The Veronica Mars Movie

[ApathyMonger]

There's no Veronica Mars section, so I guess this goes here?

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by David T. Cole
Moved this thread into a VM section

[TravisNelson76]

"The Perfect Job."  "The Perfect Man."  "The Perfect Chance... To Throw It All Away!"  

 

I guess they're assuming all of the fans are going to show up regardless and are therefore gearing their in-trailer taglines to an entirely different audience?  Because... YIKES!

[Chip]

I would never have called Piz perfect. He was OK.

[Lisin]

The Veronica Mars Movie just won MTV's "Most Anticipated Movie of 2014" which means nothing other than the fans voted a lot... like over 20 million votes in the last round (against Vampire Academy... the fact that Vampire Academy and Veronica Mars were the final two movies tells you all you need to know about the validity of this contest) but it's cool nonetheless. Jason Dohring and Ryan Hansen made a video as a thank you to the fans for voting it was adorable but for some reason has been yanked from YouTube.

[Lisin]

FYI The advanced screenings that were released yesterday for Thursday March 13 in around 10 theatres around the country sold out in like 2 min. or something, they released a second block of tickets and those sold out fast too. The tickets for opening weekend just went on sale this morning. Unfortunately I'm in the DC area and the stupid website won't let me look at tickets because the crazy snow we just got means the theatres are closed until tomorrow and AMC's site is worthless BUT I also wanted to post here that they just announced that the movie will also be released in Canada on March 14th in the markets listed below. Cineplex website for details.

• Calgary
• Edmonton
• Halifax/Darmouth
• Hamilton
• Kitchener/Waterloo
• London
• Montreal
• Ottawa
• St. John's Newfoundland
• Toronto
• Vancouver
• Victoria
• Winnipeg

[Lisin]

HUGE news today people, if you're a backer that pledged at the point to receive the digital copy of the movie you'll be able to download it on opening day, March 14th, also they're going to release it digitally ON THE SAME DAY so you can rent/buy it on iTunes, Amazon, and most on demand platforms also. This is so exciting! All movies should be released that way!

Full disclosure, I live about an hour and a half away from the closest theatre that's showing it and I'm crazy so even though I'm getting it for "free" because I backed the project I'll likely buy tickets to a theatre around me just to make sure it makes money. I'm also not above buying it from Amazon if it's a pain to access the digital version I'm given.

[Chip]

I'm about an hour away from the closest theater and I was debating. I backed it enough for the digital copy, so I'll probably watch it at home and see if it comes any closer.

[Chip]

I also just saw on twitter the cover art for the first original Veronica Mars mystery novel.

https://twitter.com/RobThomas/status/437261246341976064/photo/1

Pretty exciting! Adding it to my GoodReads right now!

[David T. Cole]

Same day cinema and home release for everything can't get here soon enough. Not to be all Old Man about it but people don't know how to watch a movie in public these days.

[Lisin]

Same day cinema and home release for everything can't get here soon enough. Not to be all Old Man about it but people don't know how to watch a movie in public these days.

I couldn't agree more, I'm even willing to pay more than I would pay for a ticket, like say $25 to buy (not rent) a digital download of a movie that is still in theaters. It's still less than my husband and I would spend going to see it and buying food and drinks etc. We exclusively go to see movies at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas at this point because we are old and crotchety and at least they enforce societal rules. I will still always go see specific movies in theaters, like Avengers 2 or a big action movie, or if it's a special screening type thing but in general, for smaller movies or non action movies or what have you? I'm a homebody all the way. AND Attention Studios, if I LIKE the movie? I'll still buy it at a marked up price while it's in theaters to watch it again, and so would most fans of lets say comic book movies as an example. If Avengers 2 was available for digital download the WEEK it came out, doesn't have to be opening day, you'd see people go see it live and then buy it the next day to watch it over again and still buy the special edition blu ray when it's released as well. I promise. 

[hiccup]

The first 2 minutes of the Veronica Mars movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cd8cMWb0gI&feature=youtu.be

For people who have never seen the show, I feel it gives a good introduction to Veronica Mars.

I'm so excited for this movie!  As a backer who will receive the digital copy, I'm still going opening night at the theater.

[Lisin]

I just watched that too! I'm with you hiccup, I really want to see it in a theater even though I get the digital copy. I'm not positive I'll be able to pull it off because of distance but I'm definitely going to try!

[hiccup]

Lisin, I hope you're able to see it at the theater too!  I want to be a total fan-girl and wear one of the t-shirts to the theater, but they are ridiculously small!  I see lots of stretching of the shirt in my immediate future.  

[Lisin]

They ARE small, but they're pretty stretchy, I have ummm not small boobs and it feels a bit revealing to wear it in public but I may do it anyway. I've "turned" two of my girlfriends on to the show in the past month, they're both marathoning to finish so we can go see it and I believe they just finished episode 16 of the last season so we've got a vague plan to go. They both live much closer to where it's showing so unless we get hit with yet another snow storm I'm hoping it all happens. I am so excited, I'm going to be a mess in the theater, I cried at the end of the first two min. video! How am I going to hold it together for 2 hours?! I hope it's a bunch of fangirls so I don't feel silly.

[halgia]

Just came back from AMC's first showing of the day, to which I dragged a friend who watched the last two episodes with me last night but hadn't seen anything else.

Thoughts: well, I loved the fan service, and the movie was decent. It has all the elements of what made the show great, and some of them worked well, but it never quite gelled the way the best parts of the show did.

Someone on letterboxd said, which I think sums it up pretty well:

As soon as it finished my wife yelled, "next episode". I couldn't agree more.

Semi-spoilery for themes:

The falling-off-the-wagon metaphor worked pretty well. The show made the parallel between her mom's alcoholism and her, uh, investigationism a few times, and making that the central metaphor of the movie fit.

Actual spoilers:

Piz working for This American Life is perfect.

The acoustic "We Used To Be Friends" on the radio felt kind of cheap.

I'm kind of mad that the James Franco cameo was ruined for me by IMDB: I avoided the news reports, but every time I searched "Veronica Mars" in the IMDB app to look up an actor or whatever during my show rewatch, the first hit was the movie, saying "Kristen Bell, James Franco". That would have been a really fun surprise, I think.

Was making the new sheriff "Dan Lamb" really necessary? At first I wondered if I really had his name wrong the whole time.

Having Celeste be the one who shoots Weevil was the only other callback that felt kind of forced to me. Most of the others worked really well.

Glad that they didn't shoehorn stupid Parker back in, or try to force a Duncan reappearance or a Lilly flashback.

Having Felix be the first one "in memoriam" during the reunion was a nice touch, what with Logan accused of another murder he didn't commit. Glad they just said Meg's name instead of showing her on the screen.

Madison is perfect at the reunion. Also, loved Leo's fakeout about remembering her.

Piz's "It truly does sit on a hellmouth" got a real big laugh from my crowd...and me.

The repeat of the Rob Thomas joke was a little forced.

The whole sheriff department plot didn't really work for me. It was nice to see Sachs repent of his evil ways, and yeah obviously I gasped at the whole truck thing, but...did I miss us finding out who that was? Was it supposed to be an anonymous Lamb crony, or...?

The Logan recap of the "I Hear The Bells" scene basically worked only inasmuch as it made me remember the original scene. Logan just feels kind of staid here. Partly that's because, well, he's grown up. But it's also partly just due to lack of time, maybe, or I dunno.

The scene in Gia's apartment was really successfully super-tense for me, though. Her texting her dad and then realizing she could call Gia's phone to distract him absolutely worked.

Overall, yeah, the plot didn't really completely pull together for me. But I still loved moments of it, and of course I'm glad that it made me rewatch the first two seasons and finally watch the third (which, sure, wasn't as good, but I'm still glad I watched it), and who knows, maybe those books will be good, or we'll get a sequel movie where she's actually finally full-out on being a PI and

maybe Keith will actually finally be the goddamn sheriff again

.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Dougal

[Lisin]

I'm sitting at home waiting to start it because someone is supposed to be stopping by and I am ready to kill them because AGH! Just get here already so I can watch!

[formerlyfreedom]

Very happy that this came to Dubuque so I could go see it in the theater. Dougal, I agree with a lot of your points - I wonder if

the Weevil story is the first book? That would make a lot of sense.

I give it a thumbs up, and I really loved that they were able to make this movie. They all looked to be enjoying their time on screen!

[halgia]

Stacey,

one of the backer emails said that the book was his original idea for the movie, which I heard somewhere (okay, on PCHH) that it was supposed to be a kind of film noir story with her at the FBI? But yeah, the Weevil story definitely seems like it needs to be resolved. They also said that the book features the return of a character important to Veronica who wasn't in the movie, which is presumably either or her mom or Duncan, neither of which I'm too excited about....

And yeah, I'm very glad they made it to Pittsburgh so I could see this in a theater too – though it would have been nice if it had been at the independent theater a block from my house instead of the big AMC multiplex. :)

[Lisin]

I'm still planning on seeing it in theaters, but it's such a long haul for me that since I already have the digital download I'm going to watch it now and see it again in theaters. I'm so happy!

[clemmyb]

I finished watching the movie today by myself via digital download but have plans to drag my boyfriend to the theater to see it tomorrow.  I actually clapped when I finished watching it, and my puppy (who was not as excited about the movie as I was) looked at me disapprovingly.

Apart from that, I agree with nearly every single thing that @Dougal said.  I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on it the more I think about it, but I'm really, really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen tomorrow.  With an audience of other humans and not a sleepy puppy.

[Carrie Ann]

I'm seeing it tonight, but watched my digital download today because I couldn't wait.

I have no real complaints, because I feel like this whole thing is a gift that I don't deserve? I'm just happy to have whatever bonus VM I can get, since I never thought this would happen. Anyway, I too felt like it wasn't so much a movie as a long episode, or a little mini-arc. That was fine with me, because that's what I wanted from it, but I don't know if I'd like it at all if I hadn't watched the show. I agree that Logan was a little too somber for my taste, but I get that they were trying to show how he'd grown. I hope that in the books, or any future movies/episodes, he can lighten up again. I liked the unanswered questions regarding the police and Weevil, because I look forward to hearing more about it in the books, etc. I wish we could have had more time with Mac, Wallace, etc, but it probably would have felt shoehorned in. And that's what the Shooting Script is for.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Carrie Ann

[TravisNelson76]

I think the fact that it feels like just an episode of Veronica Mars is very high praise, actually.  This is harder than it seems.  Witness: nearly every other reunion movie/season ever.

[Lisin]

I just finished it and I loved it. I've decided I'm a bit too invested emotionally to be at all objective so that's really all I can say. My husband liked it too and laughed at the appropriate times and all in all said he enjoyed it and he didn't really watch the show so I think that's high praise. I think the things that feel shoehorned in may also be a bit of a reaction to just having finished season 3 on a rewatch? I don't know if I would have felt that way if I had been farther away from the series. Either way I'm going to watch it again and I'm so happy with it. Well worth the money I pledged. I can't believe it actually happened and we got her back!

[formerlyfreedom]

Carrie Ann, I think you summed up my feelings in your first line about it feeling like a gift I didn't deserve. For as short as the shoot had to be, I think they did a remarkable job recreating a lot of the feel of the show. Looking back after a few hours, I think the hardest thing for me was

accepting that Logan has been in the Air Force (is that right? Or was it another branch of service?). But then again, given his personality, the service is probably exactly what he would need to straighten himself out.

Given the two hour time constraint on screen, I was happy to see who was able to make it onscreen, and didn't feel any one character got too shortchanged. And aside from my issue under spoiler tags up there, I found on whole that it was pretty believable from where we were nine years ago in show time, and just under seven years ago in real time.

Whew. Made it. Time to take a breather! Agreed, Lisin, I was feeling pretty emotionally invested there towards the end of this past year. So, anyone want to do some other a re-watch of some other show starting in April? :)

[halgia]

Well, Party Down would be the natural next choice, no? :)

And

yeah, the Air Force did feel a little strange for Logan, but in retrospect it totally makes sense. I don't see him really doing anything else and not just being some complete wreck nine years down the line.

[Cranberry]

I loved it. I watched it with a friend tonight (we watched the series together back during its original run) and at one point I turned to her and said, "This is total fanservice, but I'm not complaining," and she wholeheartedly agreed. Only a few moments felt like that, though -- mostly it just felt like a good episode of the show (a season one or two episode, not a crappy season three one). I will be reading the books, and I would be happy to see more on screen, should they be able to do it.

[Lisin]

@Stacy/Dougal

Logan was actually in the Navy as a pilot which almost makes more sense than Air Force, basically he's like Tom Cruise which is why they did the A Few Good Men joke at the end and also some Top Gun stuff. I think Logan joining the military when Veronica left Neptune just makes total sense. He is the perfect candidate for the military and it rings true to me that he would have been smart enough to join up rather than become even more of a delinquent.

I think I'm going to watch it again right now. I'm insane.

I'm totally up for doing another rewatch! Dawson's Creek? (I'm kidding, mostly) I'd say something that's available on Netflix streaming is a good choice... I'll do a bit of research and start a poll in the Everything Else TV area if you guys are into it!

[TravisNelson76]

I can accept that Logan the character would join the military.  I think.  Maybe.  Dohring the actor, though, looked weird and uncomfortable in that uniform.  

[David T. Cole]

This is our lead topic on EHG this week. I'll be bringing in the POV of the VM rube.

[Lisin]

I'm even more excited than usual to hear EHG now! Thanks Dave!

[halgia]

@Lisin I've never seen an episode of Dawson's Creek and I think I'd like to keep it that way. :)

[hiccup]

I saw it last night with an equally obsessed fan, and we both loved it!  It was a love letter to the fans, just as they promised.  Even though I have the digital copy, I saw it in the theater first and it was a lot of fun seeing it with a lot of fans.  I think people who have never seen the tv show will like it, although they may not understand why we squee'd and/or laughed at certain times.

I've been reading all the reviews I can find and most are positive.  This one, however, is written by someone who clearly did not do his research, nor does he understand the concept of noir.

http://variety.com/2014/film/opinion/veronica-mars-movie-makes-no-sense-unless-youve-seen-the-show-1201132168/

 

[Lisin]

@Dougal I can't say I blame you!

[Carrie Ann]

I loved seeing this in the theater--it was a full house for the 9:45 screening last night, and full of fans. It was such a blast to see it with people who were so excited. Like, the reaction to Keith Mars

when he turns around and sees Veronica behind the desk

was priceless. People went nuts. I was like, yes, I am in the right place. Other than Logan, who obviously got a major response like every time he was on screen, maybe the biggest reaction was to Leo. That was a great scene.

My biggest fear when this all started a year ago was that it wouldn't feel right. That it wouldn't feel like the show, and it would just be awkward and sort of uncomfortable to watch. I forgot all about that fear yesterday, which, as TravisNelson said above, is impressive on its own. 

Edited March 15, 2014 by Carrie Ann

[ApathyMonger]

Just watched it. The Weevil stuff felt shoe-horned in, but otherwise I really liked it. The Dax Shepard cameo felt unneccessary too. Could have done with more Dick as well.

Poor Deputy Sacks (and poor Gia I guess too).

I'm looking forward to the books too. I wonder if they'll go into what happened with Vinnie and the Fitzpatricks after the series.

[Lindsey]

The Weevil stuff felt shoe-horned in, but otherwise I really liked it.

I think the Weevil stuff would work if this were another season with space to continue that story, instead of a stand alone movie.  That said, I'll never be mad about more screen time for Weevil.

I was actually in a training seminar when the digital download for the movie and the shooting script came in and I may or may not have tuned out the meeting to read some of the script. Like Veronica, I have no ability to resist my addictions.

I think the Navy would give Logan not only the structure he needs but also a sense of community that he probably wouldn't ever have in Neptune, where everyone is shallow and his deepest and most meaningful relationship is with Dick.  Somber Logan worked for me since he is older (as several people have pointed out) and he clearly cared about Carrie, so I wouldn't expect him to be at his best only a few days after her murder.  Actually, high school Logan would have had a meltdown and demanded everyone Wang Chung.

[formerlyfreedom]

Actually, high school Logan would have had a meltdown and demanded everyone Wang Chung.

Truth. And this is how I attempt to solve conflict in my life as well. Strangely, it doesn't work out that well.

Also, more Weevil is good, so great point.

Edited March 16, 2014 by stacey

[Sheena]

I went to see it with a friend and her husband (the three of us have ever seen Veronica Mars before) and my friend's friend and her husband (who are VM fans)- it was the most packed movie theatre I've been in, probably for the last year (excepting Frozen on Christmas Day).

I... I sort of have mixed feelings about the movie.

Overall, I really liked it. It was fun, funny... it was way darker than I had anticipated

(she was not kidding in the intro about class warfare in the intro, holy crap)

, but that could be said of the series as well, since the very little I know of it comes, in large part, from an unsuccessful EHG canon submission which alerted me to the fact that the series involved 

a rape and possible incest

, both of which I had not at all thought the show would cover (I had always pictured Dawson's Creek with more quipping and a mystery of the week).

There are a fair few things which seem to not lack context, exactly, but lack sufficient context... if that makes any sense? An example of this would be when, in the 

bar, at the reunion, Veronica and some lady trade jabs. While it's well established that we're looking at a mean-girl-who-never-really-left-high-school vs intelligent-social-outcast-who-got-out sort of setup, and the mean girl in question does do something terrible to her (although, as slut-shaming attempts go, mocking someone under the pretext that she had a long orgasm seems to say way more about the mocker's sexual experiences than the mock-ee's...), and she says that using a stun-gun on her would be 'a bit old' (thus establishing that it's happened before), punching her in the face and saying "Original enough for ya?" isn't entirely without context, and the punch is deserved, but feels lacking in sufficient context, speaking as someone who has not yet seen the show.

I can't accuse it of being telling-not-showing exactly, since they did show all of the context needed for all but one bit, I just haven't seen it yet. And while that's certainly not their fault, it felt bumpier in places than it should have since adaptations to screen need to be able to stand on their own as well as with the series. I remember reading a review of The X-Files: Fight the Future which noted that the movie made too much sense inside of the context of the series and not enough sense outside of it... if we could water that criticism down, I think it would hold for Veronica Mars (or at least the second half would, I have no idea of its context inside the series, lol).

The one thing that I didn't really understand and I felt was a failing on behalf of the filmmaker(s) was

the biker fellow with the wife and young daughter who apparently cleaned up his life and, at the end of the movie, went back to a biker gang (were they a gang? They didn't come off as threatening to me, although I guess they scared that lady in the SUV).

...why did he go back, exactly? I didn't really understand that at all. He seemed to have it all now, and if he felt that the city's corrupt police force and wealthy upper class had gone too far (which, boy howdy, did they ever), it seemed like there would have been alternative options which made more sense (heck, I think Batman-style vigilantism would have made more sense), but... he went back, I guess. 'Cause reasons...? *shrug*

I do feel like the movie was a little predictable, but that isn't always a bad thing, and I don't think that it was here (the theatre actually had the volume up a little high, so it helped me know when to cover my ears, lol). Also, a fair bit of sequel-baiting at the end there... any word on the possibility of more Mars?

[Carrie Ann]

In regard to your last question about Weevil,

I can only say that that seemed perfectly believable to me in the same way Veronica returning to Neptune did. Inevitable, even. As a fan of the series, I would expect Weevil's grip on a good life to be kind of tenuous, because he had similar chances to turn things around in the past, and he always got dragged back in somehow. In this case, Veronica just told him that the guy who lied about selling Weevil that gun is sticking by his story, even after Sheriff Lamb has been sort of disgraced. That he still fears the Sheriff (or the department) more than he fears Weevil. Who wouldn't, at this point? But that leaves Weevil in the tough spot of having no recourse against the people who are implicating him as a part of the gang that was harassing and threatening Celeste. So he could face jail time, and now he feels powerless. That's not going to be acceptable for him, so getting back in the gang where he has support and can put the fear into people is the logical next step for him. Sad and disappointing, but not surprising.

As far as more VM material, my understanding is that they would love to do another movie, or short series on Netflix or similar, but in the meantime, Rob Thomas is also writing VM books. The first one comes out on March 25th.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Carrie Ann

[Sheena]

In regard to your last question about Weevil,

I can only say that that seemed perfectly believable to me in the same way Veronica returning to Neptune did. Inevitable, even. As a fan of the series, I would expect Weevil's grip on a good life to be kind of tenuous, because he had similar chances to turn things around in the past, and he always got dragged back in somehow. In this case, Veronica just told him that the guy who lied about selling Weevil that gun is sticking by his story, even after Sheriff Lamb has been sort of disgraced. That he still fears the Sheriff (or the department) more than he fears Weevil. Who wouldn't, at this point? But that leaves Weevil in the tough spot of having no recourse against the people who are implicating him as a part of the gang that was harassing and threatening Celeste. So he could face jail time, and now he feels powerless. That's not going to be acceptable for him, so getting back in the gang where he has support and can put the fear into people is the logical next step for him. Sad and disappointing, but not surprising.

As far as more VM material, my understanding is that they would love to do another movie, or short series on Netflix or similar, but in the meantime, Rob Thomas is also writing VM books. The first one comes out on March 25th.

Thank you, that was quite helpful! :) I'll probably grab the book when it comes out, although I think I'll wait to read it until after I see the series... fingers crossed Netflix gets it soon.

That said, I'm less happy with that subplot now because already it could have been removed with no real change to the plot of the film (

it got her to stick around longer, but any number of things could've done that just as easily, and he gets off on the charges anyway

). So it changes, in my view, from something which was simply explained poorly to something that was shoe-horned in, likely as setup for future endeavors, since at least one is already on its way.

TV-to-screen adaptations are tricky anyway, though, so if the most negative stuff I can say about it is that it isn't perfect in its adaptation (what is?), has an unnecessary subplot, and follows tried-and-true story beats in a way which isn't new but isn't boring or stale either, then I think it worked out well.

[hiccup]

I just finished watching it again and noticed something that I didn't see on original viewing:  

When Veronica and Vinnie Van Lowe approach his business van, the word non-destructive is spelled as non-destcructive. It made me chuckle because it's so in character, that he wouldn't notice a spelling mistake.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Or that 

he got the van for cheap for exactly that reason. Hee.

[hiccup]

Haha!  Yep, that's probably more like it.

[Chip]

I was driving down I-75 on the way to Florida when the link to the download came in. Even though I wanted to pull over and watch it right then, I had to wait until last night. I don't have a lot to add to the discussion since I am coming in late, but it was great!

Some thoughts:

It was great seeing Weevil again, but unless there is a larger plan to have this resolved in the book series, it would have been better to leave him out and not have Celeste shoot him for no reason. But, maybe Mac is at Kaine Software for a reason and there are PLANS.

The bit with Leo and the pizza was great but it was hard for me not to see Schmidt.

And strangely, I didn't hate Piz. I felt kind of bad for him.

I haven't listened to the EHG yet where they talk about the movie, but I read a comment about Dave maybe having a problem with Logan's name and number being on her phone. I justified this in my head as them being friends on Google+ or something and her contacts syncing somehow.  This happened to my phone with Facebook and it was weird.

 

On Audible, it has Kristen Bell listed as the narrator for the audio book, so that's going to require a listen.

[Lisin]

On Audible, it has Kristen Bell listed as the narrator for the audio book, so that's going to require a listen.

Oh My God. I almost NEVER listen to audiobooks but if that's the case I may see if there's a whispersynch option and read/listen because that's amazing.

As for your spoiler I recently read an interview with Rob Thomas and (the following is both an end of the movie spoiler and a book spoiler)

the final scene in the movie is supposed to imply that Mac has quit her job at Kane and is working for Mars Investigations now, apparently part of the first book deals with Veronica trying to make money to keep paying Mac. I have to say, I'm excited

[Chip]

Oh that's great about

Mac working for Veronica. She did have an awful lot of monitors for just helping hack a password

! 

[Chip]

Something about Piz's job :

Isn't This American Life produced at WBEZ in Chicago? Weren't they supposed to be in NYC?

[Tara Ariano]

Not sure how it works in terms of the station, but Glass, at least, relocated to New York a few years ago.

[Lisin]

Ooooh, you're right. Hmmm.

I mean NPR does have offices in NY but you're right, according to everything I can find TAL is in Chicago...

[Tara Ariano]

It's moved to New York. I promise. http://nymag.com/arts/tv/features/16762/

And here's a story about Glass and his wife buying a house in New York in 2012: http://observer.com/2012/06/ira-glass-to-live-this-american-life-in-chelsea-carriage-house/