My favorite Altman. But I chose to read instead “surrealism vs. masturbation”. That was a good one. Altman was certainly no surrealist. He was a satirist, if he was anything. I enjoy “3 Women”. But as I watched it I was asking, ok, what’s this, Bergman? Also, Charles Rosher’s cinematography was so good I didn’t miss Vilmos. Anyway, Lynch is a true surrealist. It isn’t just something he wears, like the many idiots who pick it up in film school, and have absolutely no understanding of what it is exactly. There is more surrealism in that moment in Bunuel’s “Los Olividados” when the kid hurls an egg at the camera (not to mention the extraordinary dream sequence), than you will find in dozens of films which strain to be surrealistic. Surrealism is a mind oriented in a very particular direction. It’s not fucking art design. That’s quotation, not surrealism. I go easy on Charlie Kaufman because he seems to be dealing with issues which positively plague the man. I don’t know that he’d call himself a surrealist, so I won’t either. And neither would Lynch. And it doesn’t matter. Labels don’t matter. Although, I love it when Sasha Grey refers to herself as as a sexual existentialist. I love it.
One of my favourite movies of all time. Unfortunately all I have is a bootleg .AVI of it. Does anyone know if there’s any chance of the DVD being reissued—especially without the replacement music?
A great film. A DVD is long overdue.
i have the DVD.
Cool. It is the original release or a newer one?
newer one i think. Got it last year.
It’s nice to hear that others enjoy this film.
I think that dvd is out of print already. What’s the deal with the music issue anyway?
I shouldn’t have put off buying it, I love this flick. Since this board is Criterion-tied, may they see what they can do. Just beacuse Altman’s dead doesn’t mean a Segal/Gould commentary wouldn’t be fun…http://crackle.com/c/California_Split
Since it’s still out of print and happens to be a masterpiece, here it is free. I just heard of Crackle today, but since everything on it appears to be Sony/Columbia I guess they decided to sit out Hulu.
Great movie. Gould Segal Paula Prentiss Gwen Welles Bert Remsen – they’re all fantastic.
Greatest gambling movie ever made. I want to call it Altman’s masterpiece but it’s too fucking hard.
Great, great Altman. Saw it years ago at the BFI and the audience burst into applause at the end. That remains one of my favourite movie-going experiences.
Wow – this thread proves my point from elsewhere no one can really talk about the films – it all comes down to like/not-like
Keep looking, Robert. We’ve talked about Altman’s films to death around here. You’re just late to the party.
Adam Lippe
Want to read an exhaustive analysis of Altman’s masterpiece? Me neither.
http://www.regrettablesincerity.com/?p=1634