ALTMAN POLL

Yeah. Anytime I think of this thread I think of Shelly Duvall's recipes:

Completely disgusting foods our parents ate

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.

Shelley duvall and sissy Spacek is the perfect cast

Is this the only film they starred in together?

Weird Texan actresses of the '70s supergroup

"don't call me Millie, because I HAYTE it"

Love her

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

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

Ohh this one is definitely restored, cool

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

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.

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

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!"

haven't seen it yet, but I read that Altman hired members of Synanon as extras in the gambling scenes

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!

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.

yeah all those play adaptations, only a couple of which are watchable

sorry by "this" in my original post i obviously meant california split

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

I'm not as won over by Secret Honor, but Come Back to the 5 and Dime and Tanner '88 are solid.

Tanner '88 is one of my favorite Altman projects, do not sleep on.

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...

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).

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?

"Has been out"

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?)

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)

Always had a film in production, never had any stretches without working. a couple years between movies toward the end, but still

I never much liked Five & Dime except for that moment where Cher viciously imitated Sandy Dennis

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

didn’t think it was nearly as great as McCabe & Mrs. Miller though

It's the one acclaimed film of his in his McCabe-Nashville run I never quite connected with. I've tried three or four times. (It's been a while since I saw the first two versions.)

I've been trying to remember them as young actors, so it was interesting watching Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall and Louise Fletcher

John Schuck is freakin' scary in Thieves...

he was menacing. he also had a good role in M*A*S*H

I find the romanticism of McCabe corny and overdone, prefer Thieves.

watched them again both and don't agree with that at all

I watched 'health' last night and it was hilarious

challopsy, but Glenda Jackson yes

sort of a sketch-show Nashville

Jackson is hilarious in it but really demonstrates why she was so difficult to cast. Bacall as Reagan was hilarious, Wikipedia says that he mentions it being the worst movie ever in his published diaries.

I'm genuinely shocked that no one picked the astounding BREWSTER MCCLOUD.

anyway, here are 3 phenomenal Altman television rarities:

Killer App, a pilot from 1998 that was written by Garry Trudeau. It's like SILICON VALLEY 20 years earlier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fesJbkZjH84&disable_polymer=true

Rattlesnake in a Cooler: soliloquy produced for television in 1982-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8q-7LHEZ3Y

The Laundromat-incredible adaptation of Marsha Norman's play that was made for HBO in 1985---https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVB7dsuboQo&disable_polymer=true

Wow, thanks!!!

Nightmare in Chicago remains the holy grail for me (lucky enough to have seen it once, on TV, 30-35 years ago). I check YouTube periodically, but nothing.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzLS-J2wF58/V3VKr1iNuOI/AAAAAAAABdA/xU7-NGJjWPonV1HE_4avtEhNISNckFevgCKgB/s1600/Nightmare%2Bin%2BChicago%2B5.jpg

clemenza I have a link for that if u want it

Wow--absolutely! I'm hoping you mean a file...I did find a DVD bootleg place that'd end up costing some ridiculous amount after postage and exchange.

(My user profile/homepage will take you to my e-mail address if you don't want to post it here.)

Yeah it's a file, 930mb so not amazing quality but probably watchable. I'll email ya

The Holy Grail located; thank you, Simon.

beyond therapy or fool for love?

which one are you?