R.I.P. Robert Altman 1925-2006

And to think I just The Player in our film class last week, one of the best films about Hollywood. His last film A Prairie Home Companion was a fitting swan song to his long illustrious career.

In honor of Mr. Altman, I bring you a clip from his 1980 film adaptation of Popeye. It's Shelley Duvall (as Olive Oyl to Robin Williams' Popeye) singing "He Needs Me" as composed by the underrated Harry Nilsson. That song was later prominently used as a musical motif in P.T. Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love. Altman had been such an influence in Anderson's films, he even cast Altman regulars like Michael Murphy and Philip Baker Hall.