Pallandt, Nina Van

The Long Goodbye

Raymond Chandler's cynically idealistic hero, Philip Marlowe, has been played by everyone from Humphrey Bogart to James Garner--but no one gives him the kind of weirdly affect-less spin that Elliott Gould does in this terrific Robert Altman reimagining of Chandler's penultimate novel. Altman recasts Marlowe as an early '70s L.A. habitué, who gets involved in a couple of cases at once. The most interesting involves a suicidal writer (Sterling Hayden in a larger-than-life performance) whom Marlowe is supposed to keep away from malevolent New-Ageish guru Henry Gibson. A variety of wonderfully odd characters pop up, played by everyone from model Nina Van Pallandt to director Mark Rydell to ex-baseballer Jim Bouton. And yes, that is Arnold Schwarzenegger (in only his second movie) popping up as (what else?) a muscleman. Listen for the title song: It shows up in the strangest places. --Marshall Fine

Elliott Gould gives one of his best performances (Esquire) as a quirky, mischievous PhilipMarlowe in Robert Altman's fascinating and original (Newsweek) send-up of Raymond Chandler's classic detective story. Co-starring Nina Van Pallandt and Sterling Hayden and written by Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep) The Long Goodbye is a gloriously inspired tribute to Hollywood (The Hollywood Reporter) with an ending that's as controversial as it is provocative (Los Angeles Times)! Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe (Gould) faces the most bizarre case of his life, when a friend's apparent suicide turns into a double murder involving a sexy blonde, a disturbed gangster and a suitcase full of drug money. But as Marlowe stumbles toward the truth, hesoon finds himself lost in a maze of sex and deceitonly to discover that in L.A., if love is dangerous friendship is murder.

Robert Altman Collection (M*A*S*H / A Perfect Couple / Quintet / A Wedding)

Episode Description: Disc 1 "MASH (single disc)": Rating: R Audio: English: Stereo & Mono / French: Mono Subtitled: English & Spanish Special Features: Commentary with Robert Altman, AMC Backstory Featurette, Still Gallery and Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2 "A Perfect Couple": Rating: PG Audio: English: Stereo / Spanish: Mono Subtitled: English & Spanish Special Features: Perspective on Altman's Perfect Couple, Theatrical Trailer, Fox Flix: A Wedding, Quintet, & MASH

Disc 3 "Quintet": Rating: R Audio: English: Mono & Stereo / French: Mono / Spanish: Mono Subtitled: English & Spanish Special Features: Developing the World of Quintet, Theatrical Trailer, Fox Flix: A Wedding, A Perfect Couple, & MASH

Disc 4 "A Wedding": Rating: PG Audio: English: Stereo / French: Mono / Spanish: Mono Subtitles: English & Spanish Special Features: A Wedding Altman Style, Theatrical Trailer, & Fox Flix: Quintet, A Perfect Couple, & MASH

American Gigolo

Writer-director Paul Schrader viewed this as the second part of a trilogy that began with Taxi Driver and concluded with Light Sleeper--each dealing with a lonely man trying to deal with both his own dizzily spinning moral compass and the hypocrisy of the society that's trying to tell him what to do. Richard Gere plays a high-priced prostitute, an immaculately dressed stud for hire who services the bored women of Beverly Hills without ever allowing himself to be touched emotionally. His affair with a politician's wife (Lauren Hutton) changes that, at a point when he is being framed for a murder he didn't commit. Even as he tries to elude the law, he allows himself to become enmeshed with her in unexpected ways. Too cool and distant for some viewers, the film has a distinctive look and deliberate pacing--and about two endings too many. But it will keep you watching in spite of yourself. --Marshall Fine

F for Fake - Criterion Collection

To call Orson Welles's F For Fake a documentary would be somewhat deceitful, but deceit itself is very much the subject of this curious film essay. Welles ruminates on the nature of artistic fakery through two examples, that of infamous art forger Elmyr de Hory and the writer Clifford Irving, whose bogus autobiography of Howard Hughes set off a minor media flurry in the 1970s. Postmodernist that he is, Wells then proceeds to narrate and edit the film in such a perversely frenetic way as to blur the lines between what is real and what is deception, making for an often confusing but engaging work of art in itself. We even see the footage we've been watching as it's being spliced together in Welles's editing room. The specter of Welles's often maligned later career hangs over the proceedings like a challenge--is he going to actually complete this strange movie about chicanery, or will it become one of the many unfinished experiments of his twilight years? Happily, Welles concludes the proceedings with a delightful sequence about Picasso, lust, and what constitutes real art. F For Fake is a fine example of a master filmmaker who had at least a couple tricks left up his sleeve. --Ryan Boudinot

Trickery. Deceit. Magic. In Orson Welles' free-form documentary, the legendary filmmaker (and self-described charlatan) gleefully engages the central preoccupation of his career-the tenuous line between truth and illusion, art and lies. Beginning with portraits of world-renowned art forger Elmyr de Hory and his equally devious biographer, Clifford Irving, Welles goes on a dizzying cinematic journey that simultaneously exposes and revels in fakery and fakers of all stripes-not the least of which is Welles himself. Charming and poignant, F for Fake is an inspired prank and a searching examination of the essential duplicity of cinema. Criterion's two-disc DVD edition also features an introduction by Peter Bogdanovich, audio commentary by director of photography Gary Graver, an hour long documentary on Welles' unfinished projects, a documentary on the life and works of de Hory, and the theatrical trailer.

The Sword and the Sorcerer

Lean, lanky Lee Horsley (TV's Matt Houston) is hardly the iconic image of a medieval warrior, but in this cheesy Conan the Barbarian knockoff he makes his swaggering, mercenary Talon a genial smart aleck of a barbarian hero. The plot is pure pulp cliché: evil Cromwell (Richard Lynch) raises a demon to conquer a peaceful kingdom, kill the rulers, and imprison the royal heirs, and the son of a murdered patriot returns to take his righteous vengeance with a projectile-loaded, three-bladed sword. First-time director Albert Pyun apprenticed under Akira Kurosawa and brings with him an eye for handsome images and a fluid sense of action that helps overcome B-movie dialogue ("Unlock this door, wench, and leave that to us!"), scenery-chewing performances, and bargain-basement budget. In one fight sequence a guard punches a rock wall--and dents it! Kathleen Beller (the dark-eyed beauty of The Betsy) is the rebel princess who enlists Talon to the cause, Route 66's charming wanderer George Maharis is a conniving traitor under an unflattering mop of greasy hair, and Richard Moll dons a latex monster mask to play the double-crossed demon. It's utterly silly and often awkward, but it does have energy to spare. The sequel promised at the end of the film was never produced and Pyun went on to direct some of the best straight-to-video action films of the 1990s, including Nemesis. --Sean Axmaker

A Wedding

After the intensity of 3 Women, Robert Altman joked that he would relieve the pressure by "shooting a wedding." Fittingly, A Wedding, like many of his ensemble efforts, is part serious and part comic--much like the man himself. It begins with the ceremony, where brace-faced Muffin (Amy Stryker) and two-timing Dino (Desi Arnaz Jr.) are joined in holy matrimony by a rickety old bishop (John Cromwell, anticipating Rowan Atkinson's bumbler in Four Weddings and a Funeral). At the rambling reception, other parties come into play, including the parents (Carol Burnett and Paul Dooley vs. Anita Van Pallandt and Vittorio Gassman), the silent sister (Mia Farrow), the stressed-out wedding coordinator (Geraldine Chaplin), and the pesky photographer (Lauren Hutton). Then there's Dino's frail grandmother (Lillian Gish), who'll be lucky to make it through the day alive. As in Gosford Park, Altman spends as much time with the well-heeled guests as the behind-the-scenes staff. If anything can go wrong as these divergent personalities come together, it does. Regarding the 48 cast members, his son Stephen quips in the accompanying featurette, "I think he just wanted to double the 24 actors that were in Nashville." If they don't all register, A Wedding still ranks as one of the more democratic films ever made (the director's three co-writers all have bit parts). The film, which grows darker and more chaotic as it hurtles ahead, may be "minor Altman," but as wedding-related satires go, this widescreen effort stands tall. Suffice to say, hide-bound traditionalists need not apply. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Robert Altman looks at the institution of marriage and finds hilarity. All-star cast includes Carol Burnett, Lauren Hutton, Dina Merrill, Mia Farrow and Pat mccormick.

Cutter's Way

This Ivan Passer movie--a marvel of dark, brooding cinema--almost didn't make it into theaters. The film was nearly dumped by its studio because its pessimistic story seemed too downbeat. Which, in fact, is part of the appeal: the way it gets to the heart of a group of people who have given up, but then find something that motivates them to go on. In this case, it's greed: Cutter (Jeff Bridges), a burnt-out gigolo, and his pal Bone (John Heard), a disfigured Vietnam veteran, get involved in a plot involving corruption and murder. Bone has proof that a powerful businessman is behind the killing and wants to be paid off to keep quiet; instead he buys them more trouble than he can imagine. Bridges, as always, is superb--and Heard is downright scary. --Marshall Fine

One of the most original, unpredictable buddy movies in cinematic history, this "hauntingly powerful, exhilarating thriller" (New York Magazine) stars four-time Oscar(r) nominee* JeffBridges and John Heard (The Pelican Brief) as two friends locked in a pulse-pounding battle for their lives. Suspected of murdering a teenage girl, Richard Bone (Bridges), a laidback Santa Barbara boat salesman and gigolo, turns to his best friend, Alex Cutter (Heard), a disabled Vietnam veteran, for help in finding the real killer. But Bone gets more than he bargained for when Cutter pushes the envelope and, instead of contacting the police, tries to blackmail their suspect andtheir suspect, instead of giving in, violently turns the tables on them! Trapped between the killerand the cops, Cutter and Bone begin a cunning game of cat-and-mouse that ignites into a full-blown wara "nightmare vision that leaves you bewildered, yet moved" (LA Herald-Examiner)! *2000: Supporting Actor, The Contender; 1984: Actor, Starman; 1974: Supporting Actor, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot; 1971: Supporting Actor, The Last Picture Show

American Gigolo

Writer-director Paul Schrader viewed this as the second part of a trilogy that began with Taxi Driver and concluded with Light Sleeper--each dealing with a lonely man trying to deal with both his own dizzily spinning moral compass and the hypocrisy of the society that's trying to tell him what to do. Richard Gere plays a high-priced prostitute, an immaculately dressed stud for hire who services the bored women of Beverly Hills without ever allowing himself to be touched emotionally. His affair with a politician's wife (Lauren Hutton) changes that, at a point when he is being framed for a murder he didn't commit. Even as he tries to elude the law, he allows himself to become enmeshed with her in unexpected ways. Too cool and distant for some viewers, the film has a distinctive look and deliberate pacing--and about two endings too many. But it will keep you watching in spite of yourself. --Marshall Fine

Quintet

The Long Goodbye [Region 2]

Raymond Chandler's cynically idealistic hero, Philip Marlowe, has been played by everyone from Humphrey Bogart to James Garner--but no one gives him the kind of weirdly affect-less spin that Elliott Gould does in this terrific Robert Altman reimagining of Chandler's penultimate novel. Altman recasts Marlowe as an early '70s L.A. habitué, who gets involved in a couple of cases at once. The most interesting involves a suicidal writer (Sterling Hayden in a larger-than-life performance) whom Marlowe is supposed to keep away from malevolent New-Ageish guru Henry Gibson. A variety of wonderfully odd characters pop up, played by everyone from model Nina Van Pallandt to director Mark Rydell to ex-baseballer Jim Bouton. And yes, that is Arnold Schwarzenegger (in only his second movie) popping up as (what else?) a muscleman. Listen for the title song: It shows up in the strangest places. --Marshall Fine