This is rare! It’s been a while since we’ve seen the whole family Affleck-Garner out and about. I think Ben has been filming in Oklahoma for a few months, so it seems like he flies into LA for a day and then flies back to Oklahoma for two or three weeks – such is the life of a working actor, granted, but when Jennifer Garner’s publicist is pushing the “they’re so happy and everything is great and perfect” stories about how Jennifer Garner is always flying to meet Ben on set, it does seem weird. She and the girls stay in LA while Ben flies off and does God knows what all over the place. But here are a set of photos that makes us believe that all is well with the world!

Except that’s a major stick-eye Ben is giving the photographer. He’s not happy that they’re being pap’d, at all. Meanwhile, Jennifer seems blasé about it. CB and I always disagree about this – I think Jennifer pushes images of herself and the kids day after day. I’m not saying she calls the paparazzi every time, but they sure know where to find her all the time, don’t they? Even when she breaks from her schedule, they find her. CB thinks the paparazzi just follow her around all the time, every day, and that Garner isn’t calling them, ever. To my mind, I do think that the paparazzi know that there’s a market for photos of The Dimple Parade, but the market has been flooded so why hang around and wait for them? I mean, new photos every day? What paparazzi is going to wait around every day for The Dimple Parade? There’s some agenda at play. And in these photos, Ben looks perturbed and Garner looks the same as always – not happy but not upset, either, at being photographed all the time. CB and I will never agree!

Maybe Ben is just upset that Blake Lively has already found a new boyfriend? Low blow, I know. Maybe that’s the agenda? Garner saying: “He came back TO ME, Blake.”

One last thing – I’m really liking Affleck’s hair these days. It looks good when it’s a little bit grown out.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Here’s a cute story from US Magazine about how Ben Affleck is excited to stay at home and take care of the kids while his wife Jennifer Garner is away shooting a film. Ben has been busy this year with several projects and we’ve seen Garner around LA with their two daughters, Violet, 5, and Seraphina, who turns two next month. All of that is about to change when Ben gets home and takes over for Jen. I know that Kaiser and many of you think that Garner carefully plays the role of a harried mom for the paparazzi, but I think that’s just who she is and that her schedule and whereabouts are so predictable that the paparazzi hound her and her family. It’s to her and Ben’s credit that they’ve remained so calm and tolerant of that.

Having just wrapped his latest flick — with costars Javier Bardem and Rachel McAdams — in Oklahoma, the actor, 38, is excited to spend time at home with wife Jennifer Garner, 38, and their daughters Violet, 5, and Seraphina, 23 months.

“My wife’s going to a movie and then it’s going to be just pure Mr. Mom time!” he told UsMagazine.com at the NYC premiere of his new drama, The Company Men, Wednesday.

Also on his to-do list: hitting the mall. The star recently admitting on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he often picks up Garner’s Christmas presents “at, like, CVS on the 24th.”

“It sounded bad, I know!” he told Us. “When I watched it I was like, ‘I don’t come off very well here.’ But I have that experience quite a bit.”

Continued Affleck, “Basically, my wife is very in-depth with all this stuff, really sharp, very thoughtful, very thorough. And so for me, I get kind of panicked, I put things off and I just don’t know what to get so just buying her a present — I put more work into that than she does into buying fifteen!”

But her organized shopping habits aren’t the only thing the star digs about his gal. When asked his favorite thing about her, he told Us, “What’s not to love?”

[From US Weekly]

Do you guys remember that movie Mr. Mom? Michael Keaton’s character got all pudgy and lazy watching soap operas and contemplating an affair before he took charge and got his act together. (Then there was that scene where they played the theme from Rocky and he cleaned up and got his son to throw out his “wubby.”) I doubt that will happen to Ben, but I’d love to see him fill out a little like his buddy Matt Damon. He’s just too damn hot for a stay at home dad.

Affleck is promoting his film The Company Men, which premiered at Sundance and is out in the US on January 21. It also stars Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. It looks like his comeback is in full force.

Here’s the trailer, it looks really good!

Here’s Ben at the premiere of The Company Men on 12/8/10. He’s also shown out with daughter Violet on 11/6. Credit: WENN.com

Ben Affleck was a guest on the Ellen Degeneres show and his segment will air tomorrow. Some advance quotes have been leaked from the interview, and they cracked me up. Affleck admitted that he lets his more domestic-minded partner take care of all the Christmas decorating and shopping. He even joked that he’s so bad at buying gifts that he ends up at CVS on Christmas eve desperately looking for presents. That’s such a stereotype of guys at Christmas time, and it rings true in my experience.

When it comes to getting into the holiday spirit in Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s home, Ben admits it’s his wife who decks the halls – and hits the stores.

“I’m not particularly proud of it, but it’s a bit of a ‘50s thing I guess. Because my wife is so capable, and because I’m less so, she does a lot of that work and I kind of root her on,” Ben told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview set to air on Wednesday’s “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

“I’m encouraging,” he said.

When it comes to picking out gifts for family and friends, Ben said he once again defers to Jen.

“It takes her as much energy and effort to buy like the 20 gifts we’re going to buy other people, as it does to buy her gift. I spend the whole time, fretting about that and being nervous and hoping she likes that,” Ben added.

Typically, as the Christmas deadline approaches, Ben said he abandons the high-end designer stores in lieu of something a bit more convenient.

“I end up at like CVS on [December] 24 being like, ‘Maybe she’d like a little Godzilla that goes around,’” the star/director of “The Town” joked.

“[Are] you talking about your wife or your kids?” Ellen asked.

“My wife,” Ben said. “My kids actually would like that.”

[From Access Hollywood]

I find that oddly endearing because that same dynamic plays out in my house. My husband just told me last night that he has trouble buying presents because there are too many options and he doesn’t know what to get. (I mean I knew this, but we were just talking about it.) I usually end up dropping a lot of hints about what I want, and sometimes I buy myself presents online like a purse or jewelry and let him give them to me. I’ll actually forget about it so it’s still a nice surprise at Christmas, and of course I like whatever it is because I picked it out myself. When he gets me presents they’re very practical usually, like a nice coffee machine or a food processor. (Both of which I really wanted and enjoyed, but those are what guys think of.) I have trouble shopping for him too though, as it seems like he has just about everything he needs. Oh and in regards to Christmas decorating, aren’t we usually the ones who end up doing that? I get a lot of help once I take the initiative, but I end up deciding how we’re going to decorate and rearrange stuff in the house. It’s not like we have traditional male and female roles necessarily, that’s just the way it happens.

Ben Affleck is shown out shopping with Violet, who turns five tomorrow! (credit: WENN) He’s also shown picking her up at school (credit: Fame). Jennifer Garner is shown out with Violet and Seraphina (who turns two in January) on 11/27/10. Credit: WENN.com

There’s a cute story in this week’s National Enquirer about a celebrity doing the right thing and returning a duplicate check for an appearance fee payment that was already astronomical. Ben Affleck allegedly “earned” $250,000 for showing up at the opening for a new casino in South Carolina. His wife Jennifer Garner came too, so I’m hoping that check was for the both of them and not just Ben. Anyway the casino sent them two checks by mistake (maybe something to do with one for Ben, one for Jen) and he sent one back! The casino told the Enquirer that they’re really grateful that Ben was honest because they probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Ben Affleck… was mistakenly sent two $250,000 checks for attending the glitzy grand opening of an $80 million casino at the famed Greenbrier resort. But unlike the shady thief he plays in the smash hit “The Town,” Affleck notified casino officials of the error, and promptly returned one of the $250,000 checks.

“We’re very, very grateful. He’s obviously a very honest guy,” said Jim Justice, the multimillionaire owner of the Greenbrier casino in White Sulpher Springs, W. Va…

An avid poker player, Affleck reportedly didn’t sit down to play a hand. But after [he] returned home, he discovered the casino had sent him not one, but two $250,000 checks for his appearance fee.

“We mistakenly paid him twice,” admitted Justice. “Fortunately, he called us or we never would have caught it.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, November 15, 2010]

This is heartwarming and all, but I’m sure Affleck has someone handling his schedule and finances for him who noticed the error. Still, it’s nice. The real story to me is that he was paid a quarter of million just to show up somewhere. You would think that Ben wouldn’t even rate six figures. If you add his wife in there, I get it though. Plus he’s back with a vengeance now that The Town was such a succes.

Kaiser reminded me that Ben is rumored to have a gambling addiction, which is a story that I think was started after he went to rehab for alcohol in 2001.
He’s since won poker tournaments. I remember stories about him dropping tens of thousands gambling – and also being an incredibly generous tipper. While I was doing some googling for this post, I found this touching story about how Affleck granted a dying 21-year-old’s wish to go gambling with him in Vegas last year. Now that’s a more generous act than returning a duplicate check.

Just in time for the Blake Lively-Penn Badgley breakup confirmation, Us Weekly has a shocking report about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. According to Team Affleck-Garner, everything is going fine and the marriage is not in trouble at all. This flies in the face of multiple reports about their relationship troubles, Ben’s alleged infidelities, his return to gambling and drinking, et cetera.

The Afflecks certainly don’t let work interfere with family time. With Ben Affleck, 38, in Oklahoma shooting a new and untitled film, Jennifer Garner, 38, and their girls make frequent visits. On the agenda? Group outings to local shops and restaurants. But the pair also relish their alone time.

“They’re very much in love,” an Affleck pal tells Us. Indeed, during a September 3 dinner date at Wilshire in Santa Monica, “They were looking into each other’s eyes, holding hands over the table,” says a fellow diner.

Adds the friend, “Things are great with them. Do they fight? Sometimes, but what couple with two jobs and two kids don’t? They’re in a really good place.”

[From Us Weekly, print edition]

I’ll buy that Jennifer Garner and the girls have “visited” the Oklahoma set, but honestly, there are photos of Jennifer Garner with the girls in LA almost every day. I look at the photo agencies every day – I know. Jennifer and the girls have been in LA for weeks, and Jennifer keeps trotting out the Dimple Parade every day. So maybe Jennifer and the girls have only visited him once? For, like, a day? In between photo ops?

But that’s not the point. The point is that this is the official line from the Affleck marriage – everything is going fine, and there will be no split announcements anytime soon. Interesting…

Header: Photo courtesy of WENN.

Over the past… year, let’s say, there have been a steady stream of breakup and “troubled marriage” stories about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. There were rumors about Ben and his young costar Blake Lively – rumors that persisted from production through the promotion of the film The Town. There have been rumors about Ben cheating on Jennifer with other women too, or at least getting much too flirty with other broads. What else? Oh, there were a couple of rumors about Ben drinking again too. With all of this, I’ve thought for a while now that Jen and Ben are in trouble, but are likely just sticking with the marriage for now, maybe hoping that it will get better, that they’re going through a rough phase. When the tabloids do report the stories, it’s always “poor Jen, but don’t worry, they’ll be fine.” Because for some reason, Jennifer gets treated with kid gloves in ways that other celebrity women don’t. Anyway, the National Enquirer has another marriage drama story, and this one is about Jennifer issuing an ultimatum to Ben:

Ben and Jennifer Garner’s five-year marriage is hanging by a thread as the pair lead increasingly separate lives, say the couple’s concerned friends. They have been drifting apart for months as Ben throws himself into acting and directing stints, and devoted mom Jennifer juggles mulitple projects while tending to their daughters.

Now, in a bombshell development, their estrangement has pushed Jennifer to the edge.

“Jen is ready to give Ben a shape-up or ship-out ultimatum,” divulged an insider. “She wants Ben to make her and the kids his main priority. She wants him to start by letting her and the girls join him when he travels. I think jen believes that spending quality time together can save the day.”

A source says the situation is “tragic” and “Things are not looking good between them right now, and she must be growing extremely pessimistic about her marriage. They are barely together these days, and when they do meet up, it’s more about being parents. They used to be so happy, but unless something changes drastically, it seems inevitable that the couple will split.”

As Ben promoted The Town, Jen stayed home and took the kids out. A source says: “Jen appears to have become the loneliest soccer mom in Hollywood.”

Another issue: Ben’s sobriety. Sources say there are renewed fears that he is drinking again.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition]

Eh… don’t get me wrong, I think Ben and Jen have problems, I really do. And I think their problems are more than most couples working and struggling to raise the kids, I think Ben and Jen’s problems are about infidelity and alcoholism and keeping up appearances and who is going to leave the relationship with public sympathy. But we’ll see – Gwyneth and Chris Martin seem to live completely separate lives, and I thought they were headed for a split by the end of the year too – and now I think that they’re going to stick it out. We’ll see…

Oh, and Gossip Cop slammed this story, but GC didn’t have any denials from reps or anything, so it’s just his opinion that the story is false. Just like it’s my opinion that they’re having problems.

These are photos of Ben Affleck on his victory lap over the weekend with his wife Jennifer Garner and their two daughters. You’d think he would look much, much happier – he’s got a cute wife, cute kids, and his second time as director was a success. So successful, in fact, The Town took the #1 spot at the weekend box office. WOOHOO!

Actor/director Ben Affleck’s Warner Bros crime thriller is overperforming at the North American box office. Extrapolating from Friday’s $8.3M grosses and Saturday’s $9.4M (+12%), it will easily finish No. 1 this opening weekend when it was only predicted to come in 2nd. It received a “B+” CinemaScore. The R-rated movie’s estimated $23.6M was still well shy of the $28.6M of the same studio’s October 6, 2006, Boston crime thriller The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese. That “R”-rated film starred Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon and went on to win Best Picture Oscar. Affleck’s The Town is also in the running and stars Affleck, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men). Warner Bros even marketed it as The Departed 2. The studio, which financed The Town 50/50 with Legendary Pictures, paired its first trailer with Inception.

For his 2nd big directing effort after Gone Baby Gone also based on a book (Chuck Hogan’s Prince Of Thieves), Affleck promoted the heck out of it. He called movie journalists personally in Hollywood, NYC, flyover country, and eventually this month’s Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. Even so, at the start of this week, expectations were for The Town to open in only second place to a teen movie — and trail by a large margin. But the tracking spiked as the big TV ad campaign kicked it up a notch in the last few days. So Warner Bros distribution czar Dan Fellman pushed up the print count. I think Hollywood underestimated The Town’s great buzz among starving adult audiences but also its coolness quotient for ages 18-to-25. Trust me, Affleck’s career trajectory rarely happens in Hollywood: from Oscar-winning co-writer to tabloid heartthrob to washed-up star after Gigli to budding director to hot actor/helmer with the #1 movie. What an Industry!

[From Deadline]

I saw The Town on Friday, and I was impressed with it for the most part. I’d give it a B+/A-, mostly for the wonderful performances by the awesome ensemble cast – Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, and Pete Postlethwaite were especially strong, but I was kind of meh on the two women, Blake Lively and Rebecca Hall. Blake really put in a good effort, trying to look and act and sound trashy, but… I don’t know. It all felt very affected. And Hall… well, her strange lips kind of took me out of the movie. Minor kvetching, I know. As for Ben Affleck as star and director. Well, he has some moments of self-indulgence. He keeps the camera on his face for too long, and there are a couple of moments where I was like, “Um, do we need to watch his broad shoulders walking around Charlestown for a full two minutes?” But overall, he gave a solid performance and he was a solid director. As for the story… well, there was great action, and some really wonderful car chases and really suspenseful, even shocking moments. There is one major, glaring contradiction in the story, and I have no idea if it’s in the book as well, or if nobody really thought it mattered in the screenplay or whatever. I don’t want to do a spoiler, but if you saw the movie and you want to talk about it, email me!

Back to Ben and Jennifer and the kids… why does Ben always look so miserable around his wife? For the love of God, Ben! If you’re going to do a photo-op with your family, own it. Of course, Jennifer doesn’t look thrilled either. Maybe she wasn’t up for these photo ops? Haha, yeah, who am I kidding? I wonder what that negotiation was like? “I want to be touching for at least one photo.” “No.” “Please!” “Okay, one photo, but then I’m just going to sulk the rest of the time.”

Ben, Jennifer and the kids on Sept. 17 & 18, 2010. Credit: WENN and Fame.

This story from In Touch Weekly is pissing me off. First of all, they start out doing the same photo assumption I did on Ben Affleck and his Town costar Rebecca Hall – while in Venice, Affleck and Hall spent most of the photo calls starring lovingly at each other. It would have been a half-decent tabloid story – “Ben gets too close to costar, Jennifer Garner pissed.” But then ITW pisses all over it, saying, “While Ben has been nothing but a faithful husband, in the past, before he was married, he found love on-set with other costars… Ben has gone out of his way to reassure Jen that he is a committed husband.” Um… I guess they’re forgetting about Ben’s hardcore flirtations with his other costar, Blake Likely? Why does the Affleck-Garner marriage get handled with kid gloves? Any other relationship, the tabloids would be all over it. Personally, I think it’s because Garner’s fanbase is so rabidly enchanted with her being mother and wife of the decade, and they don’t want to acknowledge that Ben cons across a bit skeezy. There’s another detail I wanted to point out, but just read this:

Posing for pictures at the Venice premiere of The Town, Ben Affleck looked into the eyes of the beautiful brunette standing next to him, acting as if there was nowhere else he’d rather be. Yet romantic as the scene was, it raised eyebrows. The woman was not his wife, but his costar, Rebecca Hall.

“They were inseparable,” an insider says. “At the premiere events, they were by each other’s side the whole time.”

According to the insider, Ben had his arm around Rebecca, whom he called “beautiful, engaging, smart.” And to those who are close to Jennifer Garner, their coziness may be part of a troubling pattern.

“Ben can’t help but flirt with beautiful women,” says a friend. “It’s just Ben. He’s a charming guy.”

While Ben has been nothing but a faithful husband, in the past he found love on-set with other costars. Although that would naturally worry anyone, Ben has gone out of his way to reassure Jen that he is a committed husband. He personally booked her a ticket to the Toronto premiere of The Town so they could share this special time together.

Though Ben and Rebecca’s on-and off-screen chemistry sizzles, friends are confident it’s probably only a temporary flirtation.

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

“He personally booked her a ticket to the Toronto premiere of The Town so they could share this special time together.” Yeah, right. More like Garner saw the photos of Ben staring adoringly at Rebecca and decided to “surprise” him in Toronto, where she knew both Rebecca AND Blake Lively would be. Personally – and this really is just my opinion – I don’t think Rebecca and Ben have anything going on. I think he and Blake probably did, though. And I really, really wish the tabloids had done a story about the behind-the-scenes drama at the Toronto premiere for The Town. Ben very carefully refused to pose with any woman – no Blake, no Rebecca, not even Jennifer. He looked miserable too – like Garner had just bitched him out. We’ll see.

Ben with grayer hair on set on 10/8/09. He admits to dyeing it black.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to see The Town when it opens here in Germany next week. You guys in the US get it tomorrow so please don’t go posting spoilers in the comments on this or any other stories on it. You’ve been warned! At least we don’t have to wait over a month here to see the film as is usual for European showings, and I appreciate that. It looks like one of those gems that has it all: hard-hitting believable drama, gritty realistic crime action and beautiful guys to stare at. (The Departed is near the top of my list for that reason.) Affleck’s directorial efforts are earning praise and the film has a solid 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Anyway people have noticed during the promotional tour that Affleck is sporting some gray hair along with his hot facial scruff and those washboard abs we get to see in the trailer. (At 1:03) He’s been asked about it and he has a sense of humor, explaining that he got it from directing and from his brother, Casey.

Was it tricky directing Bahstin taahk?
If you don’t do the accent well, it can really upend your movie. So you have to hire really good actors. I knew Jeremy Renner is great, so I wasn’t worried. And when [California-bred] Blake Lively came in, she read the scenes for me so well, I asked her what part of Boston she was from.

Any plans to work with your wife?
Jen is a great actress. I would be profoundly lucky to work with her. But something tells me that people don’t want to see real-life couples together at the movies.

What’s up with the gray hair?
It’s there, it’s present. I can acknowledge it! I didn’t have a single gray hair until I started directing movies. It gives you gray hair. That and my brother.

Just how real is Casey’s documentary, I’m Still Here?
Well [pauses and laughs], I’m not the best person to ask. All I can say is, I think it’s spectacular and says something really relevant about celebrity.

[From US Weekly, print edition, September 27, 2010]

Cinemablend and Buzzine have the details from a press conference Ben gave at the Toronto Film Festival, and it’s clear that’s where these quotes are from and that it wasn’t just an interview he gave to US Weekly. (only Cinemablend admits it was a press conference, Buzzine tries to pass it off as a one-on-one interview like US does, but it’s obviously not as the wording is the exact same.) In the full quote that US excerpts above, he admitted dying his hair for the film. “You’re asking why I dyed the gray? I thought it would look good. Vanity. I have a little bit of gray in my hair, yes. Thank you. It’s there, it’s present. I acknowledge it. Thank you. You know what it is? I didn’t have a single gray hair until I started directing movies. I started directing movies, and… here’s your gray hair. And my brother. Those things give me gray hair..”

The full quote from Ben on potentially working with Garner is in Buzzine, and it’s very complimentary toward her and much nicer than it sounds when it’s just excerpted like this. He said “My wife is a great actress, and I would be profoundly lucky to work with her. Something tells me that people don’t want to see real-life couples together in film. If I could pick a woman to work with, it would be my wife. She’s magnificent. She’s magnificent on her own, in her own movies, and maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to direct her.” That’s really nice! I hope these two are doing ok, and that the rumors are just that. It must be hard to manage two jet-setting careers and raise two kids together, even with all the help they surely have. Now let’s get back to anticipating this film, as it just looks incredible.

Here’s Ben with grayer hair with Seraphina on 6/12/10 and with darker hair at the Boston premiere on 9/14/10. I think he looks hotter with darker hair, but I’ll take him either way. I think he’s back to heartthrob status. Credit: WENN.com.

Ideally Kaiser should be doing this post on the Boston premiere of The Town since two of her men are in this film: The Hamm and Jeremy Renner. She graciously offered it to me, though, as my all time favorite, Matt Damon, was there with his pregnant wife, Luciana. I get dibs when Damon is involved. Damon and Luciana were dressed casually in jeans and black t-shirts and both looked adorable. We don’t know how far along Luciana is exactly with her fourth child, but Damon told People that she’s in her last trimester and joked that he’s been dodging punches from her. He also said Luciana “looks amazing” and added “she’s been pregnant basically for more than half of the last five years and she’s been nursing the other half so I’ve definitely asked about as much as I can from my wife.”

Affleck’s better half, Jennifer Garner, wasn’t at the premiere last night. She’s been working in New York City filming Arthur, and may have had other commitments. Damon spoke to the AP and had high praise for Affleck’s directing skill. He compared his friend’s career to Clint Eastwood’s in that Eastwood also starred in a few clunkers before he became a renowned director:

Even as Affleck delivered hits such as “The Sum of All Fears” and “Paycheck,” critics perpetually knocked his performances as stiff and leaden.
The lowpoint was “Gigli,” the 2003 bomb he made with Jennifer Lopez amid the maelstrom of gossip over their romance, before he settled down and had a family with Jennifer Garner.

Then came “Hollywoodland,” which earned Affleck a Golden Globe nomination. He followed with his acclaimed directing debut on “Gone Baby Gone.”
Now Affleck returns with “The Town,” a genre-bending bank-heist thriller that is loaded with action but also heavy on gritty working-class drama and sweet romance. He directs and stars, delivering what Damon called the “best performance I’ve seen in a long time.”

“This one is really, I think, the one where people are just going to remember who he is and let all of the other stuff go,” said Damon, who shared a screenplay Academy Award with Affleck for “Good Will Hunting.” “He’s just a monumentally talented guy. In a lot of ways, I always think of Clint, because Clint was doing orangutan movies, and people weren’t taking him as seriously. And look at the second half of his career. He’s an icon. And I really feel like that’s the kind of career Ben’s going to have.”

Damon has starred in two films directed by Eastwood, last year’s “Invictus” and the upcoming “Hereafter.” So he’s in a good position to compare and contrast his pal Affleck and grand old master Eastwood.

Hearing of Damon’s high praise, Affleck smiled.

“Who needs a publicist when you’ve got a friend like Matt?” Affleck said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where “The Town” played in advance of its theatrical release on Friday. “I’ve got to pay this guy.”

[From AP via Yahoo! News]

Damon could be right – The Town looks incredible and could go a long way in resurrecting Affleck’s career. As for how Affleck handled the dual roles of directing and acting, his costar Rebecca Hall said it seemed effortless and was impressive to watch. “I couldn’t get my head around the idea that someone could think about the whole story and that [his character] at the same time, because in a way, they’re sort of mutually exclusive. But he’s so incredibly smart. His sharpness and intelligence just pervade everything he does.” I’m excited for this film. It’s out in the US on September 17, and in Germany where I live on September 23. That’s excellent news as we often have to wait over a month to see new movies. I bet it’s going to earn some great reviews and it should be well remembered during awards season.

Here are photos from the premiere featuring Matt, Ben, Jeremy Renner looking cute, Jon Hamm dapper in a twill cap, Rebecca Hall in yet another fashion failure, Blake Lively playing peek-a-boob, and Chris Cooper. I love him!

Photo credit: Fame Pictures and WENN.com