Robert Altman died last night. I'm not going to try and get into his influence on the cinematic world, quite simply because I couldn't do it justice.

One thing about Altman, is that his movies were unmistakeably Altman, which is the hallmark of a great director. Regardless of the source material he was working from, when you saw the film onscreen, there was no mistaking it for another director's work.

It's a daunting task to try to write anything about the broad range of Altman's work. From his TV days, his work on an early James Dean documentary, and on through his creating, or at least, his perfecting of a style of filmmaking, Altman was truly an original. I often loved his movies, but I could just as easily get pissed at what seemed like an offhand approach to moviemaking, at least in regards to his satisfying an audience's expectations.

I'm going to keep this brief so others can comment, but Altman did come up with a way for his multi-character casts to all seem to be talking at the same time while the camera prowled in and out of the conversations, which were sometimes improvised. Most Altman films don't have strong plotlines, but that never seemed to interest him. He was more into the characters, the complex sound design, the camera. As I said before, this can be a fascinating thing, but anyone looking for a straightforward film could easily get turned off. That is one reason why he never had a big commercial success.

Even so, most people are aware of his film version of MASH, which inspired the TV series. There's much to enjoy in Nashville and the The Player, even for more mainstream film watchers. Altman-lovers will probably enjoy most all of his work, especially his revisionist western McCabe and Mrs. Miller and his revisionist private-eye flick, The Long Goodbye.

Altman did receive an honorary Oscar earlier this year where he revealed that he had recently undergone a heart transplant. It was a highlight of the show to see him up there, saying that he planned to come back and receive a "real" Oscar. He did finish A Prairie Home Companion, but I don't believe he'll be recognized for that. There's a lot more to be said, but for now, I'll leave it at R.I.P., Mr. Altman.

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Altman did receive an honorary Oscar earlier this year where he revealed that he had recently undergone a heart transplant. It was a highlight of the show to see him up there, saying that he planned to come back and receive a "real" Oscar. He did finish A Prairie Home Companion, but I don't believe he'll be recognized for that. There's a lot more to be said, but for now, I'll leave it at R.I.P., Mr. Altman.

As soon as I heard the sad news today the first thing I thought was, "Man they sure timed that honorary Oscar right." You never know what could happen to someone in a year, so I'm glad they didn't wait too late with him. R.I.P.

Hated to hear this about such a great director. Besides the films mentioned, I also enjoyed Short Cuts and California Split. Rented a copy of A Prairie Home Companion today (haven't seen it before). RIP Robert Altman

Short Cuts is my all-time fave film. The Player was the script I studied in my screenwriting classes. Even though I haven't loved the more recent flicks, Bob gets much love from me. He will be missed.

Yeah, Short Cuts was great alright. The prowling camera, the engrossing stories, and Tom Waits and Annie Ross! There's a lot of his stuff I haven't seen, and some I didn't get. But he was the real deal. A creator, an auteur, and a man who was savvy enough to know that "quality" and "Oscar-winning" are terms that won't generally be applied to the same film anyway. May he rest in peace...