>Nashville (1975)
Considered his magnum opus, Nashville was directed by the same man who did M*A*S*H and The Long Goodbye. Neither particularly left a lasting impression (apart from some musical numbers), but having grown up quite a bit since watching them and having this one come extremely recommended, well, I went ahead.
The movie follows many characters, from a famous country singer who was recently hospitalized and is making her latest debut in Nashville, to a musical trio in the middle of a love triangle, to a wandering BBC reporter who has no proper filter, to a renowned gospel singer with two deaf children... There are more, but you get the gist. While there are a lot of characters, given the length of the movie (over two hours), you will eventually recognize them all.
If you aren't familiar with Robert Altman movies, then know that "comedy" is not typical. Situations may be comical, comments may be comical, but this is not a typical Jerry Lewis comedy where moments are clearly supposed to be funny. For example, the BBC reporter gives her off-hand comments that you would probably never say out loud to a stranger, which clearly act as comic relief. But it simultaneously ties into some dark commentary that makes you realize that the absurdity is both funny and tragic.
This one hit. Originally I wasn't sure how well I'd take it. There were a lot of lengthy singing parts that, while lyrically relevant, felt like they dragged. But