Veronica Mars

This morning I was left in a dreamlike state due to the following video:

If you're a Veronica Mars fan such as myself, this clip will have you squealing with anticipation about the upcoming film. In short, the clip has the cast of VM getting all cute about whether they're Team Piz or Team Logan.

This movie is the result of an amazing Kickstarter campaign. Rob Thomas and cast got together to promote the campaign, offering T-Shirts, special screenings, and even an answer machine message recorded by Kirsten Bell herself, for all the different amounts contributed. The speed with which the goal was reached and surpassed was spectacular. It just shows how much VM fans want to see her and the gang again! So basically this movie is going ahead largely in thanks to all the crazy fans out there than contributed money towards the project.

This definitely paves the way for other much loved but cancelled TV shows, with rumors about many similar Kickstarter campaigns, in particular Joss Whedon's Firefly. Watch this space!

For the record, I'm totally Team Logan!

To tide you over here are some of the VM related goodies we house at the library:

Neptune Noir : unauthorized investigations into Veronica Mars

This is a collection of essays edited by the creator of VM, Rob Thomas! The essays cover a range of topics from Veronica and the kickass vigilante justice she dishes out, to her relationship with Logan Echolls. This collection highlights the issues of socioeconomic disparities as shown in Neptune, not to mention highlighting the powerful woman VM is in a world of sappy girl teen dramas!

Teen dreams : reading teen film from 'Heathers' to 'Veronica Mars'

While not strictly only about VM, this book chronicles not only the history of awesome teen movies, from the classic John Hughes films through favourites like Heathers and Clueless, and cult-classic TV Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Popular, and our favourite VM. It's an excellent expose on how these movies and TV programmes highlight the alternate side to the "American Dream".



And leaving the best to last!

Veronica Mars Season One

As well as Veronica Mars Season 2 and Veronica Mars Season Three

Marathons: A Pure Indulgence (Part 4): Teenage Angst

I haven't been a teenager for quite a few years but you wouldn't think it if you met me.  I am, it seems, permanently stuck as a geeky 14 year old.  So it probably comes as no surprise that I have a secret passion for teen shows.

Some people love watching soaps and others reality shows but for me my addiction is for trashy, angsty teen shows.  The angstier the better.

It's kind of sad really...

Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls is my go to show.  The show I watch when I just want to unwind and veg out and marvel at the sheer amazingness that it is.

There's snappy dialogue, pop culture references galore and quirky, eccentric characters.  And even better a character who loves books!

As you can imagine it was pretty much a given that I was going to love this show.

Awkward

A little more raunchy than GG (Gilmore Girls) ... because hey it's MTV, Awkward is funny, realistic comedy about the issues facing teens.

There's problems with parents and school and boys and that's only the beginning.  Because life for Jenna is never easy... especially when everyone thinks her accident was in fact a suicide attempt gone wrong.

Life sure can suck sometimes

Gossip Girl

Pretty, rich teens, doing pretty, rich things and wearing pretty, expensive clothing.

Yeah I can so relate...

Still that's part of its charm.

After all everyone needs some fantasy...

Glee

Any show that features singing, dancing high school students has got my vote. Especially when it has a sense of humour like this show does and features the wonderful Jane Lynch.

I *adore* Jane Lynch which is reason enough to watch this show.

Veronica Mars

Forget Nancy Drew.  Veronica Mars is so much better. Think Nancy D meets Dawson's Creek with a touch of Twin Peaks thrown in.

Wonderfully brilliant, the show has such a following that a massive fundraising campaign by fans resulted in a movie being made - due for release sometime next year.

How cool is that.

Pretty little liars

Secrets. Lies. Betrayals.

Pretty Little Liars is so my kind of thing.  So it's kind of shocking that I haven't even watched it. yet... something I am definitely going to be fixing with a massive marathon session some time soon.

Dawson's Creek

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I liked this show.

Dawson was an annoying dude who I just wanted to slap across the face and tell him to "man up" and Joey was a dithering mess who couldn't seem to decide what she wanted.

The fact that I liked it despite these short comings just goes to show what teenage angst can do for the brain.  Then again Pacey (Joshua Jackson) was a dream... after all any guy who names his boat True Love (watch High Society & you'll understand) just to declare his love is a definite winner.

John Hughes and Other 80's Teen Flicks

I just had to include a list of these movies because Reasons.

The music alone is enough reason to watch them.  If I had it my way every teenager today would be made to watch these as a Saturday night marathon.  Along with bowls of buttery popcorn, M&M's and vast amounts of Coke Cola.

The Breakfast Club              Pretty in Pink
Sixteen Candles                  Say Anything
Ferris Bueller's Day Off        Footloose

They'll Never Win An Oscar But Do We Really Care...

I thought about doing an Oscar's post (hence the title) but then wondered do we really care about the Oscars?

It's always interesting to find out who wins and take a peek at the fashions the stars are wearing but at the end of the day how many of us remember which movie won an Oscar and which didn't? And does any of it really affect our viewing habits and the movies that we love.

So instead I've decided to dedicate this post to the movies that don't get much (if any recognition).  The movies that are our guilty pleasures that cheer us up when we're down or that we enjoy just for the hell of it.

These are the movies we love.  That we wallow in when we're bored or sad or just wanting to veg out in front of the TV.

Some of these movies are so bad that their actually good.  There are also movies that were good all along but  rarely acknowledged and then there are the movies that we just love and we don't care if others think we're mad for liking them.

So what are your favourite movies to wallow in?

Pretty in Pink

"She's a high school girl from the wrong side of town. He's the wealthy heartthrob who asks her to the prom. But as fast as their romance builds, it's threatened by the painful reality of peer pressure."

I make no apologies for this movie or the one below being on this list.  

80's movies aimed at teens were the best.  Featuring great music, romance, and rebellion - these are perfect movies to put you in a feel good frame of mind and take you back to your teenage years.

Also check out: The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful, Say Anything.
Footloose

"A city-boy moves to a small Midwestern town where the local officials have banned dancing and rock 'n roll music."

Ahhh Kevin Bacon.

Better known now as the husband of Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and the star of new show The Following, he was back in the 80's a fresh face young guy who knew how to dance.

Forget the remake, this is the only Footloose movie you need to see.

Also check out: Dirty Dancing, Flashdance, Fame

Withnail and I 

"Two down-and-out British actors leave their city life for a disastrous vacation in the country with an eccentric uncle."

I saw Paul McGann at a convention a few years ago and he was brilliant.

Funny and interesting and filled with great stories and yes he talked about Withnail and I, a movie he still gets people asking about and begging for him to quote lines from.

Also check out: Trainspotting, Quarophenia, Human Traffic, Rushmore, Ghost World.
 
Starship Troopers

"Courageous soldiers travel to the distant and desolate Klendathu system for the ultimate showdown between the species."

You've gotta love a movie that is this bad and luckily for the movie itself there are people out there who do.

It has bad acting, a bunch of pretty boys and girls who try to act all badass, aliens from outer space and plenty of blood and gore. It is also wonderfully funny, something I an sure wasn't the intention in the first place but which has earned it it's cult following.

Also check out any of the following (the acting is heaps better): Any of the Alien franchise,  Predator (1 & 2), Tremors.

The Lost Boys

"When two brothers move to the sleepy town of Santa Carla one of them begins to undergo a change..."

Before their was Twilight or Vampire Diaries or even Buffy there was The Lost Boys. Vampires who were ruthless killers with a touch of pretty boy thrown in for good measure. 

Also check out: Near Dark, Fright Night (the original 1985 version), John Carpenters Vampires, From Dusk to Dawn.

Miller's Crossing

"During prohibition two gangland bosses struggle for control over a city, with one of the boss's lieutenants caught in the middle."
  
This one of those great movie's that didn't  get the recognition it deserved when it was first released but luckily is now seen as one of the best crime movies ever made.

Also check out: Any of the Coen brothers other movies (Fargo, Blood Simple, No Country For Old Men, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski),  GoodFellas, Once Upon A Time In America.

Dazed and confused

"The adventures of incoming high school and junior high students on the last day of school, in May of 1976."

Stoners, skaters, jocks and geeks this movie features them all as well as an awesome 70's classic rock soundtrack.  It's worth watching this movie just for the soundtrack alone.

Also check out: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Empire Records, American Graffiti

The Princess bride 
 
"The adventures of Buttercup, the most beautiful woman in the world, and Westley, the man she loves, in the fairytale kingdom of Florin."

Probably one of my all time favourite movies.  I ADORE Princess Bride. The writing, the acting, the story are all just beautiful.

This is how a fairytale should be told.

Also check out: The Neverending Story, Labyrinth,

And some more cult favourites you may want to check out: Planet of the Apes (1968 version), Beetlejuice, Cherry 2000, Go, The Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, Reservoir Dogs, Highlander, The Fifth Element, Conan the Barbarian (1982 version), Red Sonja.