File under things that could never occur today (but we wish they could): Elliott Gould's strange superstardom. Despite his nervous tics and habitual mumbling, the actor was (apparently) a hit with the ladies, becoming a huge box-office draw in the seventies by starring in Altman classics like M*A*S*H*, hosting early episodes of Saturday Night Live, and, of course, later making a cameo in The Muppet Movie. (That's not even to mention Friends, but let's forget that happened.) Starting today, the Brooklyn Academy of Music presents Elliott Gould: Star for an Uptight Age, a cinematic retrospective of the actor's career (including screenings of The Long Goodbye). The movies are excellent, but Gould's style, both on-screen and off, was truly legendary—and still is today. As the man himself once said, "Success didn't change me. I was already distorted before I became a star."
Aug. 1-21 at BAM, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100; for screening times and dates, visit bam.org

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