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sisabetHow to explain this? I am not a fannish person - that is absolutely false, actually, I am a very fannish person. I am not an actor-driven fan though, I am much more a story-series fan. Yes, that describes me fairly accurately.
I don't mean that I don't have preferred actors, or on the other hand, actors that irritate me extremely. The preferance and irritation do not quite balance though. I may adore Clive Owen, because of "Second Sight" but this does not mean I will go to see "Closer" at the theater. Heh - in three years time it should be easily available on a movie channel. I can wait until then, if ever, to see it. So while fannish love of a particular actor will not get me out of the house, dislike is almost guaranteed to keep me away from a movie I would have seen otherwise. So, since Tom Hanks irritates me to no end (mostly because of "Forrest Gump" and I am sorry - while, yes parts of the damned thing *were* moving - I really really really dislike it as a whole. To the point of hives) I have not seen "Road to Perdition" and I have no plans to change that.
I am apparently controlled more by my dislikes than likes. This is useful info to have. I'm also not the type to follow an actor from movie to movie to project to project. So, I miss some things. One of those things was the Incredible Powers of Hawt of Matt Damon.
Until recently, my most consistent view of Damon was the one given to me by Trey Parker and Matt Stone - also I saw him on Oprah and he failed to impress. I need to remember that most people fail to impress while on Oprah. I fell asleep during Good Will Hunting - and wasn't Minnie Driver in it? I don't like her. I don't like Robin Williams movies from that period. I dislike Ben Affleck immensely.
The cards were stacked against Mr. Damon. I took a group of brain damaged patients to see "Rounders" and half way through the movie when one of my patients had an outburst and ran up to the screen and started screaming it was with relief that I ushered him out into the lobby. That movie almost made me dislike Ed Norton and I adore him. Seriously - he is the John Cusack for women who grew up and realized Cusack is not Lloyd Dobler.
So, up until a few months ago - I didn't like Matt Damon. I didn't hate him. Hate is a strong word. I don't hate anyone...well maybe Andie MacDowell, just a little. I don't know - she just grates - ick. Oh! Her and that Leelee Sobieski - I just can't stand the way she forms words. She taps into a very fundamental and primal dislike I have. I can't stand her with my lizard brain. But back to the matter at hand - I did not dislike him - I had Matt Damon indifference. He just blended in and never stood out on the radar.
Then one night "The Bourne Identity" was playing on Encore and it had been on a lot - I've napped to it, I've vidded with it on in the background and I knew enough to knew eventually Clive Owen shows up. I've already said that I like him - so if he is gonna show up in my living room for free, the least I can do is block off two hours to see him. I am very giving like that.
So I am watching and at first Damon is pretty much the Damon I have come to expect: bland, if confused and naked. Or maybe that was confused in a wetsuit? Whatever, I wasn't paying him much attention. He is Chris O'Donnell. Chris O'Donnell is he. Neither of these guys is Dick Grayson and so they are permantly fused as being "Not-Dick" in my head. This does not bode well for young Matt.
And then, and then there was a moment of revelation. A shining light shone down on Mr. Damon and he became suddenly and gloriously hot. He was wearing a sweater and carrying a backpack and I think he was in Germany or Belgium or I have no idea. It has been awhile since I saw the movie but these cops were hassling him in the park and he was trying to talk his way out of it and getting frustrated and all of a sudden he turned into ANGEL. It was fantastic. It was a defining moment - at least *I* felt defined in that moment. And then Damon proceeded to become hotter and hotter so by the time the movie ended me and Lola were both head over heals in love with this crazy, amnesiac CIA assassin dude. Since I never quite go the whole "MANNY!" thing with Lola before, I was glad to see her finally with a guy I liked. Of course it is possible that Famke Potente was not playing Lola at all... but I like Lola and wanted to see her in a sequel.
So, I'm thinking - whoa - "Matt Damon just got hot" and getting ready to dismiss it as a fluke or just Ben Browder conditioning me to like green t-shirts, but "The Bourne Supremacy" was out in theaters so I took a peek. Oh. My. God. He starts the movie at even higher levels of Hawt and proceeds to build from there. It was Krycek hot - it was unassuming at first and then it just smacks you about and you feel like an idiot for not noticing.
I was a new recruit. I began to re-evaluate a lot of my long-standing prejudices - maybe I have been wrong about many things? I felt out of step and off-tune. I - I pride myself on at least knowing what is hot and what is not and I missed this. Maybe I have been wrong about Val Kilmer? No, I haven't. I know this. Iceman was a fluke.
So, with this in mind, I finally watched "Oceans 11" recently and... Matt Damon was many things - most of them cute and fluffy and akin to a small animal. He was a puppy. He wasn't hot - he was Connor without the Hell memories. I watched "Oceans 12" and yes - still a puppy, still adorable and much with the tail wagging. Not hot.
So now I need a litmus test - a control, an experiment - something to determine if Matt Damon has the power of turning his Hot on and off or if he is only hot whilst playing angst-ridden amnesiac assassins. He needs to be hot in just one other movie - so what is that movie? "The Talented Mr. Ripley" - is that the movie I need to see? I've avoided it in the past cause Paltrow is like Leelee Sobieski time 20 for me. See - I am a woman ruled by her dislikes.
I don't mean that I don't have preferred actors, or on the other hand, actors that irritate me extremely. The preferance and irritation do not quite balance though. I may adore Clive Owen, because of "Second Sight" but this does not mean I will go to see "Closer" at the theater. Heh - in three years time it should be easily available on a movie channel. I can wait until then, if ever, to see it. So while fannish love of a particular actor will not get me out of the house, dislike is almost guaranteed to keep me away from a movie I would have seen otherwise. So, since Tom Hanks irritates me to no end (mostly because of "Forrest Gump" and I am sorry - while, yes parts of the damned thing *were* moving - I really really really dislike it as a whole. To the point of hives) I have not seen "Road to Perdition" and I have no plans to change that.
I am apparently controlled more by my dislikes than likes. This is useful info to have. I'm also not the type to follow an actor from movie to movie to project to project. So, I miss some things. One of those things was the Incredible Powers of Hawt of Matt Damon.
Until recently, my most consistent view of Damon was the one given to me by Trey Parker and Matt Stone - also I saw him on Oprah and he failed to impress. I need to remember that most people fail to impress while on Oprah. I fell asleep during Good Will Hunting - and wasn't Minnie Driver in it? I don't like her. I don't like Robin Williams movies from that period. I dislike Ben Affleck immensely.
The cards were stacked against Mr. Damon. I took a group of brain damaged patients to see "Rounders" and half way through the movie when one of my patients had an outburst and ran up to the screen and started screaming it was with relief that I ushered him out into the lobby. That movie almost made me dislike Ed Norton and I adore him. Seriously - he is the John Cusack for women who grew up and realized Cusack is not Lloyd Dobler.
So, up until a few months ago - I didn't like Matt Damon. I didn't hate him. Hate is a strong word. I don't hate anyone...well maybe Andie MacDowell, just a little. I don't know - she just grates - ick. Oh! Her and that Leelee Sobieski - I just can't stand the way she forms words. She taps into a very fundamental and primal dislike I have. I can't stand her with my lizard brain. But back to the matter at hand - I did not dislike him - I had Matt Damon indifference. He just blended in and never stood out on the radar.
Then one night "The Bourne Identity" was playing on Encore and it had been on a lot - I've napped to it, I've vidded with it on in the background and I knew enough to knew eventually Clive Owen shows up. I've already said that I like him - so if he is gonna show up in my living room for free, the least I can do is block off two hours to see him. I am very giving like that.
So I am watching and at first Damon is pretty much the Damon I have come to expect: bland, if confused and naked. Or maybe that was confused in a wetsuit? Whatever, I wasn't paying him much attention. He is Chris O'Donnell. Chris O'Donnell is he. Neither of these guys is Dick Grayson and so they are permantly fused as being "Not-Dick" in my head. This does not bode well for young Matt.
And then, and then there was a moment of revelation. A shining light shone down on Mr. Damon and he became suddenly and gloriously hot. He was wearing a sweater and carrying a backpack and I think he was in Germany or Belgium or I have no idea. It has been awhile since I saw the movie but these cops were hassling him in the park and he was trying to talk his way out of it and getting frustrated and all of a sudden he turned into ANGEL. It was fantastic. It was a defining moment - at least *I* felt defined in that moment. And then Damon proceeded to become hotter and hotter so by the time the movie ended me and Lola were both head over heals in love with this crazy, amnesiac CIA assassin dude. Since I never quite go the whole "MANNY!" thing with Lola before, I was glad to see her finally with a guy I liked. Of course it is possible that Famke Potente was not playing Lola at all... but I like Lola and wanted to see her in a sequel.
So, I'm thinking - whoa - "Matt Damon just got hot" and getting ready to dismiss it as a fluke or just Ben Browder conditioning me to like green t-shirts, but "The Bourne Supremacy" was out in theaters so I took a peek. Oh. My. God. He starts the movie at even higher levels of Hawt and proceeds to build from there. It was Krycek hot - it was unassuming at first and then it just smacks you about and you feel like an idiot for not noticing.
I was a new recruit. I began to re-evaluate a lot of my long-standing prejudices - maybe I have been wrong about many things? I felt out of step and off-tune. I - I pride myself on at least knowing what is hot and what is not and I missed this. Maybe I have been wrong about Val Kilmer? No, I haven't. I know this. Iceman was a fluke.
So, with this in mind, I finally watched "Oceans 11" recently and... Matt Damon was many things - most of them cute and fluffy and akin to a small animal. He was a puppy. He wasn't hot - he was Connor without the Hell memories. I watched "Oceans 12" and yes - still a puppy, still adorable and much with the tail wagging. Not hot.
So now I need a litmus test - a control, an experiment - something to determine if Matt Damon has the power of turning his Hot on and off or if he is only hot whilst playing angst-ridden amnesiac assassins. He needs to be hot in just one other movie - so what is that movie? "The Talented Mr. Ripley" - is that the movie I need to see? I've avoided it in the past cause Paltrow is like Leelee Sobieski time 20 for me. See - I am a woman ruled by her dislikes.
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Date: 2004-12-20 05:18 pm (UTC)