Netflix: Veronica Mars, Season 1 (6 discs)

Veronica Mars, Season 1

It's true what some of the beekeepers have said: Veronica is a very capable facsimile to Janissary James, and her dad, Keith Mars - wow. He really is James James - vocally, he's got the same warm toughness, and even visually, he's very close to what I imagined in my head from ilovebees. So, that was one reason to like the series - playing with that parallel, and testing those characters against each other. Also, I freaking loved Colantoni in Galaxy Quest. It didn't occur to me until halfway through the series that it was the same guy.

And even though I groused previously about VM being full of teens who are mean to each other, lemme extend this caveat: it seems to be for good reason. Every little piece of snark and backstabby drama is justified and cleaned up very, very well by the writers. Continuity hounds, take note: there are no terribly intense complex plot machinations, but it'll be just twisty enough to please you. You'll remember some small detail, and you will chuckle to yourself, and think, "Nah, they won't remember to tie up that loose end," and then something will happen in a side plot, and about 15 minutes after that particular thing happens, you realize that the loose end has been tied, quietly and neatly, perhaps with a little wink.

Season 2 is well underway, so now I have to wait ( for )

Netflix: Suicide Kings (1997)

Suicide Kings

Hey, there's Nina Siemaszko! Awesome! She's so pretty. I uh, babysat her nephew once. Her brother Casey is an actor, too. They're both awesome. Oh, hey, I just realized she and I have the same freaking middle name, essentially: Jadwiga is the Polish version of Harriet. Nifty.

I was hoping for a little more something, in this movie. I think Christopher Walken did a great job of carrying a plot with his particular strange brand of finesse and poise, when the script itself desperately wanted to fall down into Wacky Hijinx shambles. The intensity and humor were played well, and there were plenty of quotable lines, but there seemed to be something missing. Not sure what, but some sort of magic, or bit of anxiety that maybe things just weren't at all what these guys thought it would be. As a character study it was fairly predictable, stable, comforting. Hey, there's Billy from Six Feet Under! Man, I love his voice. Whee, it's Elliot from E.T. He still looks the same.

Good ensemble cast. Not a lot of magic. A good coupla fistfuls of laughs. Fishboots!