Catch 22 (George Clooney, Hulu)

[Irish]

My gut feeling is (a) the book isn't adaptable and (b) Clooney isn't the guy to do it, regardless.

Thoughts?

[Peng]

No poll?

[Peng]

Oh I see why; it’s a six-episode series, which makes sense in term of adapting this (haven’t seen the 1970 film though). No idea why the thread is in this section though.

[Milky Joe]

Mike Nichols would like a word with you.

[Irish]

Mike Nichols would like a word with you.

Like I said... the book is unadaptable.

[Skitch]

I havent read the book, but how does the movie compare? In the ballpark?

[Irish]

I havent read the book, but how does the movie compare? In the ballpark?

It's not even close.

The problem the novel is brilliant and Nichol's movie is the kinda thing you walk out of thinking it was "just okay."

The book has a very dry, absurdist style of humor, sorta similar to Monty Python or "Dr. Strangelove," that is hard to translate into photographs.

You'd need to start with actors who have a background in comedy but the chops to do drama as well. (eg: Bill Murray, Will Farrell, Melissa McCarthy, Sam Rockwell.)

The teaser is just a teaser but the tone seems broad, as if everybody involved knows how funny it's supposed to be.

[MadMan]

I love the book, but I never saw the 1970 film. This new take looks interesting.

[Yxklyx]

I like the film a lot, love the book a lot more. The Nichols film does capture the spirit of the book for me, plus that cast!

The other thing I love about the original film is that every scene is edited together with the succeeding scene with an audio or visual clue - sort of making the movie one long continuous edit in a sense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzlKGC-_e-s

The visual connections between scenes are more interesting and satisfying than the audio connections shown in this video.