more on altman

The very first Altman film I saw was Short Cuts. I might've seen bits of MASH before that but didn't really see the film in its entirety until later. Short Cuts is a whole lot of stories going on at the same time, with characters from each storyline interacting with other storylines. This is similar to the way Altman did Nashville (which I saw later, but which came earlier in his career). I was always amazed at how well he could keep me interested in each facet of the film and how he brought everything together at the end. The Player is one of my all time favorite films. The beginning tracking shot is famous, deservedly so, because not only is it long and shot well, but it sets up the entire mood of the film, letting us in on many of the characters' personalities and motivations without a lot of explication. Altman could make a lot of political and social statements with his films without being heavy-handed and dogmatic. He made you sympathize with the "bad guy" and he made you fall in love with Tim Robbins and Lyle Lovett and so many other odd actors.

It's hard to realize that while there are some films of his I haven't yet seen, there won't ever be a new one.