Short Cuts

This movie gets a lot of comparisons to Magnolia, and for good reason, but they’re so different stylistically that it’s kind of incomparable. They both have a large ensemble cast and a big event that affects all the characters at the end and they’re both about interpersonal relationships, Magnolia is just a lot more flashy, but Short Cuts’ presentation makes it feel so insanely different. Magnolia has this pretense of self-importance and profundity I never resonated with and made me like it a little less. Short Cuts doesn’t feel like it’s trying to tell you an important and profound tale, it’s just showing you what’s happening, and to me it makes those emotional beats hit a lot harder. This was really really good, it’s very simplistic in its story but the way it presents it feels so smooth and its sadness creeps up on you before it just ends. Robert Altman has a style of filmmaking that to me is so infectious, even in a movie like M.A.S.H., (which is a little outdated and mean-spirited) it’s a style of realism that feels so engaging to watch. I still like Nashville more but I don’t think I’m ever gonna find a movie that I like more than Nashville honestly