Underated Altman (isn't it all)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Robert Altman
CarlSolomon — 17 years ago(August 20, 2008 07:48 PM)
I like The Company and Cookie's Fortune more than Gosford Park and McCabe and Mrs. Miller, his best film, is probably better than Nashville. I also just posted because this board needs to liven up some more.
The Soapbox: "This place is just as stupid as ever. Damn, I've missed it."-Embertstorm -
pzadvance — 17 years ago(September 13, 2008 06:51 PM)
Yeah I was actually a big fan of Buffalo Bill & The Indians and I seem to be kind of the only one. Altman was if not consistently great then at the very least consistently fascinating during the 70s; bizarre, experimental films like Brewster McCloud, 3 Women, and Images never get as much mention as they deserve, they definitely rank among my favorite. Quintet is not a good movie but it also isn't an entirely discardable oneand i had a lot of fun with A Perfect Couple.
I also just caught Come Back to the Five and Dime, JImmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.that wasn't the best but it was very, very interesting. I would say that I enjoyed it.
On the other hand, I tend to not be the biggest fan of some of his more highly regarded works. MAS*H did almost nothing for me, Nashville was good but not as good as Short Cuts, and California Split didn't seem to be all it was cracked up to be.
That said, McCabe and Mrs. Miller is probably my favorite of his films. The Long Goodbye is amazing. As is The Player, and those are all pretty well-liked films. I'm excited to watch his more recent stuff. Altman beep owns. -
franzkabuki — 17 years ago(September 14, 2008 04:56 PM)
A bit similar story with me - only that the other film alongside Mash that is considered among his best & defining films and which I didnt care for quite that much, is McCabe. Probably got something to do with the fact that Ive never liked westerns in general; I just dont find the mythos of cowboys and gunslingers etc too fascinating.
But the universal tendency seems that his films get better upon repeated viewings - this has been the case with The Player, Long Goodbye, Short Cuts (which would be my top three favs, I guess) as well as with Nashville. About more recent stuff though well, "boring" usually is not the word to associate with Altman, but Gosford Park seeb68med exactly that for me. Worth a second chance though.
And the not-very-lively state of this message board in deed does seem to indicate that Altman is a tad overlooked & forgotten this day and age Pity, that. -
IForgotMyMantra — 17 years ago(December 21, 2008 03:18 AM)
I found Images quite moving, very haunting. Well acted with a great atmospherethings that I had thought worked against it (the claustrophobia, the dingy color scheme) the first time that I saw it, now I think really add a great deal to it.
A Perfect Couple is very sweet and affectionate and touching.
Countdown is good fun, also. I like it a lot, and it has a good cast.
I do like most of his critically acclaimed movies, too, but his smaller ones are the more rewarding and I think, more personal. -
tieman64 — 17 years ago(January 18, 2009 04:44 PM)
You're right. ALL Altman films are underrated. His style is simply so abrasive, so initially offputting, that many people run from his work and rarely return.
"Rape is no laughing matter. Unless you're raping a clown." -
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Kurtz9791 — 17 years ago(February 04, 2009 06:21 PM)
Altman is underrated. Even "Nashville", one of his most acclaimed and written about films, some how is neglected. Some of the most beautiful and touching scenes between people in film take place in that film. That's a broad generalization, I know, but the famous (or underrated) scene where Carradine sings "I'm Easy" to the crowd that contains Lily Tomlin is so breathtakingly sad and beautiful at the same time. So much is summed up in that little moment. That is just one of many great aspects to it.
As far as 'underrated' goes, "Images" gets my vote instantly. The atmosphere is untouchable and scary as hell. Really goes to show how many tricks Altman had up his sleeve. The cinematography is great, the Irish setting is gorgeous, and the notion of identity, and having the actors portray characters that are named after other actors in the film is an interesting and unusual aspect to the film that adds to its surrealism, as well as casting an actor who spoke no English who just memorized the words without a grasp for the language, gives the character a detached and haunting feeling.
Sorry for reusing so many adjectives. -
Movie-Jay — 17 years ago(February 17, 2009 12:59 AM)
I l111cove "Nashville" the same way I love "Short Cuts". It's a tie. The music in "Nashville" is perfect and good. There are all sorts of one-liners I love in it, and I just love every single character.
I think "California Split" is very underrated. The dialogue in that movie is stellar, and Elliot Gould is on fire the whole time. There isn't one moment in that movie that he isn't totally engrossing in some way.
"3 Women" is unfairly neglected, and I think it's a masterpiece. It's new everytime I return to it. I only discovered it 9 years ago, but I've watched it at least a dozen times now and I still laugh out loud, I'm still diving into the experience with pricked up ears because it's so fresh and peculiar and dry. I think it's Shelley Duvall's best performance, Sissy Spacek is captivating, the cinematography and the score are magnificent.
I got that movie the day it was released on Criterion, and it's one of my favorite and most cherished dvd's.
"Vincent & Theo" is a very good movie, Tim Roth is outstanding, and it's one of those Altman movies a lot of people have just forgotten about.
Same with "Secret Honor", that deep and dark one-man performance by Phillip Baker Hall in 1982 as Richard Nixon. It's also on Criterion. That was in a phase when Altman directed about 4 or 5 plays-to-film in a row, and it's probably his best stage-to-film adaptation in the way it becomes such a singular experience between the viewer and Hall as Nixon, who thinks out loud, rages, gets drunk, tells stories, and leaves us with a fascinating study of that President, the first movie that got the ball rolling on really wanting to understand Nixon rather than simply imitate. -
franzkabuki — 17 years ago(March 03, 2009 05:39 PM)
The only films of his that are NOT underrated (of those Ive seen) are That Cold Day In The Park & Quintet. And Images is very flawed imo, so it aint quite as underrated as the others I guess.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan