Robert Altman

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Alfred Hitchcock: 1 line

1. craft (craft) · through The Player (1992), which they directed: Alfred Hitchcock ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley notes the Hitchcock-like touches in the rattlesnake and police station scenes.

   “Little Hitchcock homage, I feel like.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Dr. Strangelove (1964): 1 line

1. people (casting persona) · through The Long Goodbye (1973), which they directed: Dr. Strangelove ⇒ The Long Goodbye (the host's read). Speaker says Strangelove was the first time Hayden's personal struggles were put on screen, and later filmmakers used that persona going forward (Godfather, Long Goodbye).

   “This is the 1st time when like his personal struggles, like were actualized in a movie, and then I felt like filmmakers only used this in movies going forward”

   Blank Check — Patreon · Dr. Strangelove... with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:55:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Nashville (1975): 1 line, within their own work

1. craft (craft) · through The Player (1992), which they directed: Nashville ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley says the tricks Altman uses in The Player, like famous people dropping into a space, are ones he used in Nashville.

   “a lot of the tricks that he's using in the player, I mean, he uses in Nashville, right?”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:17:32 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)

Raymond Carver: 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · through Short Cuts (1993), which they directed: Raymond Carver ⇒ Short Cuts (the host's read). Bill loved The Player, then watched anxiously to see how Short Cuts would turn Carver into a movie.

   “Carver was my favorite short story person.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:10:44 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Singin' in the Rain (1952): 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · through The Player (1992), which they directed: Singin' in the Rain ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Sean says movies about movies go back long before The Player, e.g. Singin' in the Rain, but this one is far more inside the joke.

   “Going back to singing in the rain.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:04:08 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

Tanner '88 (1988): 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Tanner '88 ⇒ Robert Altman (the host's read). Tanner '88 is where Altman found the satirical tone he carried into The Player, using politics as the way into mocking egomaniacs.

   “that's where he figures out this satirical tone that he's then going to follow into the player.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:16:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

The Long Goodbye (1973): 1 line, within their own work

1. lineage (lineage) · through The Player (1992), which they directed: The Long Goodbye ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley reads Greta Scacchi's character as an echo of Nina van Pallandt's ice queen in The Long Goodbye, itself a riff on noir femmes fatales.

   “that character is a an echo of another Altman character, the Nina Van Palant character in the longabai”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:07:08 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

Touch of Evil (1958): 1 line

1. craft (craft) · through The Player (1992), which they directed: Touch of Evil ⇒ The Player (the host's read). The Player's opening nods to Touch of Evil's tracking shot by having Fred Ward's character talk about it, then reveal he never watches foreign films.

   “Fred Ward talking about the tracking shot and touch of evil, but then revealing that he never watches foreign films.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:35:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

The Player (1992): 2 lines, within their own work

1. craft (craft) · through Nashville (1975), which they directed: Nashville ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley says the tricks Altman uses in The Player, like famous people dropping into a space, are ones he used in Nashville.

   “a lot of the tricks that he's using in the player, I mean, he uses in Nashville, right?”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:17:32 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)
2. lineage (lineage) · through The Long Goodbye (1973), which they directed: The Long Goodbye ⇒ The Player (the host's read). Wesley reads Greta Scacchi's character as an echo of Nina van Pallandt's ice queen in The Long Goodbye, itself a riff on noir femmes fatales.

   “that character is a an echo of another Altman character, the Nina Van Palant character in the longabai”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:07:08 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)

Adam McKay: 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Robert Altman ⇒ Adam McKay (the host's read). Altman was one of the first directors to encourage ad-libbing, a trend followed by McKay, Apatow and PTA.

   “there is this whole generation directors that follows Adam McKay, Apatow, Paul Thomas Anderson”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:31:43 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

Hard Eight (Sydney): 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Robert Altman ⇒ Hard Eight (Sydney) (the host's read). If you talk about its influences you have to talk about Altman too.

   “you got to talk about Altman, I think too”

   The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:58:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Paul Thomas Anderson: 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Robert Altman ⇒ Paul Thomas Anderson (the host's read). Bill says Altman's legacy is the filmmakers he influenced, and Boogie Nights is PTA trying to do The Player and Altman.

   “He's just basically trying to do the player, right?”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:20:10 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)

Punch-Drunk Love (2002): 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · through Popeye (1980), which they directed: Popeye ⇒ Punch-Drunk Love (the host's read). Wesley says PTA's debt to Altman runs deep, down to the Shelley Duvall Popeye song used in Punch-Drunk Love.

   “the way that that Shelley Duval song from Popeye functions in punch trunk love”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:21:58 · Wesley Morris (0.85 sure it was them)

Richard Linklater: 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Robert Altman ⇒ Richard Linklater (the host's read). Sean lists Linklater with PTA among 90s directors who took Altman's interest in communities and worlds.

   “They really were into Linklater is another one.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:21:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

The Larry Sanders Show (1992): 1 line

1. lineage (lineage) · through The Player (1992), which they directed: The Player ⇒ The Larry Sanders Show (the host's read). Bill asks whether The Player is ground zero for the meta-Hollywood strain that runs through Larry Sanders and Curb.

   “Larry Sanders and Curb your enthusiasm and all these different things we've had over the 30 years.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:03:46 · Bill Simmons (0.95 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (36) everyone in directing

• director, Kansas City (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri)
• director, Resurrection Blues (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak)
• director, Brewster McCloud (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak)
• director, Buffalo Bill and the Indians (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Flesh+Blood)
• director, Short Cuts (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Judging The Judge)
• director, Heaven's Gate (as transcribed 'health') (The Rewatchables, ‘After Hours’ with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey)
• director, The Player (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Popeye (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Short Cuts (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Nashville (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, MASH (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Tanner '88 (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Vincent & Theo (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, McCabe & Mrs. Miller (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Gosford Park (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, The Long Goodbye (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Brewster McCloud (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, California Split (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Cookie's Fortune (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, A Prairie Home Companion (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, The Company (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter) (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Kansas City (The Rewatchables, 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris)
• director, Gosford Park (The Big Picture, ‘Gladiator II’ Is Here. Are We Not Entertained?)
• director, Thieves Like Us (The Big Picture, Physical Media Strikes Back With Tim Simons)
• director, The Long Goodbye (The Big Picture, ‘Nightmare Alley’ and Our Favorite Films Noir, With Patton Oswalt!)
• director, The Player (Blank Check — Patreon, Alien³ with Matt Singer (Ad-Free))
• director, Brewster McCloud (Blank Check — Patreon, The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free))
• director, 3 Women (Blank Check — Patreon, The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free))
• director, Nashville (Blank Check — Patreon, The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free))
• director, M*A*S*H (Blank Check — Patreon, The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free))
• director, McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Blank Check — Patreon, The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free))
• director, 70s Altman films (Blank Check — Patreon, March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2)
• director, 80s/90s/2000s Altman films (Blank Check — Patreon, March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2)
• director, The Player (Blank Check — Patreon, Alien 3)
• director, Popeye (Blank Check — Patreon, Vanilla Sky with Richard Lawson (Ad-Free))

Other (4) everyone in other

• director (offered Urbaniak two jobs), Killer App (Blank Check with Griffin & David, Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak)
• influence on Hard Eight, Hard Eight (Sydney) (The Big Picture, Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster)
• influence, (influence) (The Big Picture, Joe Wright Bounces Back From His Darkest Hour | The Big Picture (Ep. 37))
• director (Duvall's mentor; opposed her Popeye casting), Popeye (Blank Check — Patreon, The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free))

What was said about them, by kind

career (3)

1. career (career): Robert Altman → Popeye. Sean wonders whether the Popeye flop triggered Altman's blue period in the 80s.

   “whether it triggers Altman's kind of like blue period in the 80s is kind of an interesting question”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:15:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
2. career (career): Robert Altman → Vincent & Theo. Wesley says Vincent & Theo got critics paying attention again and set the table for The Player.

   “it sets the table for some kind of, um, you know, thunder striking from a god on high when you get to the player.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:28:53 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)
3. career (career): Robert Altman → MASH. Altman's peak is argued as post-MASH, when he used a surprise hit to make the wild Brewster McCloud.

   “he makes Brewster McLeod is the 1st movie he makes after Mesh, which is a wild movie”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:26:04 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

contrast (3)

1. contrast (contrast): Robert De Niro → Robert Altman. The hosts debate whether De Niro's preparation-heavy method fits Altman's improvisational process.

   “I think that something about the way Altman works, I think, is probably counterproductive for De Niro for the way De Niro works.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:34 · Wesley Morris (0.40 sure it was them)
2. contrast (contrast): Robert Altman → David Cronenberg. Altman faces Cronenberg in an interesting vibes matchup.

   “Now, Altman is going to fight fight with Cronenberg.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:41:42 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
3. contrast (contrast): Robert Altman → John Cassavetes. Altman beat Cassavetes in round 1; Altman is imagined winning a real-life fight against him.

   “He was folding Castavetti's like laundry”

   Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:04:57 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

craft (1)

1. craft (craft): Robert Altman → Michael Tolkin. Altman changed Tolkin's screenplay and was unkind about it; the film's ending differs greatly from the book.

   “And Altman was a little unkind about Tolkien's screenplay.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:31:28 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

lineage (5)

1. lineage (lineage): Robert Altman → Tanner '88. Tanner '88 is where Altman found the satirical tone he carried into The Player, using politics as the way into mocking egomaniacs.

   “that's where he figures out this satirical tone that he's then going to follow into the player.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:16:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
2. lineage (lineage): Robert Altman → Paul Thomas Anderson. Bill says Altman's legacy is the filmmakers he influenced, and Boogie Nights is PTA trying to do The Player and Altman.

   “He's just basically trying to do the player, right?”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:20:10 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
3. lineage (lineage): Robert Altman → Richard Linklater. Sean lists Linklater with PTA among 90s directors who took Altman's interest in communities and worlds.

   “They really were into Linklater is another one.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:21:37 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)
4. lineage (lineage): Robert Altman → Adam McKay. Altman was one of the first directors to encourage ad-libbing, a trend followed by McKay, Apatow and PTA.

   “there is this whole generation directors that follows Adam McKay, Apatow, Paul Thomas Anderson”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:31:43 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
5. lineage (lineage): Hard Eight (Sydney) → Robert Altman. If you talk about its influences you have to talk about Altman too.

   “you got to talk about Altman, I think too”

   The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:58:47 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

people (2)

1. people (people): Robert Altman → Shelley Duvall. Altman had return customers, such as seven movies with Shelley Duvall.

   “I think he did 7 movies with Shelley Duvall.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:22:53 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
2. people (frequent collaborator): Shelley Duvall → Robert Altman. Duvall did six Altman films in a row after being discovered by his producer.

   “she does what, 6 Altman movies in a row.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:24:42 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

programming (1)

1. programming (programming): Robert Altman → Robert Altman. If 70s Altman wins, Griffin promises the remaining Altman (80s-2000s) the next year.

   “if 70 Saltman wins, we can make the promise that the following year we will do the remainder of Altman”

   Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:05:40 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (2)

1. unmapped (dismissed): Robert Altman → Citizen Kane. Altman told Urbaniak he never thought Citizen Kane was that great.

   “I never thought Citizen K was that great.”

   Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:25:20 · James Urbaniak (0.85 sure it was them)
2. unmapped (blacklisted): Bud Cort → Robert Altman. Altman cut Bud Cort off for taking Harold and Maude after M*A*S*H and Brewster McCloud.

   “And Altman's like, door closed, you're never welcome back.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · The Shining with Timothy Simons (Ad-Free) · 1:25:49 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

1. verdict (verdict): Robert Altman → Gore Verbinski. Altman beat the top-seeded Verbinski.

   “ass beat by the, you know, the barrel chested Robert Altman”

   Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:40:48 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

1. fun, about Robert Altman: Altman told James he never thought Citizen Kane was that great, after he had followed Orson Welles through Paris.

   “I mean, Orson Wells is fine, but I never thought Citizen K was that great.”

   Blank Check with Griffin & David · Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak · 0:25:20 · James Urbaniak (0.90 sure it was them)
2. fun, about Robert Altman: Griffin would do Altman 1970 to 1980, not Buffalo Bill and the Indians.

   “My pitch would be 1970 to 1980.”

   Blank Check with Griffin & David · Flesh+Blood · 1:39:16 · David Sims (0.35 sure it was them)
3. fun, about Robert Altman: Wesley points to Mitchell Zuckoff's oral biography as where to start; it tells how Altman could be a terror and a menace.

   “the oral biography that Mitchell Zukov did in 2009, that features a lot of stories of how he could really be a terror.”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:26:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
4. fun, about Robert Altman: Studio offered full financing if Altman got a bigger star than Tim Robbins; he told them off and self-financed, hence Spelling Entertainment in the credits.

   “Altman was offered full studio financing of the player if he had a bigger star than Tim Robbins, and Altman said, fuck you”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:30:04 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
5. fun, about Robert Altman: A love-boat joke: an Altman movie is a deluxe Love Boat or Fantasy Island where the director is the cruise director.

   “I mean, it's a deluxe love boat, right?”

   The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:03:34 · Wesley Morris (0.80 sure it was them)
6. fun, about Robert Altman: Griffin's father drank with both Altman and Cassavetes on the same night, and thinks Altman would win a fight.

   “My father drank with both of them once.”

   Blank Check — Patreon · March Madness 2021 Recap - Round 2 · 0:09:36 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)