Robert Altman

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q55163: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to The Player, which 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris credits them on.

Counted as other. The films the hosts said they were tied to, which the two lists below run through too: Popeye (1980); (influence); Hard Eight (Sydney); Killer App. Count them as director (25 films) instead.

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.

David Mamet: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Hard Eight (Sydney), which they were tied to as influence on Hard Eight: David Mamet ⇒ Hard Eight (Sydney) (the maker said so: PTA talking about it). PTA talks about Mamet's influence, but Brian says he threw it off more easily than Brian and his partner do.
    “although PTA talks about Mammoth's influence”
    The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:54:07 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)

Robert Altman: 1 line, within their own work

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Hard Eight (Sydney), which they were tied to as influence on Hard Eight: 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)

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)

Drawn on by

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

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, within their own work

  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 were tied to as director (Duvall's mentor; opposed her Popeye casting): 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)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (36) everyone in directing

Other (4) everyone in other

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)