When I first caught sight of Rebecca Hall’s outfit at the premiere of The Town last night in Venice, I didn’t think it was that bad. I was wrong. Her hottie costars were just blocking the sleeves, and when you see it like that, from the waist up, it truly doesn’t look that bad. And then you see the whole thing – is it a dress or a jumpsuit? Is it a dress with the soul of a jumpsuit? A jumpsuit with palazzo pants… and slits? The cut is very strange, right? And the sleeves… oh GOD. Let me be nice for a moment: the color is nice. She had a good instinct with the color. Let me also say, I think she’s a very talented actress, and she is British. I’m not saying British = bad fashion, I’m saying British actresses with actual talent will sometimes equal quirky/bad fashion. See also: Helena Bonham-Carter, Emma Thompson, etc. Also: this was the second bad outfit she wore within one day – she should just hire a good stylist.

As for the men of The Town, they all donned their tuxedos and rocked the red carpet. Personally, my new-found reemerging crush on Ben Affleck wants him in more casual clothes, because I tend to think he looks slightly goofy in his tux. Plus, the fake tan is a very “Bennifer 1.0 circa 2003” look. He doesn’t need orange skin – he’s the director and star. But he still looks very nice.

The Hamm looks lovely too – I know he wants to separate “The Hamm” from “The Draper” but I would like to see The Hamm walk a red carpet with some Draper styling – a better-fitting jacket, and slicked-back hair. But still, lovely:

And Jeremy Renner… ugh… the dirt-lip/dirt-chin is just killing me. Yes, I know he’s crazy talented and he’s probably so proud that he’s HERE, walking a red carpet for a big movie, in Venice. But I just want to clean him up.

More pics:

‘The Town’ premiere in Venice on Sept. 8, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Here are the new photos of the photocall for The Town, in Venice today. Confession: I think CB is a little mad at me, I really do. Earlier, I took the new photos of Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Hall and wrote about them. CB didn’t say anything, but I know how much she loves Ben Affleck. In my defense, there were new Affleck photos a few days ago, and I suggested that she write about them, and she didn’t! So here we are, looking at yet another set of new photos starring CB’s beloved, Mr. Affleck. I remember when I was in lust with Affleck as well – it was pre-gambling, post-Gwyneth. Circa 2001, I believe. He was only starting to go off the rails then. I really was hot for him… and these photos are reminding me of my crush, big time. Ben has been looking really good lately – he’s lost some weight, his clothes have improved, and the sparkle is back in his eye. Is that sparkle because his wife’s not around? Who can say. But who can pay attention to The Affleck when The Hamm is around?

Is this not one of the funniest photos you’ve ever seen? God, he’s handsome, and he’s hilarious. Bless his heart.

Now I can’t tell if Ben is checking out Rebecca Hall’s shoes or her boobs in this photo. All I know is that CB is getting her shank ready.

But Rebecca wisely spends most of her time flirting with The Hamm. Good girl. Also: Rebecca has horrible style, correct?

My Beloved Hamm, solo.

And finally, my little cutie Jeremy Renner. I wish he would rethink the dirt-lip/dirt-chin. He looks like he needs a bath.

‘The Town’ photocall on September 8, 2010. Credit: Fame.

I’m just going to say, okay? Why is it that Ben Affleck never looks at his wife the way he looks at other women? First it was Blake Lively, and now it’s his other female costar in The Town – Rebecca Hall. Jeremy Renner is around here too – all three are in Venice to promote The Town, which I have to admit, I’ll be seeing this weekend come hell or high water. Getting back to Hall and Affleck – even though in some of these photos, they look like they’ve got some heat, I’m going to say that they have not done the dirty previously, nor are they going to do the nasty in the near future. Also: Rebecca looks a bit like Jennifer Garner, doesn’t she? I never really noticed that. Ben hired a British bird to play an American girl in his film, and the character is his character’s love interest. Interesting.

What do you think? Does Garner have anything to worry about with Rebecca Hall? Hall was the alleged “other woman” in Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet’s marriage, although she’s always denied it, and I tend to think it was probably bullsh-t. But still, the accusation is still floating around out there, perhaps affecting who hires her and who doesn’t. I don’t think Garner has to worry about this one. I think Garner has to worry about Blake Lively. Blake and Ben’s Interview Magazine conversation made me uncomfortable in their mutual flirtation and gushing, and I’m not even married to him. I can only imagine what Garner felt like.

You know what’s really unfortunate though? No photos of Jon Hamm at this press event. The Hamm is in The Town – he plays the F.B.I. agent tracking Affleck’s bank robber. Although… there are new photos of The Hamm at an airport yesterday, so maybe he’s on his way somewhere to pose his cute ass off. Also: Even though I mostly want to slap Jennifer Westfeldt, I melt a little to see the cute way The Hamm looks at his girlfriend. Right? They totally adore each other.

And here are some more photos from the Venice photocall:

Ben and Rebecca in Venice on Sept. 7, 2010. Credit: Fame.

Ever since the tabloids began publishing photos from the Boston set of The Town last year, I’ve been wondering if Ben Affleck and Blake Lively really did have an affair. I know that this may hurt CB’s long-standing love of Ben, but I think if Ben had his way, there would have been an affair. I’m not so sure about Blake – yes, I think she’s the kind of actress who would do ANYTHING for a good part, but it seems like she got a part in The Town without sleeping with Ben, so why have an on-set affair? But, as I said, I think Ben wanted it, and I think he was crushing hard on young Blake.

Anyway, after those rumors surfaced, percolated and clung to the gossip world like bacon grease (mm…), you’d think that Ben and Blake might try to avoid each other as The Town’s promotional duties gear up (it’s being released on September 10th). Not so much – Ben interviewed Blake for her cover profile in Interview Magazine (full piece here). Let’s see if they’re flirty in the interview, shall we?

BEN AFFLECK: Somebody told me that you’re in Paris now. Is that true?
BLAKE LIVELY: Yeah, I’m in Paris!
AFFLECK: Are you liking it?
LIVELY: Oh, my gosh, it’s so amazing here. It’s couture fashion week, so it’s been like a fairy-tale Paris experience.
AFFLECK: You don’t have to tell me . . .

*******

AFFLECK: We met when you came to do The Town, and when you turned up, I was a little taken aback. I was like, “How did you learn this Boston accent? How did you learn all of this stuff?” Which I thought was hard to get because I had been doing readings with all of these actresses in New York and L.A., and it was just hard to find the right person. You were by far the best, and when I asked you how you got everything down, it turned out that you had tried to work with this one dialect coach, and then tried another one, and then just started doing all of this incredibly thorough, diligent, independent research on your own-seeking out people who spoke the way your character does, seeking out people whose own life experiences you could draw upon. How did you get to the point where that became your approach? Because it’s certainly nothing I ever did at any point in my twenties. Where does that instinct come from?
LIVELY: I don’t know. I think it comes from the fact that I never really thought about acting as a child. It wasn’t like, “This is the career that I want to pursue.” So when I first started acting, I was more concerned with just being on a set and all of the woes of that, and I didn’t really know it or understand it as a craft yet…. That’s been something, movie by movie, that I’ve been able to grow and learn from-that I always need to work harder to be better because it’s still a new craft for me.

AFFLECK: Did anyone help you learn that?
LIVELY: I just did it on my own. I’ve never worked with an acting coach, but my parents had acting classes and I grew up around them my whole life just because I didn’t have a babysitter. I’m actually a very shy person-that’s a big secret, so don’t tell-but being in those classes pushed me to break out of that a little bit. It’s like nature versus nurture: I’m naturally very shy, but I was brought up in a way where I had to get up and get out of that.

AFFLECK: I wouldn’t really describe you as shy. That hasn’t been my experience of you.
LIVELY: Well, I had to be bold with you! I had to be brave because this role was terrifying. But it was all smoke and mirrors because I read the script and I didn’t know how I couldn’t do it. I loved this character so much. I was a little selfish in wanting to do it because I also thought, Well, maybe I’m not the best person for this, but I really want it. I didn’t know how to do a good Boston accent, so I went and got a dialect coach, and she was really good, but it was a real proper accent I was learning, and my character is from the projects.

***********

AFFLECK: You brought a sense of complexity and nuance to the character that I felt was really important. And then I also found it impressive that even though your schedule on Gossip Girl was really tight, you made the time to come to Boston and do some firsthand research.
LIVELY: Well, I had to come to Boston because they told me, “Ben said you have to come to Boston if you want the part.” [laughs]
AFFLECK: That’s not true. They said I wasn’t interested? Really?
LIVELY: Well, no. They just said, “Ben is not going to come to New York. You’re too young for the part, but if you feel like you want to pursue this, you can take a train to Boston.”
AFFLECK: And you did, which I thought was cool. You spent a lot of time with some of these girls from the real projects who showed you around and showed you their lives. You got into a whole world that I imagine is very different from Burbank-and probably very different from what you experienced on Traveling Pants. What was that like? Were you nervous? Were you excited?

**************

AFFLECK: You know, before we did The Town, I wasn’t superfamiliar with everything you’d done.
LIVELY: You weren’t?

AFFLECK: Well, I was a fan of yours, but I didn’t have the full, in-depth familiarity. But then I got to see The Private Lives of Pippa Lee on DVD, and I just thought all of the acting in that film was great. It was directed by Rebecca Miller, and she’s super-heavy-duty. What was she like to work with?
LIVELY: Oh, gosh. She’s such an incredible woman. She’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. The script was really wild. It was entirely hers, because she wrote the book that the film was based on, and she’d worked with the story for so many years…”

AFFLECK: See, if I were a real director, I would have said something informed and brilliant like that. I was just like, “I don’t know. Come on, let’s shoot.” So I was basically right to feel insecure.
LIVELY: [laughs] I don’t know if you should have felt insecure, but I would call Rebecca between scenes on our film and say, “Ben’s telling me to do this thing, but he’s so wrong.”

*********
AFFLECK: Is there anyone whose career you admire?
LIVELY: People always ask me that and I always answer with men. Which is not to say that there aren’t incredible women in this business, but I feel like men are still given much better opportunities. I feel like there are so many people I admire for so many reasons that I can’t look at one person’s life and say, “I want that life.” I want to make my own history.
AFFLECK: I always have to remind myself how young you are. You were 3 when Good Will Hunting [1997] came out.
LIVELY: [laughs] Not quite.
AFFLECK: And you’ve never even seen it. That felt good to me.
LIVELY: You were in Good Will Hunting?
AFFLECK: But you have your head on pretty straight. You and I had to do a sex scene on the first day of shooting, and you were very poised and comfortable about it-more mature than some of the crew members.
LIVELY: Well, I have a big family and no one ever treated me like a child. They always treated me like an adult, like an equal. But with acting, I think half of it is just acting confident. We stand on these red carpets and pose in these dresses, but we’re all only so confident. It doesn’t mean we think we’re great looking or anything. It’s all a façade. But the sex scene was really awkward. It was my first day, so thank you for that.
AFFLECK: You’re welcome.
LIVELY: I guess it was good to break the ice. [laughs]

********

AFFLECK: So before you got to Paris, you were down in New Orleans doing Green Lantern, which is a big Hollywood superhero movie. You’re playing the secretary of the Air Force or something?
LIVELY: Secretary? I own the company! I play a fighter pilot. Are you intimidated now?
AFFLECK: So you’re playing a much older character-a person with a lot of responsibility in regards to airplanes and that kind of stuff.
LIVELY: Did you see Pearl Harbor [2001]? My character has the same kind of position as the lead character in that.
AFFLECK: [laughs] Funnily enough, that doesn’t bring anything to mind. I must have blacked that out. So who’s more attractive: Jon Hamm or Ryan Reynolds?
LIVELY: Pete Postlethwaite.
AFFLECK: See, that’s the quote that’s going to get pulled out and be in bold letters above the interview. So when people read it, they get to this part of the conversation and they say, “Well, that was just bullshit.” [Lively laughs] I do have to say though, Pete Postlethwaite is an attractive guy. He is fabulous. And Green Lantern sounds pretty good.

*********

AFFLECK: Well, that was the last question. I didn’t get to some others I wanted to ask you, like, “Which day did you find yourself most impressed by me?”
LIVELY: Or am I happy that you don’t wear cashmere turtlenecks anymore.
AFFLECK: Oh, Jesus Christ. I don’t know what pictures you’re looking at. How about: Would you work with me again? When your price is too expensive, can I hire you for scale? I want you to say it now so it’s in a magazine.
LIVELY: Oh, gosh. You’re so tacky! I told you already that I’d never work with you again. Jason Bourne maybe.
AFFLECK: Do you remember when you and I had worked together for months and we were wandering around in Boston and at one point I just randomly pointed to a place and said, “Matt Damon lived there.” And you turned to me and were like, “What? You know Jason Bourne?” [Lively laughs]

LIVELY: Of course I’ll work with you again.
AFFLECK: I’m going to introduce you to Jason Bourne so that you’ll be grateful.
LIVELY: I’m already grateful.

AFFLECK: Now stop trolling the Internet looking for pictures of me and critiquing my wardrobe. Before I went to do this interview somebody said, “Blake is a fashion darling.” All of us can’t be fashion darlings, Blake.
LIVELY: Well, people like you make me fashionable, because if there is no wrong there can be no right.
AFFLECK: You’ve gotten so much more bitchy since we wrapped the film.
LIVELY: But I think you have to say that I’m charming at the end of the interview. I think that’s the rule.
AFFLECK: You’re very charming.
LIVELY: Actually, I think they usually like to end these interviews on a funny note.
AFFLECK: I’m not sure that I said anything funny. Maybe you did.
LIVELY: Maybe they’ll just have someone else redo the interview.
AFFLECK: Okay, then. I’m going to let you go. I can hear the Gossip Girl people banging on your trailer door because you’re holding up the whole production doing this interview. This is how you get a bad reputation: You stay on the phone doing interviews.
LIVELY: I’m actually not in a trailer. I’m in a hotel room with no air conditioning. It’s very special.
AFFLECK: That’s the charm of Europe. What can I say?
LIVELY: That’s going to be the quote right there: “Ben Affleck says things don’t work well in Europe.”

[From Interview Magazine]

Um… I totally think they were doing it. And I think it was really hot, too. Is it wrong that I’m kind of in love with Blake now too? True, she doesn’t seem like the most awesome girl in the world, but she’s a bigger, more hardcore bitch than I realized, and I respect that. Oh, and Ben was totally gushing over her. It was kind of uncomfortable. Like, if the interview went on for any longer (and this was already a seriously long piece), Ben was going to ask, “Can I touch your hair?”

Interview photos courtesy of HuffPo, additional pics at Interview online.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner had a couple of well photographed outings recently that looked staged, in my opinion. They take pains not to be photographed together on the red carpet, and in these park outing photos they were smiling, playing with their kids and kissing. (They also went out to eat at Nobu recently.) It’s possible they were just followed by the paparazzi who stalk them daily and decided to make the best of it. They were at the park to attend their older daughter Violet’s soccer game so it’s not like they could leave. Even if they did set up the photos I can’t really blame them. They’re damned if they do, damned if they don’t, as evidenced by this story in In Touch that their marriage is allegedly in trouble but they’re working on it. Given all we know about Ben, it sounds likely even if it’s completely made up, and that’s likely to be the case too. Here’s what In Touch says, and they note that the two have been necessarily apart due to work arrangements.

Just hours after filming on the NYC set of Arthur, in which she co-stars with Russell Brand, Jennifer garner packed up her daughters… and bounded a flight back to LA and her husband…

It had been weeks since Jennifer, 38, had been in LA with Ben, 38, and it appeared she couldn’t get home fast enough…

“Ben was so happy to have them home, he took Jen out for a romantic date to Malibu’s Nobu restaurant that weekend,” says a friend.

But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the couple, who recently celebrated their five-year anniversary. They’ve been in counseling since last year to work through some of their issues. “Ben was never the marrying type,” says the friend. “He is still a playboy at heart, and now that he’s getting closer to 40, he seems to be going through a midlife crisis.” But the therapy sessions seem to be working -for now. “Ben battles demons, but does his best to keep the marriage going. He loves Jen and adores his daughters, so he’s making it work.”

[From In Touch, print edition, August 16, 2010]

The thing that made me think these two might be having problems is a giant 7 carat diamond ring that Garner has been wearing occasionally. Many of you noted that it looks like a guilt gift from Affleck. He may have done it just to be sweet though and it’s a damn nice piece of jewelry! Who are we to knock a guy for giving his wife a ginormous ring?

Ben looks kind of annoyed in these photos but maybe we can chalk that up to the fact that there are several paparazzi bothering him while he’s trying to have a day out with his family. A lot of stories claim couples are having problems based on the fact that someone looks pissed off in photos. Imagine the things these guys shout while they’re taking the pictures and it’s easy to see why the celebrities are mad.

The Town is coming out on September 10 and marks Ben’s second film as a writer/director. He’s going to star in this one too, and it looks damn good. I hope that it does well at the box office and helps herald Affleck’s comeback. He’s had some minor successes but nothing big yet.

Photos are from 7/31/10. credit: Fame Pictures.

Below is the new trailer for The Town, which is Ben Affleck’s second time out as a director. Ben also stars, along with Jon “The Hamm” Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively and Chris Cooper. I never saw Gone Baby Gone, so I didn’t really know what I was expecting from this film and from Affleck as a director. Can I just say something? I. Am. Blown. Away.

It has elements (from what I can see) of Point Break (truly underestimated film, in my opinion) and The Dark Knight. But it still looks like its own film, and Affleck looks like he had the vision to make a truly taut action film with a great dramatic core. In Boston, of course! The Hamm generally looks better in his Mad Men gear, what with the slicked back hair and the fabulous suits, but The Hamm is still giving me major fever in his FBI gear. The Hamm with a gun (plus his sexy voiceover) = my new sexual fantasy. Renner looks badass too, and Affleck actually looks like a totally solid lead, bringing together everyone’s performances. I’m totally hot for this film. It comes out in September.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck just celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. For the momentous event, they went out to dinner, just the two of them. These are photos of them leaving the restaurant. CB noticed that Jennifer seems to be wearing the gigantic diamond ring that Ben bought her last year.

Here’s a question: did you think they would make it this far? I didn’t. I honestly thought Ben’s self-destructive nature would win out, and he would send this marriage down in flames. I thought he was too damaged from Jennifer Lopez to jump right into another long-term commitment. I also thought it probably wasn’t the best idea for Jennifer Garner to get pregnant like two seconds into their relationship and then run off and get married. But I guess this shows, sometimes shotgun marriages do work out, and they can be very happy.

Although they don’t look all that happy in these photos. That could be because they’re being photographed, and they don’t like the paparazzi. Or it could be that Jennifer’s hair is really bothering her, because she seems way more into her hair than her husband. Maybe I’m just overanalyzing (I do that). Do you think Ben and Jennifer will make it another five years? Or are they already white-knuckling it?

Jennifer and Ben on June 28, 2010. Credit: BauerGriffinOnline.

This news is in Mike Walker’s column in the National Enquirer. Sometimes Walker runs suspicious celebrity hero stories, but he’s had some notable scoops about upcoming movies and did break the news about the new Wall St. sequel. He may have some good sources for industry information. Anyway Walker claims that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, my favorite BFFs since Good Will Hunting, will again star together on screen. They’re going to do a film based on the true story of two Yankees pitchers and best friends who “actually traded spouses, houses, kids and dogs.” Given that Matt and Ben are both married with two biological daughters at home (Matt also has an older adopted daughter) their lives closely parallel each other and would be a huge selling point for this film. I hope this is true and am really looking forward to it. As Walker mentions, this is also a big deal because Matt and Ben, both Boston natives, are Red Sox fans.

Looks like real-life best pals Ben Affleck and Matt Damon finally get their wish and reunite on screen for another buddy movie… The Boston-bred Red Sox fans will… don New York Yankee uniforms in “The Trade,” based on the shocking true tale of two Yankees pitchers who were best pals, fell in love with each other’s wives, and actually traded spouses, houses, kids and dogs… A source says Ben, who’ll direct, wanted to cast Wifey Jennifer Garner and asked: “How’d you like to be married to Matt, but have an affair with me?”… Jennifer’s response: “Me playing Matt’s wife, but sleeping with both of you? Eww… yuck! I don’t think so!”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker's column, May 10, 2010]

I went to Google “Yankee Pitchers” and one of the suggested searches was “Yankee Pitchers Swap Wives,” so I went ahead and googled that to come across the story of Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, two pitchers for the Yankees in early 70s. These guys were best friends each with families with kids and they actually swapped wives and lives when they found themselves falling for the other’s spouses. It didn’t work out so well, but I won’t recount it all here because it contains a lot of potential spoilers if this movie is actually going to happen. Here’s an article in Time Magazine from 1973 that explains how it all went down. Wikipedia also has some more details. Peterson just published a memoir last July called Mickey Mantle is going to Heaven and I would bet that either Matt or Ben read it and came up with the idea for this film. It’s a great concept and could be an incredible dramedy with these two Oscar winners on board.

First of all, how hot does Matt Damon look? He shaved off that horrible mustache and you can see all of his lovely, boyish, “I’ll always look this young” face. Also, he seems to have settled into a nice weight where he doesn’t look all Jason Bourne-tight, but yet he still looks fit and healthy, and he’s growing out his hair, and it looks crazy sexy. Matt Damon is so yummy, damn. Anyway… these are photos of Matt and assorted Hollywood types who turned out on Saturday to salute Matt with the American Cinematheque “lifetime achievement” tribute. Matt Damon is 39 years old. Lifetime what? Granted, Matt’s a really talented actor who has already had a really outstanding career, but since when is 39 years old the “lifetime” point for an actor’s career? EW explains why Matt was being honored, and they included some of the funnier moments from the night:

For a guy known for being a serious actor, Matt Damon is pretty funny — or at least he seems to be when the room is filled with his longtime pals and colleagues, such as Ben Affleck, Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, Clint Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Greg Kinnear, Casey Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Jimmy Kimmel, and Sarah Silverman.

On Saturday they all gathered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in L.A. to honor Damon for his film and philanthropic work. A taped version of the event, “Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon: An American Cinematheque Tribute,” will air in April on ABC.

So, a lifetime achievement award for an actor who hasn’t even turned 40? According to American Cinematheque, who’s been hosting similar events since 1986 to raise money for their cinemas and public programming operations (past recipients include Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Julia Roberts), it’s more of a “mid-career” award. But that didn’t stop Jimmy Kimmel from lampooning the proceedings in his opening monologue: “They must be running out of stars for awards. Who will we honor next year? Vanessa Hudgens?”

There was definitely a casual vibe at the black-tie affair. The audience (about 700 people, most of whom paid between $500 to $2,200 for a ticket) was light on celebrities, and heavy on industry types, fans, and members of American Cinematheque. Cell phone cameras were clicking constantly. Clint Eastwood, who was seated next to Charlize Theron and Sarah Silverman, got up and down from his chair so much to oblige the line of people wanting to snap a pic with the legend, he probably didn’t have time to finish his salad and salmon entrée.

Damon’s table (which included his parents, brother, and wife, along with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner) didn’t seem too interested in sitting and eating either, as they stood and chatted happily before the official proceedings. Damon and his wife, Luciana, held hands constantly, while Ben and Jen whispered into each other’s ear, with Garner giving Affleck man an affectionate stroke under the chin.

The official ceremony, which only lasted about an hour, consisted of short, scripted “roasts” of Damon and a slew of clips, from Damon’s first role, in 1988’s Mystic Pizza, to this year’s Green Zone. (The reel showed how little his boyish good looks and sandy highlighted hair have changed over the years.) There were so many Jimmy Kimmel moments (including the famous viral video with Sarah Silverman, and the more recent Handsome Men sketch) that at times it seemed more like an ep of Kimmel (and a serious cross-promotion for ABC).

Surprisingly the professional comedians, Robin Williams and Sarah Silverman, were the most subdued, while the laconic Eastwood (the only presenter who didn’t read from a teleprompter) delivered some of the funniest lines: “Matt Damon is one of the finest actors of our generation. I know that because when he came into my office for Invictus, he said, ‘Clint, I am one of the finest actors of my generation.’ In fact he couldn’t understand why I cast Morgan Freeman as Mandela, he felt he could handle it.”

Casey Affleck, who’s known Damon since he was 7, got the biggest laugh of the night from the room and Damon himself when he pulled up a slide of a so-called “vacation shot” of the two of them lying around naked, with a very small black bar hiding Damon’s privates and an extremely large one over Affleck’s. (It will be interesting to see if that makes it to the broadcast.)

Of course there were more serious moments. Charlize Theron (who starred with Damon in The Legend of Bagger Vance) paid tribute to the actor’s philanthropic work and introduced a taped message from President Bill Clinton, who thanked Damon for his efforts in Darfur and Haiti, and for his commitment to bringing clean water to those areas.

Another taped messages came from Ben Stiller, who has never worked with Damon and aptly prefaced his remarks by saying that this was the reason he couldn’t be bothered to actually show up. A misfired sketch featuring the absent George Clooney dressed in a hospital gown and pretending to be getting a proctology exam while addressing the room was about as excruciating as the actual procedure would be.

It was left, of course, to best pal Ben Affleck (who Jen Garner introduced as “my husband’s husband”) to actually present Damon with his award, noting dryly: “Wow! A lifetime achievement award? I started the same time as the guy — so it’s a special night for me too. I actually accepted an award recently as well from the Elks Lodge!”

In the end it really proved to be Damon’s night when he took the stage to receive the award and proceeded to dish out all that he gotten over the course of the night. In fact most of it was off the cuff, as he ignored the lines scrolling in front of him on the teleprompter. He thanked Affleck (who he referred to as his hetero lifemate) and assured him that. “Next year I’m sure you will be on this stage (presenting this award to someone else).”

He did perfect impressions of Clinton and Eastwood, saying his award paled in comparison to Eastwood’s lifetime achievement award from AARP. To Silverman, he said: “Well, it was over before it started — and in fact that’s what you told me about Jimmy.” He also wondered aloud why Ben Stiller was even invited to speak (“I guess you heard there was something being made in Hollywood that didn’t have you in it”) and called Clooney’s taped message “strange” (to say the least).

He finished his 12-minute response by thanking his family until he was yanked offstage by Kimmel and Guillermo of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, who said Damon had run out of time. So what’s next for the career achievement recipient? “I don’t know. I guess I go back to work and try and earn the award,” he told EW.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Aw, it sounds like a nice night. I guess the American Cinematheque tried to keep the focus on the “tribute” aspect rather than the “lifetime” aspect. Which is fine, I guess. If someone wants to just to a tribute to Matt’s work thus far, they chose a good actor for it. He works so much! He’s done no fewer than 30 films over the past decade! And you know what? As much as rail against the state of romantic comedies these days, I would love to see Matt as a romantic lead, which he rarely does. Of course, I’d also love to see him in another action-thriller franchise, like the Bourne series. And I’d like to see him work with Martin Scorsese again. So basically, I’d like to see Matt work for another 39 years.

Matt Damon and others in LA on March 27, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Last night after the Oscars and local news Jimmy Kimmel aired a funny skit called The Handsome Men’s Club featuring cameos by such attractive souls as Sting, Patrick Dempsey, a shirtless Gilles Marini (from Sex and The City), Rob Lowe, John Kraskinski, Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Josh Hartnett, Taye Diggs, Tony Romo, Keith Urban, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The bit went on way too long and was just an excuse to add cameos by countless celebrities. Every time you turned around it seemed a new celebrity was shown sitting around the ever-expanding table. The premise was that Kimmel was the head of the self-obsessed Handsome Men’s Club and was being voted out by the members for not being handsome enough. Matthew McConaughey challenged Kimmel’s presidency and then Rob Lowe pointed out that Kimmel was wearing Spanx. Kimmel countered that he looked just like Taye Diggs, to which Taye and the members objected.

The whole thing was ridiculous and was capped off in true Kimmel style with his buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Affleck voted against Kimmel, shamefaced, and then Damon entered at the end and laughed maniacally, telling us we were out of time (a long running Kimmel gag). Next we saw Kimmel in bed spooning with his lover Affleck, realizing the whole thing was a bad dream. Affleck reassured Kimmel that he was attractive and was his “big daddy handsome,” at which point Ben’s wife, Jennifer Garner, popped out of bed and said “Ben, that’s enough, it’s getting weird.”

I didn’t think Kimmel could top his “f’ing Ben Affleck” response to then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s viral video, “I’m f’ing Matt Damon.” He did, though, sort of. It was more by sheer star power rather than hilarity, although I was pretty amused, particularly by Damon. He always manages to crack me up.