The Damon identity Once a boy wonder, now an A-list star, Matt Damon, at 38, ponders what’s next   By Sam Allis, Globe Staff  |  September 20, 2009  NEW YORK - Now what? Twelve years ago he was the baby-faced actor from Cambridge who captured moviegoers as the troubled boy genius Will Hunting and then brought his mother as his date to the Oscars. Today, at 38, Matt Damon is a singular force in American culture, ubiquitous on screen and off. His global philanthropy is robust, cementing his Tom Hanks-like reputation as one of Hollywood’s good guys. Women and directors swoon (People Magazine has named him “Sexiest Man Alive’’ and Forbes in 2007 dubbed him one of cinema’s most bankable stars). He is as comfortable playing a pudgy, nerdy whistleblower, as he does in his latest, as a lean and ripped killing machine. Though his journey to Hollywood royalty hasn’t been without missteps (“All the Pretty Horses’’? “Bagger Vance’’?), his name alone can now carry a movie. He’s got the monster Bourne franchise, and he’s comfortable enough in his image to mock himself in a raunchy, YouTube video. If “Good Will Hunting’’ defined him for the shock of his talent, today he is defined by the breadth of it. “He’s not playing the same role over and over again like Tom Cruise,’’ says Chris Cooper, the gifted character actor who lives in Kingston and worked with Damon in the first two Bourne movies, monster hits based on the Robert Ludlum novels. All that said, the demands of acting are no longer as appealing for Damon as they used to be, not with his wife, Luciana, at home in New York this year with their two young daughters and his 11-year old stepdaughter. “We just can’t go on the road anymore,’’ he said earlier this week in an interview high above Central Park in Manhattan to discuss his latest film, “The Informant!’’, which opened here Friday. “I won’t take six-month jobs in Uzbekistan.’’ So does that mean fewer movies? Smaller movies? Or movies just closer to home? “I think all three,’’ he adds. It also makes attractive a new role, off camera: director. Directing appeals to Damon for the balance it would allow him to bring to his life. After filming, the long months of post-production editing would let him eat breakfast with his kids, drop them off at school, go to work and still be home for dinner. But creative control is the real appeal for him. “It could be next year or five years from now,’’ he says of directing. “I’m not in a race to start doing it. I feel like I’m getting so much experience with great directors. All I’m doing is learning more. It doesn’t feel like taking movies as an actor is in any way a detriment to my career as a director. On the contrary, it augments it.’’ His acting heroes include Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman - actors who’ve had long careers…

  Monica Almeida/The New York TimesSchools Are Where Stimulus Saved JobsBy MICHAEL COOPER 4:45 PM ET ********Data showed that more than half of the 640,239 jobs created or saved by stimulus funds were in education. Above, Rosalinda Elmore, principal of a California school.  

OJ Simpson: Fallen star who fumbled American dream From running back to ruin to convicted robber, via a televised car chase and the trial of the century Mark Tran guardian.co.uk, Friday December 5 2008 16.33 GMT Article history OJ Simpson in court during his trial in Las Vegas. Photograph: Daniel Gluskoter/AP For many Americans, the sentence handed down to OJ Simpson by a Nevada judge today was justice delayed after he was acquitted of a double murder years ago.The former American football star is widely believed to have got away with murder when he was found not guilty of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman, in a trial that split America along racial lines.

Before what was dubbed the trial of the century, Simpson was already well-known after a career as a brilliant running back in American football. Cashing in on his sporting fame, he appeared in several successful movies including the Towering Inferno and Capricorn One. A stint in ads for the Hertz rental car company, in which he was pictured running through a crowded airport, cemented his status in the upper reaches of B-list celebrity. His marriage to Brown - the coming together of a handsome black athlete and a beautiful blonde woman - seemed to complete the picture of someone who had achieved the American dream. In reality, their marriage was rocky and when things soured Simpson emerged as ill-tempered and violent. He was jealous of any hint that Brown might have a new boyfriend.Simpson's world imploded when his ex and Goldman were found outside Brown's home, knifed to death in a frenzied attack. He was arrested after a slow chase across Los Angeles in a white Ford Bronco that was broadcast live on TV.From the start, the trial transfixed America. The scene outside the Los Angeles courtroom took on a circus atmosphere and turned some of the key players - from the judge, Lance Ito, to Johnnie Cochran, Simpson's defence lawyer - into household names. Cochran, who coined the phrase "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" - of the glove found at the murder scene - mounted a brilliant defence by putting the LA police on trial for racism. In a verdict seen live on TV by more than half of the US population, a mostly black jury cleared Simpson, to the astonishment of many in and outside America.Simpson was pursued doggedly by Goldman's family. Fred Goldman, Ron's father, brought a civil suit against Simpson for the deaths. With the burden of proof smaller in civil cases, Simpson was held liable for the deaths and had to pay out $33m, bankrupting him. Simpson fled to Florida where he managed to live comfortably off his pensions, spending much time on the golf course.Simpson did himself no favours when, in a bizarre twist out of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, he wrote a book last year…

 Movie depicts seamy life of Facebook bossThe 26-year-old billionaire, who is already under fire for his website’s abuse of privacy, now faces ridicule

 Bruce Anderson: A crisis of law, liberty and order Visitors from Pakistan need to be closely, though courteously, regulated   Monday, 13 April 2009 There is a danger that we will be distracted by trivia. While it is outrageous that Gordon Brown's Downing St has become a sewage farm at least the Blairites spun with style – this should not be allowed to obscure far graver developments. Over the past few days, it has become apparent that we are facing a crisis, of law, liberty and order. There has been an intellectual breakdown, abetting a failure of leadership. As a result, we have increased our vulnerability, in a dangerous world. Even so, there should be praise where it is due. Over the past few years, the security services have performed magnificently. We know about the foiled plots which led to prosecutions. But a great deal goes on in the terrorist undergrowth, which never receives publicity. This country is fortunate that when we need outstanding public servants to deal with terrorism, the secret services are providing them. Yet their qualities are no excuse for adding to their difficulties.In coping with external threats, Britain starts with an advantage which has served us so well over the centuries. We are an island. Now, however, we have a government which seems to have decided that our island status is unfair to our enemies, who must he helped to fight us on a more equal footing. Pakistan is one of the most troubled regions on earth. There are many brave Pakistanis who take risks that should fill us with awe in order to stand with the West against terrorism. Thus far, alas, their courage has not won its due reward in successes. Despite their efforts, Pakistan is still ideally designed to give asylum to those who hate the West and who bend all their energies to find a way of striking at us.So it should only require five minutes' thought and a modicum of common sense to conclude that visitors from Pakistan need to be closely, though courteously, regulated. But five minutes is a long time, and we have a government which regards common sense as politically incorrect. Over the past four years, 42,000 Pakistani students have been admitted to Britain. That is an absurdly high number. It would be equally absurd to claim that these are 42,000 potential terrorists, though they will include quite a few thousand potential illegal immigrants. But in allowing such a large number of "students" to come here, we are forfeiting the protection which we could receive from geography, reinforced by a tough-minded immigration policy. There would be a price. In less hazardous times, it would be desirable to allow a lot of foreigners to study here, as long as the facilities existed and the students were bona fide. One would hope that the youngsters returned home with fond memories of the UK, which should bring dividends in future diplomatic and trading links. But we live in hazardous times. The…