XP Some Altman Stans consider the shorter DVD cut a mutilation. Having seen both edits, I don't feel the same way. Altman had to re-edit out and around some live music (most of the film's soundtrack is standards performed by a lounge singer off & on-screen). Since, as Flappy notes, the film is all grace notes and small moments, this wasn't the same as, say, losing all the flashbacks in The Wild Bunch, and some other legendary edit difference. The flavor of the film remains.
However, it's exciting that the original is out there again in the OAR.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:07 (four years ago) link
"...or some other..."
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:08 (four years ago) link
CS reminds me of that line hurled at Peter Fonda in The Limey: "You're more like a vibe than a person."
Thieves Like Us is the better film, yeah. I bought the DVD upon its release in the late '00s.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:13 (four years ago) link
I should just do a full-blown Altman rewatch while I'm stuck at home. I have pretty much the whole kit and caboodle (save some of the minor '80s stuff and my copy of Quintet which seems to have evaporated into the ether).
― Unparalleled Elegance (Old Lunch), Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:18 (four years ago) link
I’ve been doing it and it’s great. McCabe? Overrated !
― flappy bird, Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:20 (four years ago) link
I kind of hate Nashville.
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:31 (four years ago) link
I got through 20 minutes of Quintet once.
― clemenza, Thursday, 21 May 2020 14:59 (four years ago) link
That's a flag post, a flag post and a flag post. Thanks friends!
― Vegemite Is My Grrl (Eric H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:16 (four years ago) link
(OK, I stretched on the last one. Quintet really is about as tough to get through as any Altman.)
― Vegemite Is My Grrl (Eric H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:17 (four years ago) link
I bailed on A Perfect Couple too. I think I have a digital file of Health lifted off YouTube that I haven't yet looked at.
― clemenza, Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:21 (four years ago) link
I like Nashville and McCabe a lot but sometimes I think they both might be subject to the A Love Supreme thing, where at some point it became convenient to elevate them for canonization as unimpeachable masterpieces as a shorthand for the whole sprawling body of work
I had never heard of Quintet until I got that big Altman coffeetable book a few years ago, and just from the photos and brief descriptions of it boy oh boy does it look rough
― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:38 (four years ago) link
Quintet sucks. it didn't have to--he shot it very plainly and lots of wide and medium shots, which make the shitty sets stand out. could've worked as a more obscure mood piece like Images
― flappy bird, Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:40 (four years ago) link
You can make a great sci-fi movie with almost no money. Godard and Fassbinder did it in Paris w/ very few or no sets. and you can make a great sci-fi movie with only a few people, like Solaris.
Quintet, they obviously had some budget, but it is all so ponderous and visually BORING.
I like A Perfect Couple but it could've been better. Feels more like an Alan Rudolph movie honestly
― flappy bird, Thursday, 21 May 2020 15:43 (four years ago) link
Maybe ... you add 3 Women, which has arguably emerged as the default "rediscovered" Altman pick, to Nashville and McCabe and you have my list of the no-contest top three Altman movies.
― Vegemite Is My Grrl (Eric H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:10 (four years ago) link
― Vegemite Is My Grrl (Eric H.), Thursday, May 21, 2020 10:17 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
*cougho.c.andstiggscoughcough*
― Unparalleled Elegance (Old Lunch), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:26 (four years ago) link
is Images any good? It's on Shudder(!).
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:28 (four years ago) link
I like it but opinions vary. It's 3 Women-esque.
― Unparalleled Elegance (Old Lunch), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:35 (four years ago) link
It's 3 Women without its fluency, although 3 Women is often aqueous and opaque in oft-putting ways.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:38 (four years ago) link
With Images, I imagine Altman finishing Mrs. Dalloway and thinking, "I can do this."
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:39 (four years ago) link
I only saw 3 Women in film class so maybe I was extra receptive, but I LOVED it.
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:40 (four years ago) link
Yeah. Anytime I think of this thread I think of Shelly Duvall's recipes:
Completely disgusting foods our parents ate
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 21 May 2020 16:42 (four years ago) link
I love 3 Women but Images left me cold. Same style, and as someone pointed out upthread (or in another Altman thread), he seemed drawn to these cold, European influenced existential identity films that he is not known for at all... Images is just kind of boring imo bc it's just Susannah York losing her mind alone in a castle.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 21 May 2020 17:09 (four years ago) link
Shelley duvall and sissy Spacek is the perfect cast
― plax (ico), Thursday, 21 May 2020 17:11 (four years ago) link
Is this the only film they starred in together?
― plax (ico), Thursday, 21 May 2020 17:12 (four years ago) link
Weird Texan actresses of the '70s supergroup
"don't call me Millie, because I HAYTE it"
Love her
― flappy bird, Thursday, 21 May 2020 17:27 (four years ago) link
it's just Susannah York losing her mind alone in a castle
this might sound more appealing if she weren't by far the worst thing about one of my most-watched movies of late, The Silent Partner
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 21 May 2020 18:26 (four years ago) link
Is there a way to tell which cut of California Split is the theatrical cut on Prime? There are two versions available, the one link in the playlist piece has the 2004 DVD cover. That the one? I can't remember
― flappy bird, Sunday, 24 May 2020 04:51 (four years ago) link
Ohh this one is definitely restored, cool
― flappy bird, Sunday, 24 May 2020 04:54 (four years ago) link
I watched the restoration last weekend and it looks great. Last time I saw the theatrical cut was a print almost 2 years ago. Most significant difference are the show tunes, which are all awful lol
― flappy bird, Sunday, 31 May 2020 06:37 (three years ago) link
Rewatched California Split, I didn't remember much about it from years ago except lots of patter. The patter is there and good, but what I really loved this time was friendship of the Gould and Segal characters, the way it springs up around this thing they both love — gambling — but then comes apart in the end because it turns out that thing means different things to them.
Also, Gould's lightness in the movie is remarkable, it's like he's floating through it all, including his beatdowns. Nothing really fazes him, he's just there for the love of the chase.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 31 May 2020 16:18 (three years ago) link
yeah he's amazing, and you're right, Charlie is all in on this lifestyle, but Bill clearly has one fit in one fit out back in the 'real world,' which we barely see. that's another thing that's so powerful about this movie: we never see Bill's ex-wife or any mention of it beyond one reference, like I said upthread everything is implied but illustrated perfectly with such a light touch.
and that final shot/reverse zoom shot of Charlie collecting their winnings and Bill sitting at the table alone in the other room, where there is daylight and reality is hitting him- what can I say? pure cinema
― flappy bird, Sunday, 31 May 2020 16:30 (three years ago) link
Yeah, Bill's looking for some kind of meaning, and Charlie's like, "Of course it's a shuck, man. Let's do it some more!"
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 31 May 2020 17:40 (three years ago) link
haven't seen it yet, but I read that Altman hired members of Synanon as extras in the gambling scenes
― Dan S, Monday, 1 June 2020 01:21 (three years ago) link
watched this for the first time, it was great. gould is excellent but so exhausting, he's talking nonstop in every scene he's in. even when he's supposedly going to bed, you see him lying there trying to remember the rest of the seven dwarves.
the synanon thing is in the credits!
― na (NA), Tuesday, 2 June 2020 14:15 (three years ago) link
i was looking at altman's imdb and he has so many movies i've never even heard of. his '80s run seems pretty odd in particular.
― na (NA), Tuesday, 2 June 2020 14:17 (three years ago) link
yeah all those play adaptations, only a couple of which are watchable
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 2 June 2020 14:24 (three years ago) link
sorry by "this" in my original post i obviously meant california split
― na (NA), Tuesday, 2 June 2020 14:49 (three years ago) link
I think the batting average is a bit higher for 80s Altman, I'd keep Secret Honor, Come Back to the 5 and Dime, certainly Tanner '88... honestly forgot about Streamers but it's not bad. I haven't seen the infamous O.C. & Stiggs but I know people who really like Fool for Love and Beyond Therapy. Still feel like I missed some
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 June 2020 19:41 (three years ago) link
I'm not as won over by Secret Honor, but Come Back to the 5 and Dime and Tanner '88 are solid.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 June 2020 19:53 (three years ago) link
Tanner '88 is one of my favorite Altman projects, do not sleep on.
― Fun-Loving and Furry-Curious! (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 3 June 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
Tanner '88 is one of my favorites, too (the 2004 one as well). I just remembered Vincent & Theo, which is toooooo long (maybe was filmed as a miniseries and cut for theaters? I can't remember). I'd take the play movies over that one. Sandy Dennis is GREAT in Come Back to the 5 and Dime...
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 June 2020 20:12 (three years ago) link
OC & Stiggs is enjoyable in a "Let's See Altman Do A National Lampoon Film" way (which I guess it was, minus NL's branding, as iirc the characters came from the mag).
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 3 June 2020 20:53 (three years ago) link
maybe was filmed as a miniseries and cut for theaters? I can't remember
This is true. I don't think the miniseries has been other than maybe on video?
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 3 June 2020 20:55 (three years ago) link
"Has been out"
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 3 June 2020 20:59 (three years ago) link
secret honor is much better than just "watchable" tho i was a bit underwhelmed when i finally rewatched it on DVD after 30-odd yrs of remembering it as amazing (i think at the 1984 london film festival?)
― mark s, Wednesday, 3 June 2020 21:04 (three years ago) link
casting is Altman's great genius (Shelley Duvall as olive oyl!) but come back to the five and dime is one that really pushes the boat out (Karen black and sandy Dennis!). it's by far the most affecting of his films I've seen (it's usually the technical aspects that most impress)and loved how intact the staginess is left. but yeah, I had the same experience v recently reading his IMDb and realising how little i knew (I had presumed I'd seen a good chunk but I was way off)
― plax (ico), Saturday, 6 June 2020 23:58 (three years ago) link
Always had a film in production, never had any stretches without working. a couple years between movies toward the end, but still
― flappy bird, Sunday, 7 June 2020 00:26 (three years ago) link
I never much liked Five & Dime except for that moment where Cher viciously imitated Sandy Dennis
― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 7 June 2020 01:41 (three years ago) link
watched Thieves Like Us. Like McCabe, it feels convincing for the period it represents but also like a film that could only have been made in the 70s
― Dan S, Monday, 8 June 2020 00:32 (three years ago) link