One of the best books of the Twentieth Century. Full of bite and venom and the absurdity of war. In this first of six episodes, we are introduced to the principle characters. Yossarian, of course, is the central figure in all this. He flies bombing missions and is ready to be finished, but he Army continues to up the ante (the number of missions). We meet the shysters, the doctor, and a host of others that will figure prominently in this epic. So far the most impressive things are the squadron flying through flack. A nose gunner is obliterated. There is the brass who have no respect for the real fighters, only playing at war and looking good. The old Mike Nichols movie pretty much made hamburger of the book. I'm hoping that this series captures things better.
5 Reviews
good start
Kirpianuscus9 June 2019
It was like a Christmas Eve present . From the first scene, admiring the performance of George Cloony, discovering the old flavor of novel atmosphere and a promising Yossarian. The dialogue, the great manner to propose American postcards and commercials from "50 s are the good ingredient not exactly for a reasonable adaptation - the adaptation of a cult novel can be only a dream - but for a sort of different entertainment, reminding the price of war and the cold cruelty - to absurde- of buracracy.
trying to bomb a bridge too far
wpirotte17 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
When I was in high school, Catch 22 was just short of a bible to me and a few close friends. We quoted from it both at random and with purpose. It helped with teen angst and it was a source of bonding and, let's face it, a language for our nerd club. We read the novel cover to cover and then back and forth, perhaps as many as four times. I think I memorized it. Until now. But wait...the Mike Nichols movie was like a gift from God - we didn't know it was being made until it was actually playing in our local theater. Nichols took a few liberties here and there, but he captured the ESSENCE of the book with what now appears to be miraculous craftsmanship.
Fast forward 49 years. Yoyo? Really? Are you insane? The whole multi syllablic sensuous luxury of Yossarian, the way it could lend itself to love, rage, sadness, desperation, to hints of different ethnicities, to different emphases and pronunciations, even to different speeds of articulation...is just...gone. Of course, "Yoyo" is a name of deprecation, of comedy, and of indignity. Is that even vaguely appropriate here? Is there such a thing as an art director who listens to names? Would these guys have renamed Romeo and Juliet as Romey and Jules?
I am only on episode one, but the acting is mechanical and tepid, except Clooney's...and I think HE was responsible as the director for the blandness. All the recruits look like Melrose Place extras. Granted, Nichols had access to some of the finest actors in the industry, from Giant Orson Welles to Arkin to an absolute treasure trove of traditional and newer character actors. But Michaels even squeezed a decent performance out of amateur Art Garfunkel. Each person in Nichols' 22 had a face, a voice, a posture, and a delivery which positively overflowed with character, with presence, and...well, they were ALL memorable!
Now for the Mandela effect. I have no memory of Scheisskopf, his wife, etc although I have a dim memory of some of the parade ground stuff. Maybe his absence from Nichols' movie is clouding my memory. Certainly this Major was a less than pivotal instrument in the book.
I feel quite positive that there was precious little detail on Mrs Scheiss and her sexual conquests...I think these were shifted to Nurse Duckett in the movie...but, of course, the nudity etc in episode one is a ray of sunshine, if a gratuitous one.
To be honest, I am watching this only because I heard a review on NPR. I regularly listen to NPR to monitor the ludicrous disinformation they use our tax dollars to disseminate. Maybe I should have listened to myself about NPR.
I am not done here, and I will give it more than a fair listen. But Yoyo was an epic fail idea, and Scheisskopf, legit or not, just irritates my memory gland.
Fast forward 49 years. Yoyo? Really? Are you insane? The whole multi syllablic sensuous luxury of Yossarian, the way it could lend itself to love, rage, sadness, desperation, to hints of different ethnicities, to different emphases and pronunciations, even to different speeds of articulation...is just...gone. Of course, "Yoyo" is a name of deprecation, of comedy, and of indignity. Is that even vaguely appropriate here? Is there such a thing as an art director who listens to names? Would these guys have renamed Romeo and Juliet as Romey and Jules?
I am only on episode one, but the acting is mechanical and tepid, except Clooney's...and I think HE was responsible as the director for the blandness. All the recruits look like Melrose Place extras. Granted, Nichols had access to some of the finest actors in the industry, from Giant Orson Welles to Arkin to an absolute treasure trove of traditional and newer character actors. But Michaels even squeezed a decent performance out of amateur Art Garfunkel. Each person in Nichols' 22 had a face, a voice, a posture, and a delivery which positively overflowed with character, with presence, and...well, they were ALL memorable!
Now for the Mandela effect. I have no memory of Scheisskopf, his wife, etc although I have a dim memory of some of the parade ground stuff. Maybe his absence from Nichols' movie is clouding my memory. Certainly this Major was a less than pivotal instrument in the book.
I feel quite positive that there was precious little detail on Mrs Scheiss and her sexual conquests...I think these were shifted to Nurse Duckett in the movie...but, of course, the nudity etc in episode one is a ray of sunshine, if a gratuitous one.
To be honest, I am watching this only because I heard a review on NPR. I regularly listen to NPR to monitor the ludicrous disinformation they use our tax dollars to disseminate. Maybe I should have listened to myself about NPR.
I am not done here, and I will give it more than a fair listen. But Yoyo was an epic fail idea, and Scheisskopf, legit or not, just irritates my memory gland.
Disappointed
namethenewb18 May 2019
It's so bad, you'd be better off spending your time outside
carolinajh20 May 2019
Casting is such an important part to whether a movie or tv show is successful, and they made a huge mistake with the lead character. They needed someone with some clout to take on such an iconic role. The fact they chose such a nameless person shows they really didn't think this was worth their time. Don't bother watching this.
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