Robert Altman

greatest American director? possibly.

three out of the four films i've seen of his are in my top forty. of what i've seen, his films are both hilarious, intoxicatingly fun, and also brilliant in their parodic, revisionist approach to genre. love the John Huston kinda vibe i get from him as a person. his list of must-sees beyond his early '70s golden age (what i've seen) is also pretty huge, and i can't wait to dig deeper into his filmography. discuss.

I don't love Nashville like I should. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.

in order of what I have seen:

Short Cuts
Gosford Park
Secret Honor
Nashville
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
MASH
Popeye
Magnolia


Secret Honor is my personal favorite though...

given that Nasville and McCabe are my two favorites, i'm going to add the first three films of your list to my wish-list immediately.

since you haven't yet seen it, i highly recommend The Long Goodbye. better than Chinatown when it comes to neo-noir IMO.

thanks, brah... queued.

Word of warning FD: Secret Honor is essentially a filmed play and is only interesting to me because I love history and find Richard Nixon extremely fascinating. Not sure I would recommend it like the other two I have listed.

secret honor is cool

mash bored the shit out of me

moved the Long Goodbye to the top of my queue for the weekend since I was in a desperate search for something in English... I have the new blu ray of Kagemusha and The Color of Pomegranates at home but sometimes I just am not in the mood for subtitles.

Originally Posted by law'n

Magnolia

lol yr funny

Originally Posted by law'n

moved the Long Goodbye to the top of my queue for the weekend since I was in a desperate search for something in English... I have the new blu ray of Kagemusha and The Color of Pomegranates at home but sometimes I just am not in the mood for subtitles.

just know that even though it's sort of doing for the film noir what McCabe & Mrs. Miller does to the western, it's far less serious and more quirky. definitely don't read into the Chinatown comparison; they're nothing alike. i just mentioned it because it's the best known neo-noir.

I don't think anyone would disagree that he's a mixed bag. That said, of all his bright moments, Brewster McCloud is the brightest. I think gil backed me up on this at one time or another.

Unfortunately, it is one of the few Altman movies to remain unreleased on DVD.

not one mention of 3 women yet? that's my favorite altman (barely edging out short cuts).

of Altman's Criterion releases, that's my top priority. i'm expecting to bump this thread a whole lot in the near future.

"It's for the kitchen!"

brewster mccloud is pretty high on my to see list. i searched for a torrent of it over the summer, but couldn't find one.

lawnboy is right that secret honor is basically a filmed play, but i would highly recommend it to anyone here. philip baker hall is brilliant as nixon and it's the most captivating 90 minute monologue filmed in one room. i swear it felt like it was twenty minutes long.

of the altman films i've seen,

must see:
3 women
short cuts

great:
mccabe & mrs. miller
nashville
secret honor

really good:
the player
gosford park
the long goodbye

good:
mash
california split

fucking awful:
a prarie home companion

If your overhype.net email worked, you'd have a KG account by now. Is there another email you use?

You used that format with the Woody Allen thread, Cole... I think I might adapt it as well.

haha, yeah, it gives me a chance to provide a humorous category title for films i dislike.


david.cole@law.ua.edu ... love you, red right.

Sent.

I always liked the Player.

I still need to see a lot of this man's films, as of now I've only ever seen Secret Honor but I loved it. I'm really not sure what to see next, any suggestions?

appreciate it, red right.

Originally Posted by grapestr33t4life

I always liked the Player.

you're breaking character again, bro.


i would recommend short cuts as the next altman film to see. really captivating, great cast, and a lot easier to get into than nashville. definitely his best ensemble film.

omitted from my list are ready to wear and dr. t and the women. saw both not more several years ago and already i can barely remember anything about either. probably a sign that they aren't exactly or stellar.

love nashville and gosford park, of what i've seen

def need to see more of his stuff. especially mccabe & mrs. miller, brewster mccloud, the long goodbye, 3 women.

anyone seen kansas city? sounds interesting but doesn't seem very well liked

Originally Posted by law'n

You used that format with the Woody Allen thread, Cole... I think I might adapt it as well.

Originally Posted by Cole

haha, yeah, it gives me a chance to provide a humorous category title for films i dislike.

we already know that last category is going to be magnolia, lawnboy

nah.. the last category will obviously be FAMILY GUY.

anyway...

I watched the Long Goodbye this week... The film was pretty good.. kind of run-of-the-mill though.. what made this film fantastic was Elliott Gould... Quickly becoming one of my favorite actors, I need to see more of his work (at least from the 70s). This was a one man show.

Good Altman film. Definitely going on my list between McCabe/Miller and Nashville.

I had a double feature of Short Cuts and Magnolia last night, and Short Cuts really blew me away. Great performances all around, definitely be watching this one again.

I actually lol'd when Huey Lewis showed up. I like that he was listed in the opening credits and had a total of like three lines.