Tape captures Affleck pre-stardom

The Lost Ben Affleck Tape has surfaced. No, it’s not a videotape of the star of Good Will Hunting and Armageddon, all sweaty and caught in some steamy, sleazy sexual situation. It’s the cassette tape of my short interview with Affleck during filming of Going All the Way, two years ago this month in Indianapolis. Since Affleck’s comments didn’t quite fit into the story about that day’s, they were set aside. Weeks later, the production left town, and thecassette buried itself in the bottom of a box that was moved twice during office renovation.

Hey, These things happen.

Who would have guessed that less than two years, Affleck would be the co-winner of an Oscar for an original screenplay, and one of Hollywood’s hottest young stars? The hunky young actor was such a non-household name in August 1996 that he seemed a sure bet to ride in the next 500 Festival Parade. And who could have fathomed that Jeremy Davies, his pale, skinny co-star who ran down a Near Eastside alley in his underwear one chilly night (for the movie, of course) would be the outstanding player among the ensemble of soldiers in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan?

Aura was missing

Not this clueless movie critic. But then, neither actor emitted that palpable MOVIE STAR AURA that surrounds screen gods Mel Gibson and John Travolta like invisible fencing. The interview took place in the middle of Virginia Avenue in Fountain Square as Affleck, with a short haircut and a ‘50s shirt, sat waiting for director Mark Pellington to summon him for his scene. Here’s some of what the budding star- and very down-to-earth and friendly Affleck- had to say before he became the subject of countless magazine covers and endless sound bites.

On upcoming films:”I’m in a movie that’s coming out… called Cruise, they may have changed the name to Glory Daze (the name was changed, and Blockbuster Entertainment’s Guide to Movies and Videos 1999 indicates that it’s available on video. It received three out of five possible stars). “I just finished this movie called Chasing Amy; it’s really good, I really like it… I play a guy who falls in love with a lesbian.” His movie love life has improved quite a bit. He got to smooch with Liv Tyler in Armageddon.Had he been to Indianapolis before? “I had driven through a couple of times… driving by, you don’t get a sense of how cosmopolitan it is. It’s really quite a city. It reminds me of Boston, where I grew up, in a lot of ways…. “I’ve hit all the monuments, the malls, went to Dillinger’s grave- that cemetery’s beautiful. I had a great time at Victory Field … I thought, ifI lived here, I’d be there every day.”

Dead-on deal (Hey, Crown Hill Cemetery, bad-boy bank robber John Dillinger’s final resting place: Imagine using Affleck in your advertising campaigns. How about, “Actor/writer Ben Affleck, a screenplay Oscar winner, knows a thing or two about plots. He loved ours at Crown Hill Cemetery.”) One the Boston-Indiana connection: “I’m a huge Larry Bird fan. On the way through (Indiana), I stopped in French Lick. Went by Larry’s house, ran around town, asked people about him.”(Oooh. If you weren’t a movie star, I’d worry about those stalking tendencies.)

On moving and writing: “I’m moving to New York now for a change of pace, I’ve been in L.A. for a few years. I’m also a writer. Got a movie that’s at Miramax, working with them; they’re based in New York. I’m trying New York out.” Remember that one? Oh, yeah. That little Miramax movie, Good Will Hunting. It was written with his boyhood pal, Matt Damon, who was on that trip through French Lick asthey were driving west looking for work, according to a story in the September issue of Details. Nominated for best picture. Won a best original screenplay Oscar for Damon and Affleck.

On the cost of living: “This is inexpensive (in Indianapolis). I looked in the papers. In termsof real estate, it’s so much cheaper than L.A. or New York.” (Yes, and you won’t find yummy pork tenderloins the size of dinner plates in the City of Angels or the Big Apple, either.) On the screenplay for Going All the Way, in which he plays Gunner, the guy-who-gets-the-girls soldier back from the war: “The first time I read it, I really responded to it. It was a nice story, with integrity. It was funny, interesting, different. I didn’t even know it was a novel.”(Well, that’s OK. Some of the video stores around here don’t even know it’s a movie that was made here. Only two out of six video rental outlets contacted by telephone had copies. (But it shouldn’t be too hard to find Good Will Hunting.)

Remeber the Amy manga/comic novel I gave word of a few months back?

It’s in my hands.

I’ll make some scans before this weekend and send you the pics. Funny stuff. Of course, it’s all in Japanese which makes it completely unreadable to someone not versed in the language. But the art is cool. Wait’ll you get a load of the manga representations of Jay and Silent Bob. Hilarious.

On his VIEW ASKEW website, filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) has announced he has become engaged to Jennifer Schwalbach, who wrote an article on him in USA TODAY this past spring, and the couple is expecting a baby in April. Smith’s MALLRATS makes its network debut this Saturday night at 9 on ABC, and it’s possible this edited version will feature some footage which didn’t make it into the theatrical release, but should all appear in the planned MALLRATS Special Edition DVD.

Dogma: ViewAskew reports that the first cut of “Dogma” clocks in at 3hrs 30 mins, about 70 minutes more than the length that Kevin Smith is aiming for in the final cut. The sad news is that those 70 minutes are going to be cut from the film version, but the good part is that they’re likely to be restored in the laserdisc version. Next up, Miramax may thankfully be moving the release date up for the film – generalising it to be released in the Fall ’99 season, rather than specifying December as previously mentioned. Finally, congratulations are in order for Mr. Smith – he’s going to be a father!!! (well done). Thanks to ‘Mr. Black’.

Hey guys. I just saw a screening of ROUNDERS, so heres my quick review:

I was watching MTV (why?) today, “Lunch with Jesse” to be exact, and Jesse had this rock band on, who I think used to be famous and still dressed like it was 1985, and they were at Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Red Bank. The lead singer f**ked the name up calling it Jay & Bob’s Silent Secret Stash even though they were right in front of the store with that big sign behind them. Anyway, they went in, played with a Hulk 2099 toy and checked out the Lady Death books. Nobody who works there was on the show, I didn’t see anyone but the band and Jesse in the whole store.

“Ben was the man back then. He would sit on the bleachers and hold court — he was a real Hollywood star as far as we were concerned. We didn’t know that all he had done was an educational series on PBS.”

— Matt Damon on best friend Ben Affleck‘s reputation as an actor when they were growing up, in Details.

Because you demanded it! (and demanded it and demanded it and demanded it…) Available for the first time ever is the infamous “Snootchie Bootchies Bluntman!” hat that Banky Edwards wears in the movie Chasing Amy! This FITTED hat is light blue with the infamous “Snootchie Bootchies Bluntman!” stiched on the back in purple. And on the front, an orange letter ‘B’. Now you have no reason to wait, buy it NOW!

Detailed image of the back here (44K JPG)
Detailed image of the front here (44K JPG)

NOTE: This FITTED hat comes in a size 7 1/2 ONLY.

ORDER IT HERE ($20.00 + shipping)

Kevin’s first DD stuff should be up and running today. I saw the cyber comicjust before they finished all the small touches and it looked really good. I’ll give you all the exact info as soon as I get it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was up and running today.