Matt Damon Page 9

Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel put aside their light-hearted ‘feud’ for a hilarious segment skewering United Airlines for its recent passenger-bumping PR disaster on the latter’s late night chat show this week.

The two have been engaged in fictitious feud with each other for eight years, largely revolving around how Damon never gets invited as guest to ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!” However, they joined forces for the sake of capitalising on the great social media talking point of the last fortnight – the United Airlines scandal in which a passenger was dragged off a United airplane by airport police because he had been bumped from the internal flight.

Matt Damon settled his 'feud' with Jimmy Kimmel for a United Airlines skit

Continue reading: Matt Damon "Bumped" By Jimmy Kimmel In United Airlines Skit

Upon the release of his new epic movie The Great Wall, Hollywood star Matt Damon, whose name is credited in some of the most prestigious movie projects ever, believes that he’s never been involved with anything on the scale of this – even the subject matter of the Wall itself.

“There’s no way to describe the Great Wall – it’s almost unimaginable that human beings made that. I mean, it just goes on forever!”

Continue reading: Matt Damon Befuddled By The Great Wall

When Matt Damon was cast in veteran filmmaker Zhang Yimou's new adventure The Great Wall, the internet erupted with cries that putting a Western actor into the story was "whitewashing" Chinese history. But the actor was quick to point out that the movie is a fantasy and his character was written to be Western.

"The whole idea of whitewashing, I take that very seriously," Damon says. "This was designed as a giant East-meets-West coproduction creature-feature monster movie!"

Continue reading: Matt Damon Explains His Role In The Great Wall

Matt Damon has shared the unusual reaction he had when friend George Clooney revealed that he and wife Amal were expecting twins.

Damon said he first found out the exciting news last fall, when Amal was just eight weeks pregnant, and his immediate reaction was to remind his friend about the ’12-week rule’ when it comes to sharing pregnancy news.

Matt Damon knew about The Clooney’s baby knew before anyone else

Continue reading: So Why Did Matt Damon Tell George Clooney To 'Shut Up' After He Revealed Baby News?

Matt Damon’s career was given an invaluable boost when he and Ben Affleck appeared beside Hollywood heavyweight Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting and the actor has revealed he always thought he would be able to pay the funnyman back the "incredible debt" both he and Affleck owed him.

Matt Damon feels his career was kickstarted by the late Robin Williams

Now the Oscar award-winning actor has revealed he finds it hard to come to terms with Williams’ suicide two years ago and the fact he will never be able to thank him properly for launching his career.

Continue reading: Matt Damon Reveals He Feels He Still Owes Robin Williams An "Incredible Debt"

Matt Damon is set to star in ''a little bit'' of 'Ocean's Eight'.

The 46-year-old actor - who played the role of Linus Caldwell in the 2001 hit movie 'Ocean's Eleven' alongside George Clooney and Brad Pitt - has revealed he will star in the all-female reboot of the highly-anticipated production.

The forthcoming production will star Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Minday Kaling and Cate Blanchett, and will see the group of actresses undergo a heist at the Met Gala.

Continue reading: Matt Damon Will Star In 'a Little Bit' Of Ocean's Eight

Filming on the all-female Ocean’s outing in Ocean’s Eight began earlier this year and, in a little nod to the original outing, one of Ocean’s Eleven’s main stars will be making a cheeky cameo: Matt Damon.

Matt Damon will make a cameo appearance in Ocean's Eight

The star, who played Linus Caldwell in the all-male 11 and 12 films, will feature "a little bit" in the newest franchise which is being headed by Sandra Bullock and produced by George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh.

Continue reading: Matt Damon To Make Cameo In All-Female Ocean's Eight

Matt Damon has defended his new film The Great Wall after accusations of ‘whitewashing’.

The actor said the criticisms of the movie were a “f****** bummer” and added he’ll be surprised if people still have that reaction after seeing the finished product.

Matt Damon stars in upcoming action move The Great Wall

Continue reading: Matt Damon Defends New Movie 'The Great Wall' After Whitewashing Accusations

In a list that’s sure to reignite the debate about the gender pay gap in Hollywood, Dwayne Johnson has been named the highest-earning male movie star in the last 12 months, with an income of $64.5 million – nearly $20 million more than Jennifer Lawrence, the top-earning female actor.

Forbes published its annual list of the highest-paid movie stars in the business on Thursday (August 25th), and it revealed that ‘The Rock’ has more than doubled his earnings over the period of June 2015 to June 2016, thanks to a combination of big-budget movies such as The Fast and Furious franchise and the disaster film San Andreas, plus upfront fees for the likes of Central Intelligence, Fast 8 and the new Baywatch film.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is the highest-earning actor in the world

Continue reading: Dwayne Johnson Named The Highest Paid Actor In The World

Rihanna is set to star in 'Ocean's Eight'.

The 'Sledgehammer' hitmaker has joined Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling,

Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett in the upcoming sequel to the crime thriller movie, which is a spin-off of 'Ocean's Eleven', which starred Brad Pitt and George Clooney, according to Deadline.

Continue reading: Rihanna Is Set To Star In Ocean's Eight

Both he and director Paul Greengrass ruled out any further films, prompting the studio to make the 2012 reboot The Bourne Legacy. A few years later, Damon and Greengrass agreed to come back. "It's a tough thing to earn an audience's trust and so we didn't just rush into it," Damon says. "We waited for 10 years or so and got a good story."

The new film, simply titled Jason Bourne, opens with a big fistfight. "We shot that scene, that first fight, on the first day and it was like, we're doing this," Damon says. "It won't be said that we came to pick up a pay cheque. We're going to give it absolutely everything we have!"

Continue reading: Matt Damon Suffered To Return To Jason Bourne

Matt Damon has spoken out to say that he is thoroughly comfortable with the fact that, should the Jason Bourne franchise continue for some time, he'll eventually have to be replaced. This much isn't too surprising given that he's already taken a step back from the franchise previously, with Jeremy Renner taking over in the last movie.

Matt Damon reprises his titular role in 'Jason Bourne'

He's currently promoting the fifth installment of the franchise, entitled simply 'Jason Bourne', which is being released fourteen years after the first film 'The Bourne Identity'. It's been going this long so far, so there's nothing to stop it continuing for another decade or so - but Matt Damon will be well into his 50s by then.

Continue reading: 'I'll Be Replaced And That's Totally Fine': Matt Damon Accepts That He Won't Be Jason Bourne Forever

This year is turning out to be an exciting year for the film industry. With all the award shows over and done with for 2015, we're keeping tabs on some of the major pictures of 2016 to see what's in store for next year's Oscars. Looks like there's some serious competition.

So far, among the major releases we've had are 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice', 'Deadpool', 'Hail, Caesar!', 'Zootopia' and '10 Cloverfield Lane'. That is literally the tip of a very large iceberg for what 2016 has to bring to screens this year.

Here are 20 more you need to watch out for:

Continue reading: From Finding Dory To Suicide Squad: 20 Blockbusters Still To Come In 2016

Matt Damon might have failed at landing a Best Actor Oscar this year, but he has managed to make his way onto 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' finally with the help from his best friend Ben Affleck. Of course, his stay was very brief as Kimmel was soon able to kick him off, but it was enough to please the audience.

Matt Damon sneaks onto Jimmy Kimmel Live

As part of the post-Oscars show, Ben Affleck arrived onto the stage of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', nonchalantly wearing a massively bulging overcoat and claiming that finishing training for his Batman role has meant that all his muscle has turned to fat. In response to Kimmel's comment that he's 'ballooned', Affleck quipped: 'I didn't think this was going to be about body-shaming tonight'. But Kimmel was not to be fooled by the absurd moving bump and immediately got up to see what Affleck was hiding. It turned out to be a very red-faced Matt Damon, panting a little from the lack of oxygen, who unstraps himself from a body harness that Affleck is wearing and garners huge applause from the audience, to Kimmel's chagrin.

Continue reading: Ben Affleck Sneaks Matt Damon Into 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' Under His Coat

A new instalment to 'The Bourne Identity' franchise is set to hit this summer in the form of 'Jason Bourne', seeing the return of Matt Damon in the starring role. It's a welcome comeback for the actor, after the poorly received previous flick from 2012, 'The Bourne Legacy' starring Jeremy Renner.

Jason Bourne is back and he's badder than ever

It's not that there was anything wrong with Renner's performance, it's just that Jason Bourne's story was generally a lot more engaging, and so pulling him out of retirement for a fifth instalment of the franchise is a much needed resumption to the original layout.

Continue reading: Jason Bourne: He Remembers Everything, But It's Not Over

The Revenant swept the board at last night’s 73rd annual Golden Globe awards. The historical drama took home the Best Picture and Best Director awards at the star-studded ceremony, while Leonardo Dicaprio was named Best Actor.

Leonardo DiCaprio was named Best Actor at the Golden Globes.

Accepting the award, DiCaprio, who played frontiersman Hugh Glass in the drama, described taking home the gong as ‘an incredible honour’. 'Wow, that meant a lot,’ he continued.

Continue reading: 'The Revenant' Sweeps The Golden Globes, As Jennifer Lawrence And Lady Gaga Also Take Home Awards

This is the point where the industry weighs in on the conversation that has been limited mainly to critics so far. Unsurprisingly, Carol and The Revenant feature heavily in the BAFTA race. But unlike the awards season to date, genre films like Mad Max: Fury Road and The Martian were virtually locked out of the major categories. (The Martian managed nods for actor Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott.)

Also unexpected for Bafta was the absence of local favourites like Tom Hardy, Charlotte Rampling and Carey Mulligan, and not even one craft nomination for Spectre. Bafta voters also failed to nominate two other current favourites: Creed and Joy.

Continue reading: Awards Season Shifts Up A Gear With BAFTA Nominations

Jimmy Kimmel and his long-term lover MollyMcNearney have married in a romantic Californian ceremony. The star-studded ceremony was packed with A-list guests, including Matt Damon, his wife Luciana, Emily Blunt, Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck, Ellen Degeneres, Portia DeRossi, Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Stanley Tucci and John Krasinski who all turned up the exclusive Ojai event.However, all eyes turned to the drive as a guest dressed in an elegant white wedding gown stepped out of a black limo and made her way towards the reception to be greeted.

Was Jimmy Kimmel Confused When Two Ladies In White Dresses Approached Him?

Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, had arrived to Kimmel and McNearney's wedding-do in pure prankster style wearing a white gown and bridal train, reports The Daily Mail.

Continue reading: Jimmy Kimmel Married, But Why Did Two Brides Turn Up To The Wedding?

Halle Berry married Olivier Martinez this weekend, according to reports in E! The ceremony appears to have taken place at the Chateau des Conde in Vallery, France. Photographs of guests arriving at the ceremony and the couple in their wedding car are likely signs the couple did finally tie the knot. Berry is a stickler for details and promised the wedding would only be "very small", as she said in an interview with InStyle magazine.

Olivier Martinez and Halle Berry at the Cloud Atlas premiere, Grauman's Chinese Theater, L.A. 

A continent away but on the same day (Saturday 13th July), Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearey had a larger ceremony with their 300 guests including Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Matt Damon, Jennifer Aniston, Louis Theroux and Emily Blunt. 

Continue reading: Wedding Week: Halle Berry Marries Olivier Martinez Whilst Jimmy Kimmel Weds Molly McNearey

Randy Travis condition is improving according to the country singer's doctors. In a video statement made by Dr William Gray (on behalf of himself and Dr Michael Mack) said Travis' "condition has stabilized, and he has shown signs of improvement"

Randy Travis arriving for Late Night With David Letterman Show in 2008. 

Travis was admitted to a Texas hospital earlier this week. According to NY Daily News, the singer was well until he contracted a viral upper respiratory infection three weeks ago. His condition escalated and caused, what TMZ believe to be, presumptive cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. Travis' doctors believe the infection weakened the heart muscles which led to his heart failure. 

Continue reading: Randy Travis' Condition "Has Stabilized" And Is Improving

Matt Damon, perhaps best known for his role as amnesiac spy Jason Bourne in the Bourne trilogy of films, has come across as rather astute and intelligent in a new interview where he shows how much more important family are to him, rather than fame. Esquire magazine managed to get under the skin of Hollywood heartthrob Damon for long enough to hear the A-list actor and hunky philanthropist speak candidly about his views on life as a celebrity.

Matt Damon: Keeping It Real In The Limelight.

For all a celebrity's Hollywood fame, glamour and popularity the one thing they might crave most is a little time alone with their family away from the flashbulbs and Dictaphones, as Damon demonstrates when he compares himself to Brad Pitt. There is a twinge of poignancy to Damon's words as he tells of fellow actor Brad Pitt's anguish that he cannot so much as drop his children of at the school gates without being pestered by the paparazzi: "I remember telling [Brad] that I walk my kids to school, and his face just fell," with Damon adding darkly "I see the intensity of...the paparazzi and the insane level of aggression they have and their willingness to break the law and invade his space - well, I wonder about that trade," as reported by Yahoo!omg!  However, the biggest difference between the two actors is that Pitt married Angelina Jolie, an actress, who is very much permanently in the public eye with their highly documented child adoption and Jolie's breast cancer scare. Damon, on the other hand, says that with regards to himself "there's not really any story to tell," saying "they're always going to get the same story - middle-aged married guy with four kids. So as long as that narrative doesn't change too much, there's no appetite for it."

Continue reading: Matt Damon: "I Fell In Love With A Civilian"

Ben Affleck was awarded with the Spike’s Tv ‘Guy of the Year Award’ on Saturday (aired last night). The ceremony took place in Culver City, California. Affleck was presented his antler shaped (nicknamed ‘mantler’) award by fellow Oscar winning actor and director, Clint Eastwood. This is one of many awards; Affleck has received this year including an Oscar for his film Argo.

The Awards were first held in 2007 and previous winners have included Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Mickey Rourke, Maek Wahlberg and Matt Damon. As you’d expect, the awards are hardly female friendly (there is an award named the ‘holy grail of hot’) yet many turned out for the event including Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Alba.

The awards are hardly on par with the Oscars or a Golden Globes – there was a category in 2012 for ‘Hottest Zo(o)e(y)’. The nominations for this particular award were somewhat limited. However, the award’s lack of prestige did not prevent Affleck celebrating backstage with Snoop Dogg, Vince Vaughn and Jimmy Kimmel.

Continue reading: Ben Affleck Is Guy’S Choice Awards’ ‘Guy Of The Year’

A host of Hollywood stars, including Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Hugh Bonneville have landed in southern English locations while filming World War II movie The Monuments Men in Rye, Sussex, and Duxford's Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire.

Adapted from the 2010 true story novel, Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves And The Greatest Treasure Hunt In History, by Robert M. Edsel, the film will be centred upon a group of historians and art curators - members of the 'Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives' program - a taskforce who work together to recover priceless artwork stolen by Nazis and other important cultural items, before they are destroyed by Hitler or bombed in the six-year-long conflict.

The film, which is produced and directed by Clooney, will also co-star Cate Blanchett and The Artist's Jean Dujardin, and will use the former airfield in Duxford for plane scenes and American war-base footage, and the coastal Rye location for shotting of a nautical nature.

Continue reading: Hollywood Meets Sussex: Clooney And Co Shoot 'The Monuments Men' [Pictures]

Is Will Smith losing his edge as Hollywood's most bankable box-office star? We've seen chinks in Tom Cruise's commercial armour in recent years, though Smith appears to be in free-fall - and he doesn't have the Mission Impossible franchise to fall back on.

His latest movie - M. Night Shymalan's After Earth - is a weak, weak effort that left audiences with little patience left for the Indian-American director and doubts over Smith's eye for a decent family flick. It's no secret that the movie star pulled out all the stops to get the sci-fi movie made, enlisting his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith as a producer and casting himself and son Jaden Smith as the lead stars.

The film failed to top the box-office, pulling in $27.5 million after a 12 per cent score on reviews aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie could now lose tens of millions should it not score big overseas. Commentators agree that the hapless Shymalan will take the biggest hit from the box-office disaster and it's possible that the major studios will no longer trust the The Last Airbender director with big-budgets, however, After Earth also proves that Will Smith's supposed bulletproof image is not so solid and that the four years between Seven Pounds and Men In Black 3 did little to maintain his position as the world's most bankable star. "One thing you've got to do as an actor is portfolio management," said an industry source, "Will went through a place where he didn't do a lot of movies, and none has been great..He could still be highly successful, but it was automatic before. Now audiences will look more carefully."

Continue reading: Fall Of The Prince: Sony Lose Millions On Will Smith's 'After Earth'

Michael Douglas as Liberace in Behind The Candelabra

Steven Soderbergh lands in sunny Cannes this week with his HBO movie Behind the Candelabra, a biopic of the flamboyant pianist Liberace, played by Michael Douglas. The American entertainer's personal life was embroiled in scandal with rumors of homosexuality which he always vehemently denied - this despite his close relationship with a young chauffeur named Scott, 39-years his junior.

Scott, played by Matt Damon, becomes an important figure in the pianist's life and he is even persuaded to under facial surgery by the pianist. It led to a desperate struggle with drugs and various fiery arguments between the pair. "I didn't want to do a biopic in the traditional sense. I wanted to go narrow and deep," Soderbergh told the Los Angeles Times of the movie, "It's Alice going down the rabbit hole. That's a much more elegant way to get into Liberace's life." On his love scenes with Damon, Michael Douglas told the New York Magazine, "Once you get that first kiss in, you are comfortable.Matt and I didn't rehearse the love scenes. We said, 'Well - we've read the script, haven't we?"

Watch the 'Behind the Candelabra' trailer!

Continue reading: Michael Douglas Stuns As Liberace In 'Behind The Candelabra' [Trailer & Pictures]

While some of us are still struggling to get their bearings after winter, Matt Damon and wife Luciana Barroso decided to jet off to the tropical island of St. Lucia to renew their vows, PEOPLE confirms.

With a $600 000 price tag and some extremely tight security around the island price tag, the ceremony is hardly quaint, but it’s still an intimate affair. The couple are set to exchange vows in front of their four daughters and some close friends, including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas. The Damon family have been together since 2005, when they married in a modest civil ceremony in New York city. They met in 2003, while Damon was shooting Stuck on You and Lucia was bartending.

While reports that the resort is being closed down for the ceremony have been discredited by E!News, the St. Lucia authorities are still taking serious security measures for the event.

Continue reading: Matt Damon And Luciana Barroso Renewing Vows Over The Weekend

A new trailer has been released for ‘Elysium,’ Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his well-received debut feature District 9. Set in the year 2145, the movie follows a number of wealthy Earthlings who have relocated to a paradise space station named Elysium, where there is no poverty, no war, no sickness and strict immigration measures in place.

However, after an unexpected turn of events that leave tough guy Max (played by Matt Damon) fighting for his life, he agrees to attempt a risky scheme to save himself. Blomkamp earned plenty of acclaim for District 9, and Elysium appears to fall into similar territory. According to the Los Angeles Times, the director showed off 10 minutes of footage from the film to journalists in Hollywood on Monday, with Damon (participating via video-link) saying he “could not pass up the chance” to work with Blomkamp because he’d admired District 9 so much. That movie was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars for its story of an extra-terrestrial race forced to live in slim-like conditions in South Africa.

Continue reading: Will Matt Damon Starring ‘Elysium’ Better Blomkamp’s ‘District 9’? (Trailer)

After a celebrity gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there isn’t much left to prove, is there? Still, we hope Jimmy Kimmel keeps working and entertaining, because, even after taking up the same slot as late night heavyweights Leno and Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live keeps delivering top notch entertainment. After Matt Damon “hijacked” the show on Thursday evening, on Friday, Kimmel accepted the honor alongside his parents, his wife and former JKL intern Carson Daly.

Jimmy Kimmel and wife Molly McNeary attend the ceremony honoring the talk show host. 

Continue reading: Newest Star On The Walk Of Fame Belongs To Jimmy Kimmel

As was widely expected, a movie about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is set to go into production after Bad Robot partners JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk snapped up the rights to Juliet Macur’s forthcoming book Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, reports Deadline.com. Macur – a sports reporter for The New York Times – has covered Armstrong’s career for over a decade, through the cyclist’s Tour de France wins, his recovery from cancer and eventual doping revelations. The American had denied using performance enhancing drugs for years, though finally admitted to cheating during a much-publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey last week.

Sony Pictures has long had an Armstrong movie project in the works, though that movie was dropped when the cyclist’s fall from grace began. It was set to star Jake Gyllenhaal and would have told the ‘American hero’ narrative of Armstrong’s rollercoaster career. Of course, the story has changed dramatically and Abrams film will focus on a cheat who pays a high price for his lies. As movie writer Mike Fleming Jr reports, the whole thing is reminiscent of when Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe made a deal with Phil Spector to tell the story of the producer’s life story, though the director went on record as saying the film “lacked a good third act.” That was obviously provided shortly afterwards when Spector was convicted of shooting the actress Lana Clarkson, but Universal, Crowe and Cruise never went forward with the project. It’s likely that JJ Abrams and his team will tackle the Armstrong project head on, but who could play the man himself? Who has the presence to portray such a complex character on-screen? Here’s 10 actors who we think could become Lance:

Could Jake Gyllenhall Play Lance Armstrong?

Continue reading: Lance Armstrong Movie: 10 Actors Who Could Play The Disgraced Cyclist (Pictures)

"Jodie Foster comes out!" were the cries from the entertainment press following the actress' Golden Globes speech on Sunday (January 13, 2013) during which she cleared up any ambiguity surrounding her sexuality and made a heartfelt plea for privacy in Hollywood. Foster - who was accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Beverly Hilton Hotel - told the star-studded audience, "I already did my big coming out about a thousand years ago in the stone age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends, and family, co-workers and then gradually, proudly, to everyone who knew her."

"If you had been a public figure since the time you were a toddler, if you had to fight for a life that felt real and honest and normal against all odds, then maybe you too would value privacy above all else," she added. Ok, so everyone applauded Foster's openness (several audience members even cried), though after a long and distinguished career, is the 50-year-old still considered amongst Hollywood's premier band of leading ladies? Quiz anyone on their favourite Jodie Foster movie and the answer will invariably be Taxi Driver, The Accused or Silence of the Lambs, the latest of which hit cinemas in 1991. Ok, so there's been a couple of good movies since - most notably Panic Room (2006) and Inside Man (2006) - though shouldn't a two-time Oscar winner have been offered stronger roles in the supposed peak years of her career? Perhaps Foster still has award-winning roles ahead of her, ala Meryl Steep, Helen Mirren and Glenn Close. 

A recent directorial foray with The Beaver didn't turn out well. Although the comedy-drama had an interesting premise, Mel Gibson's central performance was panned by critics. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said, "Contrived, self-admiring and self-pitying, unfunny, burdened with a central performance which is unendurably conceited and charmless." Perhaps things will turn around for Foster with Elysium, District 9 director Neill Blomkamp's forthcoming sci-fi set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population reside on a ruined earth. Sounds a reasonable enough sci-fi offering, though something in the script has attracted Matt Damon to play the lead role of Max. Foster will play a government official.

Continue reading: Jodie Foster Comes Out; But Is Her Movie Career Still Alive?

Matt Damon gets political in his new movie Promised Land, which tackles the issue of ‘fracking,’ the process of hydraulic fractured drilling, which has been at the root of great political debate in the US for some time. Its effects on drinking water and the debate surrounding energy use is a controversial one and has been gaining notoriety. The arrival of Promised Land will inevitably bring that debate to the awareness of even more American citizens.

In an interview with Reuters, though Damon was not prepared to weigh in on either side of the environmental debate. "The point is that the movie should start a conversation. It's certainly not a pro-fracking movie, but we didn't want to tell people what to think.” Damon also said that whilst the issue of fracking was at the centre of the story. “It wasn't that we said we wanted to make a movie about 'fracking' as much as we wanted to make a movie about American identity, about real people. We wanted to make a movie about the country today, where we came from, where we are and where we are headed.”

Promised Land also stars Frances McDormand and John Krasinski (possibly best known for his role in the US version of The Office) and is scheduled for release in April 2013.

Continue reading: Is Promised Land Political? Matt Damon Won't Weigh In On Fracking Debate

With Tom Cruise on the bill, a film is almost guaranteed to do well, but Jack Reacher had already hit problems when fans were disappointed by the 5ft 7 actor playing a man meant to be at least 6ft as well as being pushed back a week out of respect after the tragic shooting in Newtown. It opened its first week at number two in the box office, but dropped to fifth place this week, beaten by The Hobbit, Les Miserables, Django Unchained and Parental Guidance. With those initial setbacks and some seriously stiff competition at the cinema, the mixed reviews certainly won't be helping it out either. 

The Radio Times describes it as "underwhelming" adding that "Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie... piles on the shoot-'em-up clichés and corny dialogue." The Financial Times gives it a mere two stars saying that it's "It's high-gloss tripe with noir pretensions." And no one seems to get away without being lampooned as the New York Times criticizes Cruise noting that "Reacher is a character Mr. Cruise could play in his sleep, which is pretty much what he does." 

In contrast, however, the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw was fairly generous, with three stars he describes it as an "outrageous but entertaining pulp-melodrama thriller." And Empire Magazine enjoyed it too, according to them "Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise deliver on their promise, with a witty, violent take on Reacher that makes up for its lack of height with an abundance of smarts and thrills." 

Continue reading: Tom Cruise Underwhelms As Jack Reacher

The reviews are in for Matt Damon’s Promised Land and, well, they aren’t great.

Most critics tend to say the same things – good casting, interesting premise, but the devil is in the details. In this case, the detail is that the film is “too gimmicky for its evident earnestness”, according to LA Times reviewer Kenneth Turan. The New York Times’s A.O. Scott calls the film’s treatment of the topic “both honorable and disappointing” while The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday calls the film “a well-intentioned dry well”, with regard to Damon and Krasinski’s performances. Overall, the reviews are luke-warm at best, but that doesn’t necessarily seal Promised Land’s fate at the box office. As we’ve seen more than once in the past, critics and movie-goers tend to disagree sometimes.

Something that certainly does not bid well for Promised Land, however, is its current score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. With an overall ”rotten” score of just 48% and liked by just 40% of viewers, the environmental drama (if that's even a genre) is far from a smash hit. What a disappointing start for such a promising film! Of course, this is far from being the final nail in the coffin, but it does means that the flick probably won’t be competing with the likes of Django Unchained or The Hobbit for box office attention.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have always seemingly done everything as a pair, and the trend has continued with Damon releasing his new flick Promised Land right on the heels of Affleck’s Argo.

As you might expect, Damon, who is no stranger to screenwriting, most notably with the critical success Good Will Hunting, is putting in the effort with this one as well. The film, due to be released in April of 2013, is co-written by him and Dave Krasinski. Interestingly enough however, unlike partner-in-crime Ben Affleck, Damon did not manage to get in to the director’s chair for his most recent project, New York Daily News reports and instead the job went to big name director Gus Van Sant. Of course, the famed director has had some hits and misses in his day (Remember Paranoid Park? Yeah, neither do we), but teaming up with Damon has always seemed to work in the part. Not to mention that according to Krasinski, the fact that Van Sant signed on to direct at the last minute was what ultimately saved the project, after good old Matt had to step down due to a scheduling conflict.

The film itself is in the increasingly popular of late “social awareness” genre and stars Damon as an employee of a natural gas drilling company and Krasinski as the guy, trying to stop him from having his evil, corporate way with the beautiful nature of rural Pennsilvania. Either way, even if the premise doesn’t sound quite groundbreaking, this writer/director team has proven that they have it in them to make a solid memorable movie. And with so much early hype, it looks like Promised Land will be one of the biggies in 2013.

Matt Damon rarely makes a bad film, but with a 49% rotten rating on review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, something has clearly gone wrong for his latest movie Promised Land. 

Promised Land is about 'Fracking', which is a technique of drilling the ground to exhume natural resources from the Earth including oil and natural gases. Damon plays a salesman who is trying to buy rights for drilling in a rural American town, only to be met with great resistance, despite the money of the potential sales being needed after the economic downturn. 

Clearly, this is a serious movie. However, as the New York Times says, that seriousness seems not to align itself with the movie's intentions: "Promised Land feels divided against itself, not quite sure how to reconcile its polemical intentions with its storytelling impulses, and thus finally unable to fulfill its own promise." Likewise, the Village Voice doesn't see the film's clarity saying it's "a hard-sell movie because it doesn't have the confidence in its audience to make any other outcome seem personally viable, to give the opposition a fighting chance or persuasive voice." The Los Angeles Times considers it to be contrived and "an echo of a convincing film rather than the real deal."

Continue reading: Matt Damon's 'Promised Land' Flops With Reviewers, But Why?

Ben Affleck’s reputation – and, effectively, his career – took a serious nosedive during the period of time that he dated Jennifer Lopez. Their joint cinematic effort, Gigli, was a laughing stock and their frequent appearances in the tabloid press overshadowed both of their careers.

Now, 14 years since he was awarded an Oscar (Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) along with Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting, it seems that Ben Affleck has finally put the shame of “Bennifer” behind him and has been accepted back into the upper echelons of Hollywood respectability. His latest movie, Argo, tells the real-life tale of the rescue of six American diplomats from Iran in 1980. There has been a muttering of Oscars-nomination possibilities surrounding Argo since it debuted. Now, with the movie having landed five Golden Globe nominations and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for its ensemble cast, those mutters are rapidly turning into firm declarations.

His former screenwriting comrade Matt Damon told Reuters that he’s glad Affleck is finally getting the recognition he deserves, once more. “It was tough to watch him get kicked in the teeth for all those years because the perception of him was so not who he actually was,” said Damon. “It was upsetting for a lot of his friends because he's the smartest, funnest, nicest, kindest, incredibly talented guy.” Let’s see if next year’s Oscars ceremony proves to be a turning point, then, for Affleck’s beleaguered career. 

Continue reading: Has Argo Finally Buried The "Bennifer" Shame For Ben Affleck?

Awards season kicked off in earnest this week with two major critical bodies - New York Critics and the National Board of Review - both naming the Osama bin Laden raid thriller Zero Dark Thirty as their film of the year. Jessica Chastain stars in the movie, which reunites director Kathryn Bigelow with The Hurt Locker writer Mark Boal. The new trailer promises another exciting, intense military action drama.

Another major awards contender is Tom Hooper's film of the epic musical Les Miserables, with a high-powered cast including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried. All of them attended the glitzy red carpet world premiere in London this week. The film opens in America on Christmas Day, and in Britain in early January.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies Feat: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty, Tom Hooper, Les Miserables, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Martin Freeman And More!