5.04.2010

trailer tuesday

this week's entry is for my second favorite robert altman film, the long goodbye (1973). elliott gould plays chandler's knight-errant as if he just awoke from a thirty year nap and found himself in the loony bin that was southern california in the seventies. altman's camera never stops moving but you would never notice it. and the theme music turns up everywhere - on the radio, as muzak, even as a mariachi tune. my favorite version of it, though, is the one they use in the trailer. jack sheldon does vocals on this one. most of my generation will recognize him from conjunction junction. if you've somehow missed this one you really should see it.

2 comments:

  1. I miss movies like this. I guess it's the time period that makes them so good but I keep holding out that someone, somewhere will continue the legacy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. someone will always be doing good work, but i just don't think it can feel the same. these films and performances are like flies in amber. much the same way george clooney is no cary grant, these things are simply a product of their time. altman, in particular, captures that early seventies feeling like no one else for me. it's strong, subconscious, the way he works on me. not many things make me nostalgic but sometimes he can.

    ReplyDelete