"Well, you know what they say: 'Veronica Mars, she's a marshmallow."

Hell frickin' yeah. Airing 10 years ago, Veronica Mars was only a passing thing that I saw on ads as a little kid. But several years after its sad cancellation after season 3, I jumped on the bandwagon and started watching the series. I couldn't help but be absolutely hooked and captivated by its actors, its stories and the general writing and direction of this TV show. With a kickstarter campaign that broke records, Rob Thomas has returned with a bang. The dedication of the fans in creating and raising funds for this movie, even after almost a decade after its cancellation just highlights the brilliance of this show.…

usually when i'm so nonplussed about a film i find myself thinking something to the tune of "well, that was *definitely* a movie." but with VERONICA MARS, i'm not so sure.

of course, the conversation with this film is driven by the question of utility more than anything else. the people who paid for it knew exactly what they were getting, and the movie delivers it to them in spades. except, it doesn't. it exposes and underscores whatever weaknesses were inherent in the characters from the beginning, namely how incredibly fucking dull veronica's love interests are. piz, logan, who gives a shit. i suppose it's a nice change of pace from the women being the ones who are written so…

I binged on all four seasons of Veronica Mars plus the movie in one week.

The story conveniently revolves around a 10 year high school reunion so the audience can see familiar faces from the series. Weevil's (Francis Capra) character experiences a little bit of a character arc, while Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen). It's also self-aware: Logan (Jason Dohring) says to Veronica (Kristen Bell), “I appreciate you keeping it PG-13 for me” and sure enough, that is the rating.

The film also features actor James Franco playing himself. With his inappropriate and even exploitative behavior in the film industry (See: L.A. Times article and Hollywood Reporter article), it was a shame to see his face pop up.

Overall, it felt…

Part of A Film A Day

"I don't care if Logan Echolls not the guy. America thinks he's guilty, and that's enough for me."

It's hard to believe that Veronica Mars started as a Kickstarter project. Though I haven't seen the series, the film still held up pretty well. It's highly entertaining and very quickly paced, or so it seems. Though the introduction seems overlong, and the conclusion much too short, the film acts as solid entertainment, moreso than most films I've seen this year (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, this film makes me even more disappointed in you). At times though, where Veronica Mars falls short is that it feels too much like a made for TV movie. For fans…

Going into this movie I had barely heard of the tv show....Veronica Mars...much less actually watched any of its episodes. The opening credits of the movie tried to catch up all non-Veronica Mars fans on some of the history of Veronica. That helped get me though this movie although I am sure I missed many of the inside jokes and references.

The movie revolves around Veronica (Kristen Bell) coming back to her hometown and solving a murder that her former boyfriend is accused of doing. Most of the story made sense to me except for a subplot involving another high school friend who is framed by the police...maybe that is something for the sequel. Bell is as sexy as ever....and…

”A teenaged private eye. Trust me. I know how dumb that sounds.”

The unique thing about Veronica Mars is that its budget was raised by a Kickstarter campaign which means the fans of the original TV series are the real producers of the film. So first of all kudos to all those people who donated to the campaign. The good thing about Veronica Mars is that it doesn't disappoint those fans. It’s a decent detective story with some fine performances, a couple of okay twists, an acceptable noir-ish atmosphere and some fair levels of unpredictability and thrill which means it is an instantly enjoyable and engaging movie that will certainly make a good time for you if you’re looking for…

This is the fourth part of my four-part essay on contemporary cinematic representations of the law. You can find the full essay (with pictures!) here.
Part One: Intro & RoboCop (2014)
Part Two: Dredd (2012)
Part Three: Prisoners (2013)

Part Four: Veronica Mars (2014)

We find a similar pursuit of justice outside the law in Rob Thomas's Veronica Mars (2014), but here our protagonist finds a solution to the heroic exceptionality which made Keller Dover's position problematic. She achieves the best of both worlds: the justice of subjectivity without its exceptionalism, and the containment of objectivity without its inhumanity. She retains the subjectivized dimension of the law without reproducing the conditions of its necessity. The reason for this is her attitude…

Not one of the best shows of all time, but certainly deserves remembrance and holds up enough to watch today for sure. Flew through the 3 original seasons, this film, and the returning 4th season produced for Hulu in ~5 days. The show was 🔥 fire 🔥 that first season. And while there were so so so many characters to hate, the Mars family duo played by Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell made the show. They worked so well together.

Crime show nutters should probably queue up the series. Not as strong as something like Dexter though if I'm being honest. Also a content warning, the show deals with rape and rape culture a lot. While I think it did…

"Dumb question, but I have to ask : Did you know you were being filmed?"

Veronica Mars is a character driven action thriller with a solid fan base due to the short lived TV series success. I never watched the critically acclaimed series which aired for three seasons from 2004 to 2007, but the film is easy to follow and engaging nonetheless. Kristen Bell is given a well written character and delivers a strong performance in the lead role. She has some witty lines and I'm sure I missed out on a lot of clever gags aimed towards fans of the series, but I still was entertained by this film. I'm sure fans of the series will have a much…

Not one of the best shows of all time, but certainly deserves remembrance and holds up enough to watch today for sure. Flew through the 3 original seasons, this film, and the returning 4th season produced for Hulu in ~5 days. The show was 🔥 fire 🔥 that first season. And while there were so so so many characters to hate, the Mars family duo played by Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell made the show. They worked so well together.

Crime show nutters should probably queue up the series. Not as strong as something like Dexter though if I'm being honest. Also a content warning, the show deals with rape and rape culture a lot. While I think it did…

"Dad always said this town could wreck a person. It's what happens when you're playing a rigged game. I convinced myself winning meant getting out. But in what world do you get to leave the ring and declare victory? This is where I belong, in the fight. It's who I am. I've rolled around in the mud for so long, wash me clean and I don't recognize myself. So how about I just accept the mud and the tendency I have to find myself rolling in it? My name is Veronica, and I'm an addict. Hello Veronica."

Kristen Bell doesn't get enough credit, I swear. As a newcomer to the Veronica Mars universe, I can safely say I am now…