Indiewire Browse the indiewire network

The Playlist

The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

Actors

Directors

Archives

The Playlist

Watch: 1-Hour 2002 BBC Documentary 'Robert Altman In England'

  • By Ben Brock
  • |
  • June 12, 2013 11:25 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
News
Robert Altman is perhaps one of the finest directors America has ever produced, and his finest films – the '70s masterworks “M*A*S*H*,” “McCabe and Mrs Miller” and “Nashville,” the final flourish that is “A Prairie Home Companion” - are soaked in Americana. But today, his most influential and widely seen film is probably the 2002 English country house murder mystery “Gosford Park.” Look no further for proof of this than Julian Fellowes, who wrote the movie's script and, years later, pitched a little idea for a TV spin-off that ended up becoming “Downton Abbey.” You might have heard of it.
Read More »
More: Robert Altman

Interview: Justin Lin Talks Why Eva Mendes Didn't Come Back, And How Robert Altman Inspired 'Fast & Furious 6'

  • By Drew Taylor
  • |
  • May 22, 2013 11:59 AM
  • |
  • 2 Comments
Interviews
This weekend the sixth "Fast and Furious" installment, "Fast and Furious 6" (or 'Furious 6,' if you want to be really cool), races into theaters nationwide. This new film sees much of the cast from the original movies returning, with some notable additions (like Gina Carano from "Haywire") and an even bigger scale – one action sequence involves a tank, the other a runaway plane. And a little while back, we got to chat with director Justin Lin, who has shepherded the franchise since the third movie, "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," transitioning it from a silly "Point Break" rip-off to one of the most consistently entertaining action franchises around. Lin told us how he has been mapping out the franchise since the beginning, what thoughts he has for James Wan (who will direct the next installment) and how Robert Altman was a big inspiration on this movie (yes really).
Read More »
More: Justin Lin, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, James Wan, Robert Altman, Interviews

10 Robert Altman Films You May Not Know

  • By The Playlist Staff
  • |
  • March 21, 2013 1:05 PM
  • |
  • 29 Comments
Features
It's easy to forget that Robert Altman didn't have his breakthrough until he was well into his 40s, with 1970's "M*A*S*H." The filmmaker proved to be so prolific -- and continued to be piled with acclaim and critical plaudits well into his '80s -- that it feels like his career in feature cinema lasted for much longer than the 35 years he's known for (Altman made a few features prior to "M*A*S*H," but mostly worked in TV during the 1950s and 1960s).
Read More »
More: Features, The Essentials, Robert Altman

20 Oddball Sci-Fi Films Of The 1970s

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
  • |
  • March 7, 2013 1:30 PM
  • |
  • 13 Comments
Features
Somewhere between 1968's “2001: A Space Odyssey” and 1977's “Star Wars” something happened in the culture. Storytellers, perhaps inspired by the way the hippie, counter-culture was fizzling out, combined with the still-dragging-on war in Vietnam, and post-Watergate disillusion, began to look at the future in a somewhat darker, more idiosyncratic way than had been the case before, with recurring themes of environmental disaster, utopias gone sour, and the end of all things.
Read More »
More: Features, Robert Altman, Logan's Run, Andrei Tarkovsky, John Boorman, George Lucas, Nicolas Roeg, Douglas Trumbull, Saul Bass, Feature

Watch: 1987 Robert Altman Adaptation of Harold Pinter’s ‘The Room’ For ABC TV

  • By Tess Hofmann
  • |
  • February 12, 2013 12:42 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment
News
If you’ve ever heard high-culture appreciating television viewers lament the fact that Bravo used to air operas while now it airs Andy Cohen, those same folks might be equally disheartened to see this one act play directed by Robert Altman in 1987 for ABC, the network that is now home to 17 seasons of “The Bachelor.” Altman directed a two-part special entitled “Basements,” with both halves being adaptations of English playwright Harold Pinter’s one act plays “The Room” and “The Dumb Waiter.” “The Room” surfaced online recently in the form of a VHS rip, and it’s a thoroughly bizarre 48 minute experience that fans of the celebrated Altman (“Gosford Park,” “The Player,” “M*A*S*H*”) or Pinter (“The Birthday Party,” “The Homecoming,” “Betrayal”) might want to check out.
Read More »
More: Robert Altman

10 Films To Check Out In Amazon's New 'Never Before On DVD' Section

  • By Cain Rodriguez
  • |
  • May 27, 2012 10:15 AM
  • |
  • 9 Comments
News
Taking a page from the successful programs that Warner Bros. and other studios have launched, Amazon has unveiled their “Never Before on DVD” store, which will make DVD copies of films and television shows that have not yet made the leap to home video.
Read More »
More: Amazon Studios, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, Brian De Palma, Paul Schrader, The Search

Robert Altman And Dennis Hopper To Become Subjects Of New Documentaries

  • By Ryan Gowland
  • |
  • May 18, 2012 1:40 PM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
News
With a career that dates back in the 1950s, Robert Altman started out making industrials and working in television before switching to features in 1970 with "MASH," a film that kicked off a decade where the director flirted with perfection, with classics like "McCabe & Mrs. Miller," "The Long Goodbye," and "Nashville." The 1980's wouldn't be as kind after Altman started the decade with the musical "Popeye," but he would eventually bounce back commercially with 1992's "The Player" and 1993's "Short Cuts" before receiving his fifth Academy Award nomination for directing with 2001's "Gosford Park." The director's career career ended with Altman's death in 2006, and documentarian Ron Mann ("Comic Book Confidential") is planning to examine his career in the upcoming Epix Original Documentary "Altman."
Read More »
More: Robert Altman, Dennis Hopper, Documentary

Watch: Lost 1951 Short Film 'Modern Football' Directed By Robert Altman

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
  • |
  • March 13, 2012 9:23 AM
  • |
  • 1 Comment
News
We live in an age where it seems almost every movie is just a mouse click or Netflix queue away, but there are still corners and pockets of the cinema world that are hiding in boxes or have been neglected by time waiting to be rediscovered. And even someone like the legendary Robert Altman still has a few things yet to see to the light of day. However, one of them has now been discovered thanks to director Gary Huggins.
Read More »
More: Robert Altman

Follow Us

Email Updates

What's Poppin'

Recent Comments

Blog Roll

Around The Network

the network

indiewire

categories