.
  The Doug Liman-helmed spy saga trapped $231,000 in two days on 69 in Austria, outrunning "Spy Game" by 64% and "Panic Room" by 41%. "Bourne" has pocketed a sturdy $10 million in 23 days in the U.K.
• Jamie wrote: Just found out that Matt will be on Conan O'Brien on the 3rd of October.
• Echoed Kelly:
  Just wanted to let you know, Matt will be a guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Thursday, October 3. It's a brand new episode, and Matt's there to promote his SNL gig that Saturday. He's the only guest listed (except for the musical guest) for that night on Conan, so let's hope he gets lots of airtime!
• wrote:
  hey the bourne identity mexico premiere changed: its (now on) october 18
  i want to see that movie i can't wait.
• A nice, long note from Rebecca:
  watched Matt from E!News when he was here in Oz, nothing too new, just an interview about Bourne with Jules Asner. He was once again wearing the dark blue shirt. I loved his quote about the standard Hollywood action blockbuster "You can set your watch to the next explosion."
  From Progress Press 3.9.02
  Stellar Visitor is to the manner Bourne
  RED carpet? Check.
  Adoring fans, mostly of the female variety and many still wearing school uniform?
  Check.
  Photographers jostling for pole position?
  Check.
  Guest of honour?
  Fashionably late, of course.
  The odd home-grown celebrity had already arrived for the premiere of Matt Damon's latest flick, The Bourne Identity, in Camberwell last Wednesday. There was Brodie, of fleeting Big Brother II fame, Neighbours' Blair McDonough and footballers Nathan Buckley and Nick Holland. But at 6.55pm, Damon arrived and the screaming began.
  The Hollywood star spent a good half-hour signing autographs and chatting to fans as he meandered up the red carpet.
  ``I love meeting the fans,'' Damon said.
  ``You know, it's a really fun part of the job.''
  Damon said going to premieres and seeing the final product of his films was often like an ``out-of body-experience''.
  The Boroondara premiere was the third time he had seen the final cut.
  ``Tonight they're going to be sneaking me out the back door for a show called The Panel, but that's OK by me,'' he said.
  ``I'd rather other people see it than me see it again.
  ``We're proud of it. I wouldn't have come all the way here if the movie sucked.''
  And here's the article Felicity mentioned from yesterdays Herald Sun:
  To the manner BOURNE
  Sunday Herald Sun (Vic) 29.9.02
  TO call Matt Damon a Hollywood star is something of a misnomer. The 31-year-old actor and Academy Award-winning screenwriter was born in Boston and lives on the East Coast of the US in New York -- or does he?
  ``I've griped before about not having enough time to go set up my house in New York, but this past April I finally had time,'' he said.
  ``I got home, I sat on my couch and within six hours I was on a plane to London to go do a play.
  ``So, I have a home in New York, but I have ended up in Europe a lot the past few years. Probably a total of two of the past four years have been spent over there. It's just worked out that way.''
  Damon's European-made movies have included The Talented Mr Ripley and his latest, The Bourne Identity, filmed in the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and France. The play was Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth, for which Damon and Casey Affleck, younger brother of his good friend Ben, earned raves from the tough West End critics.
  ``I'm very comfortable over there,'' Damon said of Europe. ``I like it a lot and as long as the movies keep coming up over there I'm happy to go do them.''
  The comment is typical of Damon -- polite, cheerful and obliging, although obviously he has learned to not be as open as he once was, especially when it comes to his personal life.
  Currently he is in a relationship with Odessa Whitmire, formerly Ben Affleck's personal assistant, and, while he acknowledges she was in London with him for part of his West End run, he won't discuss her further.
  ``There was no new romance in London,'' he said with a wide grin, ``except for Madonna. I mean, if you want to talk about that.''
  If he can occasionally be flippant during interviews, Damon certainly gets serious when it comes to preparing for movie roles.
  For The Bourne Identity, based on the late Robert Ludlum's 1980 novel and directed by indy favourite Doug Liman (Swingers, Go), Damon bulked up and skill-trained intensively.
  Jason Bourne has two bullets in his back and the number of a Swiss bank account embedded in his hip when he is pulled out of the ocean by the crew of an Italian fishing boat. He also has amnesia, leaving him puzzled about not only what has happened to him, but also why he possesses extraordinary abilities as a linguist, self-defence expert and weapons specialist.
  ``Doug mentioned that he wanted the character to walk like a boxer, with a certain directness that a boxer has -- you know, they tend not to waste a lot of movement -- so I took boxing for four or five months,'' Damon said.
  ``Then I had all this extensive weapons training with a former shot- gunner from the LA SWAT team out in the desert. We practised shooting weapons, disassembling them, assembling them, cleaning them, just to make sure that when I do hold a gun, which isn't too often in the movie, it looks like second nature to the character.
  ``Doug and I decided early on that the physical aspect of it was very important, so the fact that Bourne didn't remember who he was wouldn't affect the fact that physically he would stand a certain way. He would still walk the same way even if he didn't remember why.' '
  For tips on linguistics, Damon looked to his German co-star Franka Potente, who plays Marie Kreutz, a down-on-her-luck woman who becomes involved in Bourne's dangerous world when he offers her $10,000 to drive him from Zurich to Paris.
  ``She taught me phonetically to say some of the things I had to say in the movie, so that was an ancillary bonus to her participation, '' Damon said. ``It was great to play opposite her. All of us in the industry saw Run Lola Run and I think we're all pretty much fans of hers.''
  Damon claimed he was as keen as any average movie-goer to lose himself for two hours in front of a spy thriller, but was ``too often disappointed by the lack of originality'' and had passed on other offers to try the genre.
  ``I'm not a snob, but I just find them too derivative,'' he said. ``The action always seems to be gratuitous. You know, if something hasn't exploded in four minutes, you can check your watch and -- three, two, one -- bang, there's an explosion.
  ``It looks good, but you're not really involved and invested in the characters.
  ``When I saw this script was very much about the characters, with the action pushing the story along rather than just being lopped on top of it in the standard peanut butter-and-jelly way, it really piqued my interest.
  ``Then to have Doug directing it -- the guy who comes out of independent movies and is known for having a unique sensitivity -- it just seemed like a marriage out of which something really interesting would evolve.' '
  The action includes Damon at the wheel in a car chase that has drawn comparisons with The French Connection.
  ``I'd like to say I drove but, no, we had a lot of help from some really great French drivers,'' Damon said.
  ``In one of the Minis they had a steering wheel on the left-hand side that was fake and they sat this premier French driver on the right. He had control of the car and I was just spinning the wheel with the camera behind me, pretending to shift gears up and down whenever he did.
  ``It was better than any Disneyland ride.''
  The Bourne Identity is now screening.
  ****************************************
  A review from The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)
  29.9.02
  The Bourne Identity (M)
  Stars: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper
  Director: Doug Liman
  Plot: Secret agent on the run
  Review: CHRIS BARTLETT
  A BLOKE is hauled from the ocean with two bullets in his back, a laser implant in his leg and no clue as to who he is.
  Another Schoolies casualty? Surely not, there's no sign of a stash or bottle of overproof Bundy. But then again it could well be, since said bloke -- baby-faced Matt Damon -- looks like he's just out of school.
  He is, in fact, a CIA operative. The laser implant reveals a Swiss bank account number. He heads to Zurich and the safety deposit box which may help him find out who he is. It does, sort of, being full of a multitude of passports in different names all with his mug shot, a gun and loads of cash.
  With CIA bad guy Chris Cooper siccing almost every killer in Europe on to Damon, he does the sensible thing: takes the money and runs.
  Along for the ride is Franka Potente (from Run Lola Run), who chauffeurs him in her bright-red Mini (car, not skirt).
  The Bourne Identity, based on Robert Ludlum's bestseller, is a by- the-numbers thriller. It delivers car chases, spectacular fights and shoot-outs in a dour, no-nonsense manner, though the Euro backdrops add to its appeal.
  But one of the problems is that while Damon's Jason Bourne is clueless as to what's going on, we're not. Meaning there's not as much suspense as there might have been. I couldn't help thinking back to Memento, another movie featuring a bewildered protagonist trying to sort out who he is and what's happening, and its terrific plotting which kept the audience guessing at every twist and turn.
  Still, The Bourne Identity is as polished a spook thriller as you' re likely to get. Damon is unassuming enough to be convincing, though Cooper is a tad hammy and Potente sadly under-used, her main role seemingly being to swear a lot in German.
  **********************************************
  A not so great review from the Sunday Tasmanian 29.09.02
  A Bourne LOSER
  A FEW weeks ago I reviewed the completely unmemorable The Sum of All Fears and bemoaned what an unconvincing action hero Ben Affleck was. I should have held my tongue until I saw how his best friend Matt Damon stacked up in the action genre.
  Ben Affleck is the new Harrison Ford and Sum of All Fears is a masterpiece compared to the diabolically bad piece of rubbish that is The Bourne Identity.
  A body is fished out of the Mediterranean with two bullet holes in its back and secret Swiss bank account details on microchip surgically implanted in its hip.
  Despite who knows how long in the water, this man refuses to die but on awakening has no memory of who he is.
  Using the bank details Mr X travels to Switzerland and on opening his safety deposit box discovers heaps of cash in various currencies, a gun and numerous passports, one of which bears the name Jason Bourne.
  Mr X decides he is Jason Bourne and goes looking for clues about his identity and how he ended up punctured, bleeding and in the drink.
  Coming back to life proves a big mistake for Bourne (Damon) because it turns out he is a covert CIA assassin who botched his last assignment.
  Now, instead of calling their agent in and debriefing him, CIA bosses Conklin (Chris Cooper) and Abbott (Brian Cox) decide to eliminate him because his assignment had not been sanctioned.
  Thus starts a long and bloody chase across some of the more scenic bits of Europe with killers on Bourne's trail while the only person he can rely on is Marie (Franka Potente) whom he bribes to drive him to Paris.
  The Bourne Identity has been directed -- if that's the right word for this mess -- by Doug Liman, who came to attention directing the small-scale, character driven comedy/dramas Swingers and Go.
  Clearly work on these two movies did not in anyway prepare him for the task of directing a big budget, multi-location action movie.
  He seems to have no idea about how to stage effective action sequences and the closest he comes is a very derivative and rather dull car chase through the streets of Paris.
  The screenplay by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron, based on a hackneyed Robert Ludlum potboiler, offers little assistance to Liman.
  It creates no believable or even vaguely human characters.
  These are all just stock spy thriller cliches and not even the always reliable Cooper can do anything with his role.
  What anyone was thinking when they decided to make Damon an action hero is beyond me.
  Damon can be an effective actor, as he proved with his wonderful performance in The Talented Mr Ripley, but he plainly does not have the physical intimidatory presence of an action hero and no amount of incoherent editing can hide that fact.
  And, as the script gives him nothing to do in the way of creating a character, his strength as an actor is completely wasted.
  Potente has proved she can carry action movies and serious dramas but here she is given virtually nothing to do except be attractive wallpaper in the background behind Damon.
  The Bourne Identity does not attempt to do one creative thing yet it can not even manage to deal with the genre's inherent cliches successfully.
  All in all, a total waste of everyone's time.
  THE BOURNE IDENTITY
  BOMB
  Stars: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper and Brian Cox.
  Stuart says: ``What anyone was thinking when they decided to make Matt Damon an action hero is beyond me.''
  *************************************************
  Review from Sunday Herald Sun (Vic) 29.09.02
  Thrills re-Bourne
  FIRST The Sum of All Fears and now The Bourne Identity. Toss in Insomnia and there could almost be a trend -- a return to the sort of movies adults used to pack cinemas to see a generation ago.
  The formula is action blended with intrigue, a plot of sorts, even some dialogue, a gorgeous foreign setting (Prague standing in for Paris and Zurich) and, in the case of Bourne, Sum of All and Insomnia, a matinee idol in the making.
  Yet, if The Bourne Identity is old fashioned, it is far from frumpy, despite being based on a Robert Ludlum thriller that has grass growing from its crosshairs.
  Matt Damon is Bourne, a CIA hit-man and spy who faces a predicament familiar to all who saw Richard Chamberlain in the 1988 made-for-TV version of Ludlum's novel.
  Bourne -- he is not even sure that is his name -- has lost his memory and cannot recall anything other than how to duck and weave the incoming.
  Of incoming there is enough to keep a platoon of SAS occupied as a rogue CIA cell tracks the spy across half of Europe, sometimes entertainingly pursuing him in a battered Mini in antics recalling that magnificent caper The Italian Job.
  The Mini belongs to the romantic interest, Franka Potente of Run Lola Run, with whom Bourne hitches a lift as he is escaping Zurich.
  Oh, earlier he was rescued from the sea by a fishing boat, with bullets in his back and a chip revealing a numbered Swiss bank account hidden under his skin.
  He may not know who he is, but after being shot at a few times he catches on fast that someone wants him dead.
  Cut to a power-struggle in the CIA bunker at Langley where one look at Chris Cooper as the chief of some very black ops tells you Bourne is living on borrowed time.
  Even if Damon is short enough in real life to need a trench cut for his leading lady, he makes a much more convincing action hero than pal Ben Affleck in Sum of All.
  One day he might even grow to be a Harrison Ford or Bruce Willis.
  Potente is no simpering American blonde, but a hard-faced daughter of the German proletariat whose looks could easily grace a wanted poster for the Baader Meinhof Gang.
  There is a bare-knuckled supporting actor around every corner -- Cooper, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles and Clive Owen in roles that range from major to minor.
  Then there are the backdrops. It is funny how the difference between a good spy thriller and a bad one is often the quality of the scenery.
  Prague or Paris? Who knows, or cares? It makes you want to book a ticket for Europe.
  All up, a satisfying and gripping yarn.
  **********************
  A review from The Australian
  David Stratton
  The Company Of Killers ROBERT Ludlum's espionage thriller The Bourne Identity was first published in 1980 and I must have read it at about that time. It's one of those easy reads (perfect for long flights) with plenty of incident and tension.
  I'm not sure why it has taken so long for the book to be filmed (another Ludlum nail-biter, The Osterman Weekend, was brought to the screen by Sam Peckinpah in 1983), but the wait proves to have been well worth it; Doug Liman's film is a genuinely exciting thriller.
  Liman's previous films, Swingers (1996) and Go (1999), were independent productions of a very high standard; the latter film, which explored events over a highly dramatic 24 hours from several different perspectives, was particularly successful. With his first mainstream Hollywood film, Liman has lost neither his edginess nor his ability to bring freshness to basically familiar material.
  The Bourne Identity is about a CIA operative who loses his memory. Despite his amnesia, he has lost none of his instinctive survival skills -- and he certainly needs them, because his former employers are out to get him.
  It's rather surprising to find that a Hollywood film released a year after September 11 is able to present the CIA in such an unfavourable light. The film's principal villain is a senior CIA man, Ted Conklin, played with considerable menace by Chris Cooper. Conklin's office in the CIA headquarters at Langley in Virginia has a photograph of George W. Bush prominently displayed on his wall and a couple of US flags on his desk, but Conklin is no patriot -- on the contrary, he' s prepared to use his agents to commit crimes to cover his mistakes.
  A body is discovered floating in the Mediterranean and taken on board by the crew of a fishing boat. The man (Matt Damon) is still alive, though he has been shot twice in the back, and the ship's doctor also discovers a capsule hidden beneath the surface of his skin. Since the survivor has no idea who he is, this capsule is the only clue to his identity. It contains the number of a Swiss bank account and, as soon as he can, the man heads for Zurich to try to discover who he is.
  The safety deposit box has more puzzles for the confused hero. It has a number of passports -- Brazilian, Canadian, Russian -- plus an American one in the name of Jason Bourne. There's also a large sum of money and a gun.
  Just as Ludlum did in his book, Liman and his screenwriters Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron let the audience in on the secret almost from the beginning. Bourne was a CIA assassin who was supposed to have murdered an African diplomat who had been threatening to blackmail the agency. The mission was Conklin's responsibility and he's determined to make good by having Bourne killed before he can cause any more problems.
  Which is why, when Bourne seeks help at the US consulate in Zurich, he gets a very warm welcome and only just manages to escape with his life. He hitches a ride (for a large payment) with Marie (Franka Potente), who agrees to drive him to Paris, where he can follow the clues to his identity.
  It's a thriller that hardly pauses for breathing space as the implacable Conklin seems to be always one step ahead of his quarry. Bourne, despite rejecting his past life, proves his training skills haven't deserted him and manages to escape from some very tight scrapes indeed.
  Damon is a resourceful hero and Potente (the star of Run Lola Run) is splendid -- and very different from the average ingenue -- as the innocent who goes along for what proves to be a bumpy ride. Neither actor is obvious star material for this kind of film but they lend integrity and a sense of realism to the proceedings.
  There were two more Bourne novels -- The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. If they're made as well as this, I can't wait to see them on screen too.
  Rating: * * * *
  ******************************************************88
  Natural Bourne Filler
  Herald Sun (Vic) 26.09.02
  The Bourne Identity (M)Director: Doug Liman
  Starring: Matt Damon, Chris Copper, Franka Potente, Clive Owen, Julia Stiles
  Rating: * * 1/2
  Stunts dicey. Situation spicy. But Damon is Bourne to be mild
  CONTINUING the long line of movie characters who can't remember who the hell they are -- I'd list a few for you, but the memory's playing up at the moment -- here comes Matt Damon as author Robert Ludlum' s amnesiac spy, Jason Bourne.
  As cashed-up and dumbed-down a Mission: Implausible as it ultimately becomes, The Bourne Identity keeps hustling to find a few bends in Ludlum's straightforward adventure.
  Director Doug Liman (Swingers, Go) is largely successful on this front, placating the action enthusiasts with plenty of explosions and stunts without allowing this tale of a forgetful hero to stray towards the forgettable.
  The mystery begins just off the coast of Marseilles one stormy night when a fisherman retrieves our man Bourne from a disastrous dip in the Mediterranean.
  With bullets lodged in his back, a Swiss bank access chip implanted in his hip and no idea of who he is, Bourne barrels across to Zurich to examine a safety deposit box for further clues.
  A wad of cash, six different passports and a gun don't really explain anything, and when he drops in on the US consulate for further help, they try to arrest him on the spot.
  It is here that Bourne learns he is a one-man masterclass in survival smarts, which comes in handy when he also discovers every American agent in Europe would like to kill him.
  Bourne's pursuers are acting at the behest of CIA super-spook Ted Conklin (Chris Cooper), under pressure from the suits upstairs to bring Bourne back to the fold with somewhat gentler measures.
  As shady villains go, you can't help but admire Conklin whenever he defends his tactics to his superiors: ``Why don't you book a conference room so we can talk him to death?''
  Cross-cutting between the hunter and the hunted, director Liman is able to generate just enough background chills to justify the foreground thrills.
  The introduction of some interesting minor characters -- Franka Potente as a gypsy who joins Bourne on his journey, Clive Owen as the hit man known as The Professor and Julia Stiles as the CIA's pinch-hitter in Paris -- also help fill the void while Bourne fills out the missing details of his identity.
  As for Damon as the lead, he is always serviceable, as opposed to sensational.
  Seasoned fans could be disappointed with the blandness of his performance, especially given his recent enthusiastic promotion of the film.
  Strangely, the very tasks that seemingly require the least of the Good Will Hunting star -- such as swinging wildly at the wheel of a Mini as it clatters down the back alleys of Paris -- bring the most out of a dour Damon.
  Reborn spy gains classy Matt finish
  **********************************************************
  The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 26.09.02
  The Bourne Identity (M)Director: Doug Liman
  Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper and Clive Owen
  General release
  Rating: * * * *
  Review: VICKY ROACH
  Like xXx, Matt Damon's Jason Bourne is being promoted as a ``new breed'' of spy. (Most people, I think, would accept that Austin Powers, the other secret agent competing for the box-office dollar, has mutated into a very different species.)
  Vin Diesel's approach is macho and muscular. We are talking raw attraction and hard-core grunt.
  Damon's appeal, on the other hand, is more well-rounded. His superspy, for instance, speaks several languages. Only one of them is violence, though he is, of course, fluent in it.
  Based on the enigmatic hero of three Robert Ludlum bestsellers, the new Bourne is a decade younger than the character in the original novel (which was also made into a mini-series in 1988, starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith).
  When we first meet him, he is an amnesiac in a wetsuit who has just been rescued at sea by the crew of an Italian fishing boat.
  Nearly dead, he carries nothing but the bullets in his back and a Swiss bank account number embedded in his hip.
  What soon becomes obvious, however, is this anonymous anti-hero is capable of extraordinary physical and intellectual feats.
  If anyone can piece together a past out of such a minimal amount of information, it is this man.
  The Bourne Identity tracks the ``black'' CIA agent from Prague to Paris as he tries to work out who he really is and why so many people are trying to kill him.
  Bourne's first stop, not surprisingly, is the aforementioned Swiss bank, where a safe-deposit box contains half a dozen possible identities and a large sum of cash.
  After miraculously escaping the first assassination attempt, he encounters Marie (Run Lola Run's Franka Potente), whom he offers $10,000 for a lift to Paris.
  The free-spirited wanderer figures she might as well go along for a ride ... and what a ride it turns out to be.
  Directed by Doug Liman (the man behind such art-house hits as Swingers and Go), The Bourne Identity sets out to give the old-fashioned spy thriller a tasteful new make-over.
  The decision to cast Potente in the role of Marie is inspired. It puts a fresh and intelligent spin on the rather tired, middle-of-the- road woman-in-peril routine.
  Damon is terrific as Bourne; a man of angst as well as action.
  With the blessing of Ludlum, who died of a heart attack soon after filming was complete, Liman and his team have succeeded in updating a classic genre for the new millennium, without losing any of its original charm.
  **************************************************************************
  The Sunday Times (Perth) 22.09.02
  Bourne Again
  A SLICK, polished, almost Bond-style espionage thriller is the last thing you might expect from the man who brought you the hazy world of strung-out 20-somethings in the cult hits Swingers and Go. But here it is. Doug Liman's version of Robert Ludlum's 1980 spy novel The Bourne Identity has all the hallmarks of a big-budget Hollywood action-adventure. There are guns, gadgets, girls, explosions and car chases through tiny European streets.
  OK, so the car is a crappy Mini and the streets are cobblestoned alleys, but this is every bit an American thriller transplanted to Europe.
  We start in the Mediterranean, where a fishing boat rescues a drowning man (Matt Damon) with gunshot wounds and severe amnesia. A Swiss bank account number tattooed on his arm is the first clue to his identity.
  He heads to Zurich, where a safety deposit box reveals a load of cash, passports, guns, and even his name -- Jason Bourne. Upon leaving the bank, a sense of danger kicks in and he instinctively dispatches several would-be assassins with superhuman speed and brutality.
  As pieces of the puzzle take shape, Bourne drops $20,000 for a ride with Marie (Run Lola Run's Franka Potenta) to his apartment in Paris. The two run the gauntlet of a ruthless CIA operative (Chris Cooper) who wants to eliminate his own agent after a bungled assassination.
  There's a long story about how this film was delayed for more than a year because of script problems, re-shoots and complaints from Damon, who signed on thinking it was going to be a more cerebral espionage thriller than the kind of Hollywood no-brainer his buddy Ben Affleck (or is that B-Lo?) stars in.
  Unfortunately, The Bourne Identity is a bit of both. Apart from Bourne, the characters are one-dimensional and the plot becomes somewhat pointless after the amnesiac discovers who he really is.
  The subplots of romance, assassination and CIA involvement seem written, re-written, cut and re-cut to death. As such, the film almost has more problems with its own identity than Bourne does with his. There are more lethal martial arts, sharpshooting and Ronin-style car chases than character detail, which is fun but unfulfilling.
  You can't help thinking that if the writers of the James Bond movies penned a script with 007 losing his memory, they'd basically have The Bourne Identity.
  What holds it together are slick performances. There are top-notch supporting roles from Clive Owen (tipped as the next Bond) as an enemy assassin, Julia Stiles as a techno-geek and Cooper as the paranoid spook.
  Most of all, a beefed-up Damon is perfect as a baby-faced innocent turned icy-cool killer. The Harvard-educated actor brings a quiet, brooding intelligence to the role, playing Bourne as a super-spook so lethal he's almost robotic.
  The Bourne Identity almost needs psychiatric help in the much rewritten third act, where explosions and gunplay are amped up with techno-inflected music. But at least there's no Bryan Adams theme music in the closing credits.
  So be thankful. The Bourne Identity at least trumps the clunky 1988 television mini-series that starred mini-series king Richard Chamberlain. If Liman, Damon and Co failed at that, they might have wanted to change their own identities.
  *******************************************************************
  Whispers: Star dodges my cheeky questions
  News letter 6.9.02
  On Tuesday I was in London to interview MATT DAMON who was in town promoting his new movie, The Bourne Identity, which is released today.
  Everything was running smoothly as he chatted to journalists until I cheekily asked: What part of your career are you most ashamed of?
  Matt, 31, saw the funny side of the question: There are too many to mention, he joked.
  Im pretty ashamed of a couple of them.
  When I probed further and asked what those films were he ducked out saying: Oh damn... it looks like weve just run out of time.
  ***************************************************
  Spy With Amnesia
  The Sunday Telegraph (Syd) 29.09.02
  IT has one of the best fights ever filmed, one of the best car chases ever staged for the cameras, and is a fitting reminder that thrillers can be fun.
  The Bourne Identity was written by Robert Ludlum in 1980, and there was an indifferent (although mildly entertaining) television mini- series starring Richard Chamberlain as the spy with amnesia.
  Now Matt Damon takes over the role of the man washed up near death, with no clue to his identity except for bullet wounds and a Swiss bank account number tattooed on his hip.
  He sets out to find his identity, via the bank account. But there' s a problem: he has several passports in different names, a gun and wads of cash of various currencies.
  There's an address and a name (Jason Bourne) that might help. But before Bourne can get anywhere near Paris, he finds himself under attack.
  Escaping from the American embassy, he offers a girl he has seen in the embassy (Franka Potente) a large amount of money if she'll drive him to Paris in her battered red Mini.
  In Paris, things go from bad to perverse as Bourne finds his rather pleasant apartment ... then finds it also comes with a hidden assassin.
  With the girl grafted unwillingly on, Bourne has to use every bit of skill he doesn't know he has, as he eludes the police and some nasty killers.
  This is a rattling good thriller, so thoroughly involving that you forget the odd plot blemish.
  Damon's unassuming air helps preserve credibility in the film's early moments as we, like the character himself, try to find out who he is.
  And The Bourne Identity stands apart from most films of its genre in that it keeps the violence and the stunts to a credible limit.
  Exciting, certainly, but believable as well (it's been a long time since we've seen a real person's reaction to extreme violence).
  Damon does excellently, but Potente is a brilliant piece of casting. Headstrong, idiosyncratic and attractive, she's the ideal patsy to take along for an exhilarating car chase.
  ********************************************************************************
  Damon Wields Quality Control
  The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 26.09.02
  Matt Damon is keeping a low profile, waiting for a script that sings. MICHAEL BODEY reports
  Oscar winner and ever-beaming American boy-next-door, Matt Damon, is one of the major movie stars of his generation.
  Yet earlier this year he was driven to the London stage to make his West End debut in Kenneth Lonergan's play This is Our Youth.
  Incredibly, he admits: ``I was basically looking for something to do. There weren't really any good movie scripts -- I haven't shot a movie in over a year -- I'm still kind of waiting for a good movie script and haven't really seen any and this thing was a great piece of material so I jumped on it.''
  Yet Damon has starred in some of cinema's biggest, and finest, films of the past decade: Good Will Hunting (for which he won the screenwriting Oscar), Saving Private Ryan, Ocean's Eleven and The Talented Mr Ripley.
  ``I'm trying to be choosy but I don't think my standards are that, you know, prohibitive that I wouldn't see anything but I really haven' t seen anything that I wanted to do,'' he says. ``Plus the offers are starting to roll in more now that this thing came out and did well. I wasn't exactly at the top of the list before The Bourne Identity opened.''
  The film, an adaptation of Robert Ludlum's thriller, is the best of both worlds, a critical and commercial hit, and suddenly Damon is the franchise boy his mate Ben Affleck wants to be. ``Yes, but I didn't sign up for the second one when I signed for the first one, '' he says. ``They signed everyone else though. I didn't know if I was going to enjoy it or not and I ended up really enjoying it. I' d do another one but it's a bit of a ways off because Tony [Gilroy, the screenwriter] would have to come up with a whole new story.''
  Damon plays Jason Bourne, a young tyro, found unconscious, who must piece together his life as he recovers from amnesia.
  As happens in the movies, his life was simply that of a secret agent. And he can't exactly lose his identity again in a sequel, a point of which Damon is well aware.
  ``I don't think there's any reason to do it unless we feel we can do it better than the first one,'' he says.
  The first one is smarter than your average Hollywood fare, and the comparison can't help but be made with Affleck's latest, the bigger but dumber, The Sum of All Fears.
  ``I felt it [Bourne] was a cut of cloth above the ones I normally tend to read and see,'' he says. ``And I liked the intelligence of it and the way [director] Doug Liman talked about it -- he really sold me on it.''
  ``Plus I thought his never having done a movie with this kind of budget, it seemed like the right amount of chaos to bring to something like this to make it work.''
  And chaos Liman brought. The director of arthouse hits Swingers and Go was a novel choice for the $150 million-plus movie.
  That novelty almost destroyed the film, with bickering against the studio, last-minute script changes and reshoots the norm.
  ``Doug's known for creating -- if it's not there -- as much chaos as possible,'' Damon says. ``It was a calculated gamble.''
  That resulted in one of the more troubled films of recent times.
  ``We really pulled one out of the hat because I'm really happy with the movie, how it came out, and Doug's happy but there were definitely some really tense moments on set,'' Damon says.
  ``The movie benefited from a lot of smart people around it. It's very rare that a movie gets worked on that much and remains as coherent as The Bourne Identity is.''
  *************************************************
  Q&A
  Herald Sun (Vic) 26.09.02
  MATT DAMON tells CLAIRE SUTHERLAND about his not-so-charmed life.
  You' ve just made a high-powered action movie with Doug Liman, who is better known for his quirky character movies Swingers and Go. How did you know he'd be able to pull off car chases and gun fights?
  I would have been worried if it had been the kind of director who does this kind of movie all the time. I was actually excited with what he would do with it because I figured it would be a new twist on an old genre.
  You've led a pretty charmed life in terms of your movies winning over critics. You don't seem to have put a foot wrong.
  Well, All the Pretty Horses got pretty savaged. It was cut by the studio at the end of the day because Billy Bob (Thornton's) cut was three hours and 12 minutes. It's still the best movie I've ever done and I was so proud of it and of everybody's work in it and I was really, really sad to see what happened to it. But what happened at the box office or what the critics say literally has no bearing on what I feel about that movie. If I could go back and do one movie again it would be that one. Everyone working on Billy Bob's version reached personal bests with their own work.
  The Legend of Bagger Vance wasn't very popular either, but Bagger Vance I understand a little more. All the Pretty Horses I've always been upset about because it never really got its chance to be what it was.
  How do you respond to negative reviews?
  It depends, sometimes you agree with what the person is saying. Certainly in the case of All the Pretty Horses it was hard for me because I had seen the original cut of the movie I thought was truly a masterpiece so I didn't know what to say. It was like trying to fight with one hand tied behind your back. You're like ``I could whip your ass if you could just untie my other hand'', but it's not even a fight, it' s a beating. But I think if you're going to read it just don't take it to heart, if it's good or bad, it's all bulls. . t. And a lot of time, the people writing it don't know what it takes to make a movie anyway.
  The press has made much of your star-spangled love life. What would you have done differently in hindsight?
  I probably would have been less forthcoming. It's so strange to look at your life reflected back at you through the media, and I think that's what happened with Ben (Affleck) and I's friendship. It was just so weird to have this friendship that has been a huge part of your life and you take it for granted for 10, 15 years and suddenly it's a matter of public record. I think it undermines your ability to do your job. Someone like Edward Norton is a lot more circumspect about his personal life and his personal history because it makes it easier for him to just disappear within a role, it makes it easier for audiences to accept him in different roles. I think the more people know you the more you get trapped into doing the same thing over and over again, so I maybe would have done things there a bit differently.
  So how do you approach giving interviews now?
  It's still hard for me to talk to you and try to remind myself that I'm not just talking to you, because your natural inclination is to just be forthcoming with who you're talking to. Oh yeah, you're a nice person, so we sat and we chatted and then you see it with quote marks around it and suddenly it looks like some huge proclamation made from a soapbox by somebody and you just seem like a jackass.
  Do you understand public fascination with the love lives of celebrities?
  I don't. I don't care why anybody broke up with anybody. I don't feel it's any of my business. If I know the people and they want to talk to me about it then that's one thing, but I just never had any interest in that stuff. I'd much rather be in touch with the people in my own life than be in touch with people who I'll never meet or have trivial information about people I'll likely never meet.
  Do you ever read the weird things written about you on the Internet?
  I'm kind of tempted to see what else is on there, but I don't think I could ever look myself in the face again if I went hunting for Matt Damon websites.
  The latest rumour has you having a big bust-up with Ben Affleck.
  I don't know where that's come from but I'm sure that will then get picked up by other news services, which is strange because we just launched the second season of Project Greenlight in New York.
  I understand Ben's brother Casey is responsible for many of the lies circulating about you.
  He's got just the right distance between the stuff he's seen happen to his brother and me. He will do interviews and not one honest word will come out of his mouth, about himself, about anybody. He doesn' t take any of that stuff too seriously. I don't think he wants it to be too much a part of his life.
  Are you able to live a relatively normal life?
  The strangest my life gets honestly is on things like this. I end up in fancy hotels and there are people around keeping a very tight schedule. It's amusing to me because I'm not that much of a Nazi about my own time. Back in New York I don't live in any kind of highfalutin' way, I don't have a bodyguard or anything silly like that. I walk around everywhere, I live a very normal life and in the long run I think that is going to help me with my own work because I'm not losing touch with the real world.

9/28/02
Felicity wrote:

• Here's a link to a 24 minute audio interview with Matt from Australia's "Movie Show". It's another long and thoughtful piece, discussing the early years with Ben, struggling in LA, coping with sudden fame, problems with Liman v the cinematographer on Bourne, Frank Marshall saving the film, identifying bad scripts and working with Kenneth Lonergan.
• From an interview in the Herald-Sun, some excerpts:

  Q: Do you understand public fascination with the love lives of celebrities?
  A: I don't.  I don't care why anybody broke up with anybody.  If don't feel it's any of my business.  If I know the people and they want to talk to me about it then that's one thing, but I just never had any interest in that stuff.  I'd much rather be in touch with the people in my own life than be in touch with people who I'll never meet or have trivial information about people I'll likely never meet.
  
  Q: Do you ever read the weird things written about you on the Internet?
  A: I'm kind of tempted to see what else is on there, but I don't think I could ever look myself in the face again if I went hunting for Matt Damon website.
  
  Q: I understand Ben's brother Casey is responsible for many of the lies circulating about you.
  A: He's got just the right distance between the stuff he's seen happen to his brother and me.  He will do interviews and not one honest word will come out of his mouth, about himself, about anybody.  He doesn't take any of that stuff too seriously.  I don't think he wants it to be too much a part of his life.
  
  Q: Are you able to live a relatively normal life?
  A: The strangest my life gets honestly is on things like this.  I end up in fancy hotels and there are people around keeping a very tight schedule.  It's amusing to me because I'm not that much of a Nazi about my own time.  Back in New York I don't live in any kind of highfalutin' way, I don't have a bodyguard or anything silly like that.  I walk around everywhere, I live a very normal life and in the long run I think that is going to help me with my own work because I'm not losing touch with the real world.
  

• After Jeff's note yesterday this is timely - from the Harvard Crimson Online:
  Drama Society Stages Comeback
  Winthrop House to host plays
  By JAQUELYN M. SCHARNICK
  Contributing Writer
  After a lengthy hiatus, the Winthrop House Drama Society met last night to start planning for its first performance in seven years, a production of the well-known suspense thriller Deathtrap. The Drama Society faded out of existence around 1995 after a storied history that includes the final Harvard performance of actor Matt Damon, Class of 1992.
  Ira Levin�s Deathtrap will open on Dec. 5 in the Winthrop Junior Common Room, which is the same room where Damon performed Burn This with the society.
  Ellsworth A. Fersch, a lecturer on psychology and nonresident tutor in the House, said he remembers Damon�s performance �generated such a crowd.�
• Here's a lengthy Chud review of the Project Greenlight DVD: here.
  A still of Matt and Ben during the initial deliberations (choosing the PGL winner): here

9/27/02
Jeff wrote:
I live in NYC, and I'm part of a group of people who send text messages to each other whenever we see celebrities around town (UPOC.com's "NYC Celebrity Sightings" group; in fact, you don't have to live here to sign up -- read more about it here: here), and I got a message last night (Wednesday, 25 September) from a guy who said he saw Matt Damon and Casey Affleck having dinner at Giorgio's Pizza in Union Square (See here), and then attending a performance of "Burn This", a play starring Matt's 'Rounders' co-star Edward Norton, at the nearby Union Square Theatre ( here).

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This is a no-frills web site dedicated to a weekly (or so) column on Matt Damon , the actor.
The site is maintained by a fan of the actor and is stricly for the reading pleasure of others who admire Matt. Each column will address a specific topic, along with tidbits and news on Matt.
Readers' emails are welcome. Write to me at [email protected].
Please write fan mail to Matt to:
C/o Patrick Whitesell
Endeavour Talent Agency
9701 Wilshire Blvd.
10th Floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

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Click on a link

A very weird article, found on http://www.citypages.com, where this site was cited as the lead-in.
Universal applauds Damon's big help with big 'Bourne' opening, Jun. 19, 2002,By Martin A. Grove, Hollywood Reporter.
Still photos from Good Will Hunting.
2000 Jan. Premier magazine article
USA Weekend November 2000 article, "Ace of Clubs" y by Craigh Barboza.
Local boys making 'Good' a Boston Herald article from the GWH days
The Advocate (12/99) interview by Brendan Lemon.
Some of my personal favorite pictures of Matt
The Talented Mr.Ripley page
The All the Pretty Horses page
The Bagger Vance page
Matt at Fenway Park for the 1999 Major League Baseball All Stars
The Details magazine article, as appeared in the London Telegraph.
Janel Maslin's NY Times Review of GWH , in which she called Matt "very much the supernova".
An article about pre-GWH videos of Matt Damon/
Archive of Past Matt Columns

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I hope you enjoy this site. Sorry if you looked for Matt photos in vain. If you like photos, see Elise's site, which has an excellent photo gallery.
Some good sources of Matt Info
The greenlight project link: The site created by Matt and Ben for online screenplay submission.

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E-mail:	[email protected]
URL:	http://mattdamon.cjb.net

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