Robert Altman

[Wol]

I'm not as big a fan of the later work, but looking at the whole body of work, damn, he was the goods.

RIP. Hope he's smoking a big fat one with all his fans who went before him. But I'll bet he misses his wife something fierce.

I hope they organize a rocking memorial or tribute. He worked with everyone worth working with, pretty much.

[india7]

Damn! I know we all say, "When I saw this thread bumped, I was afraid he died" when we see a thread at the top, and most of the time, we're lucky enough to be wrong. This sucks - I just loved his work. RIP, big man.

[zivvie]

Really: A Beautiful Mind over Gosford Park?! What are Hollywooders smoking? Everything but the sofa, apparently. GP is a terrific film, but so is most of his work. RIP.

I met him briefly when he was directing a production of A Wedding at the Lyric Opera (I was performing at a Lyric benefit). He was very pleasant, and definitely had an eye for the ladies.

[Petronella]

I just finished watching A Prairie Home Companion and came here to look for the thread. Sad news. His films sneak up on you. I enjoy them while I'm watching but it's the repeated viewings that reveal so much more. Gosford Park is one of my favorites. You also never heard actors say "Altman, yeah, I don't want to work with him."

[funwithcats]

I was so sad to see this one. RA was one of my favorite directors, definitely can't top MASH or Gosford Park. I knew he probably had the normal health problems an 81 year old would have, but I still wasn't expecting this anytime soon.

[huntergrayson]

Argh! I told my friend about this and all she said was that she thought his films were boring and overrated (but she liked GP, so...?).

Maybe the reason that his output is so varied/so divisive is because he's always willing to try something different - I mean, yes, his films all have the trademarks of an Altman film but, man, he did pretty much every genre imaginable (western, noir, musical, Hollywood satire, comedy, etc, etc).

[shawnalanne]

It's so sad, he was a unique director and will be missed. My favorite movie of his was Nashville.