![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatThere's been to my knowledge three movies kick-started by fandom.
1. Farscape : The PeaceKeeper Wars - a 4 hour television movie, which wrapped all the loose plot ends of the series, approximately two years after it was summarily canceled by the network. The series ran 4 seasons, ended on a cliff-hanger, and the writer's had an entire 5th season arc pre-written and planned when the network said - too expensive, we're cancelling and going with more Star-Gate instead, because it's so much cheaper to produce and doesn't terrify our advertisers and corporate sponsors. (And you wonder why Farscape fans resented Star Gate and called it names.) The fans cried bloody murder and through active write-in campaigns and fund-raising, managed to convince the network that making a movie was a good idea. This by the way was before we had the social media that we have today. It was back in 2004. [This is by far my favorite of the three. But it was also my favorite series...so there's that.]
2. Firefly : Serenity - a major feature film, which again wrapped up all the loose plot ends, was created after fans cried bloody murder about the premature cancelling of a series that lasted 13 episodes. They wanted to know what happened to the characters - it sort of ended abruptly, to say the least. The fans convinced the studio to make and distribute a film.
AND
3. Veronica Mars Movie - this film was made approximately 8-9 years after the tv series was cancelled. The series was cancelled after three years - in part because UPN was in the process of joining with the WB, and becoming CW. And the writer didn't pitch a good fourth season. The fans wanted more. The writer and his co-stars decided to go on the internet and on a whim start a "kick-starter campaign" - promising fans that if they could raise at least 2 million, they'd make their own Veronica Mars film and get it distributed. They raised that and more within the first two days of it going viral.
Total raised within a month: $5,702,153 with 91,585 backers. So a movie was made.
Is it a good movie? Eh, if you are a fan or enjoyed Veronica Mars, yes. If you never watched the series and weren't much of a fan - probably not. This was clearly made for the die-hard fans, which makes sense considering they paid for it. Actually, that is what all three fan-made films have in common - they were originally cancelled television series with movies made for the fans of those television series. If you never watched the television series - you would be either lost or less than enthused by the films. They aren't reboots or remakes. They are continuations, with the same characters, same actors, and same writers/producers/creators of the television series. So if you didn't like the series? You won't like the films. This by the way isn't the same as what happened with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - which was a failed joke of a movie (it didn't bomb but it came very close) that was rebooted into an iconic and critically acclaimed television series.
I admittedly enjoyed the Veronica Mars series - own the first season on DVD, and watched all three seasons. Haven't felt a pressing need to re-watch it, which means I wasn't exactly a "fan". (I've only really been a true fan of four or five tv shows - Battle Star Galatica (past - I was 12), Farscape, Buffy, Angel, and The Monkeys (I was 8 years old).) In part because the second two seasons were uneven. The last one sort of...meandered off course. At the end of that season, the writer appeared to realize there were major issues and he'd run out of interesting things to say - so he was going to reboot it with Veronica joining the FBI. The network passed.
The movie, thankfully, doesn't go the FBI route. It refers to it, and Veronica states cryptically - that was another life, since she never tried the FBI. Thomas wisely dropped that thread - it was not favored by fans.
Instead - it does what Thomas did best - the classic noir detective story. Seedy Neptune California, with it's low rent movie stars, and dirty cops. Veronica has escaped to pristine and shiny NYC. With a nice boyfriend, Pez from the series (who I can't seem to remember, I'm guessing he was a character and she'd been dating him?), and a shiny law and psychology degree from top schools. She's busy interviewing for a shiny job at a top tier civil litigation firm - as a lawyer. Cameo by Jamie Lee Curtis.
But Neptune calls in the form of her ex, Logan Echolls. Whom she left behind 9 years before, along with her investigative tendencies. Logan has been charged for the murder of his pop star girl-friend. Veronica tries valiantly to ignore his calls - but eventually gives in. Is it Logan pulling her back, or her love of a good mystery?
Possibly both. Add to the fun - it is her 10th year high school reunion, an event she is attempting to avoid, having not enjoyed high school all that much. Actually this movie, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Gross Point Blank are my favorite takes on the high school reunion.
From this point forward, the film follows the classic noir tropes - as Veronica gets pulled deeper and deeper into the seedy relationships of Neptune. And her own somewhat nastier tendencies - breaking and entering, snark, and manipulation. She'll do anything to figure out the case - she's a female Philip Marlow, complete with her own personal male Velma. Her father valiantly tries to get her to go back to NYC. But she puts it off, changing flights...until it becomes increasingly apparent that her heart is in Neptune, and in private detection. She considers the field more honorable for one thing.
(Actually she'd have more power as an attorney, and attorney's are in a way investigators - if you ever worked a criminal law case you'd know. I'm guessing the writers don't quite know what lawyers do - most writers, who weren't lawyers first, don't. But you'd think Thomas would have picked up a legal thriller or caught a John Grisham flick on the side?)
The film, while enjoyable - in part because I enjoyed the series and love this genre,
did feel a bit like a pilot for a new television series. I sort of wish it was. Definitely would have watched it. I enjoyed the Logan/Veronica chemistry. And there's a nice cameo by Kristen Bell's real life husband in a bar scene - where he plays one of many men attempting to pick up Veronica. Their flirt scene is hilarious, particularly if you know they are married. (He's currently in Parenthood.)
I recommend the film to people who loved Veronica Mars. If you didn't, my guess is you'd be hopelessly lost or just bored. But hey, it was made for Veronica Mars fans, so not sure it matters.
1. Farscape : The PeaceKeeper Wars - a 4 hour television movie, which wrapped all the loose plot ends of the series, approximately two years after it was summarily canceled by the network. The series ran 4 seasons, ended on a cliff-hanger, and the writer's had an entire 5th season arc pre-written and planned when the network said - too expensive, we're cancelling and going with more Star-Gate instead, because it's so much cheaper to produce and doesn't terrify our advertisers and corporate sponsors. (And you wonder why Farscape fans resented Star Gate and called it names.) The fans cried bloody murder and through active write-in campaigns and fund-raising, managed to convince the network that making a movie was a good idea. This by the way was before we had the social media that we have today. It was back in 2004. [This is by far my favorite of the three. But it was also my favorite series...so there's that.]
2. Firefly : Serenity - a major feature film, which again wrapped up all the loose plot ends, was created after fans cried bloody murder about the premature cancelling of a series that lasted 13 episodes. They wanted to know what happened to the characters - it sort of ended abruptly, to say the least. The fans convinced the studio to make and distribute a film.
AND
3. Veronica Mars Movie - this film was made approximately 8-9 years after the tv series was cancelled. The series was cancelled after three years - in part because UPN was in the process of joining with the WB, and becoming CW. And the writer didn't pitch a good fourth season. The fans wanted more. The writer and his co-stars decided to go on the internet and on a whim start a "kick-starter campaign" - promising fans that if they could raise at least 2 million, they'd make their own Veronica Mars film and get it distributed. They raised that and more within the first two days of it going viral.
Total raised within a month: $5,702,153 with 91,585 backers. So a movie was made.
Is it a good movie? Eh, if you are a fan or enjoyed Veronica Mars, yes. If you never watched the series and weren't much of a fan - probably not. This was clearly made for the die-hard fans, which makes sense considering they paid for it. Actually, that is what all three fan-made films have in common - they were originally cancelled television series with movies made for the fans of those television series. If you never watched the television series - you would be either lost or less than enthused by the films. They aren't reboots or remakes. They are continuations, with the same characters, same actors, and same writers/producers/creators of the television series. So if you didn't like the series? You won't like the films. This by the way isn't the same as what happened with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - which was a failed joke of a movie (it didn't bomb but it came very close) that was rebooted into an iconic and critically acclaimed television series.
I admittedly enjoyed the Veronica Mars series - own the first season on DVD, and watched all three seasons. Haven't felt a pressing need to re-watch it, which means I wasn't exactly a "fan". (I've only really been a true fan of four or five tv shows - Battle Star Galatica (past - I was 12), Farscape, Buffy, Angel, and The Monkeys (I was 8 years old).) In part because the second two seasons were uneven. The last one sort of...meandered off course. At the end of that season, the writer appeared to realize there were major issues and he'd run out of interesting things to say - so he was going to reboot it with Veronica joining the FBI. The network passed.
The movie, thankfully, doesn't go the FBI route. It refers to it, and Veronica states cryptically - that was another life, since she never tried the FBI. Thomas wisely dropped that thread - it was not favored by fans.
Instead - it does what Thomas did best - the classic noir detective story. Seedy Neptune California, with it's low rent movie stars, and dirty cops. Veronica has escaped to pristine and shiny NYC. With a nice boyfriend, Pez from the series (who I can't seem to remember, I'm guessing he was a character and she'd been dating him?), and a shiny law and psychology degree from top schools. She's busy interviewing for a shiny job at a top tier civil litigation firm - as a lawyer. Cameo by Jamie Lee Curtis.
But Neptune calls in the form of her ex, Logan Echolls. Whom she left behind 9 years before, along with her investigative tendencies. Logan has been charged for the murder of his pop star girl-friend. Veronica tries valiantly to ignore his calls - but eventually gives in. Is it Logan pulling her back, or her love of a good mystery?
Possibly both. Add to the fun - it is her 10th year high school reunion, an event she is attempting to avoid, having not enjoyed high school all that much. Actually this movie, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Gross Point Blank are my favorite takes on the high school reunion.
From this point forward, the film follows the classic noir tropes - as Veronica gets pulled deeper and deeper into the seedy relationships of Neptune. And her own somewhat nastier tendencies - breaking and entering, snark, and manipulation. She'll do anything to figure out the case - she's a female Philip Marlow, complete with her own personal male Velma. Her father valiantly tries to get her to go back to NYC. But she puts it off, changing flights...until it becomes increasingly apparent that her heart is in Neptune, and in private detection. She considers the field more honorable for one thing.
(Actually she'd have more power as an attorney, and attorney's are in a way investigators - if you ever worked a criminal law case you'd know. I'm guessing the writers don't quite know what lawyers do - most writers, who weren't lawyers first, don't. But you'd think Thomas would have picked up a legal thriller or caught a John Grisham flick on the side?)
The film, while enjoyable - in part because I enjoyed the series and love this genre,
did feel a bit like a pilot for a new television series. I sort of wish it was. Definitely would have watched it. I enjoyed the Logan/Veronica chemistry. And there's a nice cameo by Kristen Bell's real life husband in a bar scene - where he plays one of many men attempting to pick up Veronica. Their flirt scene is hilarious, particularly if you know they are married. (He's currently in Parenthood.)
I recommend the film to people who loved Veronica Mars. If you didn't, my guess is you'd be hopelessly lost or just bored. But hey, it was made for Veronica Mars fans, so not sure it matters.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-08-10 04:11 pm (UTC)I loved the movie, but then I really liked the show too. I thought the first season was excellent, the second was erratic but with some good episodes. S3 was pretty awful.
Overall, I agree with you on movies: make lots more niche movies. But I seriously doubt I'd have much interest in a Buffy movie.
BTW, have you seen the new bio of Joss? It's by Amy Pascale and it's available on Kindle. Not very deep or analytical, but it does a good job of being descriptive about Joss's career.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-10 09:34 pm (UTC)Can't say I'm interested in a Buffy movie either. I sort of agree with SMP on that score - which is been there done that, and not that well.
Also - unless they could get the same cast together - and most are far too old for it, I don't see it working.
I sort of wished we could have a new series of Veronica Mars - from the movie or with the movie as a starting point. I'd watch that.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-11 02:13 am (UTC)The Joss bio has lots of gushing quotes from people like Nathan Fillion. Sure you don't want to read it? :)
no subject
Date: 2014-08-12 12:02 am (UTC)Most of it on Wiki and Whedonesque.
no subject
Date: 2014-08-11 05:11 pm (UTC)I keep hoping that Netflix or Amazon Prime might be willing to pick up Veronica Mars for a limited run, I'd actually prefer a tv series or even a mini-series over a movie, but I believe that Kristen Bell has other tv commitments which may complicate how much time she has for that?
no subject
Date: 2014-08-12 12:01 am (UTC)I like Bell - she's very good at playing smart and sassy.