Worst director of all time.
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jake_lex — 17 years ago(September 06, 2008 10:35 PM)
I wouldn't call him "worst director" of all time, but he probably has some of the worst movies any director considered "great" has on his or her resume. I mean, "H.E.A.L.T.H"? "A Wedding"? "Dr. T and the Women"?
His sort of rambling, heavy-improv, ensemble style can work great, but if it failswow, talk about a stinkbomb. -
wiseowlfortheages — 17 years ago(October 12, 2008 08:30 AM)
He was a pretentious hack, his films lacked continuity, and they were without structure or form. Half or all of the time the actors didn't seem to know what they were doing, because he never gave them any directions, they walked through their roles and called it improvisation.2000
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johnlsullivan — 17 years ago(January 01, 2009 10:11 PM)
You throw around words like "structure," "form" and "Continuity," but what exactly do you mean by that? Altman wasn't interested in conventional plotting or storytelling. Frankly, I'm grateful for that. Does Renoir's "Rules of the Game" have a plot? Is Fellini's "8 1/2" well-structured? I think his best films, "Nashville," "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," "Three Women," "The Player," "Gosford Park" and "Short Cuts" are extraordinarily dense and interesting. Meanwhile, you probably think Ron Howard is a terrific director.
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rob169 — 17 years ago(February 15, 2009 12:21 AM)
So cocoon, splash, a beautiful mind, Apollo 13, and arrested development all suck the big one then???
There aren't many people who would agree with your Altman loving "book".
I mean have you even SEEN Popeye or Dr T? -
Movie-Jay — 17 years ago(February 17, 2009 12:42 AM)
Robert Altman is perhaps my favorite American director of all time, but I can certainly understand the dissent, because Altman was about studying characters rather than playing the usual game of "what happens next".
We're so pre-programmed to believe that "plot" and "climax" and "denouement" are what's right, and that everything else is just weird. Well, I don't accept that. Just because we had it drilled in us like those old mercury fillings, doesn't mean we can't grow up and have them removed.
His film resume is stellar. Personally, I'm glad his style failed in "H.E.A.L.T.H", "O.C. & Stiggs" and "Beyond Therapy", which are his only purely unenjoyable films, since it makes us savor how rich and colorful his great ones are, like "California Split", which I just got on DVD finally. The banter and under-the-breath dialogue between Elliot Gould and George Segal in that movie is priceless. It's sharp, authentic, poetic.
In that movie, and like many of his others, the point is to really lean in and listen to the characters. Study their behavior. Watch them in different contexts. See how they contradict or don't contradict their own natures. See how they sometimes surprise us.
I especially love "Nashville" and "Short Cuts" for their "hyperlink" style that Altman pioneered by showing a multitude of characters and threads, and getting to dive into themes and connections, and sometimes the missed connections. I love how he makes a place or a town or a city one of the characters of his films, rather than just showing pretty pictures of that place.
There are many different ways to approach the "seeing" of a movie. If you go into Altman cold, you may connect, but you may easily be put off by the fact that "nothing seems to happen". But with the right approach, I believe his movies are capable of singing and dancing inside your head for days as you turn over specific moments, or how two characters negotiated their relationship, or maybe a line of dialogue.
His movies are impressionistic. It's a lot of brush strokes that add up to one great big experience that sneaks up on you without any of the b.s. of usual plot structure where characters are paint-by-numbers and always repeat the same cliches.
Robert Altman doesn't "get" to make people think of his films as great. People come to those conclusions on their own.
I think he's my pick as most important American director of movies that really showed us something about America that other movies never did, because he saw America not from the point of view of a child who idealizes the country, but as an adult who is able to prove his love for his country by studying it inside and out and loving it in part because of it's flaws and peculiarities. -
oldjon121 — 17 years ago(February 21, 2009 12:46 AM)
You know, it's funny
I came onto the wonderful Mr. Altman's imdb page - and, subsequently, his message board - due to the fact that it's his birthday.
And, after having had a mild chuckle - at the sheer lack of intelligence/lack of comprehension - in the interest of identifying the quality in an Altman film - displayed by the creator of this, your obligatory, standard-fare "Worst - of all-time" thread I was, unexpectedly, treated to your thoughtful, intelligent post, Movie-Jay.
I agree with all of your points on the aforementioned artist and his films (in fact, I've used a lot of them, myself, in the past and haven't articulated them finer). Truly well done.
The one thing which I'll add, of my own, is this:
People (most, not all, but most) - believe that, the enjoyment of a film - is dependent upon how quickly and easily it is to perceive and absorb that which is seen, heard, felt; when, with an Altman film - as with many of other forms of art and artists - an_actual_effort is needed to be awarded with the end of that effort. I mean, sure, I laugh at Apatow-crew comedies, and am entertained by action flicks like Transformers but the reward for having to "give something, to get something" - is so much more satisfying, both emotionally and intellectually.
Bottom line:
We need more Directors like Robert Altman - who require that the viewer embrace one simple concept: "Give to receive."
Just my two cents. ^_^
On a personal note
Just before I came on here, I had re-watched the haunting and insightful introduction which Robert Altman gives on the 'Rashomon' Criterion DVD The way he talks about Kurosawa filming the sun - and his subsequently having been inspired to apply the same concept - in his own, unique style, the very next day - always gives me chills. I just love it.
Internet Message Boards: "Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo."