Robert Altman
There was no way to trim this down to a top five. If you look at the filmography for director Robert Altman, it's likely you'll know about 85% of these pretty well. What I like to do is try to find the few titles that didn't wrack up a gazillion awards in under thirty seconds. It's hard!
One of the few directors to have three titles inducted into the National Film Registry, Robert Altman has been making movies for a long time. When I think of his name, I think star-studded. I think: tracking shots that make me dizzy. They are very simple, natural films. It's likely you didn't walk out of the theater (or change channels) asking yourself who the director of that amazing artistic piece was - because Altman wasn't like that. To enjoy his movies you have to focus on the writing, the subtle humor, the statements on the world we live in. These are timeless stories about the human condition, molded by the hand of a master storyteller who just also happened to own a camera and have the world's greatest collection of friends.
Imagine his Rolodex. Did I just date myself?
Because this was so hard for me, I had to call a tie for honorable mention. I just could not omit either of these movies.
**Honorable Mention**
(1/2) "COOKIE'S FORTUNE" (1999): One of the director's final films, this is what I consider to be the last "great" Robert Altman movie. Very few people seemed to actually appreciate this movie when it first appeared. Altman followed this up with Gosford Park (which won all kinds of awards and blah blah blah), I always thought this was a fantastic movie. Chocked full-a-stars, this down-home murder mystery is highly atmospheric, dark, hilarious and has some amazing performances from Liv Tyler, Glenn Close and Julianne Moore. If you're a super-duper-movie-geek like myself, you'll want to plan a trip to Holly Springs, Mississippi to visit the original locations from this movie. Absolutely nothing has been altered since the film. It's incredibly fun (despite what locals scream at you). If you want to see a low-committment, easy Altman film - check this one out. You'll probably like it. Probably...
(2/2) "POPEYE" (1980): Ain't nothing in this world any better than some Popeye. I love me some Shelly Duvall in this. I remember when this movie came out. I was beyond excited (which was odd considering I never really liked the Popeye cartoons), I was in the front row on opening night. There is so much right about this movie - I'm not really sure where to begin. First thing: most Altman fans absolutely hate this movie. Just...blind, white-hot rage...and I've never understood that. I loved this movie before I knew who Robert Altman was. I loved it even more once I became a fan of the director's other work and realized he had created this landmark film from my childhood. I will always own a copy of this movie. 99% of the people I hang out with - also own this movie. I'm not sure that there are many people alive who haven't witnessed the sublime miracle of this film. Behold...my favorite moment below. If that doesn't make you rush out and see this - I don't think you have a soul. Close my blog now, demon-spawn...
5) "THE PLAYER" (1992): This was the movie that made me aware of who Robert Altman was. I'd never seen a film with so many A-list stars before - I had to research who the hell had directed this movie so I could see who the hell had this many superstar friends. The answer was Robert Altman. So many things about The Player rock my world - the plot is flawless, Whoopi Goldberg's performance is one of the best of her career, Tim Robbins made me love him as the victimized protagonist and the techno-geek in me really finds that opening tracking shot to be so exciting I want to rip my eyes out, slap them against the TV screen and scream at the sky. Second only to Orson Welle's Touch of Evil, I believe the opening tracking shot is an homage to Welles (but I could be wrong). For whatever reason - it's one of the longest in film history and sweeps you right into the hectic frenzy of the plot. This is (by far) one of Altman's greatest films. To make room for this at #5, I knocked M*A*S*H out of the list. That's how much I love The Player. I was about to list out all the awards this received - then I realized it was like 80...suffice to say, this was a critically acclaimed hit from a seasoned director.
4) "SHORT CUTS" (1993): Like feeding the junkie in me - Altman followed up The Player with an even more salacious blockbuster. Three hours and eight minutes of pleasure, based on the writings of (OMG!!!) Raymond Carver - this film explores several different plots at the same time. I'm a big fan of this format (see also Magnolia). Rather than bore you or confuse myself trying to relay this complicated plot - get a load of who's in it! Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Fred Ward, Anne Archer, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Andie McDowell, Lyle Lovett, Jack Lemmon, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madeline Stowe, Lori Singer, Peter Gallagher, Tim Robbins...and about 400 others. This is a feeding frenzy of greatness. Just the way the writers were able to melt ten different Carver short stories into one coherent plot - tie it together using cinematic brilliance and sell it...is amazing to me. You should own a copy of this in any way possible. This is core Altman. If you own this - you'll own the rest of the films following...because you know...you just know...
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3) "NASHVILLE" (1975): Possibly the best by all accounts - this film is unlike anything else on the screen in 1975. I got the honor of watching this in a theater while Karen Black sat in front of me...it was difficult not to scream to be honest. I've seen this more than the other Altman films (with the exception of #1, which I can recite for you). There is no acceptable way to describe the story behind this film. To dumb it down - it's about Nashville...the country music scene...the life of Americans in the late 70s...but it's also a musical and as stuffed with celebrities as Short Cuts, this seems to me to be the first of the Altman films where he started jamming familiar faces into every possible role. Prior to this they were there, just not...EVERYWHERE. Even the non-speaking roles in Nashville are cast with famous people. There is no way to spend three hours with this movie and not walk away with a smile on your face. It's like a damn drug. Did I mention Karen Black was in this?
2) "3 WOMEN" (1977): You ever seen a dream? Watching this movie is so hypnotic and seductive, you walk away two hours later feeling as if you've just experienced something deeper than your own consciousness can grasp. The first couple of times you see this - be prepared to be confused. This is not a movie to be seen once. It's the type of movie you watch once a week for the rest of your life and still don't quite understand it completely. Also - if you're not already completely in love with Sissy Spacek and Shelly Duvall, be prepared to fall head over heels for these two quirky women. The third woman is played by the epic and astounding Janice Rule. Everything about this movie is correct. I cannot find anything to pick on - no matter how many thousands of times I've seen it. Composed of hundreds of perfectly framed (and breathtakingly beautiful) shots, these two women basically swap places and all kinds of head games proceed as the movie rushes toward the climactic ending. Yeah, that was climactic - if you didn't think so, start it over and watch it again. In closing - the artwork that Janice Rule's character works on throughout this film blows my face right off. I would do anything to own a fragment of that but it is my understanding that it was destroyed after the filming was completed. Imagine how hard that must have been to paint over that...*shudders*
1) "BREWSTER MCCLOUD" (1970): I will fight you with my shirt off over this one. All the critics and Altman fans are wrong - this is the greatest film of the director's life. I don't even care. I have seen this probably two thousand times - every time I get weepy at the end. It's not even supposed to be sad, okay? Yet I bawl...unstoppable crying because Brewster's dreams didn't quite come true - or did they? It's such a beautiful work of movie art. Bud Cort plays Brewster. I love...Bud...Cort. He's the model for Waldo in all those Where's Waldo books, ya know? The round glasses, striped shirt...yeah, that's not Waldo to me. It's Brewster McCloud. This film came out after the landslide success of M*A*S*H and it seemed that no one got it. It's supposed to be a comedy but there is a definite element of weirdness keeping this one going. The subtle lessons about ornithology are usually off-putting. Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz) appears to butcher the national anthem then use the "N" word - if only to be shat upon by a bird and promptly die. Who knows what the hell is going on most of the time, but that's part of the appeal. It's so campy, so schlocky and so silly - you cannot possibly help but to love it. You know another reason to love it? It's the movie that introduced Shelly Duvall to the world. So there! How about a car chase? Sure! This movie has an extended one that doesn't seem to have any purpose - BUT it's there! I have no explanation as to why I love this movie the way I do - but it's real, it's pure and it's well established. This is usually the Altman film I shove down people's throats when they say they don't know the director's work. This is usually why all my friends think Robert Altman movies are "eh" - but ignore everything I just typed and try to see this film. It's not easily attainable, the DVD is a little overpriced because it's one of those "print on demand" archive services ... but if you're only going to be alive for two more hours, this is the way to go out. Fly, Brewster...fly!!!
One of the few directors to have three titles inducted into the National Film Registry, Robert Altman has been making movies for a long time. When I think of his name, I think star-studded. I think: tracking shots that make me dizzy. They are very simple, natural films. It's likely you didn't walk out of the theater (or change channels) asking yourself who the director of that amazing artistic piece was - because Altman wasn't like that. To enjoy his movies you have to focus on the writing, the subtle humor, the statements on the world we live in. These are timeless stories about the human condition, molded by the hand of a master storyteller who just also happened to own a camera and have the world's greatest collection of friends.
Imagine his Rolodex. Did I just date myself?
Because this was so hard for me, I had to call a tie for honorable mention. I just could not omit either of these movies.
**Honorable Mention**
(1/2) "COOKIE'S FORTUNE" (1999): One of the director's final films, this is what I consider to be the last "great" Robert Altman movie. Very few people seemed to actually appreciate this movie when it first appeared. Altman followed this up with Gosford Park (which won all kinds of awards and blah blah blah), I always thought this was a fantastic movie. Chocked full-a-stars, this down-home murder mystery is highly atmospheric, dark, hilarious and has some amazing performances from Liv Tyler, Glenn Close and Julianne Moore. If you're a super-duper-movie-geek like myself, you'll want to plan a trip to Holly Springs, Mississippi to visit the original locations from this movie. Absolutely nothing has been altered since the film. It's incredibly fun (despite what locals scream at you). If you want to see a low-committment, easy Altman film - check this one out. You'll probably like it. Probably...
(2/2) "POPEYE" (1980): Ain't nothing in this world any better than some Popeye. I love me some Shelly Duvall in this. I remember when this movie came out. I was beyond excited (which was odd considering I never really liked the Popeye cartoons), I was in the front row on opening night. There is so much right about this movie - I'm not really sure where to begin. First thing: most Altman fans absolutely hate this movie. Just...blind, white-hot rage...and I've never understood that. I loved this movie before I knew who Robert Altman was. I loved it even more once I became a fan of the director's other work and realized he had created this landmark film from my childhood. I will always own a copy of this movie. 99% of the people I hang out with - also own this movie. I'm not sure that there are many people alive who haven't witnessed the sublime miracle of this film. Behold...my favorite moment below. If that doesn't make you rush out and see this - I don't think you have a soul. Close my blog now, demon-spawn...
5) "THE PLAYER" (1992): This was the movie that made me aware of who Robert Altman was. I'd never seen a film with so many A-list stars before - I had to research who the hell had directed this movie so I could see who the hell had this many superstar friends. The answer was Robert Altman. So many things about The Player rock my world - the plot is flawless, Whoopi Goldberg's performance is one of the best of her career, Tim Robbins made me love him as the victimized protagonist and the techno-geek in me really finds that opening tracking shot to be so exciting I want to rip my eyes out, slap them against the TV screen and scream at the sky. Second only to Orson Welle's Touch of Evil, I believe the opening tracking shot is an homage to Welles (but I could be wrong). For whatever reason - it's one of the longest in film history and sweeps you right into the hectic frenzy of the plot. This is (by far) one of Altman's greatest films. To make room for this at #5, I knocked M*A*S*H out of the list. That's how much I love The Player. I was about to list out all the awards this received - then I realized it was like 80...suffice to say, this was a critically acclaimed hit from a seasoned director. 
4) "SHORT CUTS" (1993): Like feeding the junkie in me - Altman followed up The Player with an even more salacious blockbuster. Three hours and eight minutes of pleasure, based on the writings of (OMG!!!) Raymond Carver - this film explores several different plots at the same time. I'm a big fan of this format (see also Magnolia). Rather than bore you or confuse myself trying to relay this complicated plot - get a load of who's in it! Matthew Modine, Julianne Moore, Fred Ward, Anne Archer, Buck Henry, Huey Lewis, Lily Tomlin, Tom Waits, Andie McDowell, Lyle Lovett, Jack Lemmon, Lili Taylor, Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madeline Stowe, Lori Singer, Peter Gallagher, Tim Robbins...and about 400 others. This is a feeding frenzy of greatness. Just the way the writers were able to melt ten different Carver short stories into one coherent plot - tie it together using cinematic brilliance and sell it...is amazing to me. You should own a copy of this in any way possible. This is core Altman. If you own this - you'll own the rest of the films following...because you know...you just know....jpg)
3) "NASHVILLE" (1975): Possibly the best by all accounts - this film is unlike anything else on the screen in 1975. I got the honor of watching this in a theater while Karen Black sat in front of me...it was difficult not to scream to be honest. I've seen this more than the other Altman films (with the exception of #1, which I can recite for you). There is no acceptable way to describe the story behind this film. To dumb it down - it's about Nashville...the country music scene...the life of Americans in the late 70s...but it's also a musical and as stuffed with celebrities as Short Cuts, this seems to me to be the first of the Altman films where he started jamming familiar faces into every possible role. Prior to this they were there, just not...EVERYWHERE. Even the non-speaking roles in Nashville are cast with famous people. There is no way to spend three hours with this movie and not walk away with a smile on your face. It's like a damn drug. Did I mention Karen Black was in this?
2) "3 WOMEN" (1977): You ever seen a dream? Watching this movie is so hypnotic and seductive, you walk away two hours later feeling as if you've just experienced something deeper than your own consciousness can grasp. The first couple of times you see this - be prepared to be confused. This is not a movie to be seen once. It's the type of movie you watch once a week for the rest of your life and still don't quite understand it completely. Also - if you're not already completely in love with Sissy Spacek and Shelly Duvall, be prepared to fall head over heels for these two quirky women. The third woman is played by the epic and astounding Janice Rule. Everything about this movie is correct. I cannot find anything to pick on - no matter how many thousands of times I've seen it. Composed of hundreds of perfectly framed (and breathtakingly beautiful) shots, these two women basically swap places and all kinds of head games proceed as the movie rushes toward the climactic ending. Yeah, that was climactic - if you didn't think so, start it over and watch it again. In closing - the artwork that Janice Rule's character works on throughout this film blows my face right off. I would do anything to own a fragment of that but it is my understanding that it was destroyed after the filming was completed. Imagine how hard that must have been to paint over that...*shudders*
1) "BREWSTER MCCLOUD" (1970): I will fight you with my shirt off over this one. All the critics and Altman fans are wrong - this is the greatest film of the director's life. I don't even care. I have seen this probably two thousand times - every time I get weepy at the end. It's not even supposed to be sad, okay? Yet I bawl...unstoppable crying because Brewster's dreams didn't quite come true - or did they? It's such a beautiful work of movie art. Bud Cort plays Brewster. I love...Bud...Cort. He's the model for Waldo in all those Where's Waldo books, ya know? The round glasses, striped shirt...yeah, that's not Waldo to me. It's Brewster McCloud. This film came out after the landslide success of M*A*S*H and it seemed that no one got it. It's supposed to be a comedy but there is a definite element of weirdness keeping this one going. The subtle lessons about ornithology are usually off-putting. Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz) appears to butcher the national anthem then use the "N" word - if only to be shat upon by a bird and promptly die. Who knows what the hell is going on most of the time, but that's part of the appeal. It's so campy, so schlocky and so silly - you cannot possibly help but to love it. You know another reason to love it? It's the movie that introduced Shelly Duvall to the world. So there! How about a car chase? Sure! This movie has an extended one that doesn't seem to have any purpose - BUT it's there! I have no explanation as to why I love this movie the way I do - but it's real, it's pure and it's well established. This is usually the Altman film I shove down people's throats when they say they don't know the director's work. This is usually why all my friends think Robert Altman movies are "eh" - but ignore everything I just typed and try to see this film. It's not easily attainable, the DVD is a little overpriced because it's one of those "print on demand" archive services ... but if you're only going to be alive for two more hours, this is the way to go out. Fly, Brewster...fly!!!
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