After being egged on by the proprietors of girish and Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, I'm calling for a blogathon on Robert Altman for March 3, in advance of his receiving an honorary Oscar on the evening of March 5. I am not 100 percent sure what I am going to write about yet, but I know in my bones that it would be a hell of a lot more fun, and way more Altmanesque, if other critical voices joined in on their own sites, creating a cacophony, so that critical monologues overlap and answer each other. (Sergio Leone's Altman celebration is already underway.)
Just pick a title or titles from Altman's filmography, or some other vaguely or tangentially Altmaesque topic, and weigh in. March 3 is the ideal deadline, to give people time to read and process what you've done. But the Altman spirit demands keeping things loose, so I'd say you could post as late as the evening of March 5, when the great man gets his statuette, finally. Just call it Altman Weekend.
As I said in posts on girish's blog, I realize this is very, very short notice and I totally understand if the suddenness precludes a lot of people from participating. But if there was every a time to honor a great American artist with some deep-dish lovin', this is it. So what the hell, let's do it.
I'll take care of the alerting-the-media part; if you want to participate, email me at reeling@aol.com and let me know what you're writing about and I'll add it to the master list of topics.
UPDATE: The second part of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule's Altman career retrospective is online, and worth a read.
UPDATE: And at 24LiesASecond, a marvelous Robert C. Cumbow piece on Altman and Coppola in the 70s.
UPDATE: The Wit of the Staircase on "McCabe and Mrs. Miller."
UPDATE: The Evening Class recounts an Altman tribute in San Francisco.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Altman weekend
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35 comments:
Don't know what a blogathon is, so I don't know if the following information is relevant, but TCM is showing Nashville tonight, at 9:30 PST.
Cool, thanks.
A blog-athon is where a bunch of different sites get together and write about the same subject at the same time. In this case, everybody would be writing something about Altman.
Just yesterday I happened to watch 3 Women and Images as part of an unofficial Altmanathon. Neither of them are like anything else he ever did, as far as I know - a Repulsion-esque thriller and a cross between David Lynch and Persona. Neither are high Altman, but both seemed worth seeing.
For info on previous blog-a-thons, check out this and this.
I'm in. I've been watching a few of his films that had otherwise eluded me over the past few months.
Color me disappointed - I was getting all excited about writing a post on Quintet (which I've never seen), but I just realized it won't be released until April 25!
Still, this is one blog-a-thon you couldn't force me away from. I'm seeing Praire Home Companion at SXSW, and will die if Altman shows up.
Jeff, I think 3 Women is very much high Altman - even if it's radically different (in tone) than most of his work. I haven't seen Images yet; maybe I'll check that one out this coming week.
I'm jealous, David. I wish I could have seen that.
I meant to say that I wish I COULD see that. I am sure it will be a once in a lifetime event.
Saw both IMAGES and 3 WOMEN within the past year for the first time. Liked the former, loved the latter (David--I think it's high Altman too.)
I've never seen BUFFALO BILL, so that's a possibility for me.
Sign me up, too. I'm ready to tackle the most abused film in the Altman canon: Popeye.
Welcome to the House, little round-headed boy. You seem like good karma.
Matt: You know I'm in! I haven't decided what my topic will be, but as I said at Girish's place, there's plenty of underappreciated material here, as well as stuff that might need to be taken down a notch or two. I think I'll be gravitating toward the underappreciated, however, which, for me, probably means Buffalo Bill and the Indians, O.C. and Stiggs or, since I haven't seen it in a long while and didn't much like it when I did, Images. I'll e-mail you and let you know for sure.
:(puffing on cigarette) "It's okay with me."
Matt, I do hope that being from Dallas and all, you will seize this oppertunity to inform your houseguests that DR. T AND THE WOMEN is, in fact, a documentary.
And yeah, I thought the painted "X" on the street where JFK got hit was an inexplicably lame sight gag... and then I went to visit. Woah.
I guess we were way too early. Then again, we're not a blog either. :-)
I'll be reading, then...
ghPeet: Not only are you guys ahead of the blogs, you're ahead of the academy.
And Sean, you read my mind about DR. T. A lot of people in my hometown of Dallas were mightily pissed about that movie. When I finally got around to see it, it made me oddly homesick.
I'd like to see somebody write a piece on COME BACK TO THE 5 AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN. I've only seen it once, and it was years ago, but it's one of those films whose mood is permanently - and yet fuzzily - branded onto my brain. It's the kind of movie I almost never want to see again for fear of it not living up to memory.
Recently gave BEYOND THERAPY a whirl after not having seen it in some time. That's a flick that's far funnier than reputation would suggest - if for no other reason than to see GUFFMAN's Corky St. Clair nearly ten years before he was actually unleashed.
And yet there are other great reasons to check it out. Tom Conti is a riot, what with his premature ejaculate and fake Italian accent. Glenda Jackson is a total nutball (boy, do I miss Glenda!). And then there's Goldblum, back when he was a presence to be reckoned with, before JURASSIC PARK came along and chomped away massive chunks of his screen charisma.
All that said, I never EVER tire of spinning my gorgeous DVD of MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER, for me personally, the highpoint of Altman.
I should get in on this.
I'll take the Julianne Moore bit from Short Cuts.
Man, I can't wait to read this stuff.
i will be sure to pile on with the not so surprising feelings about mccabe and mrs. miller - a film i'm sure changed my life when i rented it in my teens back in the 80's.
i will never forget going to the usa film festival with you and jennifer and robert abele and shannon and having one of my idols tug my sleeve to get away from the riff raff.
Mr. Burt Reynolds: I hope in addition to MCCABE you also write about that particular incident.
Boy, if ever there were a reason to get off my duff and start that blog... Although I'd be split between merely waxing lyrical about LONG GOODBYE (one of my all-time faves) or focusing in on the overlooked theatrical adaptations of the 1980s. (JIMMY DEAN is a favorite of mine, although I probably haven't seen it in 15 years. The final pan through the mirror reduced me to tears the first time I saw it.)
Hey Sam, and anyone else reading this who wants to participate -- if you don't have a blog but want to write an Altman entry, e-mail it to me and I'll publish it here. I am sure that other participating blogs would consider doing the same.
I'm sure I can come up with something. I'll see if Josh R might want to contribute something as well.
What a great idea, Matt, and long overdue. If I can wrest the DVD of Tanner '88 from a friend, that's what I'll go for.
What Matt said. Anybody reading this who is blogless but who would like to submit something for the Altman Blog-a-Thon to Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule for publication is most welcome.
Hm. No one's doing The Company? I've just watched the DVD a few nights ago. Might write something about it.
Cool tribute. I've worked up some notes from a tribute to Altman that was held here in SF some years back. There's a bit in there about Moore that you might appreciate, Karina!
If I have time over the weekend I'll try to work up "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean", one of my fave raves. Karen Black was also paid tribute at our Castro Theater some time back and mentioned how much she got along with everyone on that set. Except for Cher, who spent the whole time in her dressing room putting on makeup and trying on clothes. Duh?
Great suggestions, folks. I am keeping a running list. I'm also posting URLs of stuff that's already up and running. I'll post those links again in new items starting March 3 to keep them fresh.
All right. I'll write The Company.
I wonder . . .
Would it be cheating if I posted a piece I wrote a few months back on Secret Honor?
(yes, I'm serious)
Nope, it's not cheating. Call it a repeat performance.
If you've posted it on your own site, send me the URL in an e-mail.
If you need me to post it for you, e mail me the whole piece.
I'm in. Me and the pros from Dover.
Blog-A-Thons are great, and since I didn't participate in this one, I thought I'd invite all of you over to my place for my own. Check it:
http://pasquish.blogspot.com/
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