May Movie Preview 2013

E: When did May becomes the best summer movie month?  Because the popcorn epics you long to see?  They’re in May. Those hot documentaries you want to see to impress your hipster friends?  They’re all in May.  The sequels?  May.  May May May May May.

M: Well, given that Star Wars opened in May in 1977, I think it’s been a while.

E: Yes, but it’s not just one movie.  It’s at least one every weekend, for five weekends in a row.  It’s awesome.

M: As for the “hot documentaries,” as you well know I have little interest in seeing anything to impress any hipsters, friend or foe. I’ll see the documentary if it’s interesting to me.

C: Yeah, hot documentaries seems like a contradiction in terms. And there are some good movies coming in June too. But May is starting off with a bang!

Oscar Redux: Best Supporting Actress

E: Here we are with the second in our series on the Oscar nominees, winners, and the performances that were unjustly forgotten.  To see our thoughts on the supporting actor category, go here.

MMGF:  So, here we have one of our, shall we say, less competitive competitions?  And the Academy obliged by giving us who we all expected.

April 2013 Movie Preview

M: We’re getting to the end of the box office doldrums. May officially starts the summer movie season, even if those of us in the northeast are still waiting impatiently for the “early” spring that Punxsutawney Phil promised us well over six weeks ago. With that said, April usually tosses in one or two things to get the ball rolling. I can’t speak for my sisters, but this year there’s one movie I’m really looking forward to, and one that I’m intrigued by against my better judgement. We’ll get to those. Once again, this is not a full and complete list, just the big films, and the small ones that may have piqued one of our interests.

Green Light! What’s Your Perfect Veronica Mars Movie?

C: Wednesday around 9:00 p.m., the Veronica Mars movie project passed its $2 million goal on Kickstarter – after less than 11 hours! That, folks, is fan love made mighty. And Rob Thomas, show creator, reacted: “Today has exceeded the wildest pipe dream I let myself entertain. Holy cow. We better make a good movie. These amazing fans have stepped up. We better deliver.” Between the humility of this response, and the frickin’ fantastic video they made to advertise the Kickstarter funding drive, my hopes are soaring.

The Veronica Mars Movie: just a dream? Or just in need of a Kickstart?

C: For years they’ve talked about it. Every show that’s canceled before its time creates a buzz and a series of speculative articles in which the terms “movie” and “fan support” and “cast interest” get thrown around. The difference with Veronica Mars – the series whose first season is hands-down THE best season of television in my opinion, but which died an inglorious sputtering death, strangled nearly to death by its own network for a whole final season before being axed — is that the movie conversation keeps coming up.

M: To be fair, the killing of the show, while largely the CW’s fault, was a combined effort. Like many other highly successful shows, it lost its way in season three, as the writers ran out of really good ideas, recycled plots or parts of plots, and tried to introduce “fresh” new characters that didn’t work at all.

C: A lot of that had to do with budget cuts that limited even how many main actors they could use in a given episode.

M: Most importantly, Veronica Mars was no longer smarter than you. That said, like you I would completely trust them to make a great movie, and have hoped for it for years.

E: Yes, just shut up, because C is right — the first season of Veronica Mars was a triumph unrivaled anywhere on television — a perfectly realized vision from beginning to end.  It’s unmatched.  And surely the people responsible for those astounding 22 hours of television could craft a brilliant 2 hour movie.

C: They certainly crafted an amazing 5-minute sell… but I’m getting ahead of myself. Since the show went off the air in 2007, Kristen Bell, though she’s gone on to bigger if not better things, has still kept talking about wanting to do a movie. Rob Thomas, the showrunner, still kept talking about wanting to do it. They still met and talked about it every year or two, and every time they meet more articles come out to tantalize the longing, loving, unforgetting fans… but nothing happened. Until this morning.

M: Is this morning when you heard? I heard from you, so I have no clue when it actually started.

E: And I’m only catching up now, and so am just stunned!

C: It was around lunchtime, actually, when a friend on Facebook tagged me on this link. Go check it out NOW.