Robert Altman Dies

November 21, 2006 9:00 AM

Robert Altman, RIP. The Director of Nashville, Mash, and A Prarie Home Companion has passed on.
posted by mattbucher (130 comments total)

I was just watching Prarie Home Companion last night and it was interesting to me in that Altman didn't really direct it---Paul Thomas Anderson directed a significant portion of it (and cast his gf Maya Rudolph in a weird role). My favorite Altman, though, is probably Popeye.
posted by mattbucher at 9:02 AM on November 21, 2006

Damn. His innovations using multi-track audio for his films were amazing. Nashville, Short Cuts & MASH aresome all time favorites around here.


RIP Robert.
posted by Duncan at 9:03 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by muckster at 9:04 AM on November 21, 2006

Ditto Duncan. And the opening shot of The Player should go down in history.

.
posted by hifiparasol at 9:04 AM on November 21, 2006

I loved Popeye and Three Women.
posted by MotherTucker at 9:04 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by klausness at 9:05 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:07 AM on November 21, 2006

Rest in peace. A sad day for cinema...
posted by slimepuppy at 9:07 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 9:11 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by darkripper at 9:12 AM on November 21, 2006

Bummer.
posted by papakwanz at 9:12 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006

Bummer, but he had a swell long run of it. I hope at the funeral they let everyone deliver their eulogies at the same time, all talking amongst each other like some lovely mournful Bach 20-part invention.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]

.
posted by Dr-Baa at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006

Choose any three of his films and you'll have a very different evening. Sure, M*A*S*H, The Player and Gosford Park, but how about Brewster McCloud, Quintet and Secret Honor?

(My first favourite Altman film was Brewster McCloud, which I saw on BBC2 in the early-to-mid 70s late on a Sunday night - my mother let me stay up, which was good of her. Matching that up with M*A*S*H, I began to figure out that one should pay attention to who the director is)

.
posted by Grangousier at 9:13 AM on November 21, 2006

We watched that opening shot in my first film class. Years later, we screened McCabe and Mrs. Miller. It pleases me to say I always found his work frustrating and fascinating.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:14 AM on November 21, 2006

I hope his funeral is as full of as much cross-chatter as possible.

(and I really liked Popeye, too)
posted by Spatch at 9:14 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by war wrath of wraith at 9:14 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by TonyRobots at 9:15 AM on November 21, 2006

.

Maybe now we can get Brewster McCloud out on DVD.
posted by Eothele at 9:15 AM on November 21, 2006

Dr T & the women & Cookie's fortune, while being relatively 'minor' altman films, are some of my favorite entertainments. too bad, i was looking forward to his next project. And i loved The Player too. Oh well. Sad.
posted by luriete at 9:16 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by about_time at 9:16 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by scody at 9:18 AM on November 21, 2006

Ditto on McCabe and Mrs. Miller in film class. RIP.
posted by fixedgear at 9:18 AM on November 21, 2006

.
and a mighty middle-finger salute to Hollywood in his honor.
posted by hal9k at 9:21 AM on November 21, 2006

”I'm very fortunate in my career. I've never had to direct a film I didn't choose or develop.”

Definitely a master, someone who always fought to be able to say, as the song says, "I did it my way." He will be remembered for a long time.

I myself was fortunate to be a movie reviewer during Altman's peak years. I'm surprised to see people already declaring their love for Popeye, which a friend of mine was in, and which almost everyone at the time considered a disaster.

Years later, we screened McCabe and Mrs. Miller. It pleases me to say I always found his work frustrating and fascinating.

I always thought his films tailed off near the end, after terrific beginnings (none more incredible than the very beginning of The Player). McCabe and Mrs. Miller was the one that, for me, ended most strongly.

As did Altman, finally winning his Oscar (for lifetime achievement) earlier this year.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:21 AM on November 21, 2006

.

I guess this finally is The Long Goodbye.
posted by jonp72 at 9:30 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by EarBucket at 9:32 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by doctor_negative at 9:33 AM on November 21, 2006

Thanks Robert!
posted by Mister_A at 9:34 AM on November 21, 2006

Damn. What a major loss and a great filmmaker. I cannot say anything intelligible. There are no words.
posted by ed at 9:36 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by killy willy at 9:39 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by BillBishop at 9:39 AM on November 21, 2006

The last truly great American film director. Rest in peace.

I second hal9k's middle-finger salute to Hollywood.
posted by blucevalo at 9:40 AM on November 21, 2006

.

I'm sad that we've lost him, but he lived a long, full and productive life, and left behind a great body of work. There are much worse ways to go. Godspeed, Mr. Altman.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:40 AM on November 21, 2006

The Director of Nashville, Mash, and A Prarie Home Companion

Prairie Home Companion really shouldn't be spoken of in the same sentence as the first two. I get the feeling Altman (rightly) won't be remembered much for the last decade of his work.

Still, I love O.C. and Stiggs, Quintet, and Thieves Like Us, among other titles.
posted by item at 9:41 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by MythMaker at 9:41 AM on November 21, 2006

Damn. I was just last night wondering if he'd be making a sequel to The Player. Hopefully no one else will try to pull it off, though it would be interesting to see what PTA would do with it.

Altman is certainly one of the most interesting directors, American or otherwise. His 70s run was extraordinary. A dozen films made and almost half of them masterpieces or near-masterpieces, imo. 3 Women is one of my favorite films. I've often wondered how current cinema would be different if you inverted the box office of Star Wars and 3 Women (they came out the same year). Sure, impossible, but in an ideal world...

RIP, Bob.
posted by dobbs at 9:41 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by eyeballkid at 9:41 AM on November 21, 2006 [1 favorite]

Ahhh, what a loss!
posted by furiousthought at 9:42 AM on November 21, 2006

In film school a professor told us the story of how, when Quintet was in deveolpment, he had a pseicial set of lenses created that would be etched around the edges so that they could see, "As the human eye" sees things. It was only after everyone got a headache at the camera test that he realized that everyone would already be watching through human eyes. Maybe you have to work in film to realize how that kind of mistae is iconoclastic rather than silly.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller is great, but I found the endings to The Player and , particularly, Gosford Park to be perfect and phenomenal.

Lord, I wanna watch Gosford Park again right now.

.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:43 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by juv3nal at 9:46 AM on November 21, 2006

My favorite was The Long Goodbye.

Now, how do we get the dots to overlap into a memorial hubbub?
posted by liam at 9:46 AM on November 21, 2006

lelilo wrote: I'm surprised to see people already declaring their love for Popeye, which a friend of mine was in, and which almost everyone at the time considered a disaster.

At the time it came out I was just a kid and so I don't know how it was critically received or how it fit into Altman's oeuvre, but it worked for me in that it created a world I had never seen before and made it real through details in the sets, costumes, and performances (kind of like Gosford Park). Another PT Anderson connection is that he (Anderson) took that song "He Needs Me He Needs Me" from Popeye and had Jon Brion rework it a bit for Punch Drunk Love.


My favorite scene from "The Player":
There's no way I can hear a pitch right now. Call me tomorrow.

No, I can't do it tomorrow. I've got a meeting at Paramount and Universal.

Congratulations.

- If you don't hear it now, you'll lose.
- Then I lose it.

It'll take 10 seconds. When your friend gets here...

- What friend?
- Whoever you're gonna meet.

Twenty-five words or less.

Absolutely. You sit here, Tom. Go.

- The D.A. Is at a moral crossroads.
- Tom! Jesus Christ.

We open outside the largest penitentiary in California. It's night. It's raining. A limousine comes through the gate... past demonstrators holding a candlelight vigil. The candles under the umbrellas glow like Japanese lanterns.

That's nice. I haven't seen that before.
That's good.

A lone demonstrator, a black woman, steps in front of the limousine. The lights illuminate her like a spirit. Her eyes fix upon those of the sole passenger. The moment is devastating between them. He's the D.A. She's the mother
of the person being executed.

You're good!
I told you he's good.

Go on.
posted by mattbucher at 9:47 AM on November 21, 2006

A monumental loss.

I'm going to rise to the defense of Prairie Home Companion. I think its biggest success was that it captured the spirit of the radio program so well. In essence, the radio show works because it absolutely insists that its funny, homey, and quaint.

The film does the same thing. Practically none of the jokes in the movie are very funny - most of them are outright duds - but after a while, you just sorta succumb to the slow burn of low-level wit and down-home cutesy-ness, and before you know it, Lindsay Lohan actually moves you...

Cookie's Fortune is another overlooked Altman gem, maybe my favorite of his.
posted by jtajta at 9:48 AM on November 21, 2006

A great man is gone. I think he deserves more than a period typed into a comment.
posted by Jupiter Jones at 9:55 AM on November 21, 2006

There's a dinner table scene in Popeye with roving camerawork, overlapping dialogue, and chaos everywhere. It's pure Altman and surely has no place in a silly comic strip movie about a silly comic strip character.

That's why I loved it.
posted by Spatch at 9:55 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by carmina at 9:55 AM on November 21, 2006

Fine and good, but I think I'll continue to resist succumbing to slow burn low-level wit and down-home cutesy-ness.
posted by item at 9:56 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by ktoad at 9:59 AM on November 21, 2006

.

(I'm also coming out in defense of A Prairie Home Companion, but I'm from the midwest so it's my kind of humor to begin with).
posted by ztdavis at 10:00 AM on November 21, 2006

.

Gosford Park is a wonderful, wonderful film. I've long had The Player and Short Cuts on my "must see" list and I have to add Prairie Home Companion.
posted by spock at 10:01 AM on November 21, 2006

.

The Long Goodbye is my close favorite. Popeye was a traumatizing to me when I saw it in theatres. That takes skill to impact so greatly.
posted by Busithoth at 10:01 AM on November 21, 2006

Altman always invited you to be part of his movies, not just a mere viewer. The way he mixed sounds and sights was akin to the way real life evolves around you, letting you pick and follow the lines you just wanted to/happened to follow.
posted by carmina at 10:01 AM on November 21, 2006

I was both bewildered and fascinated by Popeye when I saw it as a kid. I've been noticing it quite a bit lately on various cable movie networks- seeing it now really makes me realize how utterly ahead of its time it was. Both modern comic-book movies and modern musicals owe a lot to it.
posted by mkultra at 10:03 AM on November 21, 2006

.

Gosford park was one of the most moving films of the last few years. Short Cuts & the Player have a fond place in my heart: Zeitgeists of their era. A rolicking, inconsistent, alive to the world, pretentious, humane, fucked up cintematic artist is no longer with us. Rest easy, big guy. Cut!
posted by lalochezia at 10:06 AM on November 21, 2006

.

it should be said: p.t. anderson (among many others) also ripped "short cuts" off with "magnolia".
"short cuts" is definitely the one altman film that left the strongest impression on me.
posted by Silky Slim at 10:08 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by notclosed at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Alex404 at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2006

I love Altman's films that I've seen, but McCabe and Mrs Miller is special. The dirty, sodden, amoral loneliness of it makes me feel a particular shade of emotion that I haven't experienced before or since.
posted by beniamino at 10:12 AM on November 21, 2006

Thank you, Mr. Altman, especially for MASH, Short Cuts, The Player and, above all, Popeye! Rest in peace.
posted by trip and a half at 10:13 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by fletchmuy at 10:13 AM on November 21, 2006

Farewell...

The first time I saw "Nasville," which is one of my top five films, was three days before the 1992 presidential election, and the parallels between the Replacement Party candidate and H. Ross Perot made it that much more timely and enjoyable.
posted by AJaffe at 10:15 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by elkerette at 10:19 AM on November 21, 2006

MASH is a masterpiece, and Nashville and The Long Goodbye are very close seconds. The scene, in particular, in The Long Goodbye where a very young Arnold Schwazennegar has to walk around with his pants pulled down around his massive thighs is awesome!
posted by OmieWise at 10:19 AM on November 21, 2006

RIP, Mr. Altman. They don't make 'em like you anymore.
posted by dbiedny at 10:21 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by fillsthepews at 10:21 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Pliskie at 10:23 AM on November 21, 2006

The dirty, sodden, amoral loneliness of it makes me feel a particular shade of emotion that I haven't experienced before or since.

Totally. I had been eager to see McCabe for years, but could never find a widescreen version at video stores. Then I became friends with an Altman nut who had it, The Long Goodbye, and Nashville on laserdisc. We had an Altman-a-thon over the course of a three-day weekend and McCabe was the perfect finale. I couldn't imagine waching another movie after it for at least 48 hours. The Leonard Cohen soundtrack adds just the right melancholy to the proceedings.

.
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 10:23 AM on November 21, 2006

it should be said: p.t. anderson (among many others) also ripped "short cuts" off with "magnolia".

Let me guess, you're a film student, right?

FYI, Altman is on record as saying he admires Anderson's work and was both surprised and flattered when the filmmaker approached him and told him he was his favorite filmmaker.
posted by dobbs at 10:28 AM on November 21, 2006

More at GreenCine and, from March, the Robert Altman Blog-a-thon
posted by muckster at 10:31 AM on November 21, 2006

Oh, and the weirdly compelling Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Thanks for that one, too!
posted by trip and a half at 10:33 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by dontoine at 10:39 AM on November 21, 2006

.

It's not every director who gets one of his movies turned into a respectable opera either (one he helped adapt and also directed).
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 10:39 AM on November 21, 2006

.

Goddamn it. Not unexpected, but still... I guess it's pretty appropriate that his last film was so mournful.

My favorite of his is The Long Goodbye.
posted by brundlefly at 10:44 AM on November 21, 2006

Aw fuck. I've been head-down in an illustration all day and just now checked the fpp's. This sucks.


.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:44 AM on November 21, 2006

So many great films, rest in peace Bob.
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:55 AM on November 21, 2006

Just saw Three Women for the first time a couple of months ago. Of course it blew me away, but what blew me away even more was discovering, on the director's commentary audio track, that Altman himself didn't have the answers to the film's unresolved questions -- the characters were as opaque to him as they are to us. He let the mystery of his creation speak for itself.

.
posted by treepour at 10:56 AM on November 21, 2006

M*A*S*H is probably my favorite of his by a long shot, but I enjoyed every one of his films I've seen.

"I wonder how such a degenerated person ever reached a position of authority in the Army Medical Corps."

"He was drafted."

.
posted by grubi at 10:57 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by ob at 10:58 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by JHarris at 10:59 AM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Football Bat at 11:04 AM on November 21, 2006

I have to say that M*A*S*H is my favorite film by Altman, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Popeye. His choppy and intimate style have made an impact on my own creativity.

If you want to see an amazing example of Altman-like crosstalk, watch Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin's presentation at the 2006 Oscars of Altman's honorary Oscar©.

Robert, that will be a 25¢-genius-dying-before-I-was-ready tax.
posted by WhipSmart at 11:07 AM on November 21, 2006

hum, been meaning to watch mccabe & mrs. miller; picked up the dvd a few weeks ago, been reading blood meridian tho... guess i'll go expediently
posted by kliuless at 11:07 AM on November 21, 2006

Of course he had all kinds of great films, but if I had to pick just one, I guess it'd be McCabe & Mrs. Miller, hands down. That film is incredible.

And I gotta say that The Player was the last great Hollywood film about Hollywood. Hollywood - please stop making films about how hard/funny/sexy/whatever it is to be making films in Hollywood.

Anyways, hats off and much respect to a true master.

RIP.
posted by stinkycheese at 11:11 AM on November 21, 2006

One of the strangest quirks with Robert was that, despite the on-screen cacophony that has become associated with his ouvre, he was strictly impatient with side-conversation or inattentiveness at dinner parties. Whenever we convened for a soiree, Robert would announce his three rules: (1) no talk of politics; (2) no profanity; and (3) all conversations must be conducted in general throughout the room, i.e., only one speaker at a time. While Rule #1 was observed only in the breach, and dispensations were granted from Rule #2 for special guests, Robert enforced Rule #3 with the tenacity of a schoolmarm. We always joked that he was borderline rabid on that point. It was especially difficult for distinguished first-timers, like Jose Maria Aznar, who could not help but indulge in side-conversation but who were not accustomed to being called out across the table like an adolescent by Robert for the petty offense of whispering a snarky comment to Phil Roth or whomever.

He will be greatly missed.
posted by esquire at 11:17 AM on November 21, 2006 [2 favorites]

.
posted by Bromius at 11:18 AM on November 21, 2006

I would also like to toss in a word of high praise for Cookie's Fortune. One of my favorite Glenn Close performances - and a fantastic turn by Julianne Moore as well. Short Cuts is also among my favorite movies of all time. Great work by the late Chris Penn.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:20 AM on November 21, 2006

Nashville, Short Cuts, The Player and the Long Goodbye are all in my favorite movies... he will be missed!
posted by cell divide at 11:21 AM on November 21, 2006

Pauline Kael on Nashville:

"Nashville" is a radical, evolutionary leap. Altman has already accustomed us to actors who don’t look as if they’re acting; he’s attuned us to the comic subtleties of a multiple-track sound system that makes the sound more live than it ever was before; and he’s evolved an organic style of moviemaking that tells a story without the clanking of plot. Now he dissolves the frame, so that we feel the continuity between what’s on the screen and life off-camera.

The first time I saw the movie, I hated it (and I was a huge fan of M*A*S*H—I couldn't watch the TV series for a long time because it was such a letdown after the movie). Then my movie-nut brothers practically forced me at gunpoint to see it again, and I realized how great it was; it's been one of my favorite movies ever since.

Quintet, on the other hand, is one of the the few movies I've literally walked out on, and you couldn't pay me to sit through it again.

Goodbye, Robert, and thanks for all the flicks.
posted by languagehat at 11:21 AM on November 21, 2006

McCabe & Mrs. Miller: genius.
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:23 AM on November 21, 2006

For a period of time a few years ago, I made anyone who spent any time at my house watch Nashville. Such a brilliant movie, such a brilliant man.
posted by bayliss at 11:39 AM on November 21, 2006

Such sad news. In this world, we badly need more — not fewer — of those who bite the hand that feeds them.
posted by rob511 at 11:47 AM on November 21, 2006

I always thought his films tailed off near the end

like life

.
posted by matteo at 11:59 AM on November 21, 2006

Bob was a friend and I was a fan. I shall miss him
posted by donfactor at 12:04 PM on November 21, 2006

I loved Popeye. (I mean, not to dis M*A*S*H or any of the others, but ... I just watched Popeye again last night.)

.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 12:26 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by squ1rr3l at 12:36 PM on November 21, 2006

One of Altman's most overlooked movies: Kansas City.
posted by Clay201 at 12:37 PM on November 21, 2006

RIP, I was at the PHC premeire at the red carpet, and he looked so old and fragle, yet happy to be at yet another premeire. Thanks Bob.
posted by wheelieman at 12:39 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:41 PM on November 21, 2006

The first time I saw the movie, I hated it (and I was a huge fan of M*A*S*H—I couldn't watch the TV series for a long time because it was such a letdown after the movie). Then my movie-nut brothers practically forced me at gunpoint to see it again, and I realized how great it was

Exactly my reaction on all counts — except I happened upon it myself, about eight years later, in the middle of the night on TV. To paraphrase that line Mark Twain supposedly said about his father, I was amazed at how much better Nashville had gotten in only eight years.
posted by LeLiLo at 12:57 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:59 PM on November 21, 2006

I actually had a chance to see Bob - and Garrison Keillor, as it happened - together at an Museum of Television and Radio event on October 31st. From just watching the event, though, you would've never known that he was 81. His sense of humor was so sharpened, that he and Garrison (who is no slouch in the verbal humor department) were practically dueling the whole event. They obviously had a lot of love for each other.

The one thing that stands out to me now, though - Bob was obviously not in good physical shape. After being introduced, he walked very slowly from his seat, over to the side of the stage, up the very short set of steps - it all seemed to be a lot of effort for him.

He then started to pass behind the podium for his chair on the stage, but then stopped and leaned towards the mic - and I'm paraphrasing, but I remember it being something to the effect of "I don't have anything to say just yet, I just have to go this way."

It seems fitting.

Thanks, Bob.
posted by Remy at 1:05 PM on November 21, 2006

I learned from the GreenCine link that Altman directed several episodes of Combat!
Sgt. Saunders was an early role model.
posted by MtDewd at 1:06 PM on November 21, 2006

Prairie Home Companion was my local cinema's surprise film for the London Film Festival. It is, without a doubt, the worst film I've seen all year. And I watch some crappy films, believe me. I kept expecting something to happen... but then nothing did -- just uninteresting 'plot' and bad country music.
posted by reklaw at 1:27 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by hominid211 at 1:34 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Skygazer at 1:56 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by I, Credulous at 1:58 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by defenestration at 2:18 PM on November 21, 2006

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, Mr. Altman.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:27 PM on November 21, 2006

Great director.
Great cinematographer.
Lovable guy.

Nobody's talking about A Wedding, so I will: critics don't seem to like it either, although it is a jewel. Call it "minor" if you like, but so well crafted, compacting all the sweetness and venom of tribal families in a single event, with a light touch. Delightful.
posted by bru at 2:43 PM on November 21, 2006

Warren [Beatty] has never said a kind word about 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller' even though he got the best reviews of his career from it. When I die if that egotistical bastard says anything nice about me, then you know he's lying, but I'll haunt him to his grave for the unprofessional way that he treated me and our cast and crew.

"Other than him I've loved every actor I've ever worked with. When it comes to dealing with film executives.....well that's a book in itself!'"

We wait...
posted by Pacheco at 3:04 PM on November 21, 2006

I was moved when I heard he'd died, and that was before I remembered he'd directed the stunning Gosford Park, one of my all-time favorite movies. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you're in for a real treat - an ensemble murder mystery with layer upon beautiful layer of insight into the British class system, and class systems in general.

Also, Deadwood fans might like this look at David Milch's debt to McCabe and Mrs. Miller - also an incredible, under-appreciated film - from Matt Seitz's Altman blogathon last spring. My hat's in hand for this guy. RIP

.
posted by mediareport at 3:08 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by Wolof at 3:12 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by LeeJay at 3:27 PM on November 21, 2006

.

Love his stuff.
posted by zardoz at 3:40 PM on November 21, 2006

As much of a fan as I am of the show, I didn't really like A Prairie Home Companion. It was essentially like watching them perform a radio show, only with fewer skits and more music segments, and the minimal plot that was there made little sense.

I think the only other Altman movie I've seen was M*A*S*H, which was good, but I like the TV show better.

...this is where everybody scoffs at me for having only seen two Altman movies. Sorry. I'm not really much of a movie person.
posted by Target Practice at 3:42 PM on November 21, 2006

The High Hat published 12 essay on Altman last week.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:26 PM on November 21, 2006

.

I see that I'm going to have to root out a copy of Popeye from somewhere, and soon. I loved some of Altman's work, but I was never tempted by that one, until I read some of the comments here...
posted by pilgrim at 5:04 PM on November 21, 2006

3 Women had a huge impact on me, it's part of the reason why I became an actor and then went on to theatre & film school.
posted by zarah at 6:09 PM on November 21, 2006

it's all been said.

.
posted by brandz at 7:02 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by moonbird at 7:18 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by inoculatedcities at 8:14 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by aerotive at 8:15 PM on November 21, 2006

.
posted by bumpkin at 9:26 PM on November 21, 2006

Let me guess, you're a film student, right?

no, just a student of film... :^)

FYI, Altman is on record as saying he admires Anderson's work and was both surprised and flattered when the filmmaker approached him and told him he was his favorite filmmaker.

i admire anderson's work too, and i think he's a wonderfully gifted filmmaker, but i despised "magnolia".
posted by Silky Slim at 11:36 PM on November 21, 2006

.,.,.,.,...,,.,,.....,,,.,.,,,...,.. .
posted by Dreama at 3:54 AM on November 22, 2006

I happened to be lying sick in bed, watching The Long Goodbye as he passed on. Best of luck in the next world, Mr. Altman.


.
posted by Kwine at 6:24 AM on November 22, 2006

.
posted by jlbartosa at 10:47 AM on November 22, 2006

...scrolls on past the stupid dots...

RIP Bob Altman. You were a bastard, but you made some great movies.
posted by dydecker at 1:08 PM on November 22, 2006