Fantastic essay about a true original. Every time I watch one of his movies there comes a point where I forget that he’s subverting and deconstructing a particular genre, and simply get lost in his world. Maybe that is the wrong way to experience his work, but his voice was strong enough and strange enough that his movies can stand on their own. The Long Goodbye certainly can; most neo-noirs have trouble.
Nice take; something between a review and an essay. I was one of those who could not get past Elliot Gould in The Big Sleep. I also never saw California Split. I'm going to watch them both. Thanks.
I can understand why Gould didn't work for you. I'm ambivalent about him as Marlowe. On one hand, I find Gould to be an interesting, unconventional leading man. The mumbling musings replacing the classic hard-boiled voice-over narration was also an interesting take. On the other hand, the ironic detachment of the character, which Walrod mentions, made believing that he had these other traditional values a little tougher.
I was today years old when I learned the term "slacker noir" and I absolutely love it.
Once again, you're knocking it out of the park here with this series, Robert, diving deep into Altman's career with a discerning yet passionate voice. I know I saw The Long Goodbye once, quite some time ago, and I'm clearly due for a revisit, especially now that I'll be able to view it in much greater context. Also, when I was a kid, I often confused Elliott Gould and Eric Bogosian, for some reason, to the point where I had misremembered Bogosian as the lead in the film. Silly brain.
I've never seen California Split, but it's been added to my watchlist!
"successfully tricking his cat by placing another brand of cat food in the empty tin of its favorite brand." -- no, I think the cat turned up his nose at the fake, as any animal with a good sense of smell would. Watch again and see if I'm right.
It's interesting to compare this to "Chinatown" as you did. The latter is a far superior movie in almost every way. Jack Nicholson is to Elliott Gould as Shohei Ohtani is to Anthony Volpe.
You also mentioned Zsigmond's technique of exposing the film before shooting -- what's the point? It really isn't that hard to capture the light in Southern California. There are probably 1,000 movies that do it.
The era of the 1930's may have been on its last legs in 1953 when the book was published, but it was definitely not totally gone yet. There were very few girls doing nude yoga and eating pot brownies.
Fantastic essay about a true original. Every time I watch one of his movies there comes a point where I forget that he’s subverting and deconstructing a particular genre, and simply get lost in his world. Maybe that is the wrong way to experience his work, but his voice was strong enough and strange enough that his movies can stand on their own. The Long Goodbye certainly can; most neo-noirs have trouble.
Nice take; something between a review and an essay. I was one of those who could not get past Elliot Gould in The Big Sleep. I also never saw California Split. I'm going to watch them both. Thanks.
I can understand why Gould didn't work for you. I'm ambivalent about him as Marlowe. On one hand, I find Gould to be an interesting, unconventional leading man. The mumbling musings replacing the classic hard-boiled voice-over narration was also an interesting take. On the other hand, the ironic detachment of the character, which Walrod mentions, made believing that he had these other traditional values a little tougher.
I was today years old when I learned the term "slacker noir" and I absolutely love it.
Once again, you're knocking it out of the park here with this series, Robert, diving deep into Altman's career with a discerning yet passionate voice. I know I saw The Long Goodbye once, quite some time ago, and I'm clearly due for a revisit, especially now that I'll be able to view it in much greater context. Also, when I was a kid, I often confused Elliott Gould and Eric Bogosian, for some reason, to the point where I had misremembered Bogosian as the lead in the film. Silly brain.
I've never seen California Split, but it's been added to my watchlist!
are you a noir fan?
I am, very much!
would recommend The Long Goodbye. A creative reinterpretation of the genre.
"successfully tricking his cat by placing another brand of cat food in the empty tin of its favorite brand." -- no, I think the cat turned up his nose at the fake, as any animal with a good sense of smell would. Watch again and see if I'm right.
It's interesting to compare this to "Chinatown" as you did. The latter is a far superior movie in almost every way. Jack Nicholson is to Elliott Gould as Shohei Ohtani is to Anthony Volpe.
You also mentioned Zsigmond's technique of exposing the film before shooting -- what's the point? It really isn't that hard to capture the light in Southern California. There are probably 1,000 movies that do it.
The era of the 1930's may have been on its last legs in 1953 when the book was published, but it was definitely not totally gone yet. There were very few girls doing nude yoga and eating pot brownies.