Roy:
Not everything was great, but even the minor films have their charms. I am very fond, for example, of The Gingerbread Man — where the cheap novel mystery is conveyed, not as usual by thudding soundtrack cues, shadows, and jittery editing, but by constant rain, regnant foliage, and the muzzy atmosphere of lives gone to seed. But I was a film nerd in the '70s, when Altman was one of the gods; any piece of his movies is to me like a few notes from the voice of an old friend. Now these images float through my dream-theatre: Elliot Gould trying to name all seven dwarves, then dancing drunk with George Segal ("Rufus Rastus Rawlston Brown…"). The community passing buckets to save its church while McCabe dies in a snowdrift. Legions of Depression rustics, armed with Coca-Colas, ascending a staircase in slow motion. Sterling Hayden and Nina Van Pallandt fighting the Malibu waves in darkness and long shot. The shock of the scars on Sally Kellerman's back. Copters descending like locusts on Los Angeles. Fade out, the voice of the auctioneer calling the astonishing numbers and the gasps of the crowd; fade in, Vincent van Gogh on a bed of straw…
I frequently had mixed reactions to Altman's films, even the ones that elicit paens of rapture on the part of film geeks, and confess that where many others saw profound nuance I was often just flat bored. But even in those moments I always had a grudging admiration for his cantankerous inisistence on his right to defy the rules of narrative and reach for something new and often enough quite luminous in his self-conscious process.
“Wisdom and love have nothing to do with each other. Wisdom is staying alive, survival. You’re wise if you don’t stick your finger in the light plug. Love — you’ll stick your finger in anything.”
"The movies set the pattern, and these people have copied the movies. Nobody would have thought to commit an atrocity like [the attacks of 9/11] unless they'd seen it in a movie. How dare we continue to show this kind of mass destruction in movies. I just believe we created this atmosphere and taught them how to do it."
Altman was a product of a different time in Hollywood, before it had calcified into an assembly line, when the barriers to entry were much lower. By the time he'd reached iconic status he could make quite nearly anything he saw fit because of the names who wanted to work with him, and I think it delighted him no end that he never had to answer to the suits and suckups who could neither control him nor see commercial appeal sufficient to justify the checks they were writing on the other end. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It was always challenging.
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Fitz!
The first time I got to show my daughter MASH–last year when she was *finally* old enough to ‘get’ it, was better than the first time I watched myself so many years ago. I agree, not every film was a treasure, but I loved the way he did it his way, every time.
Altman did it his way. Another sad day.
Howard Dean!
OT Your biweekly gas and oil prices
11/21/06
Average national price for regular gasoline: $2.233, down $.002 from yesterday
Most recent low: $2.196 on November 7, 2006
Average daily change in the national average for regular gasoline beginning at the peak:
August 8-15: down .56 cents/day
August 15-22: down 1.06
August 22-29: down 1.19
Aug 29- Sept 5: down 1.54
September 5-12: down 1.7
September 12-19: down 1.8
September 19-26: down 1.7
Sept 26-Oct 3: down .9
October 3-10: down .61
October 10-17: down .56
October 17-24: down .30
October 24-31: up .11
Oct 31-Nov 7: down .2
November 7-14: up .47
November 14-21: up .05 cents/day
Crude Oil:
Nymex Crude Future $60.15, up $1.03 from yesterday
Dated Brent Spot $59.89, up $2.11
WTI Cushing Spot $58.02, up $1.72
Gasoline prices were essentially flat this week but the gasoline futures market is up so expect future increases. After a sharp manufactured fall due to a play regarding crude oil inventories earlier this week, crude oil prices are on their way up. Something happened (or didn’t happen) somewhere. The flow of oil has been sharply reduced through the Alaskan pipeline, etc., etc. The reality is that the price was artificially low and the play could not be maintained. The Nymex quote btw is higher than the Cushing Spot because we have moved on from December to January crude oil futures.
DAMN
Altman was the best
Nashville resounds
and Popeye is amongst the strangest cartoon movies ever
Short Cuts , tho is my favorite
Such a broad body of work
DAMN!
I want more
We finally rented Prairie Home Companion last month. My wife, predictably (she doesn’t like the radio show) was bored. But I was enthralled by Altman’s constant motion, his long takes, his letting-smart-actors-do-their-thing belief system. The camera falls in love with the actor and dares you to do the same.
Story? Oh, I guess it was OK. But Altman was the star of that film and I felt it was a lovely sign-off to his career.
In my opinion the level of craftsmanship often exceeded the entertainment value of Altman’s films. I don’t particularly mean that as criticism. At his worst, Altman never insulted the intelligence of his audience.
I’m very sad today. I rented A Prairie Home Companion a month or so ago, and I really liked it. You never think this is going to be Altman’s last film. Real artists never say “this is it”, because they have to keep creating. Altman was like that. My favorites of his are Nashville, MASH, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Quintet is a really interesting film, too. It was great that he never had to compromise. Hollywood suits should take note that not all films have to be dumbed down. There will ALWAYS be an audience for intelligent films.
I missed the thread about Harris and VandeHei. I read their efforts are to be financed by the Albritton family of Albritton Communications which owns, I believe, a TV station in DC and is coming out with a new journal the Capitol Leader to cover the Hill. So you could see a tie-in there. But what I thought more interesting is that these are apparently the same Albrittons who used to control the Riggs Bank which had to pay big fines for laundering money for foreign embassies. Customers included Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and the leaders of the corrupt, oil-rich, and repressive government of Equatorial Guinea. If anyone has more information about Albritton-Harris-VandeHei connections, I for one would like to know.
Oddly enough, I didn’t get to see Nashville until just recently. It was on TCM — keep your eyes peeled, they show it every so often, and it’s a great one to record to DVD, which we did.
Nashville is NOT a film you want to break up with commercials, or see in an edited-for-teevee version, or have language bleeped out.
I just LOVED that film. And I realize that with each viewing there is more and more and more to pick up that you missed in the previous viewing(s).
But then in a much different vein (or IS it, really?), I loved Gosford Park.
Hugh @ 10
A ha! I just knew there was a big reason why the name Albritton rang a bell in that disorganized filing system known as my brain.
[Thank you! It had been nagging at me.]
Be sure you don’t forget Uncle Jonathan Bush who was a big shot at Riggs. (”Investment Division” or some such? Damn it, aging sucks.)
Well, I really liked MASH. McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Nashville both had a few memorable scenes. Gosford Park was slow and pretentious. Still haven’t seen Prairie Home Companion.
Hugh –
Thanks for the gas price info. I love this understated tidbit:
“Most recent low: $2.196 on November 7, 2006″.
A high school classmate of mine had the honor of landing a small part in one of Altman’s ’70’s movies. I cannot wait to read what he has to say about the experience in a retrospective; I know that at the time I was amazed that anybody who wasn’t a cookie cut from a mold could actually appear in a movie, that someone of Altman’s ability and renown would appreciate this not-sameness.
Wow! That pic is of Altman?
I thought Jack Nicolson had suddenly aged some more.
I’ve only ever seen Gosford Park and I liked it, what i remember of it. No, wait, I saw M*A*S*H, too. Robert Duvall’s portrayal of Frank Burns was VERY different from Larry Linville’s. Much more true to the book.
Hugh @ 13
Gee. I (and Mr. K8, too) found it totally absorbing. But then we also enjoy that sort of British genre (which it imitates).
Of course, you might just say that makes your point! ;-)
You have to listen carefully, though, what with his technique of conversations overlapping each other as they do in “real life.” We found there was an awful lot of humor in the film we enjoyed — although, again, in that understated British way.
Mr. K8 and I are not your typical American film audience, though, I grant you that. We tend to LIKE “talky” movies, My Dinner with Andre, for example, perhaps being the extreme of talkiness, and also right near the top of our list of favorite flicks.
RIP Mr. Altman. I loved watching much of your work.
Eureka Springs, AR @ 18
ditto.
angie…
Thanks for link last thread. I took a look. You’re OK!
I fell in love with Clive Owen watching Gosford Park.
Nice words Jane. I was never a fan of Altman, but the legacy he created with “MASH” became one of my favorite TV shows of all time. And I have to pay my respects to a guy who did it his way whether I was a fan or not. Godspeed.
Thanks, OK kiddo– that’s high praise indeed!
:>)
Looking at Hardball. We’re finally getting down to ‘it’. Iraq. It was, is, and will be about oil. I’m pissed.
I fell in love with Hawkeye when I was a teen and vowed that I would marry a man just like him, I ended up with one of the Hanson brothers from Slapshot.
moi @ 25
Does he bring his friggin’ toys with him?
M.A.S.H
That’s enough for me. There were other Altman movies I liked that other people may not. Popeye, for example. But M.A.S.H was genius. One brilliant piece of work is enough for me.
Mel @
21
Yes, he was quite good in the film. And I was glad to SEE him be good in it, because I couldn’t STAND his character in the (to me, obnoxious) British teevee mystery series “Second Sight.”
Seeing him in the film made me realize it wasn’t HIS fault that the premise of the series (a detective with an unusual medical vision problem which came and went, mysteriously) and the scripts and the direction sucked. Well, I suppose he could have quit after the first season, but it’s hard not to stick with being the main character in a vehicle which finally makes you a well-known entity.
Hey Mrs. K8– are you a fan of “Prime Suspect” like I am?
The very last of the series is playing now on PBS.
;(
jayackroyd @ 27
You’re quite right!
And I remember the HUGE controversy when that film came out. The “Last Supper” sequence had some folks up in arms — I seem to remember incensed editorials and letters to the editor in the local fishwraps.
On the other hand, in my high school it was a sign of hipness (as opposed to being with the football/cheerleader crowd — remember all that?) to have seen the movie and have read the book.
Twisted-
yeah, he and the toys are gone now :)
moi @ 32
So I guess you’re not a fan of old time hockey!
Barnicle says on Hardball that Bush brought the same “arrogance” and “toxic brew” with him to Vietnam on his recent visit, with his statements on the Iraq war. Barnicle further refers to Rumsfeld as “criminal”. Sooner or later I want to see someone in jail over Iraq.
angie @ 29
Yes, angie, indeedy-doo I am. Or I should say “we are.”
[Thank God Mr. K8 and I have the same tastes. We have to look for really picayune things (”you left the cap off the toothpaste!”) to argue about.]
The last Prime Suspect finished in our neck of the woods on Sunday night. If you haven’t seen the end of it yet, I won’t spill the beans, except to say that Helen Mirren was, again, amazing.
The only complaint I had was that I didn’t like her haircut so much. LOL!!!
LONG will LIVE the brilliance of ALTMAN!!
McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067411/
one of the BEST WESTERNS EVER!!!
I still can’t watch The Player and not be totally blown away by that opening 8 minute tracking shot.
When I think about the complications involved in staging a simple, 20- or 30-second stationary indie-video shot, and then try to compare it to that scene, my mind completely seizes up at the complexity of it.
I think I’ll go watch it again, in tribute to Altman’s amazing vision.
Kansas City is having a rough year. First it was Buck O’Neil, and now Robert Altman.
marksb, M*A*S*H is far and away my favorite, and I’m looking forward to the day when I can watch it with my son. He’s already got a sense of humor and love of wordplay that tells me he is going to be rolling on the floor when that day comes. I’ve got a big smile right now, just imagining it . . .
He was America’s Fellini. He was perhaps at his greatest when he was at his most self deprecating. “The Player” is a prime example of this operator you describe, imbued with a personal joy at not having to answer to anyone in a profession where everyone answers to something. He answered only to his muse, and he channeled her like few ever can hope to again.
Perhaps we need an “Apocalypse Now” type movie on Iraq and what’s going on in the Middle East in general. How about a film on what’s happening in the Gaza. Come on Hollywood. Do it!
Twisted Martini @ 33
It’s alright but I’d rather play hockey than watch it.
Connecticut Bob @ 37
I was just thinking of that. Enjoy!
Hey Peterr, I just ordered Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, in leather bound editions for ten bucks or 200 picayunes (h/t Mrs K8).
anyway, thanks for the recommendation Peterr.
Eureka Springs, AR @ 43
My copy is a battered old paperback, but it was/is still a great read. ;) Hope you enjoy it!
JohnSwifty @ 39
http://www.amazon.com/Return-P…..0802118011
FYI the author of THE PLAYER, Michael Tolkin, has written a follow up RETURN OF THE PLAYER . . . too bad we will not have the honor of Altman bringing it da silver screen . . .;-(
OT– Bush to meet with al- Maliki in Jordan after Thanksgiving.
will he bring the leftover plastic turkee?
Twisted Martini @ 26
these toys?
Peterr @ 44
Oh my, yes. That is a great read. As is everything else le Carre ever wrote, IMO.
I think what is not fully appreciated about Altman is that he had a very quirky view about ambition morphing into obsession, and he could portray that in a matter-of-fact, almost banal, fashion, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and could then play that off against the conventional wisdom–and conventional reactions–of the rest of society. That goes on in “Nashville,” “A Wedding,” “California Split,” “Brewster McCloud,” to varying degrees in “M*A*S*H,” and even in his TV version of “Rattlesnake in a Cooler.”
Whatever the eventual assessment of the body of his work, there’s a lot of interesting hours of film that remain.
My favorite Altman movie is probably also my favorite movie period: Shortcuts
i heart jane @ 45
FYI the author of THE PLAYER, Michael Tolkin, has written a follow up RETURN OF THE PLAYER . . . too bad we will not have the honor of Altman bringing it da silver screen . . .;-(
Not even too bad, just plain tragic!
There just isn’t a sense of craft like that in recent films. Take Prairie Home Companion. As a native Minnesotan, I can attest to the way he captured the very essense of a reality and still made the vision entirely his own. He was an artist and a craftsman among what are currently mere draftsmen.
My favorite Altman movie is probably also my favorite movie in general: Shortcuts
so why does “edit comments” make another entry?
Two recommendations from some of my favorite pups!
kewl!
I needed a break from my recent depressing list of titles..~)
new thread
Richard Cohen, He Funny
If you’ve ever seen “Slapshot” the first time Paul Newman checks on the Hanson brothers, they are playing with their toy racecars that they brought with them on the road.
obsessed @
53
Maybe a browser related thing.
Aw, man
:(
Gosford Park was so great. I also enjoyed PHC–maybe more than the radio show. I am a big fan of Altman, and I am very sorry he’s gone.
I think Robert Altman was the greatest American film director going. I loved everything he did – even the early hour-long dramatic shows like “Combat” or “Gunsmoke” that he cut his directing teeth on. Seeing an Altman episode beside those of lesser directors was revelatory; he did things with a camera (even in the rigid narrative format of episodic television) that showed you just how conventional (and bland) everybody else was. Amazing fluidity, even in the shows he did as a beginner.
I ran into him at a NYC location 2 years ago when he was updating his HBO political series (with Cynthia Nixon). He was framing a shot with his cameraman, so I didn’t interrupt him, but I wanted to thank him for making some of the best films I’ve ever seen. He was a deeply American artist, and a complete original.
I highly recommend The Long Goodbye. I’d write more, but that user review at IMDB is pretty good.
i’m curious what age previous commentors feel their kids need to reach before screening “m*a*s*h” with them.
growing up my best friend and i spent every weekend in one of two local movie houses seeing anything we could. at age ten this meant “m*a*s*h”, three times. we loved it, got most of it, and roared with laughter during the football game.
i can remember the energy in the theatre, how in subsequent screenings i watched the faces of the audience in anticipation of their reaction, hardly able to contain myself until they joined ‘the club’.
thank you Mr. Altman, for the best movie-going experience of my elementary school years.
(ok, “Harold & Maude a very close second…)
I’m so sorry to know there will be no more Altman films. Nashville was amazing, and I really liked Gosford Park. And one that hasn’t been mentioned except peripherally – Tanner ‘88 – his collaboration with Garry Trudeau on the 1988 presidential race. I loved the way they wove the fictional candidate into the actual campaign and got some of the real candidates and other political figures to participate.
moi @
25
You’re married to Steve Carlson? He was team captain of my local AHL team back in the day.
Nashville was a big deal to me back in the day, but I think Three Women is my very favorite. Laughed my ass off and scratched my head at the same time.
I’d like to make a plug for 3 Women, a (sadly) much too little-known Altman classic (1977, after Nashville); my favorite Altman together with Nashville.
I just wrote a more in-depth post in French on another forum and am thus feeling a bit “out of juice” in pimping this movie, but I still felt I had to recommend it to the Firedogs reading this thread (I’m a frequent lurker, rare poster).
I’ll just say that it is an incredibly rich movie with absolutely stupendous performances by Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall. I mean, seriously — acting doesn’t get much better than this. If you enjoy David Lynch or, say, the Bergman of Persona, you’ll love 3 Women.
(I assure you this one-two punch wasn’t premeditated in any manner…)
I saw Nashville 5 times the first month it was out. Something different every time …
Some film geeks put up an Altman tribute issue last week.
http://www.thehighhat.com/
Twelve good articles, a great overview.
Connecticut Bob @
37
You have seen Orson Welles’ “Touch of Evil”, right? Check out the opening scene (especially in Walter Murch’s recent reconstruction of the film per Welles’ notes). That’s what Altman was playing with — ingeniously I might add.