Robert Altman, a savvy corruptor of studio policy and preference who made a career out of bucking both traditional story conventions and Hollywood management style, died Monday night at a Los Angeles Hospital at the age of 81, it was reported today. A five-time Best Director Academy Award nominee, most recently for
2001’s Gosford Park, Altman was awarded a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2006.
An immediate cause of death was not reported, but when he received his honorary Oscar earlier this year, Altman revealed that he had a heart transplant a decade earlier, and insurance bonding companies were known over the past couple years to require a stand-by “shadow” director on his projects. A true original, he will certainly be missed.
Joey Lauren Adams’ Come Early Morning, so one could be forgiven for thinking this topless-but-not magazine cover, from December’s issue of 
As previously mentioned here, Fox Searchlight will be mounting an aggressive Oscar campaign for 
Variety has posted an obituary for the VHS format, which almost all major retailers have officially booted from shelves to make way for the oncoming glut of Christmas… sorry, holiday product. For those who simply can’t cope with the death of the format, don’t worry — there’s always Ebay and Half.com, where those 30 million copies of The Lion King will be peddled for another generation or so, likely at or around shipping cost. Of course, once your kids’ Barney or Dora the Explorer tapes wear out the heads on the VCR, you’re totally screwed…
web site for Fox Atomic, 20th Century Fox’s new genre arm, will attempt to make a splash on 
Mouchette; Allison Anders and Dean Lent’s 1987 film Border, who picked up the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival.</p>
<p>Having already re-set the film in America, the makers of the aforementioned <i>Emily Rose</i> had to further dance around questions of non-fiction elements since the life rights had been sold to this project. The result, in their case, was a movie that mixed a few tawdry genre thrills with a bit of classy psychological distance, <b>an interesting mash-up of metaphysical horror spookery and courtroom<br />
procedural mystery</b>. <i>Requiem</i>, meanwhile, directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, interestingly seems less likely to drag matters into the light of day, no matter how grey and moody. A press release for the film describes it as <b>“a restrained, sympathetic exploration of people brought to an extreme and controversial solution,”</b> and as depicting “the confusion, terror and tragedy of a young woman whose inner torment flares at the very nexus of her coming-of-age, and the desperation of family and friends in the face of her fury.” In other words, no courtroom shenanigans, methinks. Apparently, <b>if absolutely forced to think outside the box</b>, Hollywood really <i>can</i> sometimes come up with an intriguing framing device.</p>
<p>Distributed by IFC First Take, <b><i>Requiem</i> opens on Friday, October 20 in New York at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza, </b>and <b>Friday, November 3 in Los Angeles</b> at <a href=)
the Laemmle Music Hall. From there, Nashville, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta will all play host to its limited expansion.
