Trying to cast aside the talk of whether Chevy will be involved in any part of the new Fletch movie, I thought I'd try to pick up on other Chevy projects. There are a number of smaller movies listed at imdb.com that have not progressed at all for ages and I'd love to know if anyone has any updates on any of these. It appears that Unleashed is now under the title of The Karate Dog and I am expecting to hear postive news on this later this year but little else. I am most interested in Vacuums that also stars the superb British comic Lee Evans and have attached a photograph of Chevy from this movie that made me laugh just looking at it. But this movie is over a year old now so what's happening?

Fletch Won...Fletch Won...Fletch Won...Fletch Won...Fletch Won...Fletch Won...Fletch Won

It's happening. After far too long of Fletch Won and it's on...off saga this week has finally seen the announcement that the movie will begin filming in January 2004. Miramax have agreed to let director Kevin Smith bring to the screen the inspiration for his writing with the first (chronologically) of Gregory Mcdonald's Fletch novels. The major news is that Smith regular and Chevy lookalike Jason Lee is not in the running for the lead role. Instead the contenders already named are Ben Affleck, Jimmy Fallon, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler and Will Smith. Despite spending the last three years singing the praises of Jason Lee and confirming his suitability for the role, Smith has now said that Lee would have been more like Chevy as Fletch than the character in the novels that Smith really wants to bring to the screen. The word from Gregory Mcdonald after reading the initial draft is that Smith has kept the script very faithful to the book and distant from the Chevy movies.

I've avoided entering into the Fletch Won discussions on whether Smith is the right man for the job and who should play the lead role as it was only going to happen at all if Smith got to do it anyway. Now I'll have my say: I like Kevin Smith's movies - I've got all of them on DVD and while there's too many cursives and the films take some getting used to I really do enjoy these films now. The best thing about all of Smith's movies though is Jason Lee. He's always given the scene stealing lines but he carries them off with style and it's clear from watching each of his movies how well he's progressed as an actor (brilliant in Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky). He is as near to Chevy's Fletch as there is currently available and he is a Fletch fan. I was introduced to Fletch through Chevy's movies and not the books. I suspect this is the case for most of us and as such Chevy is Fletch in my eyes. Jason Lee could have done this style of Fletch justice but seeing as Smith is sticking closely to the Fletch character in the novels - what the hey? So accepting it's not going to be in Chevy's style means that I have to consider the short list of actors differently. Here's my opinion with marks out of 10:

Ben Affleck - similar to the Fletch described in the novels and does have some charm. 8
Jimmy Fallon - too OTT for the Fletch character - funny but unproven in a feature length role. 5
Brad Pitt - best actor of the lot by far and intriguing but ultimately not as I see Fletch. 7
Adam Sandler - just not good enough as a comedian or actor I'm afraid. 5
Will Smith - slightly too much for the Fletch character and that's without stating the obvious. 6

It's not all doom and gloom though - the film's getting made and I'm sure it will give a new lease of life to Chevy's classics reminding the World what a supreme comic performer Chevy was. I expect Smith to make a good movie but fear we're gonna get a movie far removed from the two movies we know and love.

Let me know your own opinions on this by e-mailing me at skyjude@btopenworld.com

Fletch Lives Lives

It's the second reason for running this site in the first place and today I bring you a treble whammy of Fletch Lives updates. Firstly, following last month's DVD updates comes the best news yet in that Fletch Lives is due for a Region 1 release on 2nd September! It's just a vanilla disc unfortunately but the perfect opportunity to replace ageing VHS copies of the classic movie. Secondly, I have finally finished the 'Fletch UK' review of Fletch Lives. Despite bad reviews from the critics I think it's an absolute classic and as much fun as the first one. It would be fair to say my favourite Fletch movie is usually the last one I watched and I've just seen this one. The final dose of Fletch Lives news is that I have found another gem on ebay in a set of 10 lobby cards from the movie's theatrical release in 1989! These superb photographs (8 colour, 2 b&w) have been added to the Fletch page and I'll try and turn a few into some decent wallpaper images soon.