Time Travel Tuesday: Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars
3 seasons, from 2004 to 2007
Originally aired on UPN/CW
Starring Kristen Bell, Percy Daggs III, Jason Dohring, Francis Capra, and Enrico Colantoni


I know this Time Travel Tuesday isn't exactly a long trip down Memory Lane. It's more of a jog across the street. But Veronica Mars was a fantastic show that deserves a ten-year run and five feature films, so the least I can do is give it an epic blog post.

Veronica Mars is a show about the teenage daughter of a private investigator that inherited Daddy's awesome detective skills. The show is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California. While Neptune is a relatively small town, it is rife with big city drama. There is conflict between the upper class residents of Neptune (called the "09ers") and their lower-class counterparts. There are rival gangs (the Hispanic biker gang "The PCHers" and the Irish clan "The Fitzpatricks"). There are sex scandals and murders and racial tension and hazing rituals and rape and political sabotage...OH MY! There is never a dull moment in Neptune, and Veronica Mars makes it her business to help people solve mysteries and to do the job of the inept sheriff's department.

I absolutely LOVE this show. I was not a fan while it was on the air, but I didn't watch much TV then, so that's not my fault. I got into it this past August when I noticed all three seasons were on Instant Watch on Netflix. The show it witty, suspenseful and addictive. Veronica Mars perfectly showcased Kristen Bell's comedic and dramatic talent, which is more than can be said for the techno-horror crapfest that was Pulse (though Pulse wasn't all bad...Ian Somerhalder was in it and he is DELICIOUS).

Veronica Mars had a super-solid supporting cast in Percy Daggs III, Jason Dohring, Francis Capra and Enrico Colantoni. Dohring played the love/hate Logan Echolls and went back and forth from love interest to suspect with style. Another favorite for me was Veronica's dad Keith Mars, played by Colantoni. He was sweet and endearing, but could kick a$$ if necessary. And all of the awesomeness was ushered in with the epic Dandy Warhols theme song, which can be heard in it's remixed form in the video at the beginning of the post.

A really great thing about watching Veronica Mars now is that we can see what I call "Actor Easter Eggs" scattered throughout the show. In season one, Veronica's murdered best friend is played by Amanda Seyfried. Buffy fans will appreciate the genius in casting Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) as gold-digger Kendall Casablancas. Other nuggets of actor awesome include Alyson Hannigan as Logan's flighty-actress older sister, Steve Guttenberg as mayor Woody Goodman, Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette from True Blood) and Edi Gathegi (Laurent from Twilight) IN THE SAME EPISODE, and real-life couple Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinner as the murderous Aaron Echolls and his missing-thought-to-be-dead wife. And that's just a few!

The only thing I didn't like about Veronica Mars was the way it ended. The third season ended rather abruptly with several dangling story lines. The last few episodes of the season seemed like they only dealt with side stories and not enough with the main questions of the show. Several of the plot points from the first two seasons were simply dropped in season three, most likely because of the UPN-WB merger that spawned the CW. On the season three DVD's, there is a teaser pilot of a proposed fourth season. While the teaser looked like it would be an interesting show, it didn't feel like Veronica Mars anymore, especially when you consider that none of the other characters from the first three seasons were in it.

There has been chatter from fans about trying to make a Veronica Mars movie happen. I am SO on board with this! Kristen Bell even said that she would finance the movie herself if she could, which is a great show of her dedication to her debut character. Warner Brothers has said that they do not believe there is enough of a fan base to justify a Veronica Mars movie, but I think they are wrong. The show itself was grossly underrated and the cult fan base is huge now. There's even a website dedicated to making a Veronica Mars movie happen. Check it out here.

If you haven't seen Veronica Mars, I suggest heading over to Netflix and watching the show. It is  hours of solid entertainment. And spread the word so we can get that movie!

Links:
IMDb: Veronica Mars
The WB: Watch full episodes of Veronica Mars (only has 42 of the 64 episodes)
Wikipedia: Veronica Mars
Mars Investigations Fan Site
NeptuneSite
Neptune Rising
Veronica Mars: The Movie Campaign

You Guys are AMAZING!

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! This week has been really great up until this morning, when both my kids and I woke up with an awful chest cold. But it's all good!

We're up to 37 followers! WOOO HOOO! Welcome to all the new followers and thanks for all the comments! Only 13 more and we will pick our first gift card winner! Also, I'll be participating in a massive giveaway hop in November that's being hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer, so stay tuned for details on that. The Things Liz Loves prize funding is supported through Google Adsense and Amazon Associates, so remember to do your book and DVD shopping in my Amazon store below the posts to help support the giveaway prize fund so you can get better prizes from me!

If you are new to the blog and you haven't had a chance to enter the ongoing followers contest I'm running, head over to the Contests page and do that now. Remember, 10 extra entries for donating to the Gulf Coast Fundraiser I'm hosting! Link button is in the right hand sidebar!

I am so happy to see that we're getting more followers and keeping you all entertained! If you have any questions or suggestions, check out the Contact Us page up top to get in touch with me. You can also find out how to get your blog featured in my Monthly Blog Spotlight.

Here's some things you can look forward to in the next couple of weeks:

October Blog Spotlight: Holly Schindler

Holly Schindler is a YA author and she has an awesome blog where she hosts these great Flash Fiction challenges. Read about them and her upcoming October challenge here. She wrote the acclaimed novel A Blue So Dark, and her sophomore novel, Playing Hurt, comes out in March of 2011. I'll not only be doing a featurette post on the Monthly Spotlight page, but I will also be doing an interview with Holly! Keep your eyes peeled for the posts!

Upcoming Book Reviews:
Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick (Lerner Publishing Group)
Trickster's Girl by Hillari Bell (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis (AMG Publishers)
The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinks (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Wildthorn by Jane Eagland (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Stolen by Jordan Gray (HarlequinTeen)
Dead is Just A Rumor by Marlene Perez (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Rage and Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Manifest by Artist Arthur (HarlequinTeen)
The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Those That Wake by Jesse Karp (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
And those are just the ones I've received so far! Keep checking back for more titles that I'll be reviewing!

Fall will be a big deal here at Things Liz Loves, so keep coming back and spreading the word about us!

Stephanie's Friday Movie Pick: You Again

My movie pick this week is You Again. You Again is about the experiences of high school and how you never really get over them, even if you think you have. Here's the movie info:

You Again
Release Date: September 24, 2010
Rated PG-13 (Touchstone Pictures)
Starring Kristen Bell, Jimmy Wolk, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and Odette Yustman

As far as why I want to see You Again, its all about Betty White for me. She really does the crazy old lady thing quite well. There's also some majorly awesome rivalry between Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as between Kristen Bell and Odette Yustman. My inner-girl is going

completely nuts over this one.

Here's a look at the trailer for You Again:



PS from Liz: Veronica Mars was a fantastic show and it should have never been cancelled. Team Kristen Bell!

Come back next week for Stephanie's Friday Movie Pick!

Follow Friday/Blog Hop Time!

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee.

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books.

Here's the rules for Follow Friday:

1. 
   

   Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list

2. 
   

   Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://bookcouture.blogspot.com/

3. 
   

   Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.

4. 
   

   Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments

5. 
   

   Follow Follow Follow as many as you can

6. 
   

   If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

7. 
   

   If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post! 

If your new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Follow Friday's Question: What's your favorite book cover?

I have to say my favorite book cover(s) are the Fallen series by Lauren Kate. They are just so striking and beautiful!
See what I mean!







And here's all the info for the Book Blogger Hop:

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews. 

1. Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below

In your link, please state the main genre that you review: eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc. 

Please do not list every genre you review - if you are review a variety, please put eclectic! The Hop gets jumbled up if the title is too long, so please limit to one genre. I will be limiting the number of characters in the title to ensure the Hop doesn't look messy! Thank you!

Example: Crazy-for-Books (adult fiction) 

NOTE: You no longer have to enter the length of time you've been blogging, but do let us know if this is your first time hopping with us!

2. Post about the Hop on your blog. Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier! In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!). If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form! Thanks!

So here's the question:

When you write reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you have read the entire book?

I usually take notes during the reading (or when I'm reviewing a film, while I'm watching it) so that I remember the thoughts I had at certain parts, but I wait till I'm finished to really write the review so I can revise what I though early on with the impression I left the book (or film) with. I just have so much going on in my mind that if I don't track my thoughts through the process, I lose them.

Welcome new followers! Hope you like it here! We've got some great things coming up on the blog, so give us a follow and visit my Contests page!

New Header and Buttons

What do you guys think of the new header and buttons? I decided it was time to upgrade from the MS Paint-chic to something a little more professional-looking. They still look a little homemade, but I think it's a step in the right direction. Comments?

Thursday's Picks (4)

Thursday's Picks is a weekly meme hosted by Things Liz Loves. Other blogs are free to participate using the Linky list at the bottom of the post. Fill in the list and post your linky! You can also post the little button on your post! And don't forget to hop to the next blog on the list! This is a fun way to get to know each other a little better!

Wowza! I've kept a weekly meme going for four whole weeks! Somebody get me a cookie! I really hope to get some participation from other blogs on this, so if you're a blogger, post a Thursday's Picks on your page!

Here's the list:
This week, my most anticipated...
...movie release is:
...book release is:
...DVD release is:


Here's my picks!

This Week's Movie Pick:
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole


Release Date: September 24, 2010
Rated PG (Warner Bros.)
Starring Jim Sturgess, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham


I usually pick movies that I'm interested in for myself, but I picked Legend of the Guardians for my family this week. I have two young kids, and there usually isn't anything I can take them to the theater for, but I think I could take them to see this. My 16 month old daughter would love the fact that it's all animals the whole time (at least until she fell asleep) and my four year old son would love it for the 3D flying action. The film is voiced by some great actors, including Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings). The film is based on the middle grade book series The Guardians of Ga'Hoole and follows young owls on a quest to find the legendary Guardians of (you guessed it) Ga'Hoole, in order to save their owl families from evil. It's pretty clear that the movie deviates from the established plot of the book, but maybe that's just the Hollywood way of making it more suitable for younger children.The trailer is all kinds of inspiration with 30 Seconds to Mars's "Kings and Queens" playing in sync with owl flight and epic helmeted battle. Check it out.


This week's book pick:
Torment (Fallen series, book 2)


Written by Lauren Kate
Release Date: September 28, 2010
Random House Children's Books

This week marks the release of the heavily anticipated second book in Lauren Kate's Fallen series, Torment. I haven't had a chance to read the first book yet, but it's high on my to-be-read list along with this one. I played around on the book's website (which you can check out here) and got really excited to get into the series. The cover art is amazing on both books, which really helps to draw me in. I've heard both good and mediocre reviews on Fallen, but pretty solid reviews on Torment, so I'm ready to read it. Here's the synopsis:

Hell on earth.

That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.

What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies.

Here's the book trailer!


This week's DVD pick:
Get Him to the Greek


Release Date: September 28, 2010
Rated R (Universal)
Starring Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Rose Byrne, Sean Combs and Elizabeth Moss

I love Russell Brand, in spite of his blatant vulgarity. He's hilarious in pretty much everything he ever does. I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall on TV last night and literally ROTFL'ed in every scene he was in. So I feel like Get Him to the Greek will be a safe bet for a good laugh. Jonah Hill plays the executive assistant of Sean Combs (who plays a caricature of himself) who is responsible for getting Albus Snow (Brand) to the Greek Theater for a show. If you've seen Sarah Marshall, you know what a crazy person this Albus Snow is. Hijinks inevitably ensue as the two make their way to Snow's comeback performance. Check out the trailer below.

Book Review: Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

REVIEW: Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr

Release Date: April 1, 2010
HarperCollins Publishers

5 out of 5 stars

I decided I will be doing a review of every book I read, so that's why this is a review of something that's been out a while.

Synopsis:

Seth never expected he would want to settle down with anyone—but that was before Aislinn. She is everything he'd ever dreamed of, and he wants to be with her forever. Forever takes on new meaning, though, when your girlfriend is an immortal faery queen.

Aislinn never expected to rule the very creatures who'd always terrified her—but that was before Keenan. He stole her mortality to make her a monarch, and now she faces challenges and enticements beyond any she'd ever imagined.

In Melissa Marr's third mesmerizing tale of Faerie, Seth and Aislinn struggle to stay true to themselves and each other in a milieu of shadowy rules and shifting allegiances, where old friends become new enemies and one wrong move could plunge the Earth into chaos.

 I LOVED Fragile Eternity. It was by far my favorite book in the Wicked Lovely series. I honestly couldn't find anything that I didn't like about it. One of my favorite things about Marr's writing is how visual everything is. I feel like I can see everything in the world she's created, and that definitely continued in Fragile Eternity.

WARNING! SPOILER ZONE!

I am really glad we got to stick with Seth through this book. It's hard to imagine how he feels, being in a world full of mythical creatures and being in love with a faery queen. It's easier to understand the human emotions he experiences, like the jealousy and the anger, but the experience of living in a world full of faeries is something I felt like I needed some extra attention on. Fragile Eternity really did that for me. And I am so glad that Seth took his fate into his own hands, although I'm not sure if the price is worth it, considering the motivation.

There wasn't a whole lot of battle-esque action in Fragile Eternity, but it didn't feel necessary to have that. There were some really intense bouts of conflict and a bit of violence, but nothing too extreme. It was perfectly executed and very interesting. The book ends on the cusp of a faery war, and it's all very exciting.

In Fragile Eternity, we got to take a look into the world of Faerie, which we didn't get to explore in the other two books. Faerie is the perfect fantasy world, a place where the whims of the High Queen Sorcha are reflected in the in the very landscape. The best part about this land is Marr's description of it. I really love how perfectly she describes all the visual aspects of her books, and the way she wrote Faerie made me feel like I was there.

I am very excited to read the next book in the series, Radiant Shadows. I totally recommend this book and the entire series to any fan of urban fantasy.

The entire Wicked Lovely series (so far):