The Big Picture (The Ringer)

Episode: The Robert Altman Hall of Fame

Air Date: September 9, 2025

Hosts: Sean Fennessey & Amanda Dobbins

Overview

In this episode, Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins celebrate the centennial of legendary filmmaker Robert Altman by constructing an “Altman Hall of Fame.” They take listeners through the highs and lows of Altman’s prolific career, examine his artistic signatures, and craft an essential guide for anyone eager to dive into his filmography. The discussion also touches on the recent Venice Film Festival, weekend adventures, and the influence of Altman on Paul Thomas Anderson and beyond.
Tone: Conversational, thoughtful, witty, occasionally self-deprecating, and fueled by genuine cinephile enthusiasm.

Episode Structure & Key Segments

1. Venice Film Festival Recap (01:50–08:08)

• Sean and Amanda discuss notable (and controversial) prize winners:
  • Benny Safdie wins Best Director for "The Smashing Machine."

    "Once again, the images of Dwayne the Rock Johnson absolutely beaten down on people, in a cinematic, beautiful, lush score." – Amanda (02:18)

  • "Voice of Hindra Job" (Kauther Ben Hania) wins Grand Jury Prize, noted as an urgent, contemporary story about Gaza (03:15).
  • Jim Jarmusch’s "Father, Mother, Sister, Brother" wins Golden Lion – big legacy award, starry cast (Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett), not yet released in the US (03:46–05:18).
  • Observations on how festival politics, timing, and jury tastes play out versus critics and audience response.
• Amanda’s marathon Venice experience: candid reflections on festival burnout and the difficulties of festival coverage for American press.

2. Weekend Stories & Tournament of "Great Works" (08:11–14:56)

• Amanda recounts seeing Oasis at the Rose Bowl (“like grown-up Disneyland...a study in aging, you know.” – Amanda, 09:58), including a digression on the Gallagher brothers, bucket hats, and concert culture.
• Both saw a special screening of "One Battle After Another" (Paul Thomas Anderson & Leo DiCaprio collaboration), with a Q&A led by Steven Spielberg:

  "Spielberg basically did the Chris Farley show at Paul, where he just sort of, like, recapped the movie and told him how much he loved...that was okay." – Sean (12:49)

• Discussion of Amanda and Sean's facial hair (and male attempts to hide vulnerability) spins into gentle theorizing about filmmakers as personalities.

3. Why a Robert Altman Episode? (14:56–17:27)

• Sean frames Altman as a foundational influence on his favorite directors (PTA, Tarantino, Fincher, Soderbergh, etc.).
• Criterion Channel collaboration: streaming Altman essentials, with a special promo code (BIGPICTURE20) for listeners.

  “If you’re listening, special offer. We created a custom code for you...20% off an annual Criterion Channel subscription...” – Sean (16:24)

The Life and Artistic Hallmarks of Robert Altman

Altman’s Story (17:27–29:25)

• Background: Kansas City upbringing, WWII Air Force pilot (50 missions), attempts to break into Hollywood as a writer/director thwarted, detour through industrial films.
• Hollywood Entry: Indie debut ("The Delinquents"), James Dean docu-commission, break into TV (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza). Notably older than the "New Hollywood" class.
• First Features: Studio system tensions, blending outsider sensibility to genre material.

The Essentials of the "Altman Style" (29:25–40:13)

• Key Artistic Signatures:

  • Subversion: Never a straightforward genre movie ("no regular war movie…not a normal detective story").
  • Overlapping Dialogue & Cacophony: Captures lifelike chaos and the difficulty of being heard (“One of the problems of the world is that no one is listening to each other. They’re just trying to say what they want to say.” – Sean, 32:59).
  • Performance & Spectacle: Recurring obsession with public and private performances, people "putting on a show."
  • Ensemble, Shambolic Structure: Large casts, non-linear storytelling, improvisation.
  • Camera Work: Wandering, slow, searching zooms – capturing vulnerability and character psychology.
  • Humanism and Outsider Focus: Empathy for weirdos and outcasts, often women, rarely judgmental.

• Influence on Others: Broader impact on directors like PTA, Safdie Brothers, Baumbach, Wes Anderson, and more.

Robert Altman: Entry Points, Career Arc, and Essential Themes

Entry Point Recommendations (42:14–44:13)

• Popular first watches for Altman newbies:
  • Sean: “The Long Goodbye“ – “my entry point…most familiar…a detective movie but not really a detective movie like you’ve ever seen before.” (42:22)
  • Amanda: “The Player“ (1992) – for those starting now, a bridge from contemporary to 70s Altman. (43:13)

Altman’s Oscar Trajectory & Recognition (44:21–45:25)

• 5 Best Director nominations, never a win; Honorary Oscar speech (2006) notable for candor and hope for “20 more films”; only two Best Picture nominations, but major international festival honors.

Recurring Discussion Points (Throughout)

• The complexity of Altman’s relationship to female characters and whether he "understands" women – Amanda suggests he attempts to, or is at least "in pursuit."
• The concept of performance—political, on-stage, emotional—as central to the Altman worldview.
• Altman’s career as a mix of “all-timer masterworks and fascinating duds”—making the Hall of Fame difficult to curate, but rewarding.

The Altman Hall of Fame: Essential Films and Their Place in His Legacy

Process & Criteria (48:00–117:01)

• Sean and Amanda proceed film by film, spanning from 1957 to 2006, assigning each a:
  • Green: Essential, Hall of Fame
  • Yellow: Not quite essential, but notable or representative
  • Red: Non-essential, for completists only

The 10 Essential Altman Films (“The Greens”):

1. MASH (1970) – Breakout antiwar comedy; foundational text; “circus comes to town” Altman energy.
2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) – Antiwestern; meditative, impressionistic, music by Leonard Cohen; “one of the most beautiful movies ever made.” – Sean
3. The Long Goodbye (1973) – Revisionist noir; Elliott Gould; “both fun and sad…great snapshot of LA.” – Sean (67:54)
4. California Split (1974) – Gambling comedy/drama; “the best gambling movie ever made.” – Sean (69:48)
5. Nashville (1975) – Epic ensemble; “his big statement about America…like talking about the Mona Lisa.” – Sean (74:09)
6. Three Women (1977) – Dream-like psychological drama; Shelley Duvall & Sissy Spacek in a surreal friendship; “one of the great dream-state movies.” – Sean (79:09)
7. The Player (1992) – Scathing Hollywood satire; Tim Robbins as a venal studio exec; “most formally accomplished…a must for movie dorks.” – Amanda (98:39)
8. Short Cuts (1993) – Ensemble web in ‘90s LA; adaptation of Raymond Carver; “case to be made that it’s his masterpiece.” – Sean (100:57)
9. Gosford Park (2001) – British upstairs/downstairs murder mystery; precursor to Downton Abbey; “very sharp, all-star cast.” – Amanda (109:45)
10. Secret Honor (1984) – Minimal, one-man film; Philip Baker Hall as Nixon; “yellow-verging green…but one of the best of the ‘80s Altman years.” – Amanda (117:41)

Key Notable Near-Misses ("Yellows" and Recommendations):

• Brewster McCloud (1970) – Bizarre Houston-set fantasy; divisive, highly weird, Shelley Duvall’s debut. (58:38)
• Images (1972) – Psychological horror; “my flavor of, 'what if I smoked a lot of pot and this happened?'” – Amanda (67:27)
• Popeye (1980) – Ambitious studio musical (Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall); wild production history, a formative oddity.
• Fool for Love (1985) – Intense Sam Shepard/Kim Basinger drama.
• The Company (2003) – Ballet film; beautiful dance sequences, less narrative urgency.

Other Notable/Red Films:

• Thieves Like Us, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, Quintet, Dr. T and the Women, Cookie’s Fortune: Well-crafted but non-essential.
• Pret-a-Porter, Gingerbread Man, OC & Stiggs: Misfires, unmemorable, or dated.

Special TV Note:

• Tanner ’88 (1988): Altman’s miniseries (w/Garry Trudeau) is “an amazing eight-part series…one of the best things he ever made.” – Sean (115:00). Ultimately ruled out for Hall of Fame inclusion due to the show’s “movies only” rule, but strongly recommended for fans.

Thematic Insights & Notable Quotes

• On Altman’s Influence:

  "Robert Altman is one of the most critical, maybe the most critical influences on Paul Thomas Anderson." – Sean (14:56) "He’s a filmmaker whose name has become an adjective to describe not just other films, but…phases of life." – Amanda (17:27)

• On Watching Altman at Speed:

  “Altman does force me to reckon with my own patience—especially in batches.” – Amanda (19:15) “If you are just starting your Robert Altman journey…space them out.” – Amanda (123:45)

• On Altman’s Female Characters:

  “I don’t…maybe he’s in pursuit of understanding them [women].” – Amanda (35:55)

• On the Hall of Fame Approach:

  “He’s got six or seven movies that are just absolute forever movies…you become defined by those movies.” – Sean (20:12) “There are a lot of recurring ideas and stylistic choices, but he never makes the same movie twice…he’s always cycling through stuff.” – Sean (29:25)

Hall of Fame Final List (118:18)

Robert Altman’s Hall of Fame:

1. MASH (1970)
2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
3. The Long Goodbye (1973)
4. California Split (1974)
5. Nashville (1975)
6. Three Women (1977)
7. Secret Honor (1984)
8. The Player (1992)
9. Short Cuts (1993)
10. Gosford Park (2001)

The “Blue” (Personal Staff Picks):

• Amanda: Images (1972) — “my personal recommendation.”
• Sean: Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976)

Notable Moments, Running Jokes & Quotes

• Amanda’s bucket hat confession for Oasis fandom: “I have one that I look pretty good in, and I match with my sons.” [09:48]
• Altman’s tendency to “hire beautiful, weird-looking people… that liminal quality of beauty he redefines.” — Sean [58:22]
• The recurring callback to facial hair as hiding male vulnerability.
• “A brownie is just…something you throw in a pan and you throw it in the oven…” [120:50]

Closing Thoughts

• Both hosts agree Altman’s influence is vast and timeless, but “bingeing” his work in sequence is not for everyone—give the films breathing room to maximize impact.
• They express gratitude to the Criterion team, researcher Brantley Palmer, and producer Jack Sanders.
• Tease for upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson Character Draft episode, linking Altman’s legacy to contemporary filmmakers.

For Further Listening/Watching

• The Player and Short Cuts are both cited as strong entry points and are frequently referenced throughout the conversation.
• The Criterion Channel’s Altman collection, featuring Sean’s video introduction and 20% off code: BIGPICTURE20 (active September 2025).
• Explore TV oddities like Tanner ‘88 if you fall deep into the Altman rabbit hole.

(Ad reads, intro/outro segments, and non-content sections were omitted per instructions.)