Never cared for Scorsese‘s version. It was trying too hard to be edgy and modern for the 80’s to the point it’s distracting more than anything.
The 62 version was superior.
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Think to remember that there was a rumour about DiCaprio owning the rights to The Deep Blue Good-by. The Travis McGee books are absolute classics and should have been a TV show long ago…
There have been two projects, a movie and a made-for-tv feature film respectively. Suffice it to say they’ve been forgotten since for a reason.
Any projects after 1983 fell through - although MacDonald supposedly refused a tv series as early as back in 1967. It’s anybody’s guess how the Sam Elliot vehicle from 1983 came to be.
Be that as it may, apparently any McGee projects never had the right timing. If DiCaprio still holds the rights - possible - he’s now been the holder for over a decade and I wouldn’t count on him doing a lot with himself if it doesn’t happen soon.
My guess is they’ll change hands again and mainly serve as convenient tax deduction. If no streamer looked at them by now…then they are just not what the streamers want.
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The last movement we had on a Travis McGee movie was 2015 when Christian Bale was supposed to star in a film using a Dennis Lehane script (drool) but that fell through due to Bale needing knee surgery.
Someday…
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Bale being the Tom Cruise-Jack Reacher version of Travis McGee I don´t really miss this one…
That Lehane script would be a real loss here. But I admit, Bale isn’t the first name I would think of for the part. Josh Holloway in his ‘Lost’ days would have been good. Or Luke Grimes.
Luke Grimes always looks like a lost puppie, too bad Holloway is to old now. I could live with Chris Hemsworth in serious mode like in Rush or Blackhat or Alexander Skaarsgard or Armie Hammer…
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I think a bit of puppy charm wouldn’t necessarily hurt the part, depending on how it’s approached. McGee is at times playing dumb/big-but-harmless/naïve - until he’s not. His scruffy beach bum persona would profit from a bit of outwardly innocent good-naturedness. I wouldn’t count Grimes out.
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Well, they’d be nuts not to follow up on this since it’s been such a draw.
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I thought this might be of interest to some members:
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The great reviews are stacking up.
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‘The Bureau’/‘Bureau of Legends’ (at least the first season) is already splendid source material. If they can resist the urge to turn it into too typical a US version, keep the gunplay and the violence muted down, then this cast can deliver a winner. Anybody’s guess though how it will fare with the audience. Fingers crossed.
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I completed saterday afternoon watching all the classic Columbo episode made between 1969-1979. I started watching them at the end of september when I had vacation and discoverd my Columbo dvd box again, some episodes I had to watch two or three times because I fell a sleep while watching them, but finally I finished them. It was great, now I started a couple of the newer episodes but I remeber most of them as not that good, so I don’t think I will watch them all. Although the one with Lindsay Crouse is a good one.
Of the classic ones the only one I didn’t realy like was “Last Salute of the Commodore” I also thought that Peter Falk acted very strange in it, he laughs a lot as if he didn’t realy took this episode very serious, I don’t know, he acted very peculiar, a lot of sneering and overacting. Why the hack was this?
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Black Doves (Netflix)
Pulp spy entertainment, with John Wick-inspired killing (of course not a balletic equal) and a family dynamic thrown in. All pretty absurd but so well played by Keira Knightley (to my surprise) and Ben Whishaw (man, that guy can act circles around anyone). Taking place during Christmas time it could be a pleasant time waster for those who like this genre.
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Two words: Patrick McGoohan.
The new take McGoohan brought to “Columbo” in Season 5 with IDENTITY CRISIS as the episode’s star/director/script doctor loosened Falk up–to the consternation of many fans, but to the delight of Falk.
McGoohan returns to direct the Season 5 finale, LAST SALUTE TO THE COMMODORE, and pushes Falk even further. The episode is unloved/hated by almost all fans, and also unfair to the great Robert Vaughan.
Falk continues the transformation of Columbo, reaching a new peak/low with Jonathan Demme’s MURDER UNDER GLASS.
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The Day of the Jackal
Wow. I did not see that coming. A reimagining that really works. Eddie Redmayne absolutely convincing me and loving his work. Action sequences which are totally exciting, suspense which is really tense. And a final episode which went against all my expectations.
Kudos. Looking forward to the already greenlit season 2!
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Elementary
More than a decade late to this party, but I had to research procedurals with special investigators.
Maybe the BBC “Sherlock” kept me from taking a look at this New York based variation. But after having watched only the pilot I must admit: this is fantastic. Clever, well acted and shot and written. Very entertaining. Just the right comfort TV food after a day of self-deluding about the state of the world.
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