Robert Altman, one of cinema’s finest and most innovative directors, passed away last night at the age of 81.

A leader of American cinema’s creative golden age of the 1970s and an important filmmaker up to his death, Altman used a distinctive revisionist and naturalistic approach to explore the complex depths of the American character. Yeah, he could be frustrating and uneven (Popeye, Quintet, Ready to Wear), but like with any great artist, these cinematic mishaps only make his (rather large) body of work all the more fascinating.

Long, long ago when I was in film school, I saw Nashville and proceeded to flip out and watch all the Altman I could get my hands on. If you haven’t watched any of his flicks, I recommend the following:

-Nashville (might be the best American film of the ’70s)
-McCabe and Mrs. Miller (one of the best Westerns ever made)
-The Long Goodbye (one of the best film noirs ever made)
-Short Cuts (might be the best American film of the ’90s)
-The Player
-M*A*S*H
-Thieves Like Us
-California Split
-Vincent & Theo
-a couple of his 80s films when he was all into the whole stage play thing are worthwhile too: Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Streamers, the Nixon one…

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