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When Bad Things Happen to Good Junkets
A thoroughly unsatisfying hotel-room rendezvous with the likes of Scarlett Johansson? "Unfathomable," I would have declared a couple of weeks ago. And yet there I was, in the Waldorf-Astoria suite, left hanging, wanting more. And all because of some stupid junket tricks.
I held off on this rant for a spell out of fear of retribution from A) my junketeer peers (junkepeers?) and/or B) the publicity team for ScarJo's new Woody Allen comedy, Scoop. But this is not so much a sound-off against that junket in particular — it's more about the pet peeves shared by myself and my reporter brethren.
Before I lose those of you who never saw Notting Hill (viva Horse & Hound!), some background. A movie junket involves an assembly of uncommonly charming reporters (print, online and TV) at a common location (usually a series of hotel rooms/suites) with a common goal (to interview actors involved in a forthcoming theatrical release). There is food, usually. There is swag, occasionally. And there are rooms in which we are assigned to roundtable discussions (though the table is usually rectangular, but apparently it's a figure of speech).
Typically, when a reporter first enters his or her assigned room, one of the chairs is leaned against the table, "reserved" for the talent. On this day, that chair was in the middle of the near side, and some peers had already grabbed the spots immediately to its left and right. I thus opted for the chair across from the talent, to claim dibs on eye contact.
Yet when I returned to the room after some Waldorf-buffet noshing, the ostensibly reserved chair had been pushed back, and a different chair, three to my right, had been designated for the talent. OK, you do not mess with The Chair. First time I have ever seen that happen. I can only assume that a rival reporter, unhappy with the way the table was laying out (if not their own tardy arrival), had pulled off a none-too-deft switcheroo. Adding to the sad sitch was the fact that the second room for online editors apparently was plagued with some nasty "gas"-like smell, so our room wound up double-stuffed.
Simply said, my plan to get in a series of Matt Webb Mitovich-esque Qs, that perfect blend of insightful and tangy, for Miss Scarlett to A was foiled. Nope, the room was simply too overcrowded. I'd be lucky to get in two questions. Yet that lowball estimate was made before I realized that Scarlett Johansson apparently represents, among other hot things, a hotbed of political intrigue. How else to explain why our roundtable discussion with her was almost immediately diverted by a reporter's invitation for ScarJo to detail her political beliefs. Scoop isn't Fahrenheit 9/11, folks. Scarlett isn't George Clooney. Why were we losing valuable minutes talking about this? Perhaps the only junket time-waster greater than asking about stuff clearly covered in the production notes is soliciting sound bites that will by and large prove useless to the common good.
The final blow: having waited over an hour between our first Q&A session (20 minutes with the wonderful and charming Ian McShane!) and our sit-down with Scarlett, her handlers arrived and aggressively escorted her out of our grasp after barely 10 minutes — 15 at best — a third of which was probably neutered by the odd political discourse. So, Scarlett on today's tense world climate? Got it. Scarlett on Hugh Jackman, her leading man in this Woody Allen comedy? Not a syllable.
In short, you may look forward to a colorful and fun TVGuide.com Insider item on Deadwood's McShane in the coming weeks. As for what exactly we were able to collectively milk from Miss Scarlett... I am unsure. I'm transcribing the tape later today, and her Insider posts Friday, July 28, when Scoop premieres in New York and Los Angeles. But judging by my recollection, I do not anticipate much scoop. Painfully ironic.
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Jul 24, 2006 12:55 PM
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While Notting Hill does have a good press junket, I would like to offer up America's Sweethearts as the quintessential "hunket" movie.
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Jul 24, 2006 3:45 PM
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Ah, yes, the more under-the-radar America's Sweethearts, with Billy Crystal, John Cusack and C-Z Jones. Good call! Very junkety!
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Jul 24, 2006 4:11 PM
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You get to sit in the same room with famous people and talk about tv and movies for a living and you're complaining to us?! 
Seriously, though, you can have the seeing the stars part of it. I'm perfectly happy hearing about that secondhand. Now the talking about tv for a living thing, isn't that everyone's dream? Maybe just everyone on this site. 
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Jul 24, 2006 5:18 PM
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"...her handlers arrived and aggressively escorted her out of our grasp after barely 10 minutes..."
Handlers? She needs handlers? Is she that valuable? I fail to see why Scarlett Johannson is such a big deal in Hollywood. Other than her figure, she has very little going for her. A good actress she ain't.
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Jul 25, 2006 1:37 PM
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Not to bash S.J. but what figure? She wears the same size as my 14 year old daughter.
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Jul 26, 2006 11:48 AM
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Scarlett is about as wooden as Mischa Barton in, ironically, Notting Hill. I still don't see what all the fuss is about with her. The only thing changeable about her is her hair color.
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Jul 26, 2006 12:52 PM
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I held off on this rant for a spell ...
Well, I guess the fact that I've heard nary a snarky word anywhere about Scarlett's ridiculous political views in the interim means that she didn't put her pretty little foot in her pretty little mouth by saying something tremendously stoopid when asked about them.
Good for her, then. That's a scoop right there in itself: maybe she's not just another pretty little Hollywood idiot (which is very contrary to what I would prefer to believe ).
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Jul 26, 2006 11:47 PM
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You're right - that could be the miracle here.
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Jul 27, 2006 12:09 AM
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I guess the fact that I've heard nary a snarky word anywhere about Scarlett's ridiculous political views in the interim means that she didn't put her pretty little foot in her pretty little mouth by saying something tremendously stoopid
My point exactly — there was no story there. She said nothing at all controversial/Kanye West-y. Why oh why....
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Jul 27, 2006 2:35 PM
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Not to bash S.J. but what figure? She wears the same size as my 14 year old daughter.
You're either mistaking ScarJo for someone else, for one of Hollywood's wafer-thin pixies, or viewing your daughter in a funhouse mirror. Scarlett has the curves. Shoulda seen her working this denim jumper.
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Jul 27, 2006 2:36 PM
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Scarlett has the curves. Shoulda seen her working this denim jumper.
Too bad this is TV Guide.com and not Maxim.com or GQ.com because then you could've worked the curves angle (hey—an oxymoron!) for all it's worth.
I couldn't care less about Scarlett, but after this post, I'll tune in tomorrow anyway to see how you wrangle an entire Insider out of the junket's poor results. Good luck...
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Jul 27, 2006 5:33 PM
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Chandra, I haven't heard anything at all re: Scarlett's political views. Whaddya hear?
I really like Scarlett's work. Thought she was great in Girl With A Pearl Earring and even better in Match Point. I'm always willing to give her a chance. And I can't hold her body against her (add your own joke here).
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Aug 10, 2006 3:18 AM
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