Saw it at NYC screening with Jason, his dad and the two actresses... really great movie and yes, if you are a road warrior (or like to fire people), you are going to love it.
(Someone asked his dad about Ghostbusters3, but that was about it. He was very much the proud papa.)
I love Jason Reitman, but this is kind of stupid. Journalists are generally allotted about 15 minutes of time with someone of his fame. I can't imagine asking the George Clooney question, but in that short period of time, you do try to get something topical and newsy out of your subject, so of course there might be versions of the same question in many interviews.
At least no one asked him what kind of tree he would be, although I do wonder what he'd LIKE to be asked that he's never been asked. #jasonreitman
@Trixie from Toronto: I would have asked him what sort of subtle artistic satisfaction he derived from directing commercials for Wal-Mart. He sounds like he was bored enough to appreciate some in-your-grille questions.. #jasonreitman
Up In The Air is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. Reitman really took a risk with the subject matter and it plays well. If you've ever worked in the travel industry or you despise corporate culture, you are gonna LOVE IT. #jasonreitman
this is why i hate it when people say "oh that's what comes with being a director?" why do press junkets have to be so stupid? up in the air by all accounts isn't a stupid movie, so why are they asking dumb questions?
directors/actors making horrible art like transformers and g.i. joe deserve the asinine questions because they insist on shitting on the intelligence of millions.
there should just be one press conference where thirty questions are chosen from all the media for the stars to answer. and then that is broadcast everywhere. #jasonreitman
@bess marvin, girl detective: Film junkets are usually staged so the director/stars can face the Z-tier bloggers and student papers. The whole dynamic is brutal. Imagine 30 people shouting over each other to get in a question edge-wise.. Whoever shouts louder and asks the most absurd question, prevails. (It's also not uncommon to witness some junketeers whip out their autograph books at the end..)
Respectable outlets usually get one-on-one time with the sources, which is in theory more conducive to actual dialogue. Although if the PR hawks are in attendance, it's probably still an absurd dance.
@snugbug: i believe you have a "junket" confused with a "press conference." A junket usually entails the star/director and his handlers holing up in a room at a Hilton somewhere, while every outlet known to man comes in, one at a time, for their 5 - 15 minutes with the famous.
It's definitely still an absurd dance, though. Points on that, for sure. #jasonreitman
@DavidWatts: I think you're right. I should have made the following distinction: There are dual levels of junketeering. The "important" journos get one-on-one time during the "press day" at the Four Seasons, etc., but then there's a fuck-for-all hollering cattle call for the lowlier outlets.
I just distinctly remember participating in some of these cattle-call junkets for my school paper, and it was.. traumatic.
Then! There are the so-called hybrid-junkets, where the studio or whatever hosts a cocktail party at the Bel Air Hotel, and a select number of media outlets are invited and gorge on Chardonnay and hob-nob cordially, ie, in a non-structured environment, with the principals. Those ones are not as brutal because everyone gets a bit tipsy.. #jasonreitman
Yeah, well, in the world of actually important music, Children of Bodom sucks shrivelled Finnish old-man balls. Well actually they get drunk, then break the hearts of their young fans, then say "fuck" a lot" at their appearance in Pomona, CA, and then die, in the ideal version.
I don't understand this "only at Walmart. Both Buble and KISS are available at iTunes Store so you don't have to mix with the proles at the 'mart unless you want to.
Note also that Buble's album came out on Friday. Which was smart because it was the day of the Oprah appearance, but unorthodox since albums tend to come out on Tuesdays (the sales week is Monday-Sunday). So he really kicked butt.
Oprah also helped Journey out last week -- they were on her show Tuesday, and their (also Wal-Mart-only) album had a sales increase of 680.7% -- although not as much as she boosted Buble.
Are people really rooting for Kiss in all this? I mean, the only reason to do so is because you know that they're going to keep putting out albums until they actually hit No. 1. Maybe next time they can do a covers album of all the songs Gene Simmons likes to make sweet, illicitly videotaped love to...
@Paul_Is_Drunk: Who says music IS dying. That's just silly. Just because record companies have less influence over what you're being fed doesn't mean there is less music being bought and listened to. Actually, music is more diverse, lively and accessible than ever before.
I worked in music. I was also a musician before that. There are less people buying new albums today then there has ever been for decades. There are more bands making albums, true, but there is no way to get those bands out to people who are only casually interested in music.
Most people don't have satellite radio. Most people are listening to the same Led Zeppelin tunes on classic rock stations they listened to 20 years ago. Maybe there's some new exposure on the pop channels, but that's ephemeral at best.
Next time you stand in line, ask the person standing in front of you if they've heard of Kasabian. Or We Are Scientists. Or even The Raconteurs. The White Stripes were the last non-pop band to really enter the public's consciousness, and even then Jack White can't repeat it.
It's just a matter of time before Paul Stanley makes an Oprah appearance to reveal a secret that's been apparent since the Paul Lynde Halloween Special.
This isn't showing the "death" of the newspaper industry. It's showing the "decline" of the newspaper industry. It will stabilize in a year or two, and some those numbers will start trending up again.
Will it regain the heights of previous decades? No, probably not. So what? It will still become a successful industry again. Just a smaller one than it used to be.
This cheerleading and hyping the troubles of newspapers from so-called "new media" types is tiresome and irritating. Give it a rest. The Web doesn't "win" if newspapers "die," so stop trying so hard to convince everyone that's gonna happen.
Instead, recognize that most of the creative professionals in that industry are similar to those in your industry - writers, editors and artists. You all rise and fall together. Stop sniping at your "old media' brethren and working together to make life better for creative professionals across all media for a change.
@MisterHippity: Someone should tell that to the "old media" guys - they're the ones who do most of the sniping, despite the fact they're sitting on a sinking ship.
@MisterHippity: The presupposition is that ink on paper is not the legacy of a bygone era. Newspapers aren't just démodé, they're useless and ineffective.
@MisterHippity: Agreed. "New Media" obviously has an interest in promoting itself and putting down "Old Media," but there's something to be said about biting the hand that feeds you content. Would anyone at Gawker turn down a job at the New York Times? Didn't think so.
@btipling: Now see, this is just what I'm talking about.
"Ink on paper" is not their business. Their business is producing and selling news. The news product the produces is distributed through more than one channel. "Ink on paper" is just one channel (declining). The web is another one (growing).
I read the New York Times and the Washington Post regularly, and have not touched any "ink on paper" associated with those two "papers" in years. I read them both on the Web.
The key, of course, is how they can make more money through the Web channel. They'll figure something out.
@Pete Gaines: I agree that the "Web is killing us and stealing our stuff" complaints from old-media types are tiresome too.
Put most of your stuff behind a paywall and charge for it, then. Then it won't matter how many other sites link to it -- people who click the links will still have to pay to read it.
If you can't sell the stuff behind a paywall, too bad. dump it. Stick to the stuff people are willing to pay for. Simple.
11/10/09
(Someone asked his dad about Ghostbusters3, but that was about it. He was very much the proud papa.)
Clooney has never been more likeable. #jasonreitman
11/10/09
At least no one asked him what kind of tree he would be, although I do wonder what he'd LIKE to be asked that he's never been asked. #jasonreitman
11/10/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
directors/actors making horrible art like transformers and g.i. joe deserve the asinine questions because they insist on shitting on the intelligence of millions.
there should just be one press conference where thirty questions are chosen from all the media for the stars to answer. and then that is broadcast everywhere. #jasonreitman
11/10/09
Respectable outlets usually get one-on-one time with the sources, which is in theory more conducive to actual dialogue. Although if the PR hawks are in attendance, it's probably still an absurd dance.
11/10/09
It's definitely still an absurd dance, though. Points on that, for sure. #jasonreitman
11/10/09
I just distinctly remember participating in some of these cattle-call junkets for my school paper, and it was.. traumatic.
Then! There are the so-called hybrid-junkets, where the studio or whatever hosts a cocktail party at the Bel Air Hotel, and a select number of media outlets are invited and gorge on Chardonnay and hob-nob cordially, ie, in a non-structured environment, with the principals. Those ones are not as brutal because everyone gets a bit tipsy.. #jasonreitman
10/15/09
What year is it in anyone's head where a band as musically irrelevant as KISS is still on your radar screen?
Now where's my copy of Molly Hatchett's latest piece of vintage vinyl?
10/14/09
10/14/09
Jesus. Adam Lambert is the least gay thing about this story.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
Each album in the top 3 of last week's chart would have beaten Buble's Oprah-inflated sales. Kiss should consider themselves lucky to be at #2.
10/14/09
I wonder if having the Kisster Potato Heads for sale alongside the albums cut into their margins? I know which one I'd rather own...
10/14/09
Oprah also helped Journey out last week -- they were on her show Tuesday, and their (also Wal-Mart-only) album had a sales increase of 680.7% -- although not as much as she boosted Buble.
Are people really rooting for Kiss in all this? I mean, the only reason to do so is because you know that they're going to keep putting out albums until they actually hit No. 1. Maybe next time they can do a covers album of all the songs Gene Simmons likes to make sweet, illicitly videotaped love to...
10/14/09
Wow.
It was 500,000 just as little as 3 years ago.
3 years before that it was in the 1,000,000 range.
Etc, etc, etc...
Who says music isn't dying?
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
I worked in music. I was also a musician before that. There are less people buying new albums today then there has ever been for decades. There are more bands making albums, true, but there is no way to get those bands out to people who are only casually interested in music.
Most people don't have satellite radio. Most people are listening to the same Led Zeppelin tunes on classic rock stations they listened to 20 years ago. Maybe there's some new exposure on the pop channels, but that's ephemeral at best.
Next time you stand in line, ask the person standing in front of you if they've heard of Kasabian. Or We Are Scientists. Or even The Raconteurs. The White Stripes were the last non-pop band to really enter the public's consciousness, and even then Jack White can't repeat it.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/14/09
I would totally call in sick for that.
09/27/09
Will it regain the heights of previous decades? No, probably not. So what? It will still become a successful industry again. Just a smaller one than it used to be.
This cheerleading and hyping the troubles of newspapers from so-called "new media" types is tiresome and irritating. Give it a rest. The Web doesn't "win" if newspapers "die," so stop trying so hard to convince everyone that's gonna happen.
Instead, recognize that most of the creative professionals in that industry are similar to those in your industry - writers, editors and artists. You all rise and fall together. Stop sniping at your "old media' brethren and working together to make life better for creative professionals across all media for a change.
09/27/09
09/27/09
09/27/09
09/27/09
"Ink on paper" is not their business. Their business is producing and selling news. The news product the produces is distributed through more than one channel. "Ink on paper" is just one channel (declining). The web is another one (growing).
I read the New York Times and the Washington Post regularly, and have not touched any "ink on paper" associated with those two "papers" in years. I read them both on the Web.
The key, of course, is how they can make more money through the Web channel. They'll figure something out.
09/27/09
Put most of your stuff behind a paywall and charge for it, then. Then it won't matter how many other sites link to it -- people who click the links will still have to pay to read it.
If you can't sell the stuff behind a paywall, too bad. dump it. Stick to the stuff people are willing to pay for. Simple.