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X-Files: I Want to Believe: Sadly, a Disappointment

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:30:07 -0700

You can count me among the fans - but not the super-fanatics - of The X-Files when it aired in the '90s. I may not have been as insane about it as others, but I kept up with the weird, spooky drama and I looked forward to new episodes. Plus, Gillian Anderson's character, Dana Scully, is a strong, female sci-fi heroine of sorts, and I really looked up to her at the time. Oh, and of course David Duchovny's Fox Mulder was definitely crushworthy so all in all, it was a highlight of my TV-viewing universe. This is why I had nothing but high hopes for X-Files: I Want to Believe, and I tried to ignore those pesky questions during the build up to the release like: "Really, ten years later?" and "Will people still, in fact, want to believe?"

I should also point out that this movie has been promoted as a stand-alone story, meaning that even folks who have little knowledge of the series would be able to get on board and enjoy a dark thriller with a compelling mystery. In fact, details of the plot have been kept so tightly under wraps my assumption was that they must have thought of something really awesome to hinge a new movie around - hence everyone's willingness to get back together years after the series left the airwaves.

Which brings me to the bad news first (and I won't give away spoilers): the so-called "mystery" that has been so shrouded in secrecy is truly nothing very exciting. In fact, it hardly stands up to the most mediocre of episodes, which only adds to my perplexity over this movie. Truth be told, I'm pretty bummed out. To see why, read more.

When the movie opens it has been six years in "real time" since we last saw everyone in the series finale, and we learn that Fox Mulder is no longer with the FBI and is a bit of a recluse (well, we're meant to assume this because he is bearded and sits around clipping newspaper articles like a crazy person). Meanwhile, Scully is a surgeon at Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital where she is personally invested in saving a terminally sick boy, to the displeasure of her colleagues.

Also, two FBI agents (played by Amanda Peet and Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner) are feverishly looking for a missing colleague using the help of a psychic priest named Father Joe (Billy Connolly), but they really need the one agent who has experience with this kind of stuff: Agent Mulder. With the help of Scully the FBI pulls him back in and X-Philes will sigh with relief at how quickly he's back to his obsessive ways.

It's Scully who has probably changed the most; she's no longer just a pragmatic voice of reason, but resolute in her unwillingness to "look into the darkness" any longer. A lot of screen time is focused on faith, losing faith, that darkness, etc. Like the television series, it's dark and brooding, but without a strong case to solve all this analysis and back-and-forth between the two former agents is tepid. It's sad to see these two so empty. I missed the occasional wry glint in Mulder's eye and I wanted to see Scully quit dragging her feet and jump on board the case despite her reservations. But between all that angst and a story that's mostly uninteresting (I wish there had been something extraterrestrial about it, or maybe some magic - anything too crazy to believe!) the whole thing is mostly just so-so.

Still, even after all that head-scratching and some boredom, I love Mulder and respect Scully and I suppose after such a mediocre return to the X-Files that's probably the silver lining. Which is to say: it could have been worse but I wish it were so much better.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

How Well Do You Know the X-Files?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:30:13 -0700

Here we are, 10 whole years after the last X-Files movie and fans of the show will finally get another (perhaps last?) taste of two of the most beloved sci-fi characters of our time: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. While X-Files: I Want to Believe is supposed to be a stand-alone story (so, you don't have to know the whole history of the show to enjoy it), I still think we could all use a little brush-up on our X-Files trivia.

If you, too, are hearing that spooky theme music in your head, take my quiz!

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

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New Trailer for The X-Files: I Want to Believe

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 10:32:21 -0700

OK, X-philes, ready for the most exciting one minute and 30 seconds of your day? There's a new, official trailer out now for the upcoming X-Files movie and it's pretty great. There's more of what we saw in the teaser trailer (Billy Connolly being spooky, people frantically digging in the snow, etc.) but there are also more details and the creepiness factor has been upped.

Also, I'm convinced that the eerie theme music that goes with The X-Files can rival other recognizable theme songs and movie scores for its ability to create instantaneous chills.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe opens in theaters July 25. To check out the new trailer, read more.

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Buzz News Roundup, 4/16

BuzzSugar — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:32:48 -0700

According to the AP, the upcoming X-Files movie has an official title! It's now called The X-Files: I Want to Believe, and will still open July 25.
Richard Gere is joining two movie projects, writes Variety. He'll costar alongside Hilary Swank in the Amelia Earhart biopic, and he'll star in the cop drama Brooklyn's Finest.
Iron & Wine, Flight of the Conchords, and Wolf Parade are among the bands scheduled for Sub Pop Records' 20th anniversary party this Summer, Billboard reports.
ComingSoon reports that Danielle Panabaker will play the female lead in the remake of Friday the 13th.
Get ready for more "green" storylines: NBC is bringing back Green is Universal for Earth Day, and The Futon Critic has the details. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter writes that Fox has started an eco campaign of its own.
The writer responsible for adapting Bringing Down the House into 21 is at it again, writing the screenplay version of a lottery scam memoir, Money for Nothing, writes Hollywood Reporter.
Hollywood Reporter writes that Stan Lee will launch yet another superhero franchise, titled Legion of 5.
The New York Times has a very sweet piece on the classic Disney animator Ollie Johnston who died on Monday.
According to ComingSoon, Demi Moore has landed roles in two indie movies: Happy Tears, in which she'll star alongside Parker Posey, and Bunraku, starring Woody Harrelson.

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First Glimpse of the X-Files 2 Teaser Trailer

BuzzSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:29:55 -0800

Sure, this bootleg video of the X-Files 2 teaser trailer is low-quality and full of "X-phile" audience members screaming like banshees, but still - it's our first glimpse at the X-Files 2 movie! I look forward to A) a real version of the teaser trailer, and B) a full-length trailer, but for now this video - grabbed at the recent WonderCon - will have to do. It's definitely exciting to see Mulder and Scully back together in this spooky world, so to check out the video, read more.

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The X-Files Sequel: Fewer Aliens, More Ghosts

BuzzSugar — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:32:46 -0800

Not only did some new production stills come out today for the X-Files sequel, but new details about the plot have been revealed. Or, more specifically there are details about what's not going to be included in the next X-Files movie: mythology.

According to USA Today, this next movie "will dump the long-running 'mythology' plotline - that aliens live among us and are part of a colonizing effort - that made it one of the most popular television shows in the late 1990s but ultimately drove away some viewers who found it too complex and ambiguous." Series creator Chris Carter is quoted as saying "We want a stand-alone movie, not a mythology conspiracy one."

What does this mean, exactly? To find out, read more.

Carter is remaining mum on any and all plot specifics, though there's mention of the stand-alone episodes that aired and didn't have to do with the long-running story, episodes that centered on "cults, ghosts, psychics and ancient curses." The hope is that focusing the movie on this sort of thing will attract a wider audience than just the show's core fan base. For fans, filmmakers think the Mulder-Scully relationship will still be a big draw. Carter claims the duo had "an intellectual romance that's very rare and restrained compared to so many relationships on TV. I think that's what appealed most to the fans."

What do you think? Are you anxious to see Mulder and Scully teamed back up again, hacking away at supernatural mysteries?

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X-Files 2 Cast Gets Three More

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:30:18 -0800

Three people I would never think to see in the same room together:
The cast of the X-Files sequel just got a little more random with the addition of Amanda Peet, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and rapper/Pimp My Ride host Xzibit.

Further information is being "closely guarded."
Details on these folks' characters in the movie are scarce, though we do know Peet and Xzibit will play FBI agents working alongside David Duchovny's Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson's Dana Scully. There were no hints about what Connolly is doing in this film.

So . . . that's it?
That's it for now. Apparently "details of the plot remain a closely guarded secret," though "what we do know is that unlike the first X-Files feature in 1998, the new film will avoid the series' abstruse mythology and instead work as a standalone installment about some kind of supernatural mystery."

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Second "X-Files" Movie in the Works

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:00:49 -0700

While promoting his upcoming Showtime series "Californication" at the TCAs on Saturday, David Duchovny said that he's supposed to see a script for a sequel to the X-Files movie next week. Stirring up years-old speculation about the project, Duchovny confirmed that "X-Files" creator "Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz wrote the screenplay and that Carter is set to direct." He also assured everyone that both he and Gillian Anderson "'are on board' the follow-up to the 1998 film and the series that ran on Fox from 1993 to 2002."

The question is, are audiences still on board? Is the "X-Files" still as relevant? Will the generation of viewers still be interested in seeing an "X-Files" movie, and will a new generation of "Heroes" and "Lost" fans enjoy seeing an "X-Files" movie?

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