Of natural causes at his home in LA. I really liked some of his work.
Whenever I see pictures of him, it reminds me of the episode of “Documentary Now!” where he explained he had to wear a neckerchief for the rest of his life because he lost a bet.
Man, that’s the first thing I thought of as well! Bogdanovich had a crazy career: three massive hits one after the other practically right out the box, with the remainder spent chasing that early high. He had some later successes (Mask, specifically), but he perhaps wound up being one of several cautionary tales of New Hollywood.
Of course, the Dorothy Stratten tragedy didn’t help either.
I think the best of his movies was The Last Picture Show. In fact, I think that the novel
The Last Picture Show and the movie The Last Picture Show are the closest I know of to both the original novel and the movie adapted from it being great works of art. The correlation between great novels and great movies is shakier than you might think.
His movie “At Long Last Love” is THE single worst picture ever made.
I’m guessing he had to explain that before his namesake St. Pete would let him through the Pearly Gates.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the poor bastards in the lowest depths of Hell are made to watch Burt Reynolds singing and dancing over and over for all eternity. Please Lord, stab me with flaming pitchforks instead!
In any case, God rest his soul.
I enjoyed his acting as much as his directing, especially when he played Dr. Elliot Kupferberg on the Sopranos. I don’t think anyone could have done as good a job of playing a snobbish psychiatrist as he did.
I enjoyed The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, and Mask. I loved Cher’s performance in Mask.
Bogdanovich left a lasting legacy in cinema.
RIP