Informant fun facts (and observations)

Holy cow! I can't believe all the visitors to my site the last 24 hours. It's funny how it's all getting passed around, but then again, Matt is the Sexiest Man Alive. Too bad he didn't look like this on Tuesday:



I found that I've been linked by a Matt Damon Column, which is why I'm getting all this traffic. Kinda fun, eh? Welcome to all of you from the Matt Damon Column and to those I've seen referred to me through Google images and Google blog search! It's not normally that interesting around here unless you're looking for photography pointers :c) Thanks for stopping by and I'd love it if you commented and told me you were here.

Here are some personal observations from the two days among other facts:

• Joel McHale is actually quite cute, very goofy and as tall as Neil. He reminds me A LOT of Neil, but Joel is a little more "expressive"!
• Matt Damon is as cute as I imagined him to be, maybe even a bit cuter. But that may also be because he touched me and he has nice hands :)
• Matt Damon is very gracious. He took out loads of time for each person waiting to see him. He signed autographs, had his picture taken over and over, even took time to joke around. He spent extra time with those people with young kids and handicapped folks. It was about 40 minutes that he stood signing autographs and having pictures taken. (That's amazing.)
• Matt Damon's crew is very cute :c)
• Matt's wife is very very pretty. She is Argentine and according to my friend, Jo, the owner of It's a Girl Thing, she speaks to Isabella in both languages (is it Spanish or Portuguese?). It reminds me of my friend, Beth, who husband is from Brazil and they speak to their son in both languages. It's pretty awesome.
• I didn't know who Scott Bakula was at all until I overhead someone say he was on Quantum Leap. Then I remembered! I think my mom and dad watched that show! :c) Was it good?
• Hollywood spends a lot of money to put on a movie. For instance, I know that they "leased" the entire parking lot of the Decatur Club for their equipment and vehicles. They also had to pay the city to have extra security, to block streets, to use buildings, to rent parking spaces, to take city things down (like parking meters), etc. They also paid residents of Decatur $75 an hour to use their cars. They also paid the "extras", and I'm assuming even if they didn't actually work because they had to stand around all day long. And all that, of course, is on top of the actual props, all the crew (I would guess 50-ish crew members), and of course the actors.
• Hollywood people are like you and me. Luciana had on flats, jeans and a tee. Crew members wore Nike's and jeans. It's nice to see.
• Matt really likes Starbucks. This was the 2nd time I saw him with Starbucks coffee.
• Matt does not have as much security as I thought he would. He always had at least a driver and a body guard in the car. When he got out of the car, the body guard never followed him. Police weren't around him; just at certain "spots". Scott and Joel never had security with them - that I saw.
• they actually say "cut" and "that's a rap!". They also say "Rolling!!".
• Luciana knows what the sex of the new baby that she is carrying is. And the only other person in the city of Decatur that appears to know, other than Matt, is Jo, the owner of It's a Girl Thing. Luciana bought clothes for the new baby and she made Jo swear she would not breath a word what the sex of the baby is. And she's not! HOW COOL IS THAT?!
• My father-in-law worked for the same company as Mark Whitacre and was an executive at the time as well. I just found out last night by my husband's mom that the FBI came to their house for questioning. Kinda cool. It's especially cool because Neil's dad had nothing to do with the price-fixing. Phew!
• Neil works with Kirk Schmidt who is being played in the movie by Eddie Jemison (he was in all the Ocean's movies). Eddie looks nothing like Kirk which is pretty funny.
• I also learned that i could very easily become one of the paparazzi. I would do it in a heartbeat, actually. I really enjoyed snapping pictures of these people. I enjoyed the excitement and thrill. I totally understand why people do it for the money!! I'm now considering moving to California :c)
• Matt and the crew really like to eat at Bijou and The Beach House.
• I also just learned that they're going to Hawaii next for some taping for the show (not sure why?). That would be a great way to end traveling to Decatur, I suppose ;)

The big question of the day is . . . will the premiere of the movie be in Decatur?!?!

My 2-day Matt Damon journey

I'm still on this huge high! It almost doesn't seem real that I saw all the filming that I did and that my determination paid off with getting to see and meet a huge celebrity. Wow, what an AMAZING moment.

Here's a little bit more about the movie and the characters in it. A really big lineup of celebrities!

This taken from cinematical.com:

"There have been some questions raised about the accuracy of Kurt Eichenwald's account of Mark Whitacre and ADM, but whatever might be the truth, The Informant should make for a pretty darned entertaining drama. Imagine a man who becomes the highest-level whistleblower in US history, switches sides to work for the FBI for three years, defrauds his company, lies, and ultimately reveals that he suffers from bipolar disorder.

Paul Greengrass' film already has Matt Damon signed on to play Whitacre, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that more cast have hopped onboard -- all of which, surprisingly, have notable comedic work. The new players are: Scott Bakula, Joel McHale (The Soup), Mike O'Malley (Yes, Dear), Andrew Daly (Semi-Pro), Adam Paul (Hollywood Residential), Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men), and "comedian-actors" Tom Wilson, Rick Overton, and Tom Papa.

If you think this looks like more comedy than could possibly be coincidental, you'd be right. A source told THR that Soderbergh wants the thriller to have "dark comedy elements. He chose comedic actors who haven't been overexposed on film, planning to have them play their roles seriously and have a humorous tone emerge naturally."

Bakula and McHale play FBI agents working with agri-business insider Mark Whitacre (Damon) to stop a price-fixing scam. Eddie Jemison plays Kirk Schmidt, a guy my husband, Neil, works with! It's crazy in a really cool way!

{ I took down the slide show because it was just slowing things down here. You can still see all pictures at my flickr. }

Mission Accomplished: Matt & Meaty Style

Welp, I did it. I'm burnt and red as a tomato and tired as a dog. But, I can't go to bed without posting these.




Full story with 200 pics tomorrow.


Goodnight from one very happy girl. :c)

Matt Damon Day 1

I'm off again this morning to see a taping of Matt Damon's filming of The Informant. I am a little obsessed I suppose but it's more like determined. He is in my town for 2 weeks! I am determined to see him, take a picture of him and possibly meet him! I must.

On a spur of a moment last night because of 2 phone calls I received from two of my personal informants (hehe), I went from yoga pants and t-shirt to a a presentable me in 10 minutes. I got Maia in the car (Noah had t-ball practice) and rushed to pick up mom and we headed to "the" special location. They were right on the money because the (huge!) crew was there and a crowd of people had started. We made it from the very beginning to very end of filming! It was very very cool. I got as many pictures as I could (they are very strict about pictures during filming) and stayed till they said the infamous words "that's a wrap!". Seriously, it was way cool.

Today my hopes are to actually get close to Matt Damon and take some pictures of HIM. Possibly meet him. I mean, he's in town for 2 weeks. I MUST meet him. I am so determined. Wish me luck!!!!