I love Altman, but even I have to concede that Gingerbread Man is a total cluster fuck from beginning to end. Still enjoying your Not Lenten Odyssey of Pain, though!

We watched Half Nelson last night, and I really really liked it. It's a very quiet movie, and Ryan's performance is very quiet as well, but I think it was the perfect feel for the story they were telling. And I thought Shareeka Epps was fantastic. Anthony Mackie was a pleasant surprise - I had no idea who else was going to show up - and he did really well, too. But Ryan...holy crap. That was a pretty incredible performance.

Laddical, it was mostly the character, but I've not liked her in other things, so that probably didn't help. Affleck was good, though. And I didn't mind the detective plot; I thought it was an effective way to get the multiple sides of the story.

YAY! It warms my heart when people like this movie. What you said was so accurate as well -- it's quiet, but there's SO MUCH in there. I really really need to rewatch it this weekend.

See, I was really interested in the George Reeves plot, and really loved BA's performance...but I was utterly meh on the detective plot, I thought it was deadweight and that Adrien Brody was uncharacteristically bland.

3 Women: I will have to retire the title “Most Pretentious piece of Shit I have Ever Seen”, because I can’t imagine anything going under the bar set by 3 Women. Altman himself said this movie was pretentious, that’s like Ann Coulter admitting she was rather bitchy the other day.

Altman got the idea for 3W from a dream he had, which was a slightly worse choice than making a film out of not wearing pants to school, driving through a tunnel or waking up right before Uma Thurman gets her bra off.

Unlike movies with the words “3 women” in the title this is not a gonzo porn, it also has less plot than gonzo porn.

On back checking the movie there is the usual amount of over effusive praise. Ebert gives this 4 stars in his original review and goes further declaring it one of his classic movies, even while admitting he doesn’t understand it. 3W is the epitome of the joke about an intellectual put-on being so incoherent it has to be good, you are too dumb to understand it so just play along.

This won all sorts of critics awards and Shelly Duvall won a best actress for her flat dead eyed readings of some of the most inane banter. Like Altman’s trademarks of ensembles, overlapping dialogue and stealing the opening shot of A Touch of Evil his fascination in Shelly Duvall is something that could be tolerated for a bit, but goes on for 6 or 7 films. However like I said about the bad sound might not be a bad thing, as Quintet proved the characters really don't have much worth saying anyway, maybe Altman jamming 50 one-dimensional characters into a movie might not be so bad because taking the time to get to know one (Duvall) makes for an excruciating experience.

As for the plot, Duvall and Sissy Spacek switch personalities. Altman is either aping the far superior Persona or a precursor to the father/son mind-swapping comedies of the 80’s.

On the Altman time line this is his second film after Nashville and the last before A Wedding, which is usually pegged as the watershed in his late 70’s immolation. I would care to disagree. I think 3 Women fits in with Altman’s string of duds. This also groups it with Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson a recognized miss (although Altman fans say it's underrated!) which would peg Altman’s nose dive as starting right after Nashville and hitting bottom with Popeye.

As bad as the previous entries in the festival are, which is to say horrible, 3 Women was by far the most soul crushing and excruciating cinematic experience I have had in a long time. I had to play the fight scene in Borat to fight the urge to take a bath with the toaster.

I wish you wouldn't hold back so much in your Altman Fest reviews!

Oh. My. Gods. I just got done watching Hard Candy and I loved it! That was so fucked up! But in a totally awesome way. I loved everything about that movie. The plot, the acting, the set design, the cinematography, everything. So good. I'm in love with Ellen Page (but in a completely non-sexual way. Wouldn't want her showing up at my house...).

Lets Go To Prison I knew it would be crap. I knew it wouldn't be funny. I knew it would suuuuuck. And hey! I was right! The ONLY reason I rented it and didn't shut it off after 10 minutes was because of my sweet sexy Will Arnett.

Hey, at least she'd be stumped for her usual methods at first. You'd have a head start.

By the way apparently Will Arnett and Patrick Wilson look a lot alike, so can we pretend Let's Go to Prison is something of a sequel to Hard Candy, with a little bit of recasting and a little bit of retconning?

Yeah I'm just a bit circumspect.

O.C. and Stiggs: I’ve been trying to alternate Altman titles by the stages of his career; 70’s rise and fall, 80’s exile, 90’s comeback. So after the root canal that was 3 Women I wanted something I could stand. However the 80’s were up on the rotation and represented the largest gap in my viewing history (those haven’t been forced on me in film class or by art house friends). With plenty of research I chose National Lampoon’s: O.C. and Stiggs.

My father was a National Lampoon subscriber and was neglectful enough to let me read the magazine. I knew the characters and have nostalgia for them…then the deflating realization: Altman… telling jokes. In the hierarchy of Lampoon franchises Altman easily trounces Senior Trip and comes within screaming distance of Van Wilder.

Say this about Altman he never was afraid to branch out. Altman was never afraid to try something different than his niche of filming plays that closed the night before they opened and getting fifty jackasses two minutes of screen time and he attacks the teenage sex romp with a zeal that says “You got my check?”

Another Altman trait is he won’t abandon a film. Prior to his death I doubt there isn’t a special features menu that lacks his voice. Here he tells us how much he hated the 80’s teen pick and decided to turn it into a satire, of what I don’t know. The Reagan administration or something.

Fortunately the genre made Altman abandon his trade mark “Here it comes! It’s going to be funny! Here it is!” delivery. And there are laughs to be had, but the batting average is way too low. Altman also scuttles jokes with his sound design and slipshod preparation, what could be funny lines don’t register because they are lost in the cacophony or read flat.

There’s the predictable wasted talent Paul Dooley, Jane Curtain, John Cryer, Martin Mull, Cynthia Nixon… meanwhile the leads are now teaching theatre at some Simi Valley Community College.

OC&S set on the shelf , but when you have to measure up to the exacting standards of Spring Break and Hot Dog: the Movie you can never be too sure. However Altman did top them in plotlessness (with one hand tied behind his back.)

It takes work to inject pretentiousness into a teen comedy. Altman always the trooper manages by putting a Ladyship Black Mombazo knock off in the movie. Way to keep your fingers on the pulse of teenage America Botswana Bob!

I’m sure in director afterlife Hitchcock is taunting Altman about being in the chair for the nadir of Bob Uecker’s acting career.

I finally got around to seeing Little Miss Sunshine. I can't say I expected Adam Arkin's character to die fifty minutes or so into the movie. With that said, I liked the characters/performances but the film itself was okay. Enjoyable and fun, but I don't think it'll be part of my DVD collection anytime soon.

Holy crap! Before I knew that Patrick Wilson had been Raoul in Phantom, I had checked out the Patrick/Claire Danes GAP ad from another thread and I thought, "That looks like GOB!"

Glad I'm not the only one, though I don't think I would have mistaken Will for Patrick.

I just saw For Your Consideration. Fred Willard wearing a faux-hawk=comedy gold.

I saw Half Nelson tonight, and while I thought it was a little slow-moving as a whole, I did enjoy it. Ryan Gosling was amazing and immersed himself completely in the role. He definitely earned his Oscar nomination. Shareeka Epps was fantastic as well.