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• (7/9/98) Humanitas spreads 'Good Will' Matt Damon and Ben Affleck earned the goodwill of  Humanitas Prize judges Thursday as they collected this year's award for the feature script that best  "communicates those values which most enrich the  human person." The script won the $25,000 prize at  the annual Humanitas luncheon at the Universal Sheraton Hotel.
• (6/25/98) WHERE THERE'S SMOKE: One of New York's hottest couples, Winona Ryder and Matt Damon, show up -- separately -- for this week's premiere of the new film "Smoke Signals" at the American Museum of American Indian in Lower Manhattan. Despite online rumors that the two are engaged, Ryder was not wearing an engagement ring, said observers. People Daily
• (6/17/98)  August marks the pay-per-view premiere of Good Will Hunting, starring Oscar(R) winners Robin Williams, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The brightest mind at M.I.T. must come to terms with his genius and his troubled life in this Academy Award winning drama. Press Release
• (6/17/98) AFFLECK ON WOMEN Ben Affleck, who's out to save the world in the new film "Armageddon," admits that he's had some real-life disasters with romance. "I have a real capacity for the head-on collision," the actor says in the upcoming USA Weekend. "Beautiful women scare me. [They're] more trouble than handsome men, let me tell you. A lot of handsome men are shy. But women are taught to trade on that beauty, and they take advantage." Of his current love interest, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, he says she's "the smartest woman I have ever met."
• (6/17/98)  THAT'S A LOT OF NOOKIE
What's the stupidest thing the tabloids have eve written about Ben Affleck (''Good Will Hunting,'' ``Armageddon'')?  "That I went into this 7-11 in Wisconsin,'' Affleck recalls, ``and bought some Trojan condoms.''  Not so wild a story, really, except that Affleck has never been to Wisconsin. No sooner had the item appeared in one of the tabs, however, than Trojans sent the actor 5,000 rubbers. Just so he'd never have to walk into a 7-11 again. AP release
• (6/19/98) "Good Will Hunting" May Win Again

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are in the running to pick up another prize for their ``Good Will Hunting'' script. The actors, who wrote and starred in the Academy Award-winning picture, are among the nearly 40 Humanitas Prize finalists announced Thursday.  The prize honors scripts that illuminate life and foster respect and compassion. The winners, who will share $120,000 in prize money, will be honored July 9 at a luncheon given by the Human Family and Educational Cultural Institute.  Along with ``Good Will Hunting,'' the finalists for a feature film screenplay are James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg for ``Contact'' and Richard Friedenberg for ``The Education of Little Tree." AP Release, June 19, 1998.

• (6/10/98) Press Release - (Gretchen) Mol stars with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in Miramax's upcoming ``Rounders'' and has a role in ``Celebrity,'' another Miramax release. She previously appeared in ``Donnie Brasco'' and Spike Lee's ``Girl 6.''

SATURDAY JUNE 20: BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - 25th annual Vision Awards, with honorees to include actor/screenwriter MATT DAMON and producer JERRY WEINTRAUB.  Press Release, June 17, 1998.

• (6/10/98) This week's People Magazine Tidbits:

Matt & Winona (picture of two hand in hand): The Good Will Hunting star walked away from the hit movie with more than a screenwriting Oscar. Fresh from an on-set liaison with leading lady Minnie Driver, Damon, 27, won the heart of the winsome Ryder, 26. Gwyneth Paltrow, the new girlfriend of Damon's best pal and cowriter Ben Affleck, did the matchmaking. Folks, it doesn't get any cuter than this.

Ben & Gwyneth (three pics of the couple hugging): The pair, both 26, don't say much about their six-month love affair, but their actions speak loudly. At a press junket to promote her Sliding Doors, the gilded set of superstars treated the cameras to a three-minute kiss. Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant interrupted a more private moment when he dropped by to visit Affleck at his trailer on the set of Armageddon. "I just barged in and found them kissing on the couch," he says. "They're madly in love."

Insider section; Matt and Ben (no picture): Nice to know that Good Will Hunting's Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are putting their new stardom to good use. Cambridge Ringe and Latin public high school in Cambridge, Mass., adores its famous alumni -- especially after they helped it secure a hefty donation. In April, a donor offered to give the school $10,000 in return for autographed photos of the actors. Once the twosome were tracked down, they promptly FedExed their signed pics. "They could have blown us off and they didn't," says the school's spokeswoman. "And we're $10,000 richer for it."

• (6/10/98) E! Online - First, I hear from the hot-hot-hot Matt Damon-Winona Ryder camp that an engagement has been decided and will soon be announced to the Joe Blows of the world (having already been announced to the couple's Yo!-Yo!s).  Congrats, you two! (Particularly to you, Winona, you little Warren Beatty-ette. I mean, let's just be frank here...everyone knows it's you who've been teaching Gwyneth P a thing or two in the love department, not vice versa. Up until Ben, that is.)
• (5/21/98) Miramax inks Good duo NEW YORK (Variety) - ``Good Will Hunting'' stars and Oscar-winning scribes Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have signed a multiyear, first-look agreement to develop and produce projects for Miramax Films.  Damon and Affleck had previously inked a pact to write and star in two films for Miramax.  Jon Gordon, the Miramax senior veepee of production who exec produced ``Good Will,'' will be the exec in charge of Damon and Affleck's production company. Gordon will report to Meryl Poster, co-president of production at Miramax. On behalf of Miramax, the deals were negotiated by co-president of production Bob Osher and senior veepee for business and legal affairs Steven Hutensky. On behalf of Damon and Affleck, the deal was negotiated by Patrick Whitesell of CAA and attorneys Sam Fisher and Steve Burkow of Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca & Fischer. (c/o Andrea)
• Entertainment Newsbriefs: No Goodwill at Poker Table  LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Matt Damon may be a Hollywood stud but he was a bust at poker. The ``Good Will Hunting'' star and fellow actor Edward Norton entered the World Series of Poker to research their roles as gamblers for the upcoming ``Rounders.'' But there was no goodwill for Damon at the poker table -- he was eliminated in the third round. Norton didn't make it past the first round. ``I knew I was going to lose. It was question of how,'' Damon tells USA Today. ``To lose with a pair of kings to (former Series winner) Doyle Brunson's pair of aces was the exact thrill I had hoped for and it's a story I'm going to tell my grandchildren.'' Some of the poker veterans reportedly resented the fact that Damon and Norton got into the tournament without paying the $10,000 entry fee.
• (5/6/98) Damon Set To Wed Winona - Oscar-winning actor Matt Damon is to marry Hollywood stunner Winona Ryder. Damon, 27, star of hit film Good Will Hunting, is said to have told a friend: "Winona is a wonderful woman and I'm in love with her. "If all goes well I hope to make her my bride before the year is out." (c/o Katie & NewsAskew.com)
• (5/5/98) Damon, Norton Studied Card Sharks LAS VEGAS (AP) - Matt Damon and Edward Norton studied underground card sharks in New York for movie roles. Now they'll be tested on what they learned - for real.  The actors are expected to participate in next week's no-limit Texas Hold 'em final of the 29th annual World Series of Poker.  ``They are both serious poker players,'' tournament spokeswoman Lynne Loomis said. ``They want to be treated just like everyone else during the poker tournament.''  Damon, who starred in ``Good Will Hunting'' and ``The Rainmaker,'' and Norton, of ``The People vs. Larry Flynt'' and ``Primal Fear,'' learned how to play poker in underground casinos in New York for the upcoming movie ``Rounders,'' about card sharks.
• (5/4/98) Entertainment Wire Burbank, CA- Aerosmith Records Title Track for Touchstone Pictures' America's premier rock band, Aerosmith, took a short break this week from their hugely successful "Nine Lives World Tour" to cut a new track for Touchstone Pictures' "Armageddon." The new song -- a romantic ballad entitled "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" -- will be the pre-release launch track for the movie, as well as a recurring musical theme throughout the film. Scheduled for release as a commercial single (May 4), the song will also appear on "Armageddon": The Album, from Columbia Records/Sony Music Soundtrax, due in stores June 30.
• (5/2/98) Entertaiment Weekly (c/o Katie) - FURTHERMORE Director Billy Bob Thornton is in talks with his Sling Blade costar Lucas Black, 15, to star opposite Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses. And the coveted roll of Damon's love interest may go to Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, who just wrapped the indie Western The Hi Lo Country, starring Woody Harrelson, and is now reading for the Horses part. Damon, 27, plans to lose weight to better blend in with the even more youthful cast...
• (4/30/98) The 1st Annual Celebri-T Silent Auction takes place today in New York City at the Puck Building (Grand Ballroom), 295 Lafayette Street AND at the Indochine Restaurant (VIP Dinner), 430 Lafayette Street from 6-9pm EST. This event is being held to raise money for Sunburst Projects, a non profit organization that provides support services to children and families living with HIV/AIDS. The Auction features an exclusive collection of original T-shirts created and autographed by many celebrities, Matt Damon included.
• (4/20/98) Ugly Casey Affleck Rumor - Some of you may have heard the rumor that Casey Affleck, Ben's younger brother, was in a drunk driving accident and died. Rest assured Casey is ALIVE and WELL.  Any doubts should have been erased from Kevin Smith's comments:

"Just spoke with Ben - Casey's on set in NYC doing '200 Cigarettes'. Since he's shooting this evening, it's a safe assumption that he's not shuffled loose the mortal coil. Folks, you might want to verify shit like that before you throw it into cyberspace. It just about gave Affleck cardiac arrest. Please - a little more responsibility in the future."

If you ever hear anything in the future, please check & double check before you assume it to be true. As you can see, a little miscommunication or misinterpretation can do a lot of harm.  Please be careful of what you read and what you repeat.

• (4/20/98) TV Guide: Before They Were Stars - TV Guide features many stars before they were stars. One of the featured celebrities was Ben Affleck.  Grab the issue before it sells out!  Article Text:

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TV work includes: Against the Grain (1993-1994) Major movies: "Chasing Amy", "Good Will Hunting" The Oscar-winning screenwriter (for "Good Will Hunting") played the reluctant star quarterback in a small Texas town in this drama (above). But NBC executives took a while to warm up to the idea of Affleck in a lead role. "They really didn't want him," recalls cocreator Dave Alan Johnson, even though Affleck had already appeared in the film "School Ties" and, from 8 to 14, had hosted the PBS documentary series The Voyage of the Mimi. Originally, Johnson says Affleck tried out for the part of a prima donna player. "We were sold on the idea that this guy is a jerk, but he turned around and could play this hero that everyone loved," Johnson says. "He was so convincing in both roles, yet they were polar opposites."

• (4/15/98) People Online: DAMON ACES LEO - Matt Damon has struck a deal to star in the movie version of the Cormac McCarthy novel "All the Pretty Horses," to be directed by Billy Bob Thornton for Columbia Pictures and Miramax, reports Variety. The deal will pay the Oscar-winning screenwriter ("Good Will Hunting") more than $5 million -- the biggest payday of his young career.

Leonardo DiCaprio, the other actor of the moment, had been in talks for the starring role as late as Monday night. But when it appeared the "Titanic" star was going to delay his decision, the producers went to Damon, who is reportedly a fan of the novel on which the film is based. Damon will play a young Texan who rides into Mexico in 1949. When he falls for the daughter of a wealthy ranch owner, her father has the young cowboy thrown into prison, but the resilient lad exacts justice before returning to Texas.

DAMON NABS ``PRETTY'' ROLE - HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Matt Damon has struck a deal to mount the Columbia Pictures/Miramax Films co-production ``All the Pretty Horses,'' the Billy Bob Thornton-directed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, the companies confirmed Tuesday. The deal will pay the recent Oscar-winner more than $5 million -- the biggest payday of his young career. (Full Article)

ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS: From The Hollywood Reporter, Damon rounds up `Horses' role Matt Damon is set to receive a $5.5 million payday to star in Billy Bob Thornton-directed ``All the Pretty Horses.'' Based on the Cormac McCarthy book, the film is an adventure/love story set in 1949. It follows the escapades of a young West Texas cowboy who rides into Mexico only to fall in love with a beautiful teenage daughter of a powerful Mexican landowner and cattle rancher. The novel won a 1992 National Book Award. Previous published reports had Leonardo DiCaprio closing in on the role, but sources said those reports were premature. Damon received an Oscar for the screenplay he wrote with Ben Affleck for ``Good Will Hunting.'' He was also nominated for a best actor Academy Award for his performance in that film.

• (4/14/98) Armageddon in Cannes Entertainment Briefs: `Armageddon' will hit Cannes - Touchstone Pictures will show 40 minutes of Michael Bay's ``Armageddon'' at a special screening at the Cannes International Film Festival next month. The event will include a lavish bash billed as ``The Last Blowout, End of the World `Armageddon' Party'' to promote the big-budget summer release about a team of astronauts sent to destroy an enormous asteroid hurtling toward Earth. ``Armageddon'' actors Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi and Liv Tyler are expected to attend, along with Bay.

MTV Movie Awards: Nominations were announced last night. GWH scores 4 nomiations.  The event will be taped in L.A. May 30 and aired June 4.
- Matt Damon (Best Male Performance)
- Matt Damon/Ben Affleck (Best Onscreen Duo)
- Matt Damon/Minnie Driver (Best Onscreen Kiss)
- "GWH" Best Movie
(-Joey Lauren Adams in "Chasing Amy" (Best Breakthrough Performace))
(-Joey Lauren Adams/Carmen Lee in "Chasing Amy" (Best Onscreen Kiss))

• (4/13/98) "GWH" on DVD NewsAskew/Drinks Askew - NewsAskew reports Miramax is CONSIDERING releasing "Good Will Hunting" on DVD possibly in September.
• (4/11/98) "GWH" on Laser Disc News Askew/Drinks Askew - "Good Will Hunting" will be available on Laser Disc on July 22, 1998. "Phantoms" will be available on Laser Disc on July 29, 1998. Both are selling for $39.99

Random: Winona Ryder is scheduled to take part in the 51st Cannes Film Festival in France next month. She is part of a 10 member jury who will be judging the independant film festival's movies. Wonder if Matt will take his free time on "Dogma" to visit..... (thanks to Katie :)

• (4/11/98)  "The Power: The 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood List" ranked newcomer Matt Damon #88 Premiere Magazine, May 1998 (Mark Wahlberg Cover) -
Rank Last Year: Unranked  Job Title: The New Guy  Status Report: What a year: Anchored respectable Rainmaker, cowrote and starred with pal Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting; enlisted in Spielberg's Normandy campaign. Perkiest new flower in Miramax bouquet -- starring as a gambler in Ronders, and in The Talented Mr. Ripley. YES, IT'S TRUE: Woke up on February 10 with an Osar nomination..... and Winona Ryder.

Random: Due to their practing in "Rounders" a movie about poker players, it seems that co-stars Matt Damon and Ed Norton have gotten quite good.  So good in fact, that they are willing to test their skills against professionals in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this May.

• (3/29/98) Ben's "Halfway House Post" View Askew Productions/Special Informer - Thanks to the View Askew Boards and my special informer :), I was told that Ben Affleck himself said the new screenplay he and Matt are working on, currently called "Halfway House" is only a working title.  The new movie, anticipated by many, may be called "Oliver in the Mix," but nothing is concrete at this point.  In between faxes and phonecalls, Matt and Ben have finished about 200 pages of the new film. Even though Matt says only about 10 pages of that are good ones, we'll have to wait and see just how much of what they have done makes the final cut.
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• (3/29/98) "GWH" on video and "Chasing Amy" for sale.
View Askew Productions - According to the folks at ViewAskew, "Good Will Hunting" will be released on video July 7th, 1998 and "Chasing Amy" will be released for sale August 25th, 1998.

Random: "The Rainmaker" will be out on video May 27th.

• (3/23/98, 1:17) Matt's Oscar Reaction? E! Online -  (On Matt's reaction to winning an Academy Award for "GWH" Best Original Screenplay) Matt Damon had tears in his eyes when he was getting his picture taken next door. "My mom was really happy. She told me just to enjoy the moment." But Ben Affleck tells a different story about his mother: "She told me this is her grandchildren for now, and she's holding it ransom until she gets real ones." To their friends watching back home in Boston, Damon says "next round's on us."  
• (3/17/98) "GWH" Tops Miramax Hollywood Wire (NEW YORK) - Director Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, which had grossed $109.8 million domestically through Monday, has surpassed Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction to become Miramax's all-time grossing film.
• (3/16/98) "GWH" Jinx? Reuters/Variety, By Nick Madigan, HOLLYWOOD (Variety)—Is someone trying to jinx leading contender Good Will Hunting's chances for a screenwriting Oscar? Perhaps a competitor's sour grapes over the film's success? A curious set of potentially damaging rumors—none of them, evidently, with any foundation—is making the rounds about the script that earned Matt Damon and Ben Affleck an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.   "This has been going on for months," said Tony Angellotti, a spokesman for Miramax Films. "The calls are coming in anonymously. Who's got the most to gain?"   There was one murmur to the effect that Damon and Affleck had bought the story from someone else; another that the script had been written by veteran William Goldman; and a third (pointed out by at least one person with no obvious ax to grind) that Damon had initially written the story at Harvard as a one-act play. The latter was conceivably the most devastating, jeopardizing the Best Original Screenplay nomination if it could be proven that the story had been performed or published beforehand. Damon's association with the play has been widely reported—everywhere from the February 13 issue of Entertainment Weekly to the March 12 issue of Daily Variety. It could all come down to simple confusion. For the record, according to Angellotti, Damon bought the title, not the story, from a friend at Harvard; Goldman worked on the script with Affleck and Damon for one day while the project was at production company Castle Rock, and later praised their talents; and Damon wrote the first third of the work—one act—for a class at Harvard. Damon, reached at last week's ShoWest convention in Las Vegas by Angellotti, insisted the story was never performed as a play.   Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, said the writers' branch executive committee, which handles nods for screenwriting, was "real tough" on its requirements for nominations and would have slotted Good Will Hunting into the "material previously produced or published" category had there been any indication that it should not be in the "original screenplay" group. Academy spokesman John Pavlik confirmed that the committee was aware of the Good Will Hunting script's provenance, had checked into it, and had found no problems. The rumors are all the stranger considering the well-documented history of the two young actor-screenwriters' efforts to get the script made into a movie. They went through a year of rewrites—the story was initially a conspiracy thriller—before running into roadblocks at Castle Rock and finally landing a deal at Miramax.  Good Will Hunting pulled in nine Academy Award nominations, including the screenwriting nod, and has made almost $110 million in North America alone. Not bad for a class project.
• (3/6/98)  Ben to Play "Glory Days" NEW YORK (Variety) "Good Will Hunting" co-star and co-writer Ben Affleck is being eyed by Warner Bros. to topline "Glory Days," a character-based drama that Robert Zemeckis ("Forrest Gump") may direct. Until its fall start, Affleck will be busy with small roles in "Shakespeare in Love," "Dogma" and "200 Cigarettes" and he will costar with Sandra Bullock in "Forces of Nature" in June at DreamWorks.
• (3/5/98)  MATT DAMON PRESENTS: Oscar-nominated writer/actor Matt Damon has been named as a presenter for the 70th Annual Academy Awards Presentation, March 23 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It will be Damon's first appearance on the telecast. Damon is nominated for best actor, and he and co-writer Ben Affleck are nominated for best original screenplay, for ``Good Will Hunting.'' Damon will also appear soon in the title role in Steven Spielberg's new movie, ``Saving Private Ryan,'' starring Tom Hanks.

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