# Robert Altman dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303 "2006-11-21T16:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/41 "2006-11-21T22:56:23Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] P.S. The title of the novel and movie was _MASH_; the TV series was _M_A_S_H\*.[/SIZE] [/QUOTE] The movie had [asterisks in the title](http://www.impawards.com/1970/posters/mash.jpg), as did the [novel](http://www.spiralvisions.com/cuthbert/mash.jpg) (the image is from the hardcover book club edition, which came out two years before the movie). ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/42 "2006-11-21T23:35:04Z")
Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. CRAP!!! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/43 "2006-11-21T23:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] The movie had [asterisks in the title](http://www.impawards.com/1970/posters/mash.jpg) [/QUOTE] I’m not getting anything when I click on that. But I’m guessing from the URL that you are linking an image of the movie _poster_, and not the title of the movie itself. See second image [here](http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/robert_altman_collection_dvd_review.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/44 "2006-11-22T00:03:59Z")
The book edition you linked to uses the movie’s poster art on its cover. The pre-movie edition had an overturned army helmet with a cocktail umbrella and straw in it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/45 "2006-11-22T00:27:44Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] See second image [here](http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/robert_altman_collection_dvd_review.htm). [/QUOTE] By “second image,” do you mean the gray stencil “MASH” logo above the poster selection? Is that a screen cap from the film? (And why the hell does it have **aka “MASH”** below, when that’s exactly how the logo reads in the first place?) I notice that even the DVD menu screen shown below this has “M_A_S\*H.” ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/46 "2006-11-22T02:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] Is that a screen cap from the film? [/QUOTE] Yes, that is a screen cap of the film’s title. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/47 "2006-11-22T03:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] By “second image,” do you mean the gray stencil “MASH” logo above the poster selection? Is that a screen cap from the film? (And why the hell does it have **aka “MASH”** below, when that’s exactly how the logo reads in the first place?) I notice that even the DVD menu screen shown below this has “M_A_S\*H.” [/QUOTE] Interesting. [This link](http://corky.net/scripts/mash.html) to the screenplay (dated 2/26/69) shows asterisks in the title. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/48 "2006-11-22T04:11:58Z")
Awww… boo hoo… you mean there’ll never be a sequel to “O.C. and Stiggs”? "No “Popeye Strikes Back”? No “Son of Ready to Wear”? I’m sure his friends and family are devastated, and I feel for them, but I can only be grateful that he wont be killing any more celluloids to make his pathetic films. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/49 "2006-11-22T07:27:39Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Awww… boo hoo… you mean there’ll never be a sequel to “O.C. and Stiggs”? "No “Popeye Strikes Back”? No “Son of Ready to Wear”? I’m sure his friends and family are devastated, and I feel for them, but I can only be grateful that he wont be killing any more celluloids to make his pathetic films. [/QUOTE] So . . . millions of people, many of them way smarter than you; many of them who actually know what they’re talking about (_cf_: Altman’s critical reputation)–love his work. But since you, as an individual, don’t like his work, you think the world would be a better place if there were no more of his movies that you could choose, as an individual, not to see? This kind of attention-whore thread-shitting just bewilders me. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/50 "2006-11-22T10:26:53Z")
Moderator speaketh: We don’t have any rules against making insulting comments about artists, directors, actors, etc. So, saying nasty things about Altman or his work, even in a nasty way, is not a rules violation. Generally speaking, threads about the death of a famous person are more “news” than critique, so I understand the feeling that harsh, barbed criticism is out of place. However, we’ve never had that as a Rule. If people would like to propose such a rule (something like distinguishing between “death notice” threads and “critique” threads), I guess we could think about and see what folks think: start such a thread in ATMB forum, if you want to discuss it. And, please folks, if you think someone is thread-shitting, the proper thing to do is to hit REPORT button (the little exclamation point in the red triangle, upper right of each post.) Do **not** play Junior Moderator by making the call yourself; let a real Moderator do it. FYI, I don’t think a single negative comment is thread-shitting in this situation. The question is what is this thread: a retrospective of a life’s work (in which case, harsh comments are permitted) or a funeral elegy (in which case, they’re not.) I guess it’s unclear, but I don’t see any thread-shitting. I do see some insensitivity, but that’s not against our rules. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/51 "2006-11-22T10:33:44Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] If people would like to propose such a rule (something like distinguishing between “death notice” threads and “critique” threads), I guess we could think about and see what folks think: start such a thread in ATMB forum, if you want to discuss it. [/QUOTE] I think such a distinction would be silly, and am opening an ATMB thread, as suggested, to discuss it. Altman is the single most uneven film director I know. I never knew when seeing a new film of his whether I would love it and be fascinated by his techniques, or bored to death and frustrated by them, but it was usually one or the other. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/52 "2006-11-22T16:13:14Z")
I apologize for my impulsive post that started all the brouhaha. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303/53 "2006-11-22T17:04:09Z")
Heard a brief interview with the collaborator for Altman’s memoirs. He said that Altman was a big Keith Olbermann fan, which I found interesting. It’s a shame that more directors aren’t willing to take the kinds of risks Altman did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-altman-dead/381303.md?page=2)