i don't think a film ever made me so surprised so many times over in it's final minutes.the guy ISN'T dead! "and i lost my cat", bang! the gun goes off, the girl suddenly re-appears, he's going to get run over again!!? but NO! he dances down the street! and then the '...Hollywood' song comes up! and he dances with an old lady! 2 different homgaes to Third Man in mere minutes, 2 fingers to 'Hollywood'...man. i almost had to pick my teeth back up off the floor.
"it's okay with me"
― pisces (piscesx), Monday, 30 October 2006 14:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 October 2006 14:35 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 27 April 2007 17:21 (sixteen years ago) link
― ddd, Monday, 30 April 2007 03:28 (sixteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius, Monday, 30 April 2007 13:51 (sixteen years ago) link
― robin l, Friday, 4 May 2007 00:04 (sixteen years ago) link
― robin l, Friday, 4 May 2007 00:05 (sixteen years ago) link
― ddd, Friday, 4 May 2007 17:43 (sixteen years ago) link
― ddd, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:03 (sixteen years ago) link
― C. Grisso/McCain, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 17:39 (sixteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 13:36 (sixteen years ago) link
― ddd, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 19:43 (sixteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 10 May 2007 13:44 (sixteen years ago) link
goddamn. so good.
― Mr. Que, Monday, 30 March 2009 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
This movie rules.
― shastakrautpasta (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 1 August 2011 02:30 (twelve years ago) link
I'm obsessed with the book right now.
― Virginia Plain, Monday, 1 August 2011 03:35 (twelve years ago) link
i just read the book. somehow avoided chandler up until now. liked it, love the movie.
― buzza, Monday, 1 August 2011 04:02 (twelve years ago) link
chandlers the fn best, great book, great movie
― ice cr?m, Monday, 1 August 2011 04:03 (twelve years ago) link
maybe the best book/movie combo ever as far as both of them being most excellent
― ice cr?m, Monday, 1 August 2011 04:04 (twelve years ago) link
http://makeagif.com/i/JEBjP9
― Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Monday, 1 August 2011 14:23 (twelve years ago) link
Has anyone seen the Climax! TV version with Dick Powell ('54)? I'd like to check that out.
― Virginia Plain, Monday, 1 August 2011 14:35 (twelve years ago) link
cc & ginger
― zvookster, Monday, 1 August 2011 14:38 (twelve years ago) link
The book is very different from the Altman movie -- Chandler takes Marlowe's old-school morality quite seriously, Altman makes fun of it. Both are excellent, but if you're expecting a straight film adaptation of the novel, as a lot of the original audience was, you might be disappointed. On the other hand, if you like the dark satire of the movie, you might think the book is kind of stuffy.
― Brad C., Monday, 1 August 2011 14:50 (twelve years ago) link
there's more stuff with the weird sanitarium and resentful servants in the book.but I think if you added together Gould and Bogart, you'd get close to Chandler's Marlowe.
― Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Monday, 1 August 2011 19:30 (twelve years ago) link
'little murders' is pretty great too.― ddd, Tuesday, May 8, 2007 5:03 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark
On The Money
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 21:41 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kCrrjp2epY
― Patrice Leclerc Delacroix Poussin (admrl), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 22:01 (twelve years ago) link
as long as we're posting vintage Gould movies, here's a sweet little tribute that's trending on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsW0JBaFr98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuSOatncAdw&feature=related
― bobo, Tuesday, 9 August 2011 11:38 (twelve years ago) link
re that apartment:
http://la.curbed.com/tags/the-long-goodbye
― satan club sandwich (Dr Morbius), Friday, 12 August 2011 15:26 (twelve years ago) link
Morbs, you wanna split the rent? Oh, I forgot, you hate roommates.
― Virginia Plain, Friday, 12 August 2011 15:34 (twelve years ago) link
Some of the contemporaneous reviews are SO savage. Halliwell's Film Guide: "ugly, boring travesty..."― Dr Morbius, Monday, April 30, 2007 1:51 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Contemporaneous reviews otm. So Altman wanted to rip the heart out of the book as some kind of comment on 70s hollywood? idgi. Everything about the film seems deliberately obtuse, right down to the forgettable song trying to become unforgettable by 'incidentally' occurring in every other scene.
― ledge, Sunday, 18 September 2011 17:34 (twelve years ago) link
This is playing this week on a double bill with California Split but we're only going to see California Split.
― bamcquern, Sunday, 18 September 2011 18:14 (twelve years ago) link
So Altman wanted to rip the heart out of the book as some kind of comment on 70s hollywood?
This angle is much too publicized, like most intentions.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 18 September 2011 18:16 (twelve years ago) link
have only read The Big Sleep, but I dind it hard to believe that a Chandler book had a heart.
― incredibly middlebrow (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 18 September 2011 18:22 (twelve years ago) link
The road to angle is paved with good publicized.
― bamcquern, Sunday, 18 September 2011 18:24 (twelve years ago) link
netflix just put this up on streaming I think
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Sunday, 18 September 2011 18:25 (twelve years ago) link
my fav book/movie combo is lolita but this one is up there
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Sunday, 18 September 2011 18:27 (twelve years ago) link
Marlowe definitely a big-hearted guy in TLG. Also has a way with the one-liners, which would have been worth keeping in the movie even if nothing else was.
― ledge, Sunday, 18 September 2011 19:28 (twelve years ago) link
guys the best adaptations are untrue to the source material, it really does not matter
― ice cr?m, Monday, 19 September 2011 16:26 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, love how altman made this movie his own. he could have gone the "chinatown" route but it didn't interest him to do a period noir.
― buzza, Monday, 19 September 2011 17:13 (twelve years ago) link
I don't mind a radical adaptation but this pisses on Chandler's grave.
House of Games has the same ending btw - duped schmo kills the duper. Don't have much time for that either.
― ledge, Monday, 19 September 2011 20:58 (twelve years ago) link
glad you have time to post tho
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, 19 September 2011 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
and it happens every day
― ♨ (am0n), Wednesday, 2 January 2013 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
That title track is incredible.
― Heterocyclic ring ring (LocalGarda), Saturday, 5 January 2013 10:13 (eleven years ago) link
Wowed by this
― mister borges (darraghmac), Sunday, 17 March 2013 00:05 (eleven years ago) link
that's fine by me.
― The @glennbeck have raisin b-lls and rice crispy d-ck (stevie), Sunday, 17 March 2013 00:20 (eleven years ago) link
I feel this is the most accurate screen Marlowe, most like the character in the novels. Bogey be damned.
― Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Sunday, 17 March 2013 00:53 (eleven years ago) link
Sterling hayden
― mister borges (darraghmac), Sunday, 17 March 2013 00:58 (eleven years ago) link
I climbed the stairs to the elevator landing of Marlowe's apartment last week.
― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 14:17 (nine years ago) link
same apt shows up in murder my sweet iirc
― blap setter (darraghmac), Tuesday, 15 July 2014 14:36 (nine years ago) link
Love California Split!!!!
― *tera, Wednesday, 10 December 2014 07:06 (nine years ago) link
Beautiful 35mm print yesterday before a packed house. I always forget David Carradine's cameo as Socrates the cellmate ("Someday the pigs are gonna be in here and the people are gonna be out there").
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Monday, 15 December 2014 15:34 (nine years ago) link
btw I agree w/ the curator whose quote finishes up that otherwise pretty awful Times piece; people who think this is a "travesty" don't get it.
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Monday, 15 December 2014 15:46 (nine years ago) link
also can anyone confirm that the real-estate woman called Mrs Tewkesbury near the end of the film is not played by the Nashville screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury? I think per the iMdB she is an actress named Sybil Scotford.
― things lose meaning over time (Dr Morbius), Monday, 15 December 2014 16:39 (nine years ago) link
"You're the nicest neighbor we've had Mr. Marlowe."
― hunangarage, Saturday, 4 July 2015 07:19 (eight years ago) link
every watch love it more
the light(ing), in every single scene
― drash, Saturday, 4 July 2015 09:15 (eight years ago) link
"write the check, roger"
― drash, Saturday, 4 July 2015 09:16 (eight years ago) link
the blu ray of this looks like shit, needs a good restoration
― flappy bird, Thursday, 30 November 2017 06:16 (six years ago) link
harry i'm proud to have you following me
― flappy bird, Thursday, 30 November 2017 06:18 (six years ago) link
Which blu ray? The Region 2 Arrow blu isn't a 'restoration' but looks very good:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Long-Goodbye-Blu-ray/80397/
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 30 November 2017 08:13 (six years ago) link
the region 1 one
― flappy bird, Thursday, 30 November 2017 08:33 (six years ago) link
I want to watch this again right now
― "Taste's very strange!" (stevie), Thursday, 30 November 2017 10:39 (six years ago) link
I think this may latterly have become my favourite movie ever.
I would play the shit out of a video game that successfully evoked its soft-outta-focus, stoned and paranoid milieu.
i love this movie, also love the soundtrack as i've prob said upthread. definitely up there with my favourites.
at the weekend i watched the movie adaptation of john cheever's the swimmer - and it reminded me a bit of the long goodbye. i absolutely loved it.
― Bein' Sean Bean (LocalGarda), Thursday, 30 November 2017 11:09 (six years ago) link
I watched that earlier this year too. Really strange movie, a little overly mannered but kind of moving. Like The Graduate if Benjamin had been an awkward, burned-out philanderer rather than an anxious college student.
― "Taste's very strange!" (stevie), Thursday, 30 November 2017 12:18 (six years ago) link
Yeah I found it pretty affecting, I was surprised it actually worked as a movie since the idea of adapting it felt so doomed. I love Cheever and in a way it made me like the short story even more, which is good.
It also had a nice haziness to it, I guess for a story that's about an alcoholic it really made me want to be by a pool in the sun drinking a cocktail.
― Bein' Sean Bean (LocalGarda), Thursday, 30 November 2017 12:21 (six years ago) link
Happy 45th anniversary to The Long Goodbye. I talked to @Cinephiliacs about why it’s one of the all-time greats: https://t.co/LhzJUBgZ8x— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) March 7, 2018
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 9 March 2018 21:22 (six years ago) link
very nice, thanks for the link ✌️
― flappy bird, Friday, 9 March 2018 21:30 (six years ago) link
just the greatest movie
― the clodding of the american mind (darraghmac), Saturday, 10 March 2018 01:11 (six years ago) link
i saw California Split in 35mm on the big screen last weekend. it’s no Long Goodbye but still a great little film.
― gr8080, Thursday, 29 March 2018 11:58 (six years ago) link
love California Split
― papa don't take no meth (stevie), Thursday, 29 March 2018 15:24 (six years ago) link
Movie most overrated by people with decent taste? I think both director and actor are wrong for the movie, and the song gets really tiresome after a while.
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 29 March 2018 16:08 (six years ago) link
moo vaughn really on a roll lately with bad opinions
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Thursday, 29 March 2018 18:25 (six years ago) link
there's a roll, and a lifetime roll
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 29 March 2018 19:00 (six years ago) link
I mean there's "I don't like The Long Goodbye" and then there's "Robert Altman is the wrong director and Elliot Gould is the wrong actor for The Long Goodbye."
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Thursday, 29 March 2018 19:03 (six years ago) link
Was it good for you, was I what you wanted me to be?
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 29 March 2018 21:03 (six years ago) link
"I don't like The Long Goodbye"
I wouldn't go that far, I just don't think Marlowe-via-Altman(/Gould) works very well.
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 29 March 2018 21:07 (six years ago) link
If you have a tight-assed belief that the only purpose of a movie based on a book is to be faithful to the book then ok.
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Thursday, 29 March 2018 21:13 (six years ago) link
I certainly don't share that belief, whatever its sphincter-stenosis level, nor have I read the book. Nor am I more interested in Marlowe than Altman. I just don't find the revisionist noir a particularly interesting concept.
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 29 March 2018 22:23 (six years ago) link
alright by me
― gr8080, Sunday, 1 April 2018 18:32 (five years ago) link
california split has excellent fun shirts
― flopson, Sunday, 1 April 2018 18:45 (five years ago) link
Best animal performances ever?
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Sunday, 3 June 2018 22:23 (five years ago) link
been going round my head since I saw it at the cinema, such a supremely comfortable film. made a to-watch list of films noted as similar here and in the inherent vice/big lebowski thread, would be particularly curious if anyone can think of a film with a similar energy and agreeably dishevelled protaganist who isn't a white american guy
― ogmor, Wednesday, 15 August 2018 09:11 (five years ago) link
Minus your final criterion, I always recommend California Split to Long Goodbye stans looking for more in that vein.
― Funkface LLC (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 12:53 (five years ago) link
yeah that's definitely on the list
― ogmor, Wednesday, 15 August 2018 13:14 (five years ago) link
Long Goodbye >>>>> California Split
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 13:21 (five years ago) link
excerpt from a new book
https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/book-excerpt-its-okay-with-me-hollywood-the-1970s-and-the-return-of-the-private-eye-by-jason-bailey
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, 20 August 2018 21:55 (five years ago) link
would be particularly curious if anyone can think of a film with a similar energy and agreeably dishevelled protaganist who isn't a white american guy
― ogmor, Wednesday, August 15, 2018 5:11 AM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
chameleon street
― sprout god (lag∞n), Monday, 20 August 2018 22:05 (five years ago) link
Kim Morgan talks to Gould
http://thenewbev.com/blog/2019/01/elliott-gould-the-long-goodbye/
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 22 January 2019 16:49 (five years ago) link
Saw it on a big screen on a Sunday last year with a packed house. Best part 'in the cinema' was the suicide-by-sea; waves crashing at incredible volume, that amazing continuous take.
Do the blu-rays still look bad? I know the old DVD looked famously terrible. Screenshots look kinda murky
https://images3.static-bluray.com/reviews/11004_3.jpg
― piscesx, Thursday, 19 December 2019 20:49 (four years ago) link
great movie and great book now im gonna check if ive made this post before
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 December 2019 03:15 (four years ago) link
there it is
― ice cr?m, Monday, August 1, 2011 12:04 AM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 December 2019 03:16 (four years ago) link
not enough love for uncredited arnie in the thread
― mark s, Friday, 20 December 2019 20:10 (four years ago) link
His appearance suffers from its proximity to Marty Di Bergi's Augustine's Coke bottle assault.
― i was so hungry that i ate a hole cake entirely to myself (Old Lunch), Friday, 20 December 2019 20:15 (four years ago) link
my favourite altman by a very long way
second equal: secret honor and popeye
(i haven't seen all the others)
― mark s, Friday, 20 December 2019 20:17 (four years ago) link
It was always murky. Zsigmond flashed (exposed) the film prior to shooting so it would look like that.
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 20 December 2019 21:06 (four years ago) link
the Kino blu ray looks fine
― flappy bird, Sunday, 2 February 2020 22:29 (four years ago) link
I know I've plugged it elsewhere, but my other Gould 70s fave is the Curtis Hanson penned Silent Partner, which boasts an eerily Long Goodbye esque beach scene, except...it's The Beaches in Toronto.
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Saturday, 22 February 2020 04:53 (four years ago) link
I've been meaning to see that, maybe this Xmas season (if all goes well)
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 1 April 2020 04:34 (three years ago) link