Veronica Mars: Complete Series

OK, sorry for the lack of a post for the previous week. My plans sort of got flipped upside down and now I will be searching frantically for a way to make posts in a reasonable manner. I will figure it out, but it may take some time.

Alright, onto the review.

I had been hearing about this show for years now - most notably from the rabid fans screaming about its cancellation. And for the past few years those same rabid fans pleading that this series get a few movies.

This was apparently a WB/CW channel show that I just never really found. I am a huge Kristen Bell fan though, so I decided to finally check it out once I found the time.

Bell stars as the tititular character Veronica Mars. She is the daughter of the former sheriff turned private investigator, Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni).

Each of the Veronica Mars seasons has a bit of an overall crime that Keith, and Veronica, are trying to figure out - with tons of smaller crimes and/or instances needing private investigating sprinkled in throughout the season.

The first season finds Veronica entering her junior year of high school after the loss of her best friend, Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried). Mars was the girl from the other side of the tracks that was welcomed in by the rich kids, including her best friend and her boyfriend, Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn).

Keith mistakenly blames the death of Lilly on her father and loses his job as the sheriff and also gets Veronica shunned by her rich friends.

Veronica meets Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III) on the first day of school as she cuts him down from the flagpole - he had a run-in with the local biker gang and its leader Weevil Navarro (Francis Capra).

Wallace and later Mac (Tina Majorino) become Veronica's helpers in all things private investigating. During this first season she does all she can to clear both hers and her fathers name, and nail the right person who killed her best friend.

Another major character in the series is Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), who is the former boyfriend of Lilly Kane and constant bully of Veronica - until he somehow falls for her.

During the second season the major crime is when a group of students get murdered in a bus accident. We are introduced to a quartet of major characters including Mayor Woody Goodman (Steve Guttenberg), brothers Dick and Cassidy Casablancas (Ryan Hansen and Kyle Gallner) and their stepmother Kendall (Charisma Carpenter).

In the final season we basically get two different crimes throughout the season - while Veronica and the gang move on to college. She is joined by pretty much all of her major classmates except former boyfriend, Duncan. The first crime of the season is Veronica figuring out who is committing the rapes throughout the campus. The final crime is the death of the dean.

In the final season we get introduced to Veronica's new boyfriend and Wallace's roommate Piz Piznarski (Chris Lowell) and Mac's roommate Parker Lee (Julie Gonzalo), a victim of one of the rapes on campus.

The end of the show occurs as Keith Mars is trying to get his job back as sheriff and is taking on another private investigator, Vinnie Van Lowe (Ken Marino).

The first season of the show is probably my favorite. I liked the other two seasons and enjoyed parts of each a lot, but I felt it did slip a little after the first season. Not enough though that I wouldn't enjoy season a Veronica Mars film or two in the future.

It was also pretty fun to see a lot of the actors from this show also turn up in creator Rob Thomas' other show Party Down. That happened to star Ryan Hansen and had cameos by a lot of the Veronica Mars cast. But, Veronica Mars also had a few cameos itself from members of Party Down so that was pretty fun to see.

Grade:

25 Days: Christmas with the Kranks

Yet another Tim Allen Christmas movie. He seems to have cornered the market, although Vince Vaughn appears to be nipping at his heels.

Anyway, Christmas with the Kranks is a holiday movie adapted from John Grisham's novel, 'Skipping Christmas'. The name was changed due to Ben Affleck's Surviving Christmas which was released around the same time - the powers wanted to avoid confusion.

So, Luther (Allen) and Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) are usually filled with Christmas spirit, except this year their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) has joined the Peace Corps and will not be celebrating Christmas with the family.

Instead of sulking their way through the holidays, Luther devises a plan to skip Christmas altogether, and take a cruise with his wife. He even figured that they spend over $6,000 on Christmas each year - but would actually save money by taking the cruise.

This begins sort of a Twilight Zone effect from the neighborhood. Apparently, the entire neighborhood relies on attending the Kranks Christmas Eve party, and without the Kranks holiday decorations - including a large Frosty the Snowman - the neighborhood lost the lighting contest.

Nora is a bit apprehensive about taking the trip and skipping Christmas, but soon comes around. With just 24 hours to go until the cruise - the Kranks receive a phone call. Their daughter is coming home for Christmas, and is bringing her fiance.

This throws the Kranks, and soon the entire neighborhood, into Operation Bring Blair Home, as they decorate the house, get things ready for the holiday party and pick the pair up at the airport.

I was a bit confused by Luther's intentions. While watching I was under the impression that he didn't want to celebrate Christmas due to his daughter being absent - and it would hurt too much celebrating without her. But even after she came home, he was determined to go on the cruise.

The end of the film is rather touching - as Luther has a change of heart and helps out his neighbors across the street, the Scheel's.

A lot of famous faces in the film, including Dan Aykroyd as Vic Frohmyer, Erik Per Sullivan as Spike, Cheech Marin and Jake Busey as police officers, M. Emmet Walsh as Walt Scheel and Tom Poston as Father Zabriskie - in what would be his final film role.

Walsh and Poston were also in Allen's television series Home Improvement.

This film took a lot of hits from critics, but I have to admit I rather enjoyed it. It's not a holiday classic or anything, but it was pretty funny - and a good watch.

My lone complaint was Luther's antics after Blair was coming home. It would have been a lot better if he was sincere about his reasonings for going on the cruise - because he missed his daughter.

Grade: