And why?
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Hyman_Flomax — 17 years ago(June 20, 2008 01:28 PM)
Well they've both made a career out of subverting and reconsidering film genres, but Altman's style is full of more quirks and surprises (all the more striking in light of his early training in television and industrials) but where Altman deals with genre conventions to better reflect "reality", Anderson often seems to be deliberately following in his shadow and is more Kubrickian in his general conceit that his human characters are shown as not being capable of much aside from following signals and orders of protocol, and his films generally pivot more around basic ideas and concepts while Altman is more free-form so to speak. So they're styles aren't quite as similar as they're made out to be; it's just that Anderson uses this influence as more of a launch pad for his own ideas. But Altman wins out for the reasons mentioned, even if Anderson is still among the most interesting directors of the last 20 years or so.
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Gloede_The_Saint — 17 years ago(December 10, 2008 01:28 PM)
Love both but prefer Altman. He's among my top 5 directors of all time. PTA is in my top 50, he will probably work his way up though but doubtfully to the top 10. We'll see in 30 years : )
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theTalented-Mr-Kelly — 17 years ago(February 26, 2009 09:53 AM)
PTA, for the simple reason that he is so much more consistent in directing quality , however The Player, Short Cuts, Mash and Mc Cabe and Mrs Miller are all very good films.But Altman has made his fair share of stinkers , whereas PTAs films just keep getting better.
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auntjennyp — 17 years ago(April 06, 2009 11:08 AM)
Comparisons are generally pointless, but (as I'm sure PTA would readily acknowledge) there wouldn't even BE a Paul Thomas Anderson without Altman having paved the way before him.
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franzkabuki — 16 years ago(April 12, 2009 06:06 AM)
I really dont see why theyre being considered that similar - Magnolia obviously bears a strong resemblence to Altmans ensemble films, but thats about it. Boogie Nights features a large cast with numerous more or less independent plotlines, but Diggler does clearly remain the focus and the whole thing is more reminiscent of Goodfellas than anything else anyway. None of his other films have nothing to do with Altman in any significant way.
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auntjennyp — 16 years ago(August 30, 2009 11:51 PM)
on the "Prairie Home Companion" movie; PTA was brought in by the studio as directorial "insurance" because Altman was old, frail, and had not that long before had a heart transplant.
And they both did/do ensemble films that are somewhat "outside" the scope of a traditional Hollywood movie. PTA has said in interview many times that Altman was a big influence on him, and that he was honored to be by his side during Altman's last film. -
rayman_004 — 16 years ago(September 27, 2009 08:03 PM)
This is pretty much inarguable, Paul Thomas Anderson (for all his skill and vision) got his directing style from past filmmaking maestros like Robert Altman, there is no contest, Robert Altman invented a directing style all his own, and no Gosford Park is not overrated
I love them both by the way, just wanted to clarify -
chiliwaterboy — 16 years ago(March 08, 2010 02:33 AM)
Love Altman but I'd have to go with PTA here. He's probably my favourite director and Magnolia seems to be climbing its way into my all time favourite movie.
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Last_Entrance — 15 years ago(December 25, 2010 08:29 PM)
Altman. PTA is a great director but Altman was, with his better films, much more subtle than Anderson.
Not to mention that Altman had a specific style which Anderson has embodied - Altman's films are clearly Altman's and he was a true auteur in the way that he delivered his films, in imagery, style, subtext and even sound.
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GeneticSugarKane — 13 years ago(March 31, 2013 08:57 AM)
Considering I've at least enjoyed everything I've seen by Altman and hate everything I've seen by Anderson, I'll vote for Altman.
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