Prairie Home Companion (no spoilers, just oblique commentary)

Really liked it a lot.

Some backstory: Apparently, Altman originally wanted to do radio drama as a kid, but unfortunately for him, the genre died out, so he became a movie director instead. He and Keillor share the same agent and the hookup was made. So there ya go. His love for radio really shines here.

I thought Altman's trademark touches served the story well. I haven't listened to PHC in years, but his style of cross-talk combined with long, long single takes was really nicely done (I'm an Altman fanboy, btw). He served the screenplay very well. In retrospect, I can't imagine another director doing it.

Wasn't overly keen on Kevin Kline and Virginia Madsen's storyline at first, but eventually, I bought into it (it threw my girlfriend a bit). Did I like it? It was okay, probably the weakest part of the movie. But overall, IMO, it could be the best flick out there right now.

In sum: well-worth your movie-going dollar.

 

My parents saw this and loved it. Of course, my parents are in their 60s.

 

That strikes me as a non sequitur. What's age got to do with it?. (Little sensitive here since your parents aren't a helluva lot older than some of us senior SportsJournalists.comers)

Altman is one of my favorite movie directors.

I remember being absolutely blown away when I saw "McCabe & Mrs. Miller".

 

Ever hear any radio dramas or books on radio? Heck I think they beat most of what's on TV now.

 

I actually saw PHC performed once. It was pretty amazing.

 

Ace, despite my rants against XM, my one addiction is the Old Time Radio station.

I could listen to it for hours.

 

Okay, Cadet, if you can stop popping zits and beating off to Linda Stouffer on Headline News for a few minutes, do this:

Go on Netflix. Rent the following...actually, rent any three of the following:
The Player
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Nashville
M*A*S*H (the movie)
Tanner '88
Pret a Porter
Gosford Park

Now, some of these are old. Some of these classic go back to a time when cell phones didn't exist and your parents were still fucking. I hope that's not an issue. I mean, Christ on a cracker, Lindsay Lohan's in PHC; you youngsters like her, right? (She doesn't wink in the poster for the movie. Sorry.)

If you watch no other Altman film, watch THE PLAYER. Pay attention to the beginning. It's about four minutes of moving camera and about thirty people with speaking roles, many of whom talk over each other. At about the four-minute mark or so, you'll see the first filmic cut in the movie.

For my two cents, it blows the long restaurant scene in GOODFELLAS out of the water.

 

Great post (although NOTHING beats the restaurant scene in Goodfellas).

"Nashville" is one of the great forgotten treasures of the past 40 years.

 

The additional, complicating aspect of the Goodfellas shot is the interactivity with all of those actors with the camera treated like a character.

The camera is treated as an invisible entity by the players in The Player shot.

Right?

 

A. Cadet's a woman.
B. My parents are in their 50s and I'm 30. Parents in their 60s could have even a kid who's 50.



So maybe playing the cocksucker card here didn't work out so well for you.

 

I have every intention of seeing this movie. My parents are massive fans of the radio show, so I grew up listening to it. I will, however, probably wait until it's out on DVD. I have a limited summer movie budget, and most of it will be spent on flicks that I expect will lose a lot on the small screen.

 

Slight threadjack for another Altman film a lot of the folks on SportsJournalists.com would probably like...."California Split" with George Segal and Elliot Gould. They play a pair of degenerate gamblers. Amarillo Slim has a bit part in it. It makes a nice double feature with "Sideways"...matter of fact, the two guys in that movie are the 70s era versions of the characters played by Pig Vomit and Lowell.  

I do want to see "Prairie Home Companion"...it seems to me it would make a nice double feature with "Prairie Wind" that Neil Young concert movie that just came out on DVD. Might be the similar titles or the fact that NPR put the two of 'em together on Fresh Air the other day......