CD Giveaway - Sam Shrieve, "Bittersweet Lullabies"
Ends Nov 29, 2009
The current student at Berklee College of Music has a rock 'n' roll pedigree, but delivers a pleasing and diverse collection of soft pop on his debut record. Enter our contest for your chance to win!
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Prize Pack
Ends Nov 29, 2009
The second installment of the Twilight saga is hitting theaters, and we've got the stylish goodies you'll howl over!
Ben Affleck first rose to fame in 1997, when he and friend Matt Damon won an Oscar for “Good Will Hunting”, a film that they co-wrote. Since then, besides having a high-profile romance with Jennifer Lopez, Affleck has starred in films such as “Changing Lanes”, “Daredevil”, and “The Sum of All Fears”. In his new film, “Paycheck”, Affleck plays a reverse engineer whose memory is erased after he completes a top-secret job.
Recently I had the opportunity to take part in a conference call with Mr. Affleck, and when asked if he would like to erase any of his own memories, he said, “I am tempted to say there are quite a few, but really, the truth is, I think that the good experiences we have as well as the adverse ones make us who we are. So I think any negative or difficult experience I went through that I were to forget would only serve to make me less strong and certainly a less interesting a person.”
When speaking of "Paycheck", Ben was quick to praise his co-star, Uma Thurman. “Uma, for one thing, is just a great actress. She is also one of the most grounded people I know. She has two kids, and she is a really great mother, and she is a very smart, educated woman. She’s just got the whole package.”
Affleck also spoke highly of the film’s director, John Woo. “I really felt like it was an honor to work with John Woo,” Ben said. “I have been a fan of his since his early Hong Kong movies, Hard-Boiled and The Killer, and watched his work in movies like Mission: Impossible 2 and Face/Off. So it was really a real pleasure and honor for me, and ultimately I just wanted to try to be available to him to do whatever he wanted so that John could make exactly the movie he wanted to make.”
Affleck, however, said that of all the directors he’s worked with in his career, he’s learned the most from Kevin Smith. “The person I have learned the most from is Kevin Smith, because we have had such a long history of working together. And I think he is extremely smart, because he also has more insight into me and the kind of acting I am doing because of his experience with me. So that relationship and its continuing nature probably make it the most, in some ways, satisfying and important relationship I have with a filmmaker.”
Ben grew up in the Boston area, and it is no secret that he is a huge Boston Red Sox fan. When asked if he would rather win a second Oscar or see the Red Sox win the World Series, he didn’t hesitate to respond. “Seeing the Red Sox win the World Series,” he said. “Without a doubt. Without question.”
Affleck’s fans can expect to see a lot of him in the coming year. He will star in two movies in 2004, “Jersey Girl” and “Surviving Christmas”. His latest film, “Paycheck”, is currently playing in theatres.
Ben Affleck first rose to fame in 1997, when he and friend Matt Damon won an Oscar for “Good Will Hunting”, a film that they co-wrote. Since then, besides having a high-profile romance with Jennifer Lopez, Affleck has starred in films such as “Changing Lanes”, “Daredevil”, and “The Sum of All Fears”. In his new film, “Paycheck”, Affleck plays a reverse engineer whose memory is erased after he completes a top-secret job.
