Saturday, January 30, 2010
HA HA! YOUR MEDIUM IS DYING!: We've beaten up on EW a fair amount over the past few years for dumbing down stuff and sometimes seeming as though it's more interested in being Tiger Beat than a magazine about entertainment for grown-ups, but all credit for this week's issue--a nice cover package on Lost, an interesting anniversary package on how EW has featured in movies and TV shows, a decent (though picture-heavy) career retrospective on LL Cool J, a nice profile of Jeff Bridges' stand-in, and, best of all, an article surveying the travails of the Fletch franchise (John Krasinski as Fletch? That'd be interesting.). More issues like this one, please, and less 20 page photo spreads of Robert Pattinson.
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I'll have to read the Fletch article next time I'm at the book store. As a fan of the early Fletch novels I thought Chevy Chase ruined the franchise (Chevy's "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" is also a piss poor version of that novel). Fletch isn't a nice person and depending on how you want to interpret his actions, he's a violent misogynist. Hell, the only female he doesn't mistreat is the underage junkie/whore he sleeps with. Can Krasinski play dark? Or is he just loveable and witty goofball?
ReplyDeleteI'l recommend these: Fletch (1974), Confess, Fletch (1976), Fletch's Fortune (1978); and maybe Fletch's Moxie (1982). After that Fletch in the books sounds more like Fletch in the movies and it's all bad. One exception is "Carioca Fletch" 1984. Though this takes place weeks after the events in "Fletch," other than the character's name there's really no connection with the Fletch series. This could be anyone suffering culture shock in Brazil during Carnival. I wouldn't be surprised if McDonald wrote it without Fletch; then when his editor turned it down, slapped Fletch's name on it, edited a couple pages, and turned it back in.
The best is "Confess, Fletch" which introduces Flynn, a former spy hiding out in Boston pretending to be a cop. He appears again in the excellent "Flynn" (1977), and then in a couple more that weren't so good.
and another thing. Last I heard -- and a quick check couldn't confirm this -- it wasn't the original Fletch that was being remade. Instead, they were jumping ahead into the crappier books. If they went back to the beginning of the series and kept with the original tone, I think Neil Patrick Harris could be an excellent Fletch.
ReplyDeleteFewer! FEWER!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you posted this because as I was reading this week's issue, I was thinking about all of the complaints/suggestions we've had for EW on this site. I agreed that the Lost retrospective was excellently done (and much needed since I forgot to DVR last season's final episode and can barely remember what happened). I've said here before that the retrospectives and comprehensive looks at a series or genre is something EW does best. I'd like to think I'm not even being that biased here since I love Lost -- perhaps in ten years time, a well-done Twilight retrospective will be appropriate and appreciated as such (even if I never see one of the movies or read one of the books). And with the Jeff Bridge's stand-in, they picked out something that I haven't seen anyone else really delve into -- who is Jeff Bridge's stand-in, what does a stand-in do, and why have they worked together so long? Great pick up there. And Fletch!!!
ReplyDeleteLoved the piece on Fletch, and want to rewatch the movie, but agree with bill that the movie had an entirely diff. tone from the books. I echo his recs of Fletch and Confess Fletch. I think Jason Lee would have made an excellent movie Fletch a la Chevy Chase. Wouldn't it be fun if they did a Son of Fletch (never read the book, but bet it wasn't good) idea, with both of them?
ReplyDeleteNever could figure out who would have been good for an adaptation closer to the book, as Fletch is supposed to be a blond surfer lookin guy, war vet, morally ambiguous and funny more in a dark, dark way.
I wound up on a camping trip the weekend Fletch opened, and so I read the book before I saw the movie. I agree it was very different -- more subtle, much better mystery, and still very funny, though in a different way. I read a few of the others but don't remember them very well. I read the later books, Fletch Won and Fletch Too, but they weren't nearly as good.
ReplyDeleteBill, have you ever read any of William Goldman's books about his life as a screenwriter? One of them - I forget which one - has a fantastic essay on his writing of "Memoirs of an Invisible Man," all about how he was caught between the studio, which wanted a slapstick comedy starring Chevy Chase, and his star, who wanted a movie about "the loneliness of invisibility."
ReplyDeleteI've never read any of the Fletch books and don't really remember the movie, but I thought the "Fletch" article was excellent, and the best kind of work that EW does - an unusual, unexpected topic; an in-depth look at a Hollywood story; access to the people really involved (great quotes from Kevin Smith, Zach Braff). I also loved the Lost piece - Jeff Jensen does such great Lost coverage (although sometimes way too long and involved) on the website, it was nice to see some of his work in the magazine itself.
ReplyDeleteNo, but now I'll have to look for it. Looks like it's in "Which Lie Did I Tell?" It's a book worth refilming and updating. In the original, after Nick becomes invisible he spends a lot of time making excuses for not going into the office and trying to get food delivered to his apartment. This makes it easy for the Feds to track him down Today with virtual officing (verbing?) and internet ordering, it might be months before anyone realized there was something odd about Nick's behavior.
ReplyDeleteWaht Sue said. A lot of gret stuff in this issue. i devoured the Fletch article.
ReplyDeleteThe "Fletch" article was one of the all-time best EW articles I've read, and I've been a subscribing since the very first issue.
ReplyDeleteCuriously, "Fletch" is one of the few examples where I've read the book and seen the movie and enjoyed them both equally; almost invariably, I find the book much better. (About the only exceptions I can think of off-hand are the James Bond books, which I found tedious and dull.) I never envisioned Fletch as Chevy Chase, though. More like Dirk Benedict (aka Faceman in the original "A-Team").