‘Life’s a Bitch and Then You Die’ – My Veronica Mars Odyssey: Season One

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What will follow is an account of my experience with the TV series Veronica Mars – also the movie, the book and the upcoming webisodes. With the recent announcement of these webisodes and never having watched so much as a scene in my entire life, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! This is my no-prior-knowledge, plenty-of-TV-experience, habitual-junkier take on Veronica Mars Season One. Please be aware that if you haven’t seen the show there will be a spoiler section so be careful, you’ve been warned.

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Veronica Mars

It was a rainy Friday afternoon not unlike the afternoons before it, but this day was special, this day I would make the decision to drive to my local video shop and commit my time to the popular TV series Veronica Mars. Little did I know just how much time I would actually be committing to it. All I knew at the time was it was some sort of Nancy Drew type series set in an American high-school, to that I was correct. What I didn’t expect was the charm of Kristen Bell, the wit of the writers and the subtle yet delightful tinges of film noir. Veronica Mars is a series based around a sarcastically witty 16 year old, Veronica, whose dad owns a private detective agency after his fall from his respectable sheriff position in their home town of Neptune. Neptune is a small town with some very rich residents, or as referred to as the 09ers, amongst the lower middle class residents, Veronica and her dad included. In this season, Veronica, as an adept sleuth herself, investigates the murder of her best friend Lilly Kane.
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by Elisa Iannunzio on September 1, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Guest Blog: The Urban Sombrero, TV Talk
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Posted by Elisa Iannunzio on September 1, 2014

https://sorryimlate.com/2014/09/01/lifes-a-bitch-and-then-you-die-my-veronica-mars-odyssey-season-one/

Top Five Trashy TV Treasures

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Everyone has their secret trashy TV guilty pleasure, and if they don’t… they’re lying. If you’re in the market for a new bout of entertainment, here’s the most cringe-worthy, craptastic, laugh yourself silly and call them crazy, Top Five Trashy TV Treasures. Grab some friends, some chocolate and the alcohol of your choice and get cosy coz it’s gonna be a long night.

#5 –Toddlers and Tiaras

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Pageant shows are the pinnacle of reality TV. Crazy pageant mums: check. Kids sugar-high tantrums: check. Fierce competition: check. But most of all, the shameless parents lacking any moral or intellectual substance: check! Toddlers and Tiaras has it all rolled in to a bundle of oh-so-wrong entertaining television. Follow new kids every week through their daily pageant routines, spray tan, fake nails, even the odd eyebrow wax to win that Ultimate Grand Supreme title.This show isn’t about watching a child fulfil their pageant dreams, it’s your chance to yell profanities at the brainless parents who are clearly manipulating their children, it’s so bad it’s good. Catch these parental malfunction daily on Lifestyle You.

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by Elisa Iannunzio on August 24, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Guest Blog: The Urban Sombrero, Lists, TV Talk
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Posted by Elisa Iannunzio on August 24, 2014

https://sorryimlate.com/2014/08/24/top-five-trashy-tv-treasures/

MIFF 2014 Review: Oculus (2014) — The Evil Antique That Doesn’t Deliver in Horror Fizzer

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The psychological horror film Oculus tells two parallel stories: The first is set in 2002, where a family move into a new house with new furnishings; including an ornate, antique mirror. Slowly the demonic mirror starts to take a mental toll on the parents (Rory Cochrane and Katee Sackhoff), leading to the deaths of both, with the 10-year old Tim accused of the heinous murders. 11 years later, Tim (Brenton Thwaites) is released from psychiatric care, convinced that the mirror played no part in what happened to his parents. Little does he know that his older sister Kaylie (Karen Gillan) has spent the past decade researching the mirror, waiting for her brother’s return so that she can finally destroy it and redeem her family’s legacy.

"I need the optometrist, first thing in the morning."

“I need the optometrist, first thing in the morning.”

Oculus is based on the 2006 short film Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man With the Plan, which is also the brainchild of writer/director Mike Flanagan. I haven’t seen the short, but I can only imagine that the premise of Oculus works so much better as a short than a feature. The movie isn’t bad, it just doesn’t have enough substance, scares, or relatable characters. I found all the 2002 scenes to be better than the 2013 ones; the 2002 storyline has a solid structure and some genuinely gruesome moments, but when the plot switches to 2013, I feel that the tone becomes almost farcical. Because the two stories are being told simultaneously, whenever I start to feel an attachment to the 2002 plot, we cut back to 2013, which drops whatever tension was developed the prior tale.

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by Luke Miksa on August 16, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by Luke Miksa on August 16, 2014

https://sorryimlate.com/2014/08/16/miff-2014-review-oculus-2014-the-evil-antique-that-doesnt-deliver-in-horror-fizzer/

MIFF 2014 Review: Life After Beth (2014) — Disappointing Zom-Com That Lacks Bite

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Life After Beth opens with Zach (Dane DeHaan) mourning the recent death of his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza). He takes solace in the companionship of Beth’s parents (John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon), until they suddenly break contact with the confused Zach. While desperately attempting to re-ignite contact, he realises that Beth has mysteriously reappeared and her parents have been hiding her. Zach takes this opportunity to re-establish their romantic relationship, but over time the resurrected Beth begins to grow increasingly aggressive and unpredictable, and a level of physical decomposition begins to set in. But Zach soon realises that his zombie girlfriend is not alone as more and more of the undead begin to appear in town.

Somebody's cranky...

Somebody’s cranky…

From first-time writer/director Jeff Baena, Life After Beth suffers from a lack of inspiration. It fails as a zombie film, it fails as a comedy, and it fails as a relationship film; but it’s not terrible — it’s just unbelievably mediocre. After the gimmick of ‘zombie girlfriend’ is played out after the first 30 minutes, the movie plods along without any major developments until it ultimately fizzles out at the climax. It’s an idea that would have worked in a smaller time-frame, but the feature-length hurts it.

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by Luke Miksa on August 15, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by Luke Miksa on August 15, 2014

https://sorryimlate.com/2014/08/15/miff-2014-review-life-after-beth-2014-disappointing-zom-com-that-lacks-bite/

The 100: To Watch Or Not To Watch?

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Airing on Thursday September 7 on Fox 8 is new CW sci-fi drama The 100. As usual, we in Australia are a little behind as the US have recently finished airing season one. I haven’t noticed much hype about this show from Australian audiences, but let me tell you, there should be – from thirteen year old girls! So if you are wondering whether or not you need to jump on The 100 band wagon, read on.

The 100 is a sci-fi drama based on the novel of the same name by Kass Morgan set in a world where the Earth has been torn apart by nuclear warfare, which led the surviving humans to haul up in to space for 97 years on what is called the Ark. The Ark’s number one rule is: if you break the rules, you die; unless you’re under 18 and get put in lock up until you come of age, then you die. The Ark, which is running out of supplies and oxygen, sends 100 of its under 18 year old prisoners to the presumably toxic Earth to suss out the situation. On Earth, the teenagers are learning to survive on their own in a new world while battling the environment, disease, and of course the hostile survivors; the Grounders. Oh and there’s the Reapers. Also, the Mountain Men. People just keep showing up on this supposedly uninhabitable planet. While the kids are fighting internal and external demons down on Earth, the adults are up in the Ark still trying to save what they believe to be the only other humans left.

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by Elisa Iannunzio on August 14, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Guest Blog: The Urban Sombrero, TV Talk
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Posted by Elisa Iannunzio on August 14, 2014

https://sorryimlate.com/2014/08/14/the-100-to-watch-or-not-to-watch-3/

Gotham: Not Another Superhero Series

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With the release of the new trailer for Gotham last weekend, an ambitious Batman prequel television series, now is a great time to discuss what exactly it is we are in for.

Still a couple of months away from airing, FOX is really building the tension for one if its more anticipated series. Gotham is set in the DC universe and is marketed as a prequel to the Batman story centered around Detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie). This dark new series is first and foremost a drama. By that I mean don’t expect the lighthearted Smallville “drama” with a masked crusader sweeping in at the last moment to save the day. Gotham is about the roots of the criminal underworld and the twisted egos that are created in Gotham City. Gotham will follow Jim Gordon’s mortal struggle for justice against the odds in an increasingly corrupt society.

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by Elisa Iannunzio on August 10, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Guest Blog: The Urban Sombrero, TV Talk
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Posted by Elisa Iannunzio on August 10, 2014

https://sorryimlate.com/2014/08/10/gotham-not-another-superhero-series/

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