Osler's recent post on Prairie Home Companion reminded me I wanted to say something about Robert Altman's death.
Actually, Altman came up during the weekend as my buddy Bruce, as his habit, tried to stump me with bizarre trivia questions. His question was "What was the first major Hollywood studio movie to use the word 'fuck' in the dialogue?"* Which led to a ten-minute discussion on what constitutes a major Hollywood studio movie, but I eventually pulled out the correct answer... MASH.
Altman's not my favorite director, though I do like a lot of his movies. But there are two things I love about Altman. ONE - even his failures are interesting. Yeah, The Player is great, and while I'm not a fan of Nashville, its a classic. But I'm drawn to his misses like Popeye and his TV series, Gun. Both are absolutely fascinating and taught me that I'd rather watch for someone reach for greatness and fail than reach for mediocrity and acheive it.
TWO - He started late in life to become one of the great directors of his generation. By the time he finally got his hands on a Hollywood movie, he made MASH. He was already 45 years old and had been laboring in obscurity on a series of tv shows you've never heard of (and a few episodes of Bonanza). He's lumped in with Scorcese and Coppola when he was actually from a different generation. But, with his late start, he still had a career which takes a backseat to no one.
As someone who started law school a little bit older than the rest of the class, I find great inspiration in Robert Altman. I hope my failures are just as interesting.
*Ed Note- no one ever said we were couth.
4 comments:
40 is the new 30 and as a 23 year old in my 2nd year of law school I find it staggering the amount of responsibility I will be given in 1.5 years… age brings experience and hopefully wisdom.
I'm 31. And let me tell you, I'm still waiting for the wisdom bit.
I'm almost 63 years old, and I'm still amazed they let me drive a car!
Which leads me to wondering why people talk to me at all. I'm not old, wise, and I don't consider myself that interesting. What I do have, is an unwavering respect for people who can make it past thirty and still find any value in anything I have to say.
I hope to be one of those people one day. I think I'm on the right track, whether 18, 43, 31, 23, I think people generally all have a gem of advice that (when applied) can make my life better. Special thanks to Baker and Osler.
You guys do it regularly.
Love,
Matt
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