Cugalabanza Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 Oh, no! We just lost a true, great, original artist. I love a lot of his movies. My personal favorite is Short Cuts.
R. Rich Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 RIP He made some very good movies (Short Cuts, The Player, Nashville, M*A*S*H), and only one I didn't particularly care for (Gosford Park). He will be missed.
Buftex Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 In my opinion, the greatest American film maker of all time...a big loss.
ajzepp Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 I know this sounds dumb, but I've had a few of his movies in my Netflix queue for a while now. I've been wanting to see what the hype is all about, cause I heard he was a brilliant guy....looking forward to knowing more about him than just his reputation.
Buford T. Justice Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 I know this sounds dumb, but I've had a few of his movies in my Netflix queue for a while now. I've been wanting to see what the hype is all about, cause I heard he was a brilliant guy....looking forward to knowing more about him than just his reputation. 844694[/snapback] Better bump them up, they just went from available to short wait.
ajzepp Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 Better bump them up, they just went from available to short wait. 844701[/snapback] lol, good point....I put Short Cuts at the top of my queue. If I'd have known it was such a good film I would have rented it long ago. I love the sortof film where you have multiple story lines going on and then some sort of relationship among them.....very cool.
UConn James Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 In his last released film, "A Prairie Home Companion" I watched him and Garrison Keillor interviewed on Charlie Rose about it, which sold me. It's a movie about the last performance of a radio variety show, essentially the one of the same name on NPR. Keillor, who wrote the screenplay, said it was a film about death. Altman disagreed. (I agree with GK, and it now brings a bit more poignancy to the film, especially the ending with the angel of death.... ) It is a little heavy on the singing (good songs, tho, especially the dirty jokes one ) but I recommend it. It seems so rare that a director actually looks for the artistic and whimsical moments. Altman wasn't a director who had to have everything just so. He let people do their jobs. In the extras, they had an interview with Kevin Kline (great in this film) about this. Bob would be disappointed if he had to tell/suggest to an actor how to deliver a line, what mannerism to do as they spoke --- he expected them make their own decisions. RIP, Bob.
UConn James Posted November 22, 2006 Posted November 22, 2006 Link. Mr. Altman loved making movies. He loved the chaos of shooting and the sociability of the crew and actors — he adored actors — and he loved the editing room and he especially loved sitting in a screening room and watching the thing over and over with other people. He didn't care for the money end of things, he didn't mind doing publicity, but when he was working he was in heaven. He and I once talked about making a movie about a man coming back to Lake Wobegon to bury his father, and Mr. Altman said, "The death of an old man is not a tragedy." I used that line in the movie we wound up making — the Angel of Death says it to the Lunch Lady, comforting her on the death of her lover Chuck Akers in his dressing room, "The death of an old man is not a tragedy." Mr. Altman's death seems so honorable and righteous — to go in full-flight, doing what you love — like his comrades in the Army Air Force in WWII who got shot out of the sky and simply vanished into blue air — and all of us who worked with him had the great privilege of seeing an 81-year-old guy doing what he loved to do. I'm sorry that our movie turned out to be his last, but I do know that he loved making it. It's a great thing to be 81 and in love. - Garrison Keillor
Kelly the Dog Posted November 22, 2006 Posted November 22, 2006 He made a number of tremendous films. Over the course of four or five decades, too. Personal fave was California Split, a terrific 70s film about gambling with Elliot Gould and George Segal.
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