You-review-it Monday

For me, the weekend included a screening of Robert Altman’s "Nashville" at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It’s a film that shakes me up in all kinds of ways every time I see it–the kind of film that makes it difficult, for a while, to watch other films because none feel anywhere near as rich and human.

Prior to the screening, I discovered that Altman’s later film "Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson" was an On Demand offering on my cable system. (I like the serendipity of the on-demand system. Why only watch movies we planned to watch?) "Buffalo Bill," which uses a lot of the same techniques used in "Nashville," is a more obvious film thematically. But it was much more effective–and funnier–than I remembered from seeing it 25 years ago. Paul Newman, Harvey Kietel, Geraldine Chaplin and many others are terrific in it. Although it bombed at the box office (as many Altman films did), it’s not an artistic dud like his "Quintet" or "Health." I’ll file it in the interesting not-quite-there’s, along with "Popeye," "A Wedding," and "Brewster McCloud."

Of course, it’s no "Nashville," which was once-again great on the big screen. This is one film that can’t be contained in a TV set.

Thanks to WFYI’s Matthew Socey and actors Matthew Roland, and Karen Irwin for helping me introduce it in Altman style.

I also caught the Phoenix Theatre’s production of "The Housewives of Mannheim," which I’ll be writing about soon either here or in the print IBJ.

Your thoughts? What did you see, hear or do this weekend?