Review of BluRay only
Added 1/12/2010
Just thought I would provide a quick written review of the BluRay production only of this movie. You either like the movie or you don't.
The BluRay is pretty good quality, sound is solid and picture is very good considering the age of the film. Proably not worth an upgrade if you own the current DVD release, but a good addition to almost any movie collection.
3 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Overrated
Added 12/21/2009
I finally caved to the hype and watched "Veronicas" on a slow Sunday night. Wow - I was amazed at how perfectly it failed to live up to every expectation. Smart, well-read people told me that this film is smart; it is typical dopey teen stoner talk smart - "Donnie Darko" smart. The dialog is haltingly false. The hero's motives are beyond unbelievable. Even if the movie had been brilliantly edited (it wasn't) the pacing would still suffer from a poorly constructed story.... I'm sorry - constructed is too strong a word...
The story doesn't cohere because the screenwriter didn't know anything about storytelling. The comedy didn't function for me because the story flatlines after the first staged suicide, with an intolerably long wind down to the third act, which is just the last few minutes of the film. Imagine that there was a third Coen brother - one who was kicked in the head by a horse as a child - that is who made this movie.
"Veronicas" is posited as a dark, thoughtful satire, but its cultural background is lost on me these decades later. Apparently "HEY GUISE TEEN SUICIDE!!!!" was hot topic in 1989, and the mere mention made people feel all weighty and thinky.
I suspect that this movie is so hyped because hip, influential people reviewed it favorably. Maybe the movie is worth preserving as a historical curiosity because, even considering advances in technology, this level of irony is probably not possible to achieve today.
On the positive side, I will recommend a few movies that were doubtless influenced by this inexplicably revered standard:
Mean Girls: a much lighter movie written by SNL's Tina Fey. It looks at the same phenomena in high school society. Unlike "Veronicas", it is a has just a tinge of darkness and is written to well adjusted teens. And most unlike "Veronicas" it actually is funny.
World's Greatest Dad: written and directed by "Bobcat" Goldthwait. It manages all the challenges that "Veronicas" took on and succeeds in every category. It is relentlessly dark, viciously satirical, and painfully hilarious.
0 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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I suppose at one time a movie like this one would be considered funny. However, since 9-11, Columbine, and suicide bombers, this movie really loses any appeal it may have had. Christian Slater appears as a wannabe Jack Nicholson/James Dean character who seems to have it in for his peers. He tricks Veronica into killing her fellow students. At first it seems like it was just a scare gag gone wrong, but soon we learn that this kid really is not content until he kills as many classmates as possible.
As a parent of a high schooler, I found this quite disturbing and realy not that good of a movie. Some of the performances were decent, but the whole storyline was troublesome to me. I think there is too much emphasis on death in the teenagers world and this film only heightens that emphasis.
1 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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Funny, Scary and Mirorrs.
Added 10/27/2009
I loved this movie. It has the comedy that every movie needs so that it isn't too dry. I mean like those lines that just give you a chuckle can make a big difference. Winona's does a superb acting job in this movie, so wonderful that it almost doesn't seem like acting in some parts. I did find parts of the movie rather scary, they really play with your mind. This movie really makes you think about what is important, like popularity and having the "right" friends. And just like in real life, you find characters doing things that you know they never would do and you find that maybe being popular and pretty isn't so important. I recommend this to any movie lover, particularly those who dig older movies and are in high school.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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What to do with excess heathers?
Added 10/12/2009
In the DVD extras, Winona says "This is a comedy about a serious matter." However, I was watching the surface action and it did not take the time to think about any underlying meanings. I had no idea that Moby Dick does not contain the word "Eskimo" as pointed out in the movie. I was surprised as the different events took shape and can see myself in that situation. I had fun watching this movie.
However, I grew up in a different environment than the one in this film. C Rations before 1955 contained only one box meal with fruit. That was the ham and lima beans box; during high school and 60's, we were lucky to have one "Heather" to a class. In the 60's the military issued "C" rations in which there was only one box with fruit in it. Now in the time of MRE's (meals ready to eat) that has fruit in just about everything, Heathers abound. This requires the JDs of the world to once again bringing a natural balance to the high-school society. You will want to view it again for the nuances.
MRE'S Meals Ready to Eat
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Review of BluRay only
Added 1/12/2010
Just thought I would provide a quick written review of the BluRay production only of this movie. You either like the movie or you don't.
The BluRay is pretty good quality, sound is solid and picture is very good considering the age of the film. Proably not worth an upgrade if you own the current DVD release, but a good addition to almost any movie collection.
3 out of 4 people found this helpful.
|
Overrated
Added 12/21/2009
I finally caved to the hype and watched "Veronicas" on a slow Sunday night. Wow - I was amazed at how perfectly it failed to live up to every expectation. Smart, well-read people told me that this film is smart; it is typical dopey teen stoner talk smart - "Donnie Darko" smart. The dialog is haltingly false. The hero's motives are beyond unbelievable. Even if the movie had been brilliantly edited (it wasn't) the pacing would still suffer from a poorly constructed story.... I'm sorry - constructed is too strong a word...
The story doesn't cohere because the screenwriter didn't know anything about storytelling. The comedy didn't function for me because the story flatlines after the first staged suicide, with an intolerably long wind down to the third act, which is just the last few minutes of the film. Imagine that there was a third Coen brother - one who was kicked in the head by a horse as a child - that is who made this movie.
"Veronicas" is posited as a dark, thoughtful satire, but its cultural background is lost on me these decades later. Apparently "HEY GUISE TEEN SUICIDE!!!!" was hot topic in 1989, and the mere mention made people feel all weighty and thinky.
I suspect that this movie is so hyped because hip, influential people reviewed it favorably. Maybe the movie is worth preserving as a historical curiosity because, even considering advances in technology, this level of irony is probably not possible to achieve today.
On the positive side, I will recommend a few movies that were doubtless influenced by this inexplicably revered standard:
Mean Girls: a much lighter movie written by SNL's Tina Fey. It looks at the same phenomena in high school society. Unlike "Veronicas", it is a has just a tinge of darkness and is written to well adjusted teens. And most unlike "Veronicas" it actually is funny.
World's Greatest Dad: written and directed by "Bobcat" Goldthwait. It manages all the challenges that "Veronicas" took on and succeeds in every category. It is relentlessly dark, viciously satirical, and painfully hilarious.
0 out of 4 people found this helpful.
|
I suppose at one time a movie like this one would be considered funny. However, since 9-11, Columbine, and suicide bombers, this movie really loses any appeal it may have had. Christian Slater appears as a wannabe Jack Nicholson/James Dean character who seems to have it in for his peers. He tricks Veronica into killing her fellow students. At first it seems like it was just a scare gag gone wrong, but soon we learn that this kid really is not content until he kills as many classmates as possible.
As a parent of a high schooler, I found this quite disturbing and realy not that good of a movie. Some of the performances were decent, but the whole storyline was troublesome to me. I think there is too much emphasis on death in the teenagers world and this film only heightens that emphasis.
1 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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