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View Full Version : Veronica Mars (Rob Thomas)



Henry Gale
03-14-2014, 11:19 AM
IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771372/)

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/qu_sym7K5dNANcdoFEGIdA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/movie-news/c1fc44c3-e612-4d0b-a5dc-0022aeec0424_veronicamars_wate rmark_gs.jpg

Kurosawa Fan
03-15-2014, 03:44 AM
Nothing but totally biased love for this film. A bit of a clunky plot, but it was so great to have these characters back again.

eternity
03-15-2014, 05:38 AM
I liked it fine, but boy did it suffer by not being a whole fourth season. Subplots and scenes that would have easily filled a full episode are given only a few minutes.

It's a lot better than it could have been, that's for sure.

Thirdmango
03-15-2014, 03:46 PM
It looks like it got some sort of exclusivity deal with AMC, and there's only one AMC in the state, one that's about 2 hours away. Le sigh.

Henry Gale
03-15-2014, 08:01 PM
It's just so much fun, and almost a punishingly brief amount of time to jump back into its world and the ins and outs of everyone's life.

Broadly flung terms some have and were inevitably going to throw at it like "fan service" and "wish fulfillment storytelling" are almost completely redundant and confusing since those things aren't inherently derogatory, especially when they're almost literally the catalyst, basis and financial foundation for how this exists. And it also helps that the movie itself isn't just two hours of distracting in-jokes or awkward exposition to help non-fans understand everyone's relationships. (Though I will say I did have some trouble remembering certain people, especially Bonnie Deville / Carrie Bishop, since I later saw was Leighton Meester in the series but obviously not here.)

Obviously the reunion and acquaintance-contained murder mystery is the perfect framing device and scale for an under two hour re-plunging into this world. It's not a new season, a reboot, or a grand finale, but it's a nice refresher and brand new piece of clout for everything I fondly remember about basking in its colourfully gloomy world and the lives of the sharply drawn and lovable people in it.

The movie, like the show, has a really distinct, sometimes ethereal and diffused look, but oddly this incarnation of that is a lot more sullen and blue. The series had moments of that, but its one-of-a-kind look thrived in popping, bright colours in the sunlight and beautifully saturated nights had an almost '80s high school drama throwback feel. Maybe it's a conscious choice of a palette change to reflect Veronica and everyone's updated emotional outlook, or maybe it's just because the series was shot on 16mm with seven to ten years ago film stock and this modern, 2:35:1 Neptune is done through the lens of Arri Alexas, doing its best visual impression of what it thinks 2014 American cinema should look like rater than trying to match the show, but either way, it threw me a bit seeing familiar locations look so much less warm and soft this time around, which may or may not be the intended point.

But on a less technical, articulate side of my feelings about it all, it's just a joyous 100-minute new lease of life for something I used to watch weekly in my own high school years. Wherever things might find a way of going from here, whether it's another movie or similarly self-contained mini-seasons with long episodes a la Sherlock, then I welcome it with open arms and an unabashedly adolescent heart.

The best thing I can say about it, which has been hard with a lot of similar resuscitations of old favourites in recent years, is how unforced and seamlessly it gets back into itself. Once Veronica leaves New York and goes back home, it really feels like you and the show has too, and there's not much more I could ask for than that.

Mara
03-16-2014, 11:08 AM
Did not know I could already rent this through Amazon.

Henry Gale
03-16-2014, 04:46 PM
Did not know I could already rent this through Amazon.

Yup, and all sorts of On Demand, iTunes and whatnot have it too. My sister pledged to the Kickstarter but they only have everyone an Ultraviolet/Flixster link (lame, quality ain't great). One weird thing is that I saw screencaps of the On Demand version, and it seems to be the only place where the movie is framed with an un-matted 16x9, making it look even more like the TV series.

And despite all of those options at home, this still managed to sneak into the top ten at the box office (the real one, with the audiences and paper tickets!), with $2 million in 291 theatres. If it wasn't for Grand Budapest Hotel's insane performance ($3.64 million from only 66 theatres), it would've easily had the best per-screen average of the weekend. Veronica sits right at #10, right under Frozen at #9... in its 17th week. So even four months later, despite it already being available to buy online, with the home video release Tuesday, animated Kristen Bell still finds a way to outperform live-action Kristen Bell.

[ETM]
03-16-2014, 05:24 PM
My sister pledged to the Kickstarter but they only have everyone an Ultraviolet/Flixster link (lame, quality ain't great).

After Flixster fail, Warner Brothers will refund 'Veronica Mars' backers using iTunes or Amazon (http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/16/5514282/warner-brothers-will-refund-veronica-mars-itunes-amazon)

Kurosawa Fan
03-16-2014, 05:29 PM
;510932']After Flixster fail, Warner Brothers will refund 'Veronica Mars' backers using iTunes or Amazon (http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/16/5514282/warner-brothers-will-refund-veronica-mars-itunes-amazon)

I watched it through Flixster on the Vudu app via my PS4 and had no issues with acquiring the movie or with the quality. It was in HD and streamed perfectly. I wonder what issues people were having?

Mara
03-17-2014, 02:39 PM
Okay, this was a delight.

It wasn't perfect; some of the expository dialogue was clunky and many of the cameos were unnecessary, but as a fan I was digging it. (Celeste Kane, holy cripes.) I thought the mystery was pretty intriguing, but really we were back to see everyone we loved and spend a little more time with them.

Quick question: when Veronica was texting in the cupboard, was that to her dad?

Logan mellowed very much with age. I guess that's understandable, and I'm glad he's not still the ragey man-child he was in high school, but a little part of me was wondering where my Logan had gone. But then he started throwing punches at the party and I was like, Oh there you are. Doring looks fantastic, by the way. He's gotten much better looking.

Still, V only has to spend three minutes with Leo for me to kind of want that to happen again.

And I will be forever disappointed that Ken and Alicia never reconciled and married. I really wanted Veronica and Wallace to be siblings. It was important to me.

Mara
03-17-2014, 02:40 PM
This didn't make me want another film.

It made me want another television series.

Mara
03-17-2014, 02:44 PM
Hold up, I have another shallow thought.

Add to the list of people that have gotten oddly attractive: Martin Starr and Tina Majorino. Majorino was always girl-next-door normal looking, but she looked damn cute with her punk hair. And Starr looked weird for, like, twenty years and suddenly he's handsome? What the crap?

Kurosawa Fan
03-17-2014, 02:48 PM
Okay, this was a delight.

It wasn't perfect; some of the expository dialogue was clunky and many of the cameos were unnecessary, but as a fan I was digging it. (Celeste Kane, holy cripes.) I thought the mystery was pretty intriguing, but really we were back to see everyone we loved and spend a little more time with them.

Quick question: when Veronica was texting in the cupboard, was that to her dad?

Logan mellowed very much with age. I guess that's understandable, and I'm glad he's not still the ragey man-child he was in high school, but a little part of me was wondering where my Logan had gone. But then he started throwing punches at the party and I was like, Oh there you are. Doring looks fantastic, by the way. He's gotten much better looking.


Yes, the text was to her dad.

As for Logan, I was a little disappointed with the level of his maturation. Aside from the fight, he felt almost like a completely different person, whereas the others felt so familiar. I know the maturation was necessary to make their reconciliation make sense, but I feel like they took it too far.

Totally agree about not really wanting another movie, and instead wanting the series to continue, but I will say that I'm kind of looking forward to the first book. I think it gets released in a week or so.

Mara
03-17-2014, 02:58 PM
Logan matured a lot in the third season after Veronica dumped him. With a few back-sliding exceptions, he practically grew up overnight. He became more level-headed, thoughtful, and honest person. I think if he kept on that trajectory, what we see here isn't that far off.

However, what I feel like we lost is that wounded-animal quality that Logan had. If there's one thing we learned from the show, it's that Logan is usually coming from a very vulnerable, damaged place. Even all growed up, I was surprised that he didn't have a reaction when the murder of Lilly came up, or his mother's suicide. He's still a traumatized, abused person even if he's had time to heal. I'm not sure we saw that.

number8
03-17-2014, 03:35 PM
The Weevil subplot is so sad.

Mara
03-17-2014, 03:46 PM
The Weevil subplot is so sad.

It was too thinly-sketched for me. I wanted more Weevil. (This would apply to all three seasons as well as the film.) Riding off with the PCHers at the end whaaaaa? I MUST HAVE MORE.

Late-blooming thought-- we had zero resolution on the truck that took out Deputy Sacks. It was implied to be with the Sheriff's department, but no follow-up.

Kurosawa Fan
03-17-2014, 03:53 PM
It was too thinly-sketched for me. I wanted more Weevil. (This would apply to all three seasons as well as the film.) Riding off with the PCHers at the end whaaaaa? I MUST HAVE MORE.

Late-blooming thought-- we had zero resolution on the truck that took out Deputy Sacks. It was implied to be with the Sheriff's department, but no follow-up.

Yep. Those reasons and more are why I called the plot clunky. Everything moved too fast. Eternity put it well by saying it suffered from not being a fourth season. They tried to do waaaaaay too much. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Qrazy
03-17-2014, 03:54 PM
Should I watch this show?

number8
03-17-2014, 04:07 PM
It was too thinly-sketched for me. I wanted more Weevil. (This would apply to all three seasons as well as the film.) Riding off with the PCHers at the end whaaaaa? I MUST HAVE MORE.

Late-blooming thought-- we had zero resolution on the truck that took out Deputy Sacks. It was implied to be with the Sheriff's department, but no follow-up.

This was intentional, IIRC. Rob Thomas warned fans from the beginning that there are going to be some plot points in the script that will not be resolved, because he's angling for sequels.

Kurosawa Fan
03-17-2014, 04:12 PM
Should I watch this show?

I don't think so. I don't think you'd like it.

Mara
03-17-2014, 04:13 PM
Yeah, it's a fantastic show overall but I'm not sure it's Qrazy's vibe.

number8
03-17-2014, 04:15 PM
I cannot overstate how much I love Keith Mars.

Mara
03-17-2014, 04:28 PM
I cannot overstate how much I love Keith Mars.

Best fictional father ever? Possibly. Even when he disagrees with Veronica, I'm almost always on his side. He is always coming from a place of love.

The first time I watched season one and there was the scene where he disclosed the results of the DNA test, I was sobbing. I had to stop the show and collect myself.

number8
03-17-2014, 04:35 PM
I literally shed a tear during the movie when he tried to break up the stop-and-frisk. Not even joking.

Qrazy
03-17-2014, 05:24 PM
Yeah, it's a fantastic show overall but I'm not sure it's Qrazy's vibe.

I liked Buffy...

Mara
03-17-2014, 05:29 PM
I liked Buffy...

It certainly has some similarities to Buffy. ("Hellmouth" shout-out in the film, hell yeah!) But VM is less goofy, more of a neo-noir detective series cross-bred with a high-quality soap opera.

number8
03-17-2014, 05:38 PM
It's Brick in the style of Gossip Girl. I would not compare it to Buffy at all.

Mara
03-17-2014, 05:55 PM
I would not compare it to Buffy at all.

I would. It sort of signaled the next generation of kick-ass women. When female heroines on television really came into their own, for awhile they were almost always physically battling their environments. I think that's what we needed, culturally, to signal a shift between the female victim and the female protagonist.

Veronica was not one to back down from a physical confrontation, but she moved away from "I can kill you with my bare hands" into "I will destroy you with my mind." She was far more introspective and savvy than Buffy ever was.

But the similarities are there. They are both stories of tiny blonde women trapped in a seemingly beautiful SoCal town that is actually a cesspool of death and destruction. They are both more formidable than they look and-- this is key-- they both get a ton of mileage out of playing on people's low expectations of them. (Here's a fun drinking game-- take a shot every time Buffy or Veronica pretend to be stupid, or vapid, or confused, or weak, in order to turn a dangerous situation in their favor.) Buffy and Veronica are both smart, but their biggest asset is how good they are at thinking on their feet and being resourceful. Both Buffy and Veronica start off as loners but end up depending heavily on a core group of fiercely loyal friends, while never being actually accepted by the majority of their classmates.

They are also both shows that are ostensibly about high school but aren't really focused on a high school viewing audience because they use high school as a microcosm for a larger culture.

I wouldn't say that they are similar shows, exactly, but I think that BtVS was probably an inspiration.

Thirdmango
03-17-2014, 06:13 PM
I liked it but a lot less then most who watched the show. Likely because I had all but forgotten most if not all of the show since I watched it once through a long while ago. I thought about watching some of it again to refresh my memory but didn't get around to it. The movie did feel like an extended episode of the show which is good for fans but maybe not so good for first timers? If this is the ending of the show it's better then the third season ending so that's nice enough.

Lucky
03-18-2014, 03:24 AM
Hmm, I wasn't as infatuated by this. The nature of the project and steady stream of inside jokes made the experience oddly self aware and off putting. It was as witty as ever, but with no emotional stakes to ground it. The romance subplot is ripped from a teenage girl's diary and paints Veronica in an immature light. Amusing ride, but hollow and forgettable. I'm not walking away with newfound knowledge of these characters I've grown to love.

Mr. McGibblets
03-18-2014, 07:53 PM
Really enjoyable, but I feel like the whole case with Logan was pretty throw-away and the more interesting plot would have been about the Sheriff's department corruption. Max Greenfield stole the show in his few minutes, but I liked seeing all the old characters pop up and it almost all felt natural.

I can't believe we're still in the James Franco playing himself phase of movies. That's an idea that was tired two years ago.

Mara
03-18-2014, 11:15 PM
...I'll just leave this here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/maragirl/vm-movie_dudes.gif

number8
03-19-2014, 03:05 PM
I restarted the show again, and man, I love that perpetually quasi-90s California vibe on the show. I love the term "beach noir" to describe the show, not just because of the setting, but because there's this really great dangerous-but-laid-back surfer culture rhythm to the show that made it unique even among other beach-set crime shows (lookin at you, CSI: Miami).

The second episode ended with the PCH gang beating Weevil's cousin on the beach, and Weevil walking away, getting on his bike, and riding off in silhouette against palm trees and the sun setting. So good.

I realized that the thing I missed the most in the movie was Logan's bead necklace that he never took off, even during sex. I used to wear the same style of necklace back in the early 2000s. Sigh.

Mara
03-19-2014, 06:22 PM
I need a gif of Veronica flipping that guy off while pretending to do her lipstick.

number8
03-19-2014, 07:23 PM
Tumblr got you covered.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/88eb9735738baf19260bc48442b4c4 f0/tumblr_n2hwwszCAI1qci23co1_400 .gif

Mara
03-19-2014, 07:29 PM
AWESOME.

EvilShoe
04-19-2014, 04:27 PM
This coasted by a bit too much on nostalghia for me. The mystery was a bit of a bust, but then again: Veronica is back.

EyesWideOpen
07-11-2014, 08:12 PM
I'm fresh off of finishing my first time viewing of Veronica Mars the series so I probably don't have the requisite distance that some of you have but this was merely average for me. I was thoroughly engaged through all three seasons but multiple times during this I was checking my phone. Besides a few cool moments of checking in with everyone and getting to see more of Veronica which is always a good thing the actual plot was lacking. I also have a hard time buying Veronica becoming a lawyer.