re: Your Favorite Robert Altman Film?

[Mister Matt]

Short Cuts
The Player
Gosford Park

[themysteriousgrowl]

Whoa. I retract both of my previous answers.

"Short Cuts," definitively, 1,000%.

Thank you, Matt.

[Mister Matt]

To me, Short Cuts was Altman at his best. The movie came and went practically unnoticed. I didn't see it until it was released on video and I was astounded. An amazing cast delivering surprising performances (I saw Lily Tomlin in a whole new light). And Julianne Moore delivering one of the finest performances of her career.

[SueleenGay]

Totally agree about Short Cuts. My main problem was the story of the mother and daughter (Lori Singer and Annie Ross) which was interpolated into the Cheever stories and added nothing but a chance for some really good music and a chance to see Ross.

[SueleenGay]

Oh, yes, and Moore's carpet DOES match the drapes!

[Mister Matt]

That ironing scene is my favorite.

[themysteriousgrowl]

That scene where Julianne Moore irons her drapes?

[Borstalboy]

Can I change my vote to MCCABE AND MRS MILLER?


Seriously, how does one choose a gem from a treasure chest?

[SueleenGay]

Well, I think we can all cross Health and Beyond Therapy from any potential "best of" list. But, dang, isn't A Wedding just a frothy delight?

[FindingNamo]

I will always admire Huey Lewis's brave peeformance in "Short Cuts."

I also always wonder what Altman's "Angels in America" film might have been. When I saw the OBC I kept thinking of Altman, and then he was going to do it and I was in heaven and then he didn't and then he died. Let that be a lesson. The world only spins forward.

[EricMontreal22]

I'm glad he didn't do Angels (I suppose if we had got his film as well as Nichols' I would have been ok). I think much of his weakest work are his stage adaptations--Come Back to the Five and Dime is alright (though maybe overated), but Streamers, Black and Blue and particularly the mess of Beyond Therapy (which I think Durang said was one of his worst collaborative experiences ever) are pretty awful adaptations of strong plays.

I forgot Short Cuts too--but that said, and not to be difficult, I would hardly say it came and went unoticed--I was a young teen at the time but heard a LOT about it, and of course it was up for many major awards like the best director Oscar, the special Golden Globe given to the entire cast, etc. I always thought that it and The Player the year before were lagrely acclaimed for being a return to form for Altman after a period when critics and audiences didn't think much of him (and of course was partly why he got such a drubbing for Pret-A-Porter the next year or so).

(Reminds me I always intended to see his Grisham adaptation just becuase it seems such a weird teamup)

[sabrelady]

Gotta go with Nashville and ShortCuts- The balance tips one for the other depending on the day, the time, my mood and which I've seen most recently.

I can't judge "The Company" objectively enough. It just reasonated for me on too many levels ( and yes the sub story of the ballerina and the chef was sweet but for me- tinsel window dressing) The dance shots were on equal w Norman Campbell ( tho he was TV) occ even better and that IS high praise. So glad so many dancers were able to have their work captured on film, esp Ms Campbell , for whom it has always been a first love. And of course- Glebb.

[canmark]

Gosford Park

[AC126748]

I just saw Come Back to the Five-and-Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean for the first time, thanks to a kind soul who uploaded it onto YouTube. While I'm not about to go Pauline Kael-crazy over it, I have to say that I greatly enjoyed it, and it's probably the best work of Sandy Dennis' career.

[once a month]

Gosford Park

I'm losing my memory, because I'd add
The Last Picture Show if he, indeed do this film.

[AC126748]

Peter Bogdonivich directed THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.

[henrikegerman]

"Totally agree about Short Cuts. My main problem was the story of the mother and daughter (Lori Singer and Annie Ross) which was interpolated into the Cheever stories and added nothing but a chance for some really good music and a chance to see Ross."

Suellen, the stories in "Short Cuts" are Raymond Carver's, not John Cheever's.

By the way, Annie Ross is performing at the Metropolitan Room in Chelsea this week.

[Musical Director 109]

A Wedding
Nashville
McCabe and Mrs. Miller

[Playbilly]

Altman's movie are always very much of their times, but transcends 10, 15, 20 years later.

Mine:

The Player
Nashville
Secret Honor
Come Back To the 5 and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean


but..the order could change if I wait 10 minutes.

[thetinymagic2]

I always re-watch COUNTDOWN when it's on cable. A pretty interesting sci-fi story of it's time.

I also came to like "The Long Goodbye", which practically no one I knows likes. But then again, it kinda grew on me. I really liked Elliot Gould in this 70s flick.

[Jon]

Wow - not one mention of POPEYE! A musical where none of the lyrics are intelligible!

[strummergirl]

I think for a lot of unsuspecting kids of a certain age, including myself, Popeye was their first Altman film. But Short Cuts and Nashville are my favorites.

[Miranda3]

Gosford is my overall fave these days, but Barbara Harris' performance in Nashville still knocks me out.

[Playbilly]

^
Her "It Don't Worry Me" is on my iPod.

[Miranda3]

What a kick--"Don't Worry Me"--watched it on the Tube of You again recently.