Wait, did Pete Hammond really say that “the bloggers” are responsible for the whole (sensationalized) Jason Reitman/Sheldon Turner dispute thing without noting that Steven Zeitchik, at Hammond’s own outlet, was the one responsible for spurring the debate without having (or seemingly being interested in) certain facts?
Anyway, not that Hammond needed to be anything other than a showman when he moderated last night’s WGA post-screening Q&A between Turner and Reitman, but let’s not deflect too much here. And I think Steve Pond is stretching matters a bit further when he writes that Reitman failed “to thank his credited co-writer” at the CCMAs last weekend. Reitman clearly said “our screenplay,” gestured to Turner and stepped away for him to speak when he was finished. He wasn’t conducting the band.
I wasn’t going to bother with this whole mess because it was built on some sloppy journalism from the outset and serves to point a finger at something that isn’t as big a story as certain parties would like it to be, but, too late. Here I am doing it anyway.
Comments
14 responses to “This again”
Half of Hollywood obviously had a hand in writing that screenplay. Any way you look at it, nobody deserves to be winning an Oscar for it. But if anybody should go down with that sinking ship, I would want it to be Reitman. I have no doubt he’s the least talented of the contributing writers.
“I have no doubt he’s the least talented of the contributing writers.”
Why is that?
I finally saw Up in the Air last night. Loved it. I don’t care who wrote the screenplay, as long as it wins an Oscar. Wonderful.
Didn’t care much for Anna Kendrick though. I don’t get the appeal at all.
@ Adam: Why do you believe Reitman is the least talented of the supposedly large contributors to the script? I personally believe if he was left to write scripts on his own he would be the best, or one of the best, out there.
Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Juno, Reitman really won me over with Up in the Air. He’s definitely a talent to keep an eye on in the future.
I really enjoyed Kendrick in the film. I thought she had good screen chemistry with Clooney.
I thought Up in the Air was all brains and no soul. Too manipulative IMO. And Kendrick’s and Farmiga’s characters were so stretched. Sorry if anyone disagrees.
So Reitman used a line from a script that he never read?
I know that line came from the Ted Griffin which Reitman did read and copied for his own script.
So I’m guessing they made Ted Griffin one of the Executive Producers just to keep him quiet and happy.
i hope Reitman gets a haircut before the Oscars…
“Didn’t care much for Anna Kendrick though. I don’t get the appeal at all.”
Agree. Her crying scene played like an actress in a comedy doing comedy crying for comedic effect. No way did that come across as genuine, which it was supposed to.
Thank you, I completely agree regarding the crying scene. It just registered so false with me. Other than that, I thought she was fantastic though. However, for me, Vera Farmiga’s zest and nuance stole the entire show. I’m just relieved that this season, they’re being simultaneously remembered, as opposed to Farmiga getting last year’s James Franco treatment.
I agree about the crying scene. I don’t like her acting, I think she’s too self-concious and she can’t hide it. Does she have any previous training?
I’d recommend anyone unhappy with Reitman listen to the B.S. Report w/ Bill Simmons podcast he did from a few days ago (I think the 20th). He really comes off as much less of a douchebag than people think, and he seems fine with Sheldon Turner. He does need to cut that hair though.
I think that this controversy is ridiculous. They had a dispute as to who deserved the credit and they resolved it before the film even premiered, so it wasn’t like Reitman was desperately trying to hog the Oscar glory. These sort of disagreements happen all the time when it comes to screenwriting, so I don’t see why people wanted to make Reitman into the bad guy other than those who always, in the history of film, like to attack the successful young filmmaker out of envy and such.