Robert Altman @100: "Short Cuts" The Actresses

part 2 of a piece on Short Cuts (1993) to relaunch our Robert Altman tribute. (or start with part 1 if you missed it)

Julianne Moore & Anne Archer in "Short Cuts"

by Eric Blume

Inspired by Juan Carlos’ very fun and smart examination of the actresses in Nashville, I thought it might be fun to do the same for the many actresses in Short Cuts.  Here’s a report of my favorites from least to most…with the caveat that even the “least” are beautifully played by these super talented ladies.

10 Lili Taylor as Honey Bush
Taylor has possibly the least to do of any of the actresses, but it was joyful to see her again and be reminded of that fresh, weird, thrilling energy she brought to cinema in the 1990s.  Hollywood never figured out what to do with her, even though she’s worked continuously.  Here she’s yearning and touching, and she and Robert Downey Jr (before he got so self-conscious) find a quirky comic spark...

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Robert Altman @ 100: "Short Cuts" The Film

a two part piece on Short Cuts (1993) to relaunch our Robert Altman tribute

by Eric Blume 

It’s a joy to rewatch Robert Altman’s 1993 masterpiece Short Cuts over thirty years later.  I hadn’t seen the film since seeing it in theaters, back in the sweet days where Fine Line Features was the “arthouse” division of New Line Features, a mini-studio from which so many fine films sprung.  

Upon revisit, it’s easy to see how this film is a perfect illustration of Lightning in a Bottle.  Among its incredible cast of actors are future Oscar winners (Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr., Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore), past and future nominees (Bruce Davison, Anne Archer, Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Jason Leigh), plus some other terrific actors who are always rapturous to watch (Fred Ward, Lili Taylor, Madeleine Stowe, Peter Gallagher, Matthew Modine).  And then pepper in Tom Waits and Huey Lewis!  The talent in this movie is off-the-charts and each actor feels individually inspired.  I’m not sure what Altman did to get them so invested in their small, individual stories but together they truly pack a wallop...

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Beauty vs Beast: Koo Koo Ka Choose

Howdy and Happy Monday it's Jason from MNPP here on this, the day that the great Dustin Hoffman is turning 79 years old. How do you think he now views the concerns of his most famous character Benjamin Braddock of The Graduate, from the opposite vantage point of age? Of course he's much older now than Anne Bancroft was as Mrs. Robinson (now that I think about it I'm actually right around Mrs. Robinson's age myself! Weird!) so he probably looks back at Ben with tired eyes at this point. Heck I do myself, although I don't know if I entirely sympathize with Mrs. Robinson's self-destructive behavior either. But where do you stand? That's right it's time for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" ...

PREVIOUSLY We are smearing our sad clown make-up off this morning and waving an over-sized glove goodbye to International Clown Week - last week's competition of clown couples in Short Cuts fell on the "Julianne Moore & Matthew Modine" side, probably because of the film's still infamous full-frontal fight scene - said Mark, speaking truth to privates:

"The genius of Moore is you watch her face in this instead of her special lady place."

Beauty vs Beast: Send in the You-Know-Whats

Howdy folks it's Jason from MNPP here wishing everybody a candy-colored start to a candy-colored week - that's right, today marks the first day of International Clown Week, held every year right at the start of August, aka the best time to make that make-up run right off your face and give you the time honored "Creepy Clown Effect." But while (in a weird but total coincidence) I may have just started re-reading Stephen King's It this week I'm not going to make you think about Scary Clowns today - oh I know for some of you there is no other kind, but I'm going to try to temper that with Auterism because...

... hey remember that scene in Robert Altman's 1993 masterpiece Short Cuts where Claire (Anne Archer), a professional clown, and her husband Stuart (Fred Ward) get blasted at dinner with new friends Marion (Julianne Moore) and Ralph (Matthew Modine), and instead of the partner-swapping you expect to happen they all just put on clown make-up and dance around instead? I sure do. It's one of the many right turns the film takes when you've braced yourself for a left. So let's face off these two couples for "Beauty vs Beast" this week...

If you need a refresher both couples are in the middle of personal crises -- Marion & Ralph (Moore & Modine) are the couple who have the long fight about her cheating whilst Juli proves she's a natural redhead, while Stuart has just told Claire (Ward & Archer) that he and his fishing buddies fished around a corpse all weekend long. In the grand tradition of Altman-esque character studies, they're all a bit beastly.

PREVIOUSLY Last week we ventured to Mortville with John Waters and his muses for a look at one of his most underappreciated efforts, Desperate Living (and the poll showed just how underappreciated the film remains, with one of our tiniest voting totals ever) - it was Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey) who was carried by her loyal litter of man-servants to the victory, taking 55% of the vote. Said Ken S:

"I'll teach you to arouse royalty! - Team Carlotta all the way!"

Appropriate Ways to Celebrate Julianne Moore's Birthday

Kieran, here taking a brief respite from the holidays (read: Oscar season) to wish a very happy birthday to Julianne Moore. Between her tribute to Todd Haynes at the Gotham Awards and her very funny “Billy on the Street" segment it’s a good week to celebrate the Academy Award-winning actress. Just glancing at her filmography, she’s gifted the world of cinema with so much to be thankful for and she’s surely got a lot more left to give. It’s far too rare that the great actors of any generation also become Oscar winners. Before Still Alice many had assumed it was over for Moore in terms of ever copping the statue. Seeing her ascend the stage to collect her Academy Award earlier this year, it never felt so good to be so wrong.

So, on this, Julianne’s birthday...

Appropriate Ways To Celebrate

1. Relax with some yoga.

 2. Bake a cake. Watch the sifting flour. "Isn't it pretty? It's just like snow."

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