1993's Best Movies: 30 Years Later

Short Cuts gets worse for me. Altman imposes a sourness on the material that isn't there...Few things resonate (Tom Waits and Lily Tomlin absolutely do).

I still think it's a very good film, but sadly I kind of agree. It's frustrating because there are many things that seem great about it and I think Altman does a better job weaving all of these stories together than he did on his previous massive ensemble films, but on repeated viewing, after the intricate structure becomes very familiar, the film as a whole feels more and more uneven to me.

The way Jack Lemmon's imposed on the McDowell-Davison story about the kid in the coma is so ham-handed and cheap that it makes me question Altman's sanity so soon after The Player; or the way Chris Penn bludgeons one of those girls with a rock before the earthquake.

Yeah, not a favorite of mine. I know Altman was under no obligation to replicate Carver's tone, but he sure didn't. The hard edges without the empathy.