Reitman Quotes & Sayings

If someone else made 'Up in the Air' or 'Thank You For Smoking' or 'Juno,' I would have wanted to rip their head off. I need that same sort of passion for every project I take on. — Jason Reitman

Things like Facebook have made you feel as though you're connected to everybody. You've got a thousand friends on Facebook, but you don't actually talk to anybody. You're not close to anybody. — Jason Reitman

I wanted to like 'Up in the Air' - I like Jason Reitman - but Vera Farmiga left me cold. — Andy Kindler

My high-school years were so mediocre - I moved out when I was 16 and started living with my girlfriend who was 10 years older. Apart from that, I was just a video nerd. — Jason Reitman

I'm a believer that people need to understand that filmmaking is not a perfect process for anybody. It is a process in which you find the film and the film finds you. And that is every film. — Jason Reitman

I'm too big a fan of rhythm and editing. I'd much rather my editing be brave than my shooting. — Jason Reitman

Most people are nostalgic in a way that they're fond of the past, but they still are happy that they are where they are now. You know, when you say, 'Oh, high school was this or that,' you don't want to go back. No matter how much you loved high school, you don't want to actually be back in high school. I certainly wouldn't. — Jason Reitman

My writing voice is very much like 'Thank You for Smoking.' It's a guy's voice. It's very masculine. — Jason Reitman

I really enjoy theater. I just went to see 'Death of a Salesman,' and it knocked me on my ass. — Jason Reitman

I'd love to do a musical actually. My background is in music. I have a bachelors in music. I thought that I was going to be a composer, long ago when I first started. So it was amazingly fun to do those two routines in the film. — Ivan Reitman

Much of romantic relationships today have to do when the people are not in the same room. Whether it's texting or e-mailing or Facebooking, there's a kind of distance between the participants. — Ivan Reitman

When I look at 'Napoleon Dynamite's style I'm reminded of how I spoke when I was an eight-year-old boy. It was just like capturing the essence of, 'Duh!' It was just like the stuff that I would say when I was like eight, nine, ten years old. — Jason Reitman

When you're young, you want to make every kind of film: musicals, Westerns, horror. Slowly you begin to hear your own voice. I hope people receive what I do as small, personal films that are somewhat contrarian about their main characters. — Jason Reitman

Selfishness, narcissism, being uncomfortable in your own skin, not feeling connected to the world around you, feeling dislocated from family and youth, having a strange relationship with your childhood - all those things feel really true to me. — Jason Reitman

It's funny, I can sit through the worst horror film ever made but even a quite good romantic comedy can drive me nuts. — Jason Reitman

Directing 'The Office' is kind of like someone going, 'Would you like to drive my Lamborghini?' And I'm like 'Yes, I would like to drive your Lamborghini. That sounds like fun.' — Jason Reitman

I always thought that Bill Murray was one of the great actors that I've worked with. And I've worked with all kinds of people who are known primarily for their dramatic work. — Ivan Reitman

As far as writing, I like watching bad movies. Nothing stops me in my tracks more than watching a great film like 'The Godfather' or 'Dog Day Afternoon' or 'The Graduate.' You watch one of those, and you never want to write again. Whereas with bad movies, it makes you think, If that counts, I certainly could write. — Jason Reitman

When characters change on screen, it makes you feel better about yourself. You think, 'Oh I change too, I'm constantly becoming a better person.' — Jason Reitman

When I think of 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' there was a warmth to those teenagers that I related to. They were not aware that they were in the middle of a horror film, and I really loved those characters and I empathized with them. — Jason Reitman

It seemed like so much of romantic relationships today have to do when the people are not in the same room. Whether it's texting or emailing or Facebooking, there's a kind of distance between the participants. I think it's sort of shifted the energy of that first romantic meeting, where it's quicker, perhaps more desperate, more energetic, in a whole different way, and it's resulted in a situation where people seem to be sometimes more comfortable having a sexual relationship than an emotional one. — Ivan Reitman

Everybody says how hard comedy is, but, when it comes time to honor things, whether it's on a weekly critical basis or whether it's award time, at that time of the year, comedy is the poor, dumb child of dramatic work. — Ivan Reitman

As he demonstrated with 'Juno' and 'Up in the Air,' Reitman has an uncanny knack among contemporary directors for tapping into the zeitgeist in dramatically satisfying ways. — Lou Lumenick

Creating a wonderful drama is an art form, while comedy is just entertainment. — Jason Reitman

I call it like the domino theory of reality. If you can go one step at a time and it seems to make sense, you can then take your audience into an area that is relatively outlandish. — Ivan Reitman

Yeah, I was born in Montreal and I go back to Vancouver and Toronto a lot, so I have a sense of being Canadian, and I was raised by two Canadians, and my wife is Canadian, so yeah, I feel it. — Jason Reitman

I don't want to make films that give you the answer. If there is a message to my films - and I hope there isn't - it's to be open-minded. — Jason Reitman

Discover how little you know ... about the people you know. — Jason Reitman

I remember when I first met Jason Reitman with the 'Whiplash' script; he quickly became a mentor figure who guided me through the process and also protected me and made sure that when it came time to actually make 'Whiplash,' I was able to make exactly the movie I wanted to make. — Damien Chazelle

Really, it's the director's job to disappear and allow the movie to just feel. — Jason Reitman

A good actor is someone who knows how to take the part and make it real and make it honest and be effective in it. If it's in a funny movie and, as long as they are cast in an appropriate way, humor will come from it. — Ivan Reitman

Doesn't every generation feel like the one that's coming up behind them doesn't know how to grow up? I'm not sure if we're progressively getting worse or if your perspective shifts. — Jason Reitman

And over the course of the last six years, as I've directed more features and commercials, I've become better at articulating exactly how I want the audience to feel. — Jason Reitman

I don't know why I'm drawn to anti-heroes, but I certainly am. — Jason Reitman

I hear the way people talk about the children of famous people. They're not treated very well. The presumptions are usually quite awful. So I tried to establish myself with a couple of movies. After 'Juno' I thought: 'I think I've defined myself enough as my own director that I'd love to work with my father.' — Jason Reitman

And I certainly like being on a plane, next to a stranger, having conversations that you'd never otherwise have. You're unplugged, your phone doesn't work, you're not online. — Jason Reitman

My first student film was Orientation, which was basically the set-up for Animal House. There are a couple of scenes that we later borrowed in some form. — Ivan Reitman

I am an obsessive flyer, myself. — Jason Reitman

I think it's a mistake for young filmmakers to just buy digital equipment and shoot a feature. Make short films first, make your mistakes and learn from them. — Jason Reitman

'Juno' really changed things for me and I get a lot of screenplays come in now, but I like to self-generate and I like to kind of pursue my own ideas. And I think the more personal the better. — Jason Reitman

We watch movies about all sorts of things that we don't know anything about, but we do get caught up in the human drama. — Ivan Reitman

Humanizing good people is kind of boring and I don't really see the value in it ... humanizing tricky characters is exhilarating, and making audience films out of indie subjects excites me. — Jason Reitman

I'm trying to figure myself out through my movies. Whether it's big stuff like what we're doing here, or little stuff like, 'Why aren't I happier?' With every film I feel like I'm apologising for something. I feel I'm most successful when I'm looking for something that embarrasses me about my character that I'd like to expose. — Jason Reitman

I think, through comedy, sometimes we're allowed to discuss things that you'd never be able to talk about in a drama. — Jason Reitman

It's sort of the most important thing for acting, is to listen to the person you're dealing with. — Ivan Reitman

I think romance is a tool, comedy is a tool and drama is a tool. I really just want to tell stories that challenge the viewer, move people, make you laugh, perhaps push an idea about being open-minded but never settle on a genre or an opinion. I hate genre. I like movies that are original in their approach. — Jason Reitman

Everyone wants to be loved; everyone wants to know where they're going in life; everyone wants to have a sense of direction and feel the next day is going to be better than today. We just all deal with it in a different way. — Jason Reitman

Well, actually, I did start out in comedies. Very, very early. — Ivan Reitman

I went to college, I went pre-med, I thought I was going to be a doctor. — Jason Reitman

I think Junior is certainly a science fiction premise as is Twins, as is Dave, beyond Ghostbusters. — Ivan Reitman

When I write a film, all I think about is where the thing ends and how to get the audience there. — Jason Reitman

The first thing I say when people ask what's the difference [between doing TV and film], is that film has an ending and TV doesn't. When I write a film, all I think about is where the thing ends and how to get the audience there. And in television, it can't end. You need the audience to return the next week. It kind of shifts the drive of the story. But I find that more as a writer than as a director. — Jason Reitman

I've always been a fan of science fiction films, and I've never been able to put my particular spin on it. — Ivan Reitman

From the onset of the 'Live-Read' series, we wanted to hit all the major writers and Woody Allen is simply one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. He has ability to match pathos and comedy and drama and then turn it all on a dime. If you're going to make a series based on dialogue, you can't find much better than Woody Allen. — Jason Reitman

I've always believed in populating my films with characters who we like, who we have some warmth for, who have warmth for each other, who we would like to hang out with, who we emulate in one way or another. — Ivan Reitman

Growing up sucks, doesn't it? I understand why people wouldn't want to get old - but it'd be one thing if we became a culture obsessed with eating right, doing yoga, going to therapy and becoming at one with ourselves. That be great. But we don't do that. We seem to be obsessed with all the wrong ways to stay young. — Jason Reitman

It's very, very subtle stuff, changing words and giving them a whole different meaning - it creates an artificial reality," said Walter. "What happens is this new linguistic system undermines your ability to even monitor your own thoughts because nothing means what it used to mean. I couldn't believe that I could get taken over like that. I was the most independent-minded idiot that ever walked the planet. But that's what happened. — Janet Reitman

Unlike with any other art form, filmmakers have this unique web of festivals. There are hundreds. It is a democratic system in which you submit films, and if they are good enough, they play. The only barrier to entry is the submission fee. — Jason Reitman

When it comes to casting, I've been so lucky. I've worked with unbelievable actors who make me look better than I am and take the written word and make it honest. — Jason Reitman

My sense is, I think it's okay for directors to do movies that speak to other work in their career. — Ivan Reitman

There certainly is no secret in that there are plenty of people who don't like plenty of my movies. Each one of my films is personal; each one of my films is emotionally autobiographical. And I like directors who do that. With each one of my films, I'm exploring one of my own issues and I try to expose myself a little in the film. — Jason Reitman

I don't think my sense of humor has changed at all; I was born with this, for better or for worse. — Ivan Reitman

Most people see a documentary about the meat industry and then they become a vegetarian for a week. — Jason Reitman

I used to have a group called Bad-Movie Saturday. Every Saturday, six of us would go see the worst movie that came out each weekend. It'd be noon in Burbank. It was just a running commentary. All executives - we would each talk through the movie and make jokes. — Jason Reitman

I have one of the original 'Ghostbusters' guns in my house. — Jason Reitman

The real trick for me as a director is to make sure that people don't start pushing because the harder you push as a perform the less funny it becomes. — Ivan Reitman

The home viewing experience is slightly different and there's room for these kinds of extra excursions. — Ivan Reitman

I'd always been a science fiction enthusiast. — Ivan Reitman

I don't think there will be another Ghostbusters. I think we're all too old to do it. I think we've done it a couple times and there is not that much to get out of it, to do that would be fresh in it. — Ivan Reitman

Like Ivan [Reitman] has said, there's a lot that a life encompasses. — Julianne Moore

I want my movies to be audience experiences. As much as I like Michael Haneke, I'm not going to make a Haneke film. That's just not in my DNA. — Jason Reitman

I truly loved Jason Reitman. I was there on his first film, 'Thank You For Smoking,' and I'd go work with him to do anything. — Sam Elliott

Comedy and horror are cousins; they're related. They both come from storytellers who want to specifically affect the audience and elicit specific reactions during the movie. — Jason Reitman

I've always had an underdog perspective. — Jason Reitman

I'm not sure I agree with the thesis, because I think that even though something grotesque or gross has been part of film since way back, what we accept or what we can get away with on the screen is broader now. — Ivan Reitman

I'm a kind of private guy. — Jason Reitman

I always believed that you can make challenging films, but they should be fiscally responsible. — Jason Reitman

Can you design a Rorschach test that's going to make everyone feel something every time - and that looks like a Rorschach test? It's easy to show a picture of a kitten or a car accident. The question is, how abstract can you get and still get the audience to feel something when they don't know what's happening to them? — Jason Reitman

I'm equally guilty of using technology - I Twitter, I text people, I chat. But I think there's something strangely insidious about it that it makes us think we're closer when in fact we're not seeing each other, we're not connecting. — Jason Reitman

I'm not going to have a perfect career. It's better to be Billy Wilder and make lots of movies and have five or six great ones than to make so few movies that when you make a bad one it crushes you. — Jason Reitman

I remember when first, Stripes, and then Animal House came out - which I was really proud of, even though it was kind of loose and quite raucous - there were imitative movies that were not quite as good. — Ivan Reitman

There are only so many movies you can direct. And yet there are movies that I want to make sure make it to the screen in as honest a way as possible. — Jason Reitman

Well, Toronto, I consider to be the birthplace of my films. I've made three films and this is the third one to premiere here in the same theater on the same day at the same time - they are my audience. They're the people that I think about while I'm writing, directing, and editing. I specifically make movies for them. — Jason Reitman

I'm really specific in the way that I shoot. I've always had a very good sense of what I need in the editing room. — Jason Reitman

I laugh a lot in horror films. If I'm scared in a horror film, I try to think about what's scaring me ... particularly, if it's a bad movie, but something they're doing still works. It's the same way I look at comedy. I've always had an intellectual view of comedy, and what makes people laugh, and how does it work. — Jason Reitman

'Looper' is about what your 55-year-old self would tell your 25-year-old self over a cup of coffee. It's about finding love in the third act of your life. It's about overcoming trauma and the idea of true sacrifice. — Jason Reitman

And the biggest improvement I see between 'Up in the Air' and 'Juno' and 'Thank You for Smoking' is that 'Up in the Air' deals with the complicated human stuff in a way that my other films have not. It's a more articulated film, and because of that, I'm most proud of it. — Jason Reitman

Each one of my films is personal; each one of my films is emotionally autobiographical. And I like directors who do that. — Jason Reitman

I remember when I was like 19 years old and I started a desk calendar company to pay for my first short film, just so I could say one day that my daddy didn't pay for my first short film. And I really established myself in the film festival world. — Jason Reitman

In many ways, I think that, while we've been remarkably violent in our media, there's been a real schizophrenia. In private, on the Internet, and on public-affairs shows or talk radio, we're way more explicit than we've ever been. — Ivan Reitman

When you make a movie, you do it so piecemeal. You're doing it, not only scene by scene, out of order, but shot by shot, line by line. And there's this idea that the director has the whole thing in his or her head and they're going to somehow weave it all together in the end. — Jason Reitman

I find nice people kind of boring. — Jason Reitman

I want my audiences to be as open-minded as my characters. — Jason Reitman

All the airports kind of feel and look the same now. Some are more beautiful, some are less beautiful, but for the most part you're going to find a Starbucks in every airport. You're going to get your coffee and the 'USA Today' or 'New York Times' in every airport. — Jason Reitman

Filmmaking is finding a piece of granite and you start to chip away and then you have the shape of a head, the shape of the arm, you can see the shape of the face and the face starts to gather character. You have to find it. — Jason Reitman

I've been very, very lucky in my career, in my life - from day one. When aspiring directors say, 'What's your advice?' first I say, 'Be born the son of a famous director. It's invaluable.' — Jason Reitman

When you have a performer as talented as Bill Murray or as Harold, that can write as well as they can perform, you can do a final draft on the set if you think of it that way. — Ivan Reitman

We got some devastating reviews on Animal House at the start. — Ivan Reitman

Rian Johnson's 'Looper' is inventive, entertaining, and thought-provoking in every way a movie can be. It is in fact the kind of movie that reminds us why we watch them and make them, a beautifully told story that deserves to be not only remembered, but acknowledged for its writing. — Jason Reitman

It's been about 15 years, and I've never really worked seriously in CGI and I thought that here was an opportunity to do the kinds of things that I was not able to do on Ghostbusters. — Ivan Reitman