TL wrote: I can't believe that scamp got away with another
one. He was a wiley sumbitch.
*********
I know you're being funny, but, frankly, he didn't
"get away with" it. The Long Goodbye is a low point in
Altman's career by any standard. It did poorly at the box
office and was not well received by critics. Only from an
Andrew Saris pov, "forest" of films as opposed to individual
"trees," is this film worth spending the time it takes to see
it. If you're studying Altman for his take on the culture he
was living through, this film, in context with his other
films on either side of it, make some modicum of sense.
Standing on it's own, or as a Chandler vehicle, as opposed to
an Altman vehicle, it is a total failure.
Patrick King
--- Terrill Lankford <
lankford2000@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: jimdohertyjr <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com>
> >Sent: Feb 11, 2007 5:10 PM
> >To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: The Long
Goodbye
> >
> >dave,
> >
> >Re your comments below:
> >
> >
> >
> >> "If you don't go in expecting Chandler or
a
> straight detective
> >yarn,
> >> you may well fall madly in love with this
oddball
> Long Goodbye. Not
> >> Altman's "best" or most ambitiously
original
> work, but definitely
> >my
> >> favorite."
> >>
> >> A corollary to this statement I guess would
be if
> you go in
> >expecting
> >> Chandler you may well madly hate this
film...
> >
> >And I do. Not only because I was
expecting
> Chandler, but because I
> >thought, and think, that I had every right
to
> expect Chandler, and
> >that Altman had NO right to shit all over
this
> perfectly just
> >expectation.
>
>
>
> I can't believe he didn't consult with you
before
> filming commenced.
>
> Sounds like you'd like to get your hands on him
and
> make him pay for the oversight.
>
> I can't believe that scamp got away with
another
> one. He was a wiley sumbitch.
>
> And while you may hate the movie, Altman,
and
> perhaps even cats, I don't think you can
honestly
> make a claim that he defecated on you or
your
> expectations since he didn't know you at the
time.
>
> (I would like to think Altman might quote
Marlowe
> (as spoken to Marty Augustine) if he had been
given
> the option though, "I wouldn't think of doing
that.
> Maybe some other time, though, you
know.")
>
>
>
> >
> >> Like Terrill, I don't necessary take
Altman
> thinking of Marlowe as
> >> a loser as a negative or an indication
that
> Altman was trying to
> >> disparage Chandler's work. Hell, Rockford
Files,
> which I always saw
> >> as the heir apparent to Marlowe, had Jimbo
pretty
> much as a loser
> >> also, but in a sympathetic way,
somewhat
> endearing way.
> >
> >Altman disparaged Chandler treatment of
the
> character, and, whether
> >or not Altman finds losers sympathetic isn't
the
> point. The point is
> >Marlowe is NOT a loser.
>
>
>
>
> He's says he is at the end of the movie. He
even
> says that he lost his cat.
>
> But he still gets the last shot in. Isn't that
good
> for something?
>
> Looks like he's the winner to me. As much as he
can
> be one in the world in which he lives.
>
>
> >
> >And, while you're right about Jim being an
heir
> apparent to Marlowe,
> >it's not Gould's Marlowe he's heir to, but
Garner's
> own turn as the
> >character in the film version of THE LITTLE
SISTER,
> and infinitely
> >better movie than TLG, for all that it's much
less
> ambitious.
> >
>
>
>
>
> Now you're talking crazy talk. The only thing
that
> movie has going for it is the first scene with
Bruce
> Lee. (The second scene is incredibly
stupid.)
>
> That movie is good evidence that Altman was
right.
>
> It's tolerable, but pedestrian.
>
>
>
>
> >And you misread Rockford if you see him as a
loser.
> He triumphs much
> >more often than he loses. He's handy with
dukes.
> He's handy with
> >his gun. He's fast-talking and fast-thinking.
And
> he's really
> >damned good at basic detective work. Sure he
takes
> his lumps, but he
> >bounces back. He lives life on his own terms
and
> is basically
> >happy. Finally, speaking as one who was
blessed
> with a great dad, no
> >one who has a father like Rocky is a loser. And
no
> one who can go
> >through the experience of being convicted of
a
> crime he didn't commit
> >and emerge with as positive an attitude as
Rockford
> does is a
> >loser.
> >
> >Gould's Marlowe, by way of sharp contrast, is
none
> of these things.
> >He's just an ineffectual nebbish who spends most
of
> the movie getting
> >pushed around while muttering that, "It's OK
with
> me."
> >
> >JIM DOHERTY
>
>
>
>
> That may be his mantra through most of the film,
but
> by the end I think we all understand that it
WASN'T
> okay with him.
>
> Perhaps you take dialogue too literally.
> Occasionally, in more complex works, people
say
> things they do not mean. And mean things they do
not
> say.
>
> TL
>
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