Posted on 12 March 2010
Away We Go. The Hangover. Up in the Air. Jennifer’s Body. Whip It. Gentlemen Broncos. Fantastic Mr. Fox. What do these 2009 films have in common? Randall Poster.
Poster, for folks who don’t pore over the below-the-line folks who are as much if not more responsible for the artistry that goes into the films we watch and love, is a music supervisor. The producer and developer of the musical backdrops, if not backbones, of countless films over the past two decades, he’s responsible for pairing some of the movies’ most indelible images with its most unforgettable songs, from Kids to Rushmore to School of Rock to virtually any scene in the above films in which music is played. He’s worked with Wes Anderson and Todd Haynes; Harmony Korine and Martin Scorsese; Todd Phillips and David Fincher.
Two of Poster’s most acclaimed films from last year arrive on DVD and Blu-ray this month: Up in the Air debuted March 9, while Fantastic Mr. Fox is being released March 23. Cinematical was lucky enough to speak to Poster earlier this year when the native New Yorker was visiting Los Angeles for work. In addition to talking about his collaborations with directors Jason Reitman and Wes Anderson on these two particular projects, Poster discussed the process of cultivating long-term relationships with various filmmakers, and reflected upon the work – and the way of working – that he’s found most satisfying during the course of his accomplished and remarkably eclectic career.
Cinematical: Just to get started, how did you get started as a music supervisor and what’s involved in it as a job?
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment, Interviews
Continue reading The Keeping Score Interview: Music Supervisor Randall Poster
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Posted on 11 March 2010

Technically this is the kind of headline you might have expected to see in the midst of our best of the year/decade lists. But let’s not get too hung up on the timing, because it’s going to make perfect sense in a minute. This year at SXSW, the festival has launched the first Excellence in Title Design award, honoring the best opening title sequences in film and television over the past year (judges include Susan Bradley from Pixar and Ian Albinson and Alexander Ulloa from Art of the Title Sequence.) For those in the know, there’s a grand tradition in the art of a credit sequence, but sometimes in the rush of blockbusters and big names we forget about all the work and talent that goes into even the most functional of movie arts: the opening credits.
Of course, one of the most talked about title sequences in recent memory was yU+Co’s contribution to Zack Snyder’s Watchmen (which will go down in history as one of my all time favorites) and it was also one that was notably absent from the list of nominees. Unfortunately, the nominees weren’t selected by the good folks at SXSW, and instead, they were chosen from submissions from designers, so I guess yU+Co figured they had gotten enough press for their work on the Watchmen, and went with their contribution to the fantasy adaptation, Cirque du Freak, instead. But it looks like their work on the superhero flick had a lasting effect on other designers, because one of the other nominees, Zombieland, was subtly influenced by yU+Co’s creation. Some of the other notable nominees for the grand prize include Gaspar Noe for Enter the Void and Geoff McFetridge’s titles for Where the Wild Things Are — you can see the full list of nominees on the SXSW website.
After the jump: a prediction for the winner’s circle and my nominee for best title sequence of 2009…
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Awards, SXSW, DIY/Filmmaking, George Clooney
Continue reading What Were Your Favorite Title Sequences of 2009?
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Posted on 23 January 2010
It’s not often that we get to interview a bona fide legend, but Harrison Ford qualifies and then some. As the star of two of the biggest movie franchises of all time, as well as the purveyor of some of the silver screen’s most thrilling moments, Ford has earned his place among the biggest and best Hollywood has ever offered. These days, however, he seems interested in slightly more modest accomplishments, evidenced by Extraordinary Measures, a quiet little movie in which he plays an abrasive scientist who teams up with a desperate entrepreneur to find a cure for the disease that affects two of the entrepreneur’s children.
That of course isn’t to say that the film doesn’t offer its own sort of spectacle, but that it’s largely contained to emotion, rather than action. Cinematical recently sat down with Ford at the film’s Los Angeles press day to discuss his participation in Extraordinary Measures. In addition to discussing the emotional dimensions of his cantankerous character, Ford reflected on the style and technique that’s made him a household name, and offered a few observations about the state of the industry as we know it — and the humble way in which he manages to maintain his status as a superstar.
Cinematical: While I was watching Extraordinary Measures, my first thought about your character was “this guy is going to have to melt a little by the end of the movie,” but he is pretty consistently cantankerous. What to you was underneath all of that obstinacy?
Filed under: Fandom, Interviews
Continue reading Interview: Harrison Ford
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Posted on 19 January 2010
Credits are often in one eye and out the other. And sometimes they don’t even get that. Gone are the days when all the names flash before the feature even starts. The lists are just too long now, and once the screen goes black and that seemingly unending line of names starts to scroll, it’s easy to tap out. Beyond the actors we like, the main names we decide to look up on IMDb, they’re irrelevant … as far as our attention spans are concerned.
In some cases, it makes sense. With the number of people that have some hand in any given feature, it’s just not possible to follow, recognize, or note every name. But we take it so much farther than that — most specifically and notoriously with writers. They might come up with the story, craft the words that will either make a film soar or sink, but their importance is minimized — not just in the industry, but also in the public-at-large. We demand good cinema and entertainment, but do we do anything to insure it? Do we as fans do anything to help or support the writerly source?
I’m guilty of it myself, most notably this year where Up in the Air is concerned. Did you know that the WGA ruled that Jason Reitman isn’t the sole writer of the film? Did you ever think or wonder why the name Sheldon Turner is included when Erik Childress mentions the film in his awards coverage?
Filed under: Awards, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts
Continue reading The Plight of the Screenwriter Credit
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Posted on 07 January 2010
I interviewed director Jason Reitman in October, when he brought his latest film Up in the Air to the Austin Film Festival. It was a fun interview, but he did something unusual beforehand: took my picture with his iPhone. When I asked him why, he told me only, “I’m not sure if that’s going to work, what I’m doing with that, but if it does, you’ll be thrilled with the results.” I’ve been wondering about that photo for several months now, and keeping an eye on Reitman’s Twitter feed to see if I’ve missed anything.
This morning, all became clear … and he was right, I am thrilled. Slashfilm has premiered a video from the filmmaker called “Lost in the Air: The Jason Reitman Press Simulator.” Reitman took photos of every person who interviewed him, every hotel room where the interviews were staged, and various other details — I caught a tiny glimpse of the Paramount Theater where the movie screened in Austin. It’s a speedy, quirky look at what must have been a grueling press tour, and a sobering reminder to interviewers about how interchangeable we must seem at such times. Reitman did take a nice photo of me, although honestly you’re unlikely to pick it out (34 seconds in) since they fly by so quickly. The video is embedded after the jump.
Filed under: Fandom
Continue reading How I Ended Up in a Jason Reitman Film (Sort of)
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Posted on 07 January 2010
The Directors Guild of America have spoken and the Oscar experts have agreed. At least on four of the nominees. There was little doubt that the list would contain Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), James Cameron (Avatar), Jason Reitman (Up In The Air) and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds). And the DGA did not disappoint or throw in an 11th hour snub of these favorites. Who would be the fifth man or woman to make the list? Would it be the story of a man either serious or single? The education of a teenage girl from London or the inner city? Aliens from Africa or the Final Frontier? Or something about Nelson Mandela’s obsession with Rugby? Well the results are in and your fifth DGA nominee is:
Lee Daniels (Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire)
Serves me right for changing my prediction from Daniels to Blomkamp at the last minute. So much for guessing on the director with talent. This is the second part of the PGA/DGA/WGA trilogy that we all look towards into making our final guesstimates over what is going to be nominated for an Oscar. And it is this Guild that has maintained the best track record in steering those predictions. Since 1999, 42 of the 50 DGA nominees have seen their film nominated for Best Picture. As in most cases this year, they have a far greater chance of going 5-for-5 with this batch given that there are now 10 nominees for the grand prize. There are still only five director slots available at the Oscars though and the DGA is hitting 78% (39-of-50) in that realm the last ten years. Only twice since 1982 have the DGA directly matched the Oscar list (1998 & 2005). Does that mean bad news for Lee Daniels? Fingers and toes crossed.
Filed under: Awards, Quentin Tarantino, Oscar Watch
Continue reading Director’s Guild A Little Too ‘Precious’ In Their Choices
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Posted on 03 December 2009
My interview with Up in the Air director Jason Reitman in October was one of the most meta interviews I’ve ever done. Before the interview started, Reitman took my photo with his iPhone. He told me only “I’m not sure if that’s going to work, what I’m doing with that, but if it does, you’ll be thrilled with the results.” I’m still in suspense.
In addition, my interview took place right after a Film School Rejects interview (check it out, Reitman name-checks Cinematical) in which Cole Abaius spent 10 minutes discussing the pie charts the Juno and Thank You for Smoking director had been posting to Twitter. Reitman kept track of which questions interviewers asked him most — I caught him tallying things in a little notebook during our interview — and posted the stats online frequently. Roger Ebert has also written about the pie charts. Cole and I had been reading Reitman’s Twitter feed before our interviews, and not only knew about the pie chart but found out that he had just been enjoying lunch at the Salt Lick, one of the best known BBQ joints in Central Texas.
So that may explain why Twitter, pie charts and barbecue keep creeping into the following Cinematical interview with Jason Reitman. I hope it’s as fun to read as it was to be there in person. The above photo is from the red carpet the evening after the interview, when Up in the Air was the closing-night film for Austin Film Festival.
Filed under: Comedy, Austin, Interviews, George Clooney
Continue reading Interview: Jason Reitman, ‘Up in the Air’
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Posted on 25 November 2009

Blogger Kristopher Tapley, of the movie awards site In Contention, shares a humorous video spotlighting one of this year’s Oscar hopefuls, Jason Reitman. The young filmmaker, who already received an Academy Award nomination for directing Juno, is a front-runner this year for helming Up in the Air, which opens in limited release next week and opens nationwide on Christmas.
Before he was a success behind the camera, though, he was simply the son of Hollywood director Ivan Reitman. And like many filmmakers’ kids, he was employed in minor roles in his father’s films, including Ghostbusters II, Twins and Dave. The funniest of his cameos is in this make-out scene from Kindergarten Cop, mainly because it’s his most embarrassing.
Filed under: Classics, Family Films, Stars in Rewind
Continue reading Stars in Rewind: Jason Reitman’s First Kiss
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Posted on 10 November 2009
Well, it’s November, which means the awards contenders are steadily coming out of the woodwork, and just as we have the Academy Awards to look forward to, we also have their fine print to tolerate. The first of this year’s disqualifications naturally come from the music end of things, the same category that didn’t see fit to honor the tremendous original scores composed for The Dark Knight last year and There Will Be Blood the year before that.
According to Kris Tapley over at In Contention, both “Up in the Air” and “Help Yourself” from Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air have been pulled out of the Best Original Song race. The former was written by Kevin Renick before he met Reitman (the song is presented in the film as it was presented to the filmmaker, with homemade introduction and all), not to mention that it comes halfway into the credits when only the first song over them can qualify. (Really, AMPAS?)
And a portion of the latter had existed earlier in Sad Brad Smith’s career and thus means the song itself was not created in full for the film. It’s an earnest and catchy tune, used prominently in the trailers and well in the film (and now available on iTunes, cough), but it now looks like those are two more slots left to be dominated by Disney’s latest…
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Awards, Paramount, RumorMonger, Oscar Watch
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Posted on 04 November 2009
In Austin, you can set your watch by the fall film festivals. We don’t just have SXSW in the spring. Starting around Labor Day, it feels like we have a film festival practically every week, from Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) to the Austin Polish Film Festival, Austin Asian American Film Festival and of course Fantastic Fest. One of the oldest and biggest of these local autumn fests is Austin Film Festival (AFF), which spans eight days and seven screening venues, and includes a screenwriters’ conference. In 2009, AFF celebrated its 16th year.
AFF focuses on screenwriters even in its film programming selections, as was evident with the opening-night film. Serious Moonlight is best known as the last script written by the late actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly. I admit I wasn’t fond of the movie, but director Cheryl Hines was a trip — mock-vampy on the red carpet (as shown above), and full of excitement about her film. Her screening was up against heavy competition: Matthew Weiner brought an episode of Mad Men to the festival and didn’t reveal which one until just before it screened. (It turned out to be this season’s “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency” episode.) Weiner also was featured in panels during the conference portion of AFF.
Filed under: Festival Reports, Austin
Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2009: The Wrap-Up
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