...just heard it on tv. This is a real loss to the movie community...

Just read it two mins ago. Five noms, never got to win the Oscar

RIP

Here's the Reuters news:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Film director Robert Altman has died in a Los Angeles hospital, a spokesman for his production company said on Tuesday.

The spokesman told Reuters that Altman, 81, died on Monday evening. He gave no cause of death.

Altman, whose films include "The Player," "M*A*S*H," and "Nashville," revealed earlier this year that he had been the recipient of a heart transplant approximately 10 years ago. He received an honorary Oscar at the 2006 Academy Awards.

Wow.

Goodbye to a true visionary, a true artist. His work will live on long after any of us.

RIP but man as cold as it may sound, I cant stand his movies and really really hate the pretentiousness of his films. It really really put me to sleep

didn't like his films but : (

Oh no! He's one of my favorites. At least he was doing movies right up until the last minute. How sad. we should have a week-long film festival in his honor. He was one of the best....one of the last of the big greats.

Nashville and Gosford Park were both masterpieces in my good. So very beautifully layered, he truly had his own unique style that imitated by many (Paul Haggis), but triumphed by few (P.T. Anderson, though Magnolia was more an Altman film on speed).

R.I.P.

Wow, this is terrible. The opinions on his films are divisive, but I always looked forward to seeing his next endeavor. I was shocked when I saw his name on the title.

In retrospect, the honorary award he received from the academy came at the right time.

Woah, that is crazy news. That's too bad. He was certainly one of the great directors, I think.

*sniff* This is terrible news, I always looked forward to watchng films, even the ones I didn't end up liking.

With the exception of M.A.S.H i thought his other films sucked, but its sad that a respected director like him has died.81 is still a good way to go, i wish i last that long.

RIP

Shocked to see this.

A huge loss; I was always fascinated by his films.

Rest in Peace.

Thought his films were extremely dull but still...RIP.

Sad news, Palance a week or so ago, now Altman. I liked his work. It's going to be a sad day now that actors like Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, and even Clint Eastwood dont' have much time left.

Such a shock.

I was going to say what gun did, if Altman can slip away despite being still lively and working... Who knows how much time Eastwood, among others has. It's going to be practically a national tragedy when that Clint dies, man.

RIP

RIP

I wonder if the distributor of A Praire Home Companion is going to give it an Oscar campaign now.

With Altman, I found that I either thought his films were great or absolutely terrible; hardly any in-between.

The great ones: M*A*S*H, Nashville, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Brewster McCloud.

Hmmm. All the great ones were in the 70s. OK, I'll add The Player, which was enjoyable.

I always loved Altman. The Long Goodbye's one of my favourite films. M*A*S*H, McCabe and Mrs Miller, Nashville, Short Cuts, The Player, hell, even Popeye, were all great.

He'll be sorely missed.

Regardless of whether his films were uniformley good or not, I've always loved Altman's style of direction and autuersmanship, if that's a word. Really the ensemble thing and the high class of it all, I found pretty special among directors.

Prarie Home Companion was great...

Wow, this is a surprise and a true loss.

Yeah, a bit surprising.

Sad, too.