I've just heard about the death of the irreplacable, eternally influential Robert Altman. There are hundreds of things I could riff on, but death's honesty always seems to be a little too blunt -- too sudden -- when it comes to really special guys like Altman. I guess the Academy got around to giving him his gold-watch award last year none too soon. His health was getting shakier and shakier over the last three or four years.

I'm more than a little startled by this. I was always thinking Altman might just have one more bulls-eye in him. Something satiric and snappy, but in a gentle-trippy- haunting way. That's what I think of when I think of his great films.
He was a beautiful ornery man, occasionally touched by genius. That's how genius is -- it visits, whispers, flutters down and lights you up...and then it's gone. And you can't even show the world that it's touched you unless you're lucky as well. Altman was lucky and imbued enough to have things really work out maybe six or seven times in his life, and that's pretty impressive.
I'm talking the usual litany, of course: Nashville, The Long Goodbye, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Player, M.A.S.H., California Split, Thieves Like Us, Tanner on HBO, Gosford Park...what is that, eight? A Prairie Home Companion was warm and very spirited...an engaging mood piece (I loved Garrison Keillor and Meryl Streep's singing), but not quite pantheon-level.
I used to get a real kick out of Altman's ornery-ness. He was always friendly, but he never smiled unless he really meant it. He tended to scowl and he didn't suffer fools. He sure as shit didn't tolerate any of my bullshit when I first started to talk to him in early '92, when early screenings of The Player were happening and I was trying to spread the word that Altman was back in a big way.

When I asked to do a second Entertainment Weekly interview with him prior to the opening of The Player in April '92, he thought I was being inefficient and taking too long and flat-out said so: "What are you, writing a book?" A month or two later we were both at the Cannes Film Festival, and I was trying to get quotes for an EW piece about celebrity reactions to the Rodney King riots that had just happened in Los Angeles. I asked Altman for a quote at a black-tie party on the beach, and he scowled again. "This subject is too important to comment about for Entertain- ment Weekly," he said, and then turned his back.
You can't hear me, Bob, and if you were here you wouldn't give a shit anyway, but I've been telling people that line for the last 14 years and getting a good laugh from it every time.
I lived in a studio on Hightower Drive in the Hollywood hills in '85 and '86 precisely because it was on the same little street where the way-up-high, elevator-access, deco-styled Long Goodbye apartment was located -- the one that Elliot Gould's Philip Marlowe lived in. You know, the one with the naked hippie-girl neighbors who used to ask him to pick up some brownie mix on his way out to the super market at 1:30 am?
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 21, 2006 at 8:42 AM
comment #1
christian
says ...
i was fortunate to be at the austin film fest in 99 when they showed NASHVILLE at the paramount and altman spoke after and was very downbeat on the future of film. ornery to the end. right on.
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 9:51 AM
comment #2
L.B.
says ...
This has ended my day early. For too many reasons. He was right to be down on the future of film. What he represented, movies are definitely missing these days.
Posted by L.B.
at November 21, 2006 9:55 AM
comment #3
christian
says ...
it certainly is the end of a 70's film era...
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 9:58 AM
comment #4
bipedalist
says ...
Nicely put. That quote about the riots is too funny. Gotta love a man who has the big picture down. The Player holds up to this day and was one of his best but yeah, how do you top McCabe and Mrs. Miller. I particularly love the scene where Robbins is kicking the screenwriter shouting "keep it yourself!" He was too good for the mother fucking Oscars. They like them good, just not better.
Posted by bipedalist
at November 21, 2006 10:07 AM
comment #5
VedaPierce
says ...
I've been meaning to watch "Mcabe & Mrs. Miller" again for ages. It seems tonight would be an appropriate time.
You realize how far removed we are from the 70s now that the filmmakers who were responsible for that era's golden age are now starting to leave us.
Anyone else find it kind of remarkable that Ingmar Bergman is still alive?
Posted by VedaPierce
at November 21, 2006 10:13 AM
comment #6
alynch
says ...
Nicely written piece there Jeff. Although I'd probably add Short Cuts and possibly Secret Honor onto your list of his great films. You know it's a sign of a great filmmaker when you want to watch a film in his honor, but you simply can't narrow it down to one. He will be missed.
Posted by alynch
at November 21, 2006 10:14 AM
comment #7
PhilContrino
says ...
So what movie is everyone going to watch tonight to remember this great director? Personally, I'm going to get some beer (I'm in college, so this is not by any means a special event) and let Nashville just kind of wash over me. And I'm pretty sure a lot of my friends have never seen it.
Posted by PhilContrino
at November 21, 2006 10:16 AM
comment #8
christian
says ...
top five favorite altman films?
1. MASH
2. NASHVILLE
3. LONG GOODBYE
4. THE PLAYER
5. MCABE AND MS. MILLER
guilty pleasures:
1. brewtser mcloud
2. popeye
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 10:18 AM
comment #9
JD
says ...
Altman's been my favorite filmmaker for years, but this doesn't seem that sudden to me. Every time I see a headline beginning "Robert Altman..." I assume it's an obituary, as he seemed significantly older than just about anybody else making movies today. To be honest, I think the timing of his death is rather poetic. Not only because he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in March, but because his last movie ended with a perfect cinematic farewell. Seriously, watch A Prairie Home Companion tonight and tell me that isn't the perfect final film.
Posted by JD
at November 21, 2006 10:18 AM
comment #10
MathewM
says ...
Altman's films have been hit and miss for me I guess like for most people. However his style wielded a huge influence on me. In my teens I remember being really taken by Short Cuts and The Player; the overlapping dialogue and just the overall fly-on-the wall, documentary feel his films had. He's a director I would of really liked to have seen work.
Posted by MathewM
at November 21, 2006 10:19 AM
comment #11
christian
says ...
he was a real liberal and a great american artist.
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 10:20 AM
comment #12
Rob
says ...
Nashville, McCabe, Short Cuts, 3 Women
Those are my Altman fab four, although I enjoy many others.
Posted by Rob
at November 21, 2006 10:21 AM
comment #13
Josh Massey
says ...
"A Prairie Home Companion," I believe, was very intentionally his final film.
Posted by Josh Massey
at November 21, 2006 10:22 AM
comment #14
JD
says ...
By the way, I don't think this is the end of the great 70s-era filmmakers at all. Most of the major filmmakers from the 70s are a good two decades younger than Altman. In fact, Altman was 45 when his breakthrough film (M*A*S*H) came out. These days, most filmmakers are already deep in decline by that age. It's kind of amazing that from the age of 70 onward, he managed to direct Kansas City, Jazz '34, The Gingerbread Man, Cookie's Fortune, Dr. T and the Women, Gosford Park, The Company, Tanner on Tanner, and A Prairie Home Companion. Of all those films, Gosford Park was probably my least favorite and it received the most attention. Dr. T and the Women was the great guilty pleasure of Altman's later years and anyone who hasn't seen it should check it out, in spite of the terrible reviews. Almost everyone I know hates it, but I genuinely think it's one of Altman's most appealing and playful films from this period.
Posted by JD
at November 21, 2006 10:27 AM
comment #15
David Ehrlich
says ...
nice piece that will stand out from the throngs of other Altman tributes, Jeff. Well done, he'll be missed.
Posted by David Ehrlich
at November 21, 2006 10:32 AM
comment #16
christian
says ...
i also really liked cookie's fortune. a soft gentler altman.
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 10:33 AM
comment #17
The Movie Man
says ...
Great write up Jeff, no easy sentimentality and to the point, just as the man himself would've liked. JD also has a point about Altman's age, it once again speaks against the belief that if you don't produce a masterpiece by thirty that you're done. Quite the contrary, Altman had what many of the wannabes lack, real world experience that has nothing to do with watching movies over and over. That's what made his films so far beyond just about anyone else in the game. Paul Thomas Anderson's involvement with Altman is appropriate, because I think he's one of the brightest of the new school, and seemds equally contemptious of fake Hollywood bullshit.
My top five Altmans would be: Nashville, The Player, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Short Cuts and California Split. Though I would like to make a special mention of The Gingerbread Man, not for being one of the greatest but one of the most underrated of his films. It should that when the man wanted to, he could play the mainstream game better than anyone else too.
Posted by The Movie Man
at November 21, 2006 10:39 AM
comment #18
Craig Kennedy
says ...
I totally agree with JD on A Prairie Home
Companion. It may not be pantheon level (it's a bit too early to be making that judgement anyway), but it's a sweet and melancholy ode to a passing era and I can't think of a more appropriate way to go out.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, Thieves Like Us, The Player, Short Cuts.
"It's ok with me."
Posted by Craig Kennedy
at November 21, 2006 10:40 AM
comment #19
Min
says ...
I even liked Quintet and Popeye.
Posted by Min
at November 21, 2006 10:41 AM
comment #20
slothroplt
says ...
I "discovered" the work of Altman with Short Cuts -- a little bit after I "discovered" the work of Raymond Carver with What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The two will always be intertwined in my mind as I feel they shared a common sensibility and sensitivity towards people and an understanding that the most immportant and interesting facet of our lives are our relationships and all the glorious madness and sadness that springs from them.
RIP.
Posted by slothroplt
at November 21, 2006 10:48 AM
comment #21
L.B.
says ...
I think that's one of the most inspirational things about his career (apart from the work itself). Really, his career started at an age that today is considered past-its-prime. And within that period made films that defined his period, despite his advanced years. He proved that talent is ageless and you can keep making beautiful things until the end. I hope that if I can emulate him in any way it will at least be that way.
Posted by L.B.
at November 21, 2006 10:48 AM
comment #22
Reint
says ...
He will be missed.
Posted by Reint
at November 21, 2006 10:51 AM
comment #23
The Movie Man
says ...
I also think about some of the amazing things he brought out of actors that you never saw coming. I think of Sterling Hayden's amazing scenes in "The Long Goodbye" or the really subdued, laid back work of Richard Gere in Dr. T and the Women, or Liv Tyler in Cookie's Fortune or being the only director who could really get anything out of Shelly Duvall, or more recently Lindsay Lohan and Maya Rudolph in Prairie, the list goes on....
Posted by The Movie Man
at November 21, 2006 10:56 AM
comment #24
The Winchester
says ...
The Player was my favorite movie for years, and one of the driving forces that led me into the movie business (even if it should also stand as a cautionary tale to NOT go into it). I saw it twice opening weekend, and this was when I was in 8th grade. I think I was the only kid in my class who saw it, except my friend Dave I made go see it the second time that weekend. That turned me on to Altman, and changed my view of movies forever.
This is kind of a bummer way to start the day.
Fav. Altman: The Player (obviously), The Long Goodbye, California Split, Nashville, Kansas City and Short Cuts.
Posted by The Winchester
at November 21, 2006 10:58 AM
comment #25
The Winchester
says ...
The Player was my favorite movie for years, and one of the driving forces that led me into the movie business (even if it should also stand as a cautionary tale to NOT go into it). I saw it twice opening weekend, and this was when I was in 8th grade. I think I was the only kid in my class who saw it, except my friend Dave I made go see it the second time that weekend. That turned me on to Altman, and changed my view of movies forever.
This is kind of a bummer way to start the day.
Fav. Altman: The Player (obviously), The Long Goodbye, California Split, Nashville, Kansas City and Short Cuts.
And that line about the riots is priceless.
Posted by The Winchester
at November 21, 2006 10:58 AM
comment #26
frankbooth
says ...
I remember that when Ron Howard won the best director Oscar a few years ago, there was a brief cut to Altman and David Lynch in the audience (they were both nominated that year) smiling and nodding and sort of patting each other on the back as if commiserating.
We can only imagine what they were saying, but I like to think it was something like "Yeah, that's the way it works in this town. A big joke." It was a great moment.
Altman was a major talent and a huge inspiration to late starters everywhere.
Posted by frankbooth
at November 21, 2006 11:10 AM
comment #27
donnyboy
says ...
THE LONG GOODBYE, THE PLAYER, OC AND STIGGS, IMAGES
Thanks Bob.
Posted by donnyboy
at November 21, 2006 11:11 AM
comment #28
Daniel Fienberg
says ...
Is it too early to ponder if this dramatically increases the Oscar chances for Prairie Home Companion? The movie already played masterfully on a small level, but I'd wager it becomes even more evocative in light of Altman's passing. One last best director nomination might be an ultimate tribute.
Although his films varied wildly in quality, they were never less than distinctive, they were never films that could have been made by anybody but Altman. You can't say that about many filmmakers...
-Daniel
Posted by Daniel Fienberg
at November 21, 2006 11:15 AM
comment #29
Cadavra
says ...
I went to an early screening of KANSAS CITY (still my personal fave of all his films) when they were shopping for a distributor, and he was there. I asked him afterwards if he'd deliberately arranged the musicians on the bandstand in the same placements as those in the classic short JAMMIN' THE BLUES. He looked at me for a second or two, then said, "Wow. You're the first person who picked up on that." Needless to say, I was six inches off the ground for the rest of the week. We'll miss you, Bob.
Posted by Cadavra
at November 21, 2006 11:19 AM
comment #30
berg
says ...
Altman did a lot of great work on low budget 50s films like The Delinquents (with the future billy jack), The James Dean Story docu, and tons of television ...“On Combat, for instance, I did a show where the whole show is just about Vic Morrow looking around, with burned hands, looking for some German to surrender to. They fired me from the series and blocked me from coming back on the lot.†Altman, who both produced and directed several of the show’s episodes, said.
Working in television during the late ’50’s and early ’60’s, Altman found out that if he wanted to get an intelligent message through it had to be covertly. “Everything that we did in episodic television, we had to do underground,†he related. “It was guerilla. These formats were set, the characters were set. I always found the actors were the ones that wanted to break out and do something better. I did the first comedy, made kind of a slapstick comedy on Bonanza. It seemed to work and they did several of those.â€Â
Posted by berg
at November 21, 2006 11:21 AM
comment #31
The Movie Man
says ...
May be excessivly frivilous considering the nature of the thread but I would like to say that he gave by far one of the best acceptance speeches I've personally seen at the Oscar ceremony last year.
Cadavra-That's awesome man.
Posted by The Movie Man
at November 21, 2006 11:22 AM
comment #32
sardine
says ...
FAVORITES, NO ORDER, MCCABE AND MRS MILLER, THIEVES LIKE US, NASHVILLE, LONG GOODBYE, COMEBACK TO THE 5 AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN, CA SPLIT, COOKIE'S FORTUNE.
LESSERS...ALL THE REST INCLUDING shortcuts and the player both of which are well lesser.
SO LONG, BOB!
Posted by sardine
at November 21, 2006 11:30 AM
comment #33
dixiedugan
says ...
It's such a sad feeling I have, not just for the passing of Altman, but it's the passing of a certain level of artistic achievement. No, not every film is the be all end all, but Altman had such a dogged determination of his vision - to me there's just not a hell of a lot of directors around who subscribe to the same. My opinion of course.
He shall be missed. I'm going to dig out my Oscar tape from earlier this year and re-watch his acceptance of his Lifetime award.
Posted by dixiedugan
at November 21, 2006 11:32 AM
comment #34
goodvibe61
says ...
One of the greatest ever. A titan. Don't even try to narrow down the man's canon, there's simply far too much of a very high level to attempt it.
I've had various favorites over the years. The Long Goodbye is a favorite. Nashville is an amazing epic movie, one that's had more of an impact regarding the structure of film writing than has been discussed. The Player is fabulous. McCabe! It might just be my all time favorite. MASH for crying out loud. Elliot Gould is just so THE MAN in all of Altman's work, he was my favorite actor at a time when i was just starting to grow up in movie theaters.
What a sad, sad day. But all of this work will live on forever. Expect to see a tremendous outpouring of emotion out of Hollywood for some time now. Few are revered on his level by the real artists in this town.
Rest in peace.
Posted by goodvibe61
at November 21, 2006 11:33 AM
comment #35
christian
says ...
and he certainly got the best performance out of robin williams ever, whose popeye is still his best work.
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 11:34 AM
comment #36
James
says ...
This makes me want to go out and watch everything the man did.
As an undergraduate English literature major, I wrote my senior thesis on the parallels between Nashville and The Cherry Orchard. Both, I argued, are stories of the death of a country's sense of community and of lurching forward into a terrifying modernity.
To me, Altman is an American Chekhov, an American Shakespeare, an American Goethe--a great tragedian who also makes us laugh. Comparing him to other film-makers doesn't do him justice. He's up there beside the great playwrights and poets and novelists going back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Posted by James
at November 21, 2006 11:43 AM
comment #37
James
says ...
It's comforting by the way, to read these posts, and know that I'm not alone in holding him in such high esteem.
Posted by James
at November 21, 2006 11:45 AM
comment #38
Dixon Steele
says ...
One of the very few directors that became a real adjective - Altmanesque.
My personal favorite - THE PLAYER...flawless in every way
RIP RA
Posted by Dixon Steele
at November 21, 2006 11:49 AM
comment #39
T. S. Idiot
says ...
Altman certainly knew how to get the best out of his actors. Gould did far and away his best work for Altman. While Altman and Beatty may not have gotten along, Beatty gives his best performance in McCabe, which summarizes the contradictory sides of the American character (demands of commerce vs. individual freedom, etc.) better than perhaps any other film.
Posted by T. S. Idiot
at November 21, 2006 11:50 AM
comment #40
christian
says ...
i'm going to rent THREE WOMEN tonite -- never seen it...but i always loved the capsule review in the great old 70's cinefantastique magazine: "a visionary tale of cosmic twining"
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 11:52 AM
comment #41
Movie fan09
says ...
and he certainly got the best performance out of robin williams ever, whose popeye is still his best work.
I wouldn't totally agree with that statement.
I loved Robin in Garp more.
I do have a somewhat kind of weird love for Popeye though.
It mostly stems from the sets and the whole feel of a pre 20th century american town.
and seeing Bill Irwin fall down the plank in that one scene like a giant quarter was awesome!
However, the one thing I remember thinking while watching it as a kid was that there's no way you can do that free camera movement in this kind of genre.
of the movies I have seen so far...california Split(everyone says mash)
Posted by Movie fan09
at November 21, 2006 11:55 AM
comment #42
The Movie Man
says ...
Three Women is interesting, it's a movie I respect more than I actually like, but Spacek and Duvall are terrific and it has this really we could float off into the abyss any moment edge of sanity thing going that is quite unnerving. A wading pool has never been so creepy...
Posted by The Movie Man
at November 21, 2006 11:59 AM
comment #43
christian
says ...
yes, garp would be a close second but he was unrecognizable in popeye and just nailed the voice the character...i like the nilsson tunes as well and that sweetpea might be the cutest damn baby in the history of film.
strange to recall a time that altman's popeye was set up as a big studio blockbuster...brave.
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 12:02 PM
comment #44
bmcintire
says ...
I am a fan of all the usual suspects (MASH, NASHVILLE, ETc.), but some of my fondest Altman moments are found in A WEDDING. And I've always had a soft spot for NINCENT & THEO.
Posted by bmcintire
at November 21, 2006 12:12 PM
comment #45
MilkMan
says ...
Jesus Christ. Has anyone talked to P.T.?
This year, at Thanksgiving dinner, I'm going to talk over everyone in honor of Big Bob.
Tonight I'm going to watch That Cold Day in the Park.
Too bad it wasn't Coppola, that lazy bum.
Posted by MilkMan
at November 21, 2006 12:12 PM
comment #46
bmcintire
says ...
I am a fan of all the usual suspects (MASH, NASHVILLE, ETc.), but some of my fondest Altman moments are found in A WEDDING. And I've always had a soft spot for VINCENT& THEO.
Posted by bmcintire
at November 21, 2006 12:13 PM
comment #47
christian
says ...
maybe now we can get some of these altman films on dvd...there are quite a few...HEALTH anyone?
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 12:15 PM
comment #48
Mr. Muckle
says ...
Well, I'm gonna give Gosford Park some love. A masterwork. My favorite.
Posted by Mr. Muckle
at November 21, 2006 12:21 PM
comment #49
Doug Pratt
says ...
I have been reviewing films for more than 25 years and have watched somewhere between 20,000 to 30,000 in my lifetime, and of all the films I have ever seen, McCabe and Mrs. Miller remains my favorite, largely because it come so close to capturing the genuine environment of America's creation.
Posted by Doug Pratt
at November 21, 2006 12:22 PM
comment #50
DarthCorleone
says ...
I love every Altman film I have seen, and I am ashamed to say there are several greats that I haven't even gotten around to watching yet. He's truly a great director and worthy of all this praise.
Posted by DarthCorleone
at November 21, 2006 1:39 PM
comment #51
George Prager
says ...
I saw him host a reading and Q&A of Short Cuts stories in the basement of a B. Dalton's (I think its a Barnes and Noble now) on the corner of 8th street and 6th avenue in Manhattan (across from Gray's Papaya). Of the actors that read the only one I remember was the late Christopher Penn (who couldn't read all that well and seemed embarrassed). Altman definitely sold his product in a big way that night. A great salesman and a great artist.
Posted by George Prager
at November 21, 2006 1:41 PM
comment #52
Haiku Harry
says ...
The living greats you
can count on one hand. Altman's
thumb gripped them all, tight.
Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, and Lumet remain...
Posted by Haiku Harry
at November 21, 2006 1:55 PM
comment #53
christian
says ...
even drudge moved the altman passing up to the lead...
Posted by christian
at November 21, 2006 2:33 PM
comment #54
sardine
says ...
VINCENT & THEO IS A M A S T E R P I E C E!
Forgot that one on my list above....
Posted by sardine
at November 21, 2006 2:58 PM
comment #55
Pelham123
says ...
"The Long Goodbye" --
Roger Wade: I tell you what we're gonna do, Marlboro. You're gonna take that goddamn J.C. Penney tie off and we're gonna have an old fashioned man to man drinking party.
Philip Marlowe: Well, that's okay but I'm not taking off the tie. -- Robert Altman, RIP
Posted by Pelham123
at November 21, 2006 3:27 PM
comment #56
Nick29
says ...
He Came
He Directed
He Kicked Ass
i can say no more
Posted by Nick29
at November 21, 2006 7:03 PM
comment #57
Fudge Ripple
says ...
"The death of an old man is not a tragedy."
That's the line that keeps popping into my head, from PHC. Apparently it's something that Altman said over the phone to Garrison Keillor, and Keillor liked it so much he put it in the screenplay.
Posted by Fudge Ripple
at November 21, 2006 8:40 PM
comment #58
topbroker
says ...
Altman means a lot to me. He is one of those artists, such as Dickens, whose entire body of work I respond to and feel tenderly towards -- even the "lesser" works that others dismiss. A Prairie Home Companion felt valedictory to me, as it did to many others, so the news of this death does not come as a complete surprise. I feel surprisingly buoyant about it, because Altman had the rare American film career that seems completely fulfilled. Some tougher periods, sure; ups and downs, sure; but no tailing-off at the end, no sell-out projects, no sense of compromised goals. In this sense, among American directors, only John Ford compares.
I remember that David Edelstein in his review of Gosford Park also reaches for a Dickens comparison. Although Altman is not usually the "high stylist" in image that Dickens is in prose, their profusion of characters and general affection for them is quite similar. Dickens too has a "mocking" attitude toward some of his creations, but even those targets never wind up being "straw men"; they vibrate with life and liveliness, as every critic of Dickens takes note. And so do all of Altman's characters.
Altman's work is a fabric; that is how he saw it himself. Although I can play the game of which Altman films are "best" as much as anyone (and I lean toward the conventional wisdom on that: Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts, Gosford Park), I believe that it is the entirety of the fabric which is crucial. There seems to be a relish in the way in which some writers identify Altman's "clinkers" ( Pret-a-Porter, Popeye [a near masterpiece, if you ask me], Quintet, H.E.A.L.T.H., O.C. and Stiggs, Beyond Therapy) that suggests that they want to see him get his "comeuppance" (a la Georgie Minafer in The Magnificent Ambersons) for not playing by the rules. I say that's ridiculous, and I welcome all those films. Even Altman's "fallow" decade of the 1980s will likely be re-assessed upward in time.
Posted by topbroker
at November 22, 2006 8:46 AM
comment #59
nola
says ...
He is a true artist and will be missed.
Posted by nola
at November 22, 2006 1:02 PM
comment #60
dobbsy
says ...
Someone said Altman's three "gold standard" films were Nashville, Player and MASH as they are the ultimate reference points for any films that follow in their paths. Hmmmmm.....
1) Nashville: This pic's currency is so much the fault of Kael, who can also
be blamed for De Palma. This overripe overhyped condescending tripe about
"America" is a NY intellectual's wet dream of what rubes live beyond the
walls of the East Coast sophisticates. Really a reflection of the ruling
classes' disconnection from reality much more than about the state of the
Nation. Oh, and the music REALLY sucks. How can you make a movie called
Nashville and pack it with horrible musical crap unless you completely don't
understand anything about the music? Yech.
2) The Player: Gold Standard? Reeallly? What about Sunset Blvd and In a
Lonely Place and Star 80 and All About Eve and 8/12 and Day for Night et al?
Pleasant enough comedy but not anything to get excited about and not in the
same league as any of the pics mentioned.
3) MASH: Yes, probably the best violent anti-war satirical/slapstick comedy
ever made, but there's a reason it became a hit TV show (which irritated
Altman to no end). It's perfect material for TV as it's ultimately facile
and cute and packed with schtick. From TV cameth Altman and his biggest
success returneth to TV.
And the rest of his career was spent tarting up stories (when he wasn't
tearing down whatever opportunities the films actually offered, which in the
case of so many of his most misbegotten films, is usually questionable) with
his trademarks of overlapping dialogue and controlled chaos, improv (no
wonder actors love him) and showy camerawork with subtance, wisdom and human
insight all casualties of the helmer's self-indulgent showboating.
But when you have so little to say, when you have a monster hit that enables
you to continue to find financing and when you have critics who are willing
to forgive your shortcomings because you love to wear your directing chops
on your sleeve...oh forgive me, he's barely shed his mortal coil but he
represents so many shortcomings of modern American indie cinema it must be
said. There's no IKIRU here, no WILD BUNCH, no DECALOGUE or THREE COLORS, no
PERSONA, no TALK TO HER, no STAVISKY, no LEGEND OF THE HOLY DRINKER, no
VERTIGO.
To quote Ms. Stein: "There's no there, there."
Posted by dobbsy
at November 22, 2006 7:09 PM
comment #61
MoroccoMole
says ...
It's often considered "lesser" Altman, but I have very strong memories of seeing A Wedding for the first time when I was in college and being blown away by the possibilities of cinema. Especially after watching it five or six times and finally figuring out who all the characters were in relation to each other.
And for that matter, Pret-a-Porter is much better than its reputation.
Posted by MoroccoMole
at November 22, 2006 9:18 PM
comment #62
transmogrifier
says ...
Re: dobbsy.
Worst analysis ever. Stick to the day job.
Posted by transmogrifier
at November 23, 2006 2:51 AM
comment #63
dobbsy
says ...
hey, transmogrifier,
Here's one of America's finest critics, Jonathan Rosenbaum, practicing HIS day job, as he reviews BOBBY and reaches back to poke that so-called Altman "masterpiece," NASHVILLE:
"After seeing this movie's (BOBBY)premiere at the Venice film festival I defended its guts and intelligence to a French critic who described it as "sub-Altman." I see it as "sur-Altman," especially if compared to Nashville, another film with 20-odd characters that concludes with a cataclysmic and seemingly unmotivated assassination. Despite its reputation as an exuberant classic, Nashville knows zip and cares even less about country music or the city of Nashville (where it was shot) -- which doesn't prevent it from heaping scorn on both. It even ridicules a dowager who tearfully reminisces about John and Bobby Kennedy, and it shamelessly encourages viewers to share its contempt for the rubes. The relentless cynicism that Nashville brandishes as proof of its hipness ultimately gives way to glib, high-flown rhetoric in the climactic repeated shots of an American flag filling the screen while a nihilistic pseudocountry anthem, "It Don't Worry Me," builds to a crescendo, asserting the concert audience's unembarrassed cluelessness."
Gee, sounds awfully close to my analysis of Altman's condescending tripe aka NASHVILLE.
(FYI, look at the career of NASHVILLE screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury post-NASHVILLE. Yep, nothing but TV mediocrity. Hmmmm, could that mean??????)
Altman was the last gasp of the NY critical intelligentsia. Their power forever diminished by the mid-70s, they continued to carry water for the myth of Kael and the myth of Altman.
But not everyone buys the myths....sorry....
Posted by dobbsy
at November 25, 2006 12:59 PM
comment #64
dobbsy
says ...
hey, transmogrifier,
Here's one of America's finest critics, Jonathan Rosenbaum, practicing HIS day job, as he reviews BOBBY and reaches back to poke that so-called Altman "masterpiece," NASHVILLE:
"After seeing this movie's (BOBBY)premiere at the Venice film festival I defended its guts and intelligence to a French critic who described it as "sub-Altman." I see it as "sur-Altman," especially if compared to Nashville, another film with 20-odd characters that concludes with a cataclysmic and seemingly unmotivated assassination. Despite its reputation as an exuberant classic, Nashville knows zip and cares even less about country music or the city of Nashville (where it was shot) -- which doesn't prevent it from heaping scorn on both. It even ridicules a dowager who tearfully reminisces about John and Bobby Kennedy, and it shamelessly encourages viewers to share its contempt for the rubes. The relentless cynicism that Nashville brandishes as proof of its hipness ultimately gives way to glib, high-flown rhetoric in the climactic repeated shots of an American flag filling the screen while a nihilistic pseudocountry anthem, "It Don't Worry Me," builds to a crescendo, asserting the concert audience's unembarrassed cluelessness."
Gee, sounds awfully close to my analysis of Altman's condescending tripe aka NASHVILLE.
(FYI, look at the career of NASHVILLE screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury post-NASHVILLE. Yep, nothing but TV mediocrity. Hmmmm, could that mean??????)
Altman was the last gasp of the NY critical intelligentsia. Their power forever diminished by the mid-70s, they continued to carry water for the myth of Kael and the myth of Altman.
But not everyone buys the myths....sorry....
Posted by dobbsy
at November 25, 2006 1:00 PM
comment #65
kimi98
says ...
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Posted by kimi98
at March 26, 2007 3:12 AM