| Author |
Message |
|
| tirebiter |
 Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 10:16 am |
 |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
|
Here are the Altmans I'd watch tonight if I had the DVDs (which I don't):
M*A*S*H
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Long Goodbye
Thieves Like Us
Nashville
3 Women
The Player
All the rest, well.... |
|
|
| Back to top |
 
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 10:24 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
| The forgotten Altman (because it's an anomaly for him), and one of his best, is The Gingerbread Man, as linear a movie as he ever made but one of his most gripping. Excellent performances by Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, and Tom Berenger enliven this well-told murder mystery, which includes some of the scariest, most realistic storm photography I've ever seen on screen. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Trish |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 10:45 am |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2438
Location: Massachusetts
|
| Did you like Gosford Park, Billy? |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marilyn |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 10:57 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
|
Favorite Altmans
Gosford Park (2001)
Dr T and the Women (2000)
Secret Honor (1984)
Popeye (1980)
Nashville (1975)
California Split (1974)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
M*A*S*H (1970) |
_________________
http://ferdyonfilms.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:09 am |
|
|
|
Guest
|
| It is a shame and for the reasons that you mentioned, Billy. Off the top of my head, I would include Gosford Park and California Split to the list of well done and non-turnoff works by Altman. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:18 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
Trish wrote: Did you like Gosford Park, Billy?
Not particularly, but it was okay. I really detest Popeye and California Split, the latter notable for being the movie that brought together Elliott Gould and George Segal. The former is said to have turned the latter on to cocaine, speeding Segal's career plummet. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marilyn |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:26 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
|
| Billy - You can't blame Altman for that. California Split is a film that seemed to deal very honestly with gambling addiction. I don't remember ever seeing one quite like it. As to Popeye, the songs are very sweet (one recently resurrected in Punch Drunk Love) and the cast superb. This is a much maligned film that I wish people would give another chance. |
_________________
http://ferdyonfilms.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
| dignan |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:38 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 11 Mar 2005
Posts: 8
Location: Stillwater, OK
|
Lshap -- thanks for the welcome and comforting comparison to Hotel California. What rescues me from addiction is that my eyes get heavy and my sight grows dim, and so I have to stop for the night. IOW, too many posts snow me.
I may continue to lurk more than post, thus to maintain my persona of being wise, observant, and disillusioned.
Gromit -- Stillwater can be stagnant at times, that is true.
On the movie front, finally saw The Ring II -- disappointing, given that the Japanese director was called in, but pretty to look at while averting one's eyes from the logic holes and all. I mean, if you can flood bathrooms, you don't need subtle subliminals on death videos. And, if you can invade cable stations, what did you need the death video for in the first place? Hope that's brief enough to not be construed as a review! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:39 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
Marilyn wrote: Billy - You can't blame Altman for that.
Oh, I don't. I just think it's an interesting sidelight, but the karma of the movie sort of mirrors it for me. As for Popeye, there has always been a cult which thinks the tuneless Nilsson songs are good and that Robin Williams's technique-free performance is okay, but I hated the movie from the get-go (and I was in its corner; a couple of good friends are in it and I saw it opening day in NYC).
BTW I thought "He Needs Me" worked much better in Punch-Drunk Love than it did in Popeye. For one thing, we didn't have to watch Shelley Duvall.
But talking bad Altman, anyone who's never seen the Paul Newman-starrer Quintet doesn't know the half of it. One of the worst movies ever made. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marilyn |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:41 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
|
| I LOVE Shelley Duvall. Just saw her again in Roxanne and thought she was a heartful soul in that movie. |
_________________
http://ferdyonfilms.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:47 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
Marilyn wrote: I LOVE Shelley Duvall. Just saw her again in Roxanne and thought she was a heartful soul in that movie.
Duvall was great in 3 Women too, but in The Shining and Popeye I just want to avert my eyes. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Marilyn |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 11:49 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
|
| I very much disliked 3 Women, but I agree that Duvall did her level best with it. The Shining gave her an absolutely thankless role that completely cut against the grain of her screen personality. |
_________________
http://ferdyonfilms.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 12:06 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
|
Best Altman I've seen recently: THE JAMES DEAN STORY (1957). This is a wonderful documentary about James Dean with interviews of friends and family made just a short time after his death in 1955. What is remarkable is the use of some of the best photos of James Dean as well as the subtle restaging of childhood Indiana scenes, etc.
The narration by Martin Gabel is dated - but otherwise, this film is a revellation. Try to rent it. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| yambu |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:30 pm |
|
|
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
|
tirebiter wrote: We took in Kingdom of Heaven over the weekend, and enjoyed it.....the theme, that religion is a collossal waste of time in every aspect, was well presented....
"I put no stock in religion,"says Baliel’s companion.. "In the word 'religion' I've seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination before the will of God." Holiness, he explains, is to be found "in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves." A wonderful 21st Century secular humanist point of view, but one not likely to be uttered by a Crusader. Tire, here’s the same link I cited for Syd last Friday. I think you’ll find it interesting:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/29/AR2005042900744_pf.html |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:36 pm |
|
|
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
|
Dignan,
Air tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya.
(Never think that still water doesn't have crocodiles.)
I think this Indonesian and Malaysian proverb is analgous to, "Still water runs deep." |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
