(no subject)
Tonight's film was the sprawling slice-of-life in LA piece by Robert Altman (based on the work of Raymond Carver) known as Short Cuts. And when I say sprawling, I mean a HELL of a lot of movie: a 3 hour running time and 22 major characters. And a hell of a cast playing those characters, I might add. In the briefest possible summary:
Madeline Stowe and Tim Robbins play a strained married couple - he's a cop with an inferiority complex who's cheating on her with divorced mom Frances McDormand. Frances's ex-husband Peter Gallagher is less than thrilled about her new romances. Meanwhile, Madeline's artist-sister Julianne Moore is having her own marital problems with her doctor husband Matthew Modine that come to a head on the day that they're to have dinner with another couple: clown Anne Archer and unemployed fisherman Fred Ward. Fred, while on a fishing trip with his buddies Huey Lewis and Buck Henry, discovered a dead body in the water. While THAT's going on, Matthew Modine is caring for a kid in the ICU who got hit by a car, while his parents Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell are harassed by baker Lyle Lovett. Bruce Davison is also upset by the sudden arrival of his estranged father Jack Lemmon. Next door to this family live aging jazz singer Annie Ross and her troubled cellist daughter Lori Singer. The woman who hit the kid, waitress Lily Tomlin, is trying to hold onto her tempestuous relationship with alcoholic limo driver Tom Waits. Lily's daughter Lili Taylor is squatting with her makeup artist husband Robert Downey Jr in their neighbor's apartment. They hang out with poolman Chris Penn, who's slowly being pushed over the edge by his wife Jennifer Jason Leigh's phone-sex job.
And keep in mind, that's just setting up all the characters. Altman does dizzying kaliedoscopes very well, though, and even though there's a lot going on, it's so interwoven, it manages to hold together and once you get used to the pacing and shifting, it's not hard to follow. And I like movies that are complex tapestries of life. This film's a lot like a grittier, less artsy predecessor to Magnolia (I'm sure PTA would have to cite the influence), which I really loved also.
Anyway, I have the sudden, overwhelming urge to play Myst for some reason.
Madeline Stowe and Tim Robbins play a strained married couple - he's a cop with an inferiority complex who's cheating on her with divorced mom Frances McDormand. Frances's ex-husband Peter Gallagher is less than thrilled about her new romances. Meanwhile, Madeline's artist-sister Julianne Moore is having her own marital problems with her doctor husband Matthew Modine that come to a head on the day that they're to have dinner with another couple: clown Anne Archer and unemployed fisherman Fred Ward. Fred, while on a fishing trip with his buddies Huey Lewis and Buck Henry, discovered a dead body in the water. While THAT's going on, Matthew Modine is caring for a kid in the ICU who got hit by a car, while his parents Bruce Davison and Andie MacDowell are harassed by baker Lyle Lovett. Bruce Davison is also upset by the sudden arrival of his estranged father Jack Lemmon. Next door to this family live aging jazz singer Annie Ross and her troubled cellist daughter Lori Singer. The woman who hit the kid, waitress Lily Tomlin, is trying to hold onto her tempestuous relationship with alcoholic limo driver Tom Waits. Lily's daughter Lili Taylor is squatting with her makeup artist husband Robert Downey Jr in their neighbor's apartment. They hang out with poolman Chris Penn, who's slowly being pushed over the edge by his wife Jennifer Jason Leigh's phone-sex job.
And keep in mind, that's just setting up all the characters. Altman does dizzying kaliedoscopes very well, though, and even though there's a lot going on, it's so interwoven, it manages to hold together and once you get used to the pacing and shifting, it's not hard to follow. And I like movies that are complex tapestries of life. This film's a lot like a grittier, less artsy predecessor to Magnolia (I'm sure PTA would have to cite the influence), which I really loved also.
Anyway, I have the sudden, overwhelming urge to play Myst for some reason.