Do we need a new Marlowe?

I have to believe that if Raymond Chandler were alive, he'd have Philip Marlowe put a stop to this, and of course it wouldn't end well.

It seems ABC is teaming with producer Sean Bailey for a "fresh take" on Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled detective. The hourlong drama "Marlowe" would be a present-day procedural crime drama with noir aspects and set in Los Angeles.

Huh? So, if I get this right, this Marlowe would share with Chandler's creation, well, a name and not much more. At all. This is just plain abysmal.

As if to reassure us of his good intentions, Mr. Bailey goes on in Variety to try and prove his noir cred.

"He's (Marlowe's) a guy who can travel in the highest echelons of power and the darkest and dirtiest corners of the city," he added, noting the new Marlowe will still "get his ass kicked every once in a while." He added, "You can expect to see your femme fatales and very wealthy individuals."

Well, OK then. At least you've got all the ingredients down pat, but I'm not sure I trust the cook with this one. One silver lining: "As of now, there are no plans to use any of Chandler's Marlowe books ("The Big Sleep," et al.) as source material for storylines."

So, again, we have the makings of a standard cop show with a legendary name attached to it. I sure hope the heirs or whoever holds the rights to the Marlowe character are at least getting a boatload of cash in this swindle.

Marlowe has been played in the movies by a long line of tough and not-so-tough guys, including Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Elliot Gould and James Garner, among others. On TV, Powers Boothe played the gumshoe in the early 1980s HBO period drama "Philip Marlowe, Private Eye," which ran for several years.

Now, given that my first option would be for this to not happen at all, who could you see playing Marlowe on TV again? I might be able to get lukewarmly behind an oddball choice like Jon Lurie, but this being TV, it's probably more likely to be Tony Danza. Quite possibly paired with a chimp.

"United 93" gets sliver of support

Swimming against the tide of Eastwoodmania, the film critics of New York and Washington have named "United 93" as best picture of 2006.

While I'm not sure I can agree with this, It's certainly nice to see something besides "Letters from Iwo Jima" getting early recognition.

As much as this is possible, I did "like" Mr Greengrass' movie. The minute-by-minute re-creation of that horrid day is a technical marvel, and the chaotic scenes in the control towers are fantastic. Adding to the implied wisdom that I am a "wimp," however, I found that I had to turn away from the screen at several points in the final act, knowing all too well how it would end.

And just for the record, the only three flicks to hold solid spots on my short list of the best movies of 2006 are "Babel," "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine," but I'm sure many more titles will come back into consideration when I have the time to do a full review, most likely at some point in January.