Need an Altman fix.

Started by altmanish, October 08, 2003, 04:24:00 PM

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altmanish

October 08, 2003, 04:24:00 PM
I'm sick and tired that Altman shit isn't released.... where's Short Cuts..... this is a load of crap.  Shame on the corp. crap.  Add on Brewster, Quintet, Wedding, Health, Theives etc...
The swamps are swamps but that is it.

Ernie

#1
October 08, 2003, 04:45:44 PM
Yea, I've bitched about Short Cuts not being out on DVD yet at least a couple times on this board...there should at least be a petition or something. I'd like to see 3 Women too...and Thieves Like Us. I'm not going to blind buy a used VHS to see them though, they need DVD's. I know what you mean too, about his recent stuff sucking. Dr T and Gosford Park sucked really bad...couldn't believe he made them.

Have you ever seen O.C. and Stiggs by the way? That's one weird Altman movie. There's some great parts but it's just bizarre and messy overall. It's on Flix every once in awhile.

Weak2ndAct

#2
October 08, 2003, 04:52:52 PM
Rumor has it that 3 Women is going to be released by Criterion one of these days (part of their fox deal).

cine

#3
October 08, 2003, 05:20:15 PM
Thankfully Images will be released soon :-D

Alethia

#4
October 08, 2003, 05:31:19 PM
Quote from: ebeamanDr T and Gosford Park sucked really bad...couldn't believe he made them.

oh no you did not....

Holden Pike

#5
October 08, 2003, 11:28:16 PM
Images was already released on R1 DVD, last month.

The Criterion LD of Short Cuts is a great set, I just rewatched it recently for the umpteenth time. The impossible to find California Split and 3 Women are the two I'm most anxious to see (I have cruddy, washed-out old dubs from cable TV for both), especially to finally have them letterboxed. Oh, what a dream that would be! Selfishly I'm in no real rush for Brewster McCloud, Secret Honor, "Tanner '88" or Thieves Like Us since the LDs are swell (especially the Thieves disc, which has a nice audio commentary track).

But while definitely too slow in coming, I have been fairly impressed with what Altman HAS finally been making it to DVD the last couple years. The McCabe, Buffalo Bill, Images and Long Goodbye discs are terrific. I was most excited about Images of that crop, because it's the first widescreen transfer I'm aware of for home video, and it's looks amazing. I love that movie more every time I watch it.


*and while Dr. T is surely one of Altman's worst (which is saying a lot, since when he misses he most usually does so in spectacular fashion), anyone who thinks Gosford Park is a dud should have their movie-watching priveleges taken away. For at least a month. No popcorn or sweets either. :-D
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream, it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film."
- Frank Capra

Pedro

#6
October 09, 2003, 12:33:17 AM
I was pretty bored with Gosford Park...I'm gonna try it again...

soixante

#7
October 09, 2003, 02:02:58 AM
I must be the only person who enjoyed Dr. T and the Women.  Gere gave a wonderful performance, probably the best of his career.  Kate Hudson was great, too.  For the past 10 or so years, only Gingerbread Man and Ready to Wear were duds.  Kansas City is another under-rated film.  

Brewster McCloud is another underrated Altman film.  It's MGM, so they should put it out on DVD, as they are putting out zillions of films on DVD.

It would be wonderful to have California Split on DVD, but that one never even made it to video.

Even some of Altman's "lesser" films, such as A Wedding, A Perfect Couple, and Fool for Love, deserve to be on DVD.
Music is your best entertainment value.

bonanzataz

#8
October 09, 2003, 06:26:12 PM
it always takes me a while to get into an altman movie. when i first saw nahsville, i didn't like it. the next day i just really wanted to watch it again, and when i did, i loved it. just watched mccabe and mrs. miller, and thought it was alright, but i really want to watch it again. watching the trailer for it after seeing the movie just does that for me. i loved short cuts when i first saw it, but i guess i was hot off of nashville and knew what i was getting into. gosford park i never really liked, but a free copy of it landed into my hands (i have no idea how, it was just in my house one day and nobody knew where it came from. weird, huh?) and i'm going to watch it soon. i didn't think pret a porter was THAT bad. it's good to watch for an hour when it's on tv, b/c altman movies, you can watch from any point in the movie and know exactly what's going on. that's what's so great about him.
The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil's rain we'll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, 'cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, 'cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put 'em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls

soixante

#9
October 10, 2003, 11:38:56 AM
Altman's movies get better with repeated viewings.  They are usually so rich in detail that one viewing doesn't suffice.  I enjoyed Gosford Park the first time, but there were so many characters and plot threads that I needed a second viewing to sort them all out.

I liked Ready to Wear the first time, but on second viewing it seemed rather empty.  But I haven't seen it since it came out, so maybe it's time to see it again.  Gingerbread Man seemed intriguing on first viewing, but the second time around it seemed like a typical Grisham potboiler that even Altman's couldn't make interesting.

I have always seen his films at least twice, even if I don't like them on first viewing.  Which brings up the much-maligned Dr. T and the Women.  I think there was a sense of magic realism to this film that was disconcerting to most viewers (including me).  However, I think this film is worth a second look.  Keep in mind, when McCabe first came out, few critics (except for Pauline Kael) liked it.
Music is your best entertainment value.

SoNowThen

#10
October 10, 2003, 11:46:44 AM
I either love Altman films instantly, or hate them, with the exception of MASH, which I'm lukewarm about.

Short Cuts, Player, Nashville, Long Goodbye = fucking love

Gosford Park, McCabe = no like

and I own McCabe, and watch it every now and again hoping I will like it, but I just can't...
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Pwaybloe

#11
October 10, 2003, 02:55:08 PM
Quote from: SoNowThenand I own McCabe, and watch it every now and again hoping I will like it, but I just can't...

You wanna sell it?

SoNowThen

#12
October 10, 2003, 03:06:28 PM
naw, one day it's gonna break through


plus I wanna own every Vilmos Zsigmond DP'd movie (minus 'Bergs, of course)
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

MacGuffin

#13
October 10, 2003, 03:21:59 PM
Quote from: SoNowThenplus I wanna own every Vilmos Zsigmond DP'd movie (minus 'Bergs, of course)

Theaters used to play a commercial for the Los Angeles Times Calendar section before the movies that started with a father videotaping his little girl's birthday party. Crew members would show up and take over the party as if it were a movie (pyro tech guys for the candles on the cake, a craft service table, etc.). There was a knock at the door and the father opens it and guess who's standing there. Father says, "Who are you?" to which the mother replies, "That's Academy Award winner Vilmos Zsigmond. He's here to shoot the party."

But, c'mon, you have to own "Close Encounters..." That's one of his best and the film he got the Oscar for.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

SoNowThen

#14
October 10, 2003, 03:26:06 PM
That commercial sounds great!! I have this dream film project planned, that I hope to do as my second feature, and he would be the perfect one to shoot it. Especially watching his work in Deer Hunter and Long Goodbye...

Yeah, that's on my list to see, believe it or not. CE3K is the one 'Berg movie where the synopsis sounds really interesting to me. I will one day see this. Plus, Dreyfus is always good...
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.
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