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Movie Preview: Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman in Invictus

BuzzSugar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:30:12 -0700

Hope you haven't OD'd on Matt Damon yet! Just yesterday I showed you a preview of his upcoming Jason Bourne-esque action flick, Green Zone and today we get a peek at Invictus. In the upcoming film from Clint Eastwood, Damon stars as a Francois Pienaar, real-life member of South Africa's rugby team who's summoned by Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) to rally support in the country and unite the racial divide.

I love Matt Damon, but I'm actually more interested in Freeman's performance in Invictus. It looks like one well-done biopic, and it's obviously Freeman's Oscar film - although I'm sure Damon doing an accent could translate into a nomination for him around awards time, too. (Not to mention that many things Eastwood touches turn to Oscar nods).

Warning: If cheering crowd scenes and African singing often play with your emotions, you may get goose bumps while watching this preview. Check it out, and tell me what you think when you read more.

Movie Preview: Matt Damon in Green Zone

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:30:59 -0700

Matt Damon is officially a Hollywood juggernaut. Not only does he have a ton of movies in the works (a Liberace biopic, an Eastwood film, and as of today a new project with the Coen brothers), and here's a peek at his upcoming thriller Green Zone. Even though I've been anxiously awaiting a fourth Bourne installment, Green Zone looks like a worthy substitute for the time being. (No doubt because it's directed by Paul Greengrass, who worked on the Bourne franchise.)

Damon is back to kicking butt and taking names as Roy Miller, an Army officer on the search for weapons of mass destruction. During his journey, Miller seeks the help of a journalist (Amy Ryan) and gets tangled up with an underhanded higher-up (Greg Kinnear). As a result of his sniffing around where he's not supposed to, Miller soon ends up with a giant bull's-eye on his head. Dun, dun, dun!

While the storyline doesn't sound entirely fresh, you can still count me in for this one. The trailer has that edge-of-your-seat suspense vibe, and with Damon and Greengrass working together, I know I'm sure to be entertained. It doesn't hit theaters until March 12, 2010, but you can watch the preview when you read more.

Damon and Brolin May Get Gritty For the Coen Brothers

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:30:12 -0700

The freight train that is Matt Damon's career is still chugging away at full steam: while he's off filming The Adjustment Bureau, the actor is in talks for yet another upcoming project. Ethan and Joel Coen want Damon, along with Josh Brolin, to star in their upcoming remake of True Grit.

Jeff Bridges is already on board to play US marshal Rooster Cogburn, and Damon would play a lawyer who joins Cogburn and a 14-year-old girl to track down the killer of the girl's father. Josh Brolin would play the murderer, which doesn't seem like much of a stretch of imagination after his recent role in Milk.

Bridges and Brolin are obviously already pets of the Coen Brothers, and I could see Matt Damon fitting perfectly into their repertoire. I was a bit disappointed with A Serious Man, but I'm already looking forward to seeing the talented filmmaking siblings take on another drama with a star-studded cast.

Khloe and Lamar's Wedding Video, Matt Damon's Faux Freakout and Miley in SATC2!

Molly — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:08:46 -0700

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom tied the knot this weekend, which inspired her sister Kim to reignite a passion of her own. She was on the first plane out of there to visit Reggie Bush! Plus, Matt Damon yelling just makes us love him more and watch how Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig dealt with a rude interruption during their Broadway show. Watch it all on PopSugar Rush now!

Link Time!

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:40:23 -0700

Matt Damon and Clint Eastwood Team Up . . . Again

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:05:19 -0700

Matt Damon is everywhere this week as he makes the rounds promoting The Informant!, but he's making major career strides as well. Earlier this week I told you about his new role as Liberace's lover, and now Clint Eastwood has tapped Damon for Hereafter.

Damon is already in Eastwood's December release Invictus, which is about a South African rugby team, but Hereafter is said to be more of a supernatural thriller, along the lines The Sixth Sense. Could these two be the new Scorsese/DiCaprio?

Sounds like Matt is having no trouble keeping busy these days, which means Bourne 4 will probably go to the back burner. Are you excited to see Matt taking on another role with such an acclaimed director, or are you antsy to see him kicking butt as Bourne?

The Informant!: Funny If You Can Focus!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:00:38 -0700

What would happen if Michael Scott were dropped into the movie Michael Clayton? If you're wondering what to expect from Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!, the visual of Michael bumbling his way through a corporate thriller is a good place to start.

The movie is campy right from the start, almost making an announcement as cheesy music plays over the neon bubble letters of the credits. There's even the rarely seen "Matt Damon IN... The Informant" - Soderbergh isn't trying to hide anything here, though the move is set in the early '90s despite the '70s ambiance. While many of the jokes hit you over the head, don't expect the key plot elements to have the same effect.

To see what I mean, just read more.

Matt Damon literally transforms himself into Mark Whitacre, the vice president of real-life lysine developing company ADM. On the surface, Whitacre fits right into the upper-middle class Midwestern stereotype; he's an overweight, mustachioed man who sits down to dinner with his wife and sons every night. In what seems to be a sudden attack of conscience, Whitacre takes it upon himself to rat out ADM's price-fixing schemes to two FBI agents (played by Scott Bakula and a straight-laced Joel McHale). The more involved Whitacre gets with the FBI, the more eager he is to help take down the company that made him rich. The agents (and the audience) quickly begin to wonder - what's in it for him?

Most of my laugh-out-loud moments came from Whitacre's inner monologue. At first his thoughts give us clues about the decisions he makes - he seems to be obsessed with John Grisham novels and conspiracy theories, so it's no surprise that he's relishing in his involvement with the FBI. As time goes on, however, his stream of consciousness shifts from wacky observations about the world at large to ways he can manipulate it to his own benefit.

Soderbergh has a solid lineup of supporting comedians (Patton Oswalt and Tony Hale also make appearances) but Matt Damon is the mastermind here. He shines through all that hair, makeup, and extra pounds to deliver a highly enjoyable performance that keeps you guessing. Damon's no stranger to comedy, but his role as Whitacre is a far cry from Stuck On You.

The movie has a sluggish start, and loses its focus towards the middle - but try not to doze off, since almost every loose end is eventually tied up. While only a manageable 108 minutes, the film still feels like it's a half hour longer than it should be. If I had been watching it at home, I may have been tempted to turn it off, which is a shame since many of the laughs and most of the excitement happens in the end.

There's fun to be had here, if you manage your expectations. This is not your typical comedy: the humor is dry, but the laughs are there - just try not to lose focus along the way.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Damon and Douglas to Play Lovers in Liberace Movie

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:15:46 -0700

Bet you never thought you'd see Matt Damon and Michael Douglas coupled up on-screen, but get ready. Steven Soderbergh has confirmed that Douglas will play Liberace in his upcoming film about the life and death of the popular 1950s performer. Damon is taking on the role of Scott Thorsen, Liberace's assistant and boyfriend who eventually revealed Liberace's sexuality to the public.

At the Deauville Film Festival, Soderbergh said, "We've already done some costume and wardrobe tests on Michael, and they're very, very, very good. I swear to you, Michael amazed me. He crushed it . . . Matt accepted the challenge. But I have to say I'd already convinced him to gain 30 pounds for The Informant."

I saw The Informant last week (more on that later), and it was really refreshing to see Matt playing an atypical character from what we're used to seeing - I'm looking forward to watching him spread his wings again. Then again, I might be more dazzled by Michael Douglas covered in sequins.

Emily Blunt Joins Matt Damon For The Adjustment Bureau

BuzzSugar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:30:59 -0700

Aww! I love this onscreen pairing: Emily Blunt will star opposite Matt Damon in the "sci-fi love story," The Adjustment Bureau. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the movie will follow "a congressman (Damon), on the rise in politics, who meets a beautiful ballet dancer only to discover strange circumstances keep them apart." Emily Blunt will be the ballet dancer to Damon's congressman.

How sweet is this? Sometimes I see news of onscreen duos and it seems to be an imbalanced combination - one person more talented or more likable than the other. But here we've got two actors who are both beautiful and endearing onscreen. Loves it!

Movie Preview: Matt Damon Is a Hilarious Informant

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:35:47 -0700

This trailer for the comedy The Informant has, I think, given me perma-grin. A slightly chubbier Matt Damon portrays Mark Whitacre, a real-life "Ivy League Ph.D. who was a rising star at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in the early 1990s. . . . Whitacre secretly gathered hundreds of hours of video and audio tapes over several years to present to the FBI which became one of the largest price fixing cases in history."

Damon re-teams with his Oceans Eleven (and Twelve and Thirteen) director Steven Soderbergh and his buddy George Clooney is an executive producer. It looks like, once again, Soderbergh got some great results from Damon, who is absolutely hilarious as this unlikely informant, a regular guy who has a bit of trouble being smooth and cool. But the best thing about it is that Damon plays the guy as bumbling without making him seem somehow mentally deficient. Too many actors don't seem to know how to be funny without making their characters seem stupid, but Damon makes his Mark seem intelligent as well as endearingly human.

The preview says The Informant will open in September. To check out the funny trailer, read more.

Source: IMDB