The X-Files

Review #2506: The X-Files.

Cast:

David Duchovny (Special Agent Fox Mulder), Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully), Martin Landau (Alvin Kurtzweil), Blythe Danner (Jana Cassidy), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Conrad Strughold), Mitch Pileggi (Assistant Director Walter Skinner), William B. Davis (Cigarette-Smoking Man), John Neville (Well-Manicured Man), Dean Haglund (Richard "Ringo" Langly), Bruce Harwood (John Fitzgerald Byers), Tom Braidwood (Melvin Frohike), Jeffrey DeMunn (Ben Bronschweig), Jason Beghe (FBI Man at Bomb Site), Michael Shamus Wiles (Black-Haired Man), with Terry O'Quinn (Special Agent in Charge Darius Michaud), and Lucas Black (Stevie) Directed by Rob Bowman.

Review: 

"We aimed quite high in some sequences. It’s been extremely challenging. The question we put to ourselves was, do you make it different or do you make it more? Audiences become comfortable with certain aspects and you don’t want to rip all that out from under them. Like the legends that tell the location, we could do them as big fancy LED readouts or somesuch, but in the end we decided to keep it the same plain way we do it on the series. Let’s not take away that which they’re familiar. They’ll cheer when they see it. Of course some things are on a much grander scale. We throw a heck of a lot more rocks at Mulder and Scully.” 

Hey, remember The X-Files? At one point in time, it was the big thing for the then-fledgling Fox network that began in 1993 with various inspirations that popped into the head of Chris Carter, whether that was Kolchak: The Night Stalker to The Twilight Zone to, well, various other things. Various writers and directors were just as important to the success of the show from David Sackheim to Darin Morgan to Glen Morgan & James Wong, to, well the natural chemistry of the stars in Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Apparently, the original intent of the film was to start its own movie franchise* while the show would end (so basically what happened with Star Trek: The Next Generation) after its fifth season, but the show was so lucrative for Fox that two more seasons were ordered. At least it was helpful for fans, as the season 5 finale "The End" aired on May 17, one month before the premiere of this film on June 19 (meanwhile the season 6 premiere aired on November 8). Carter wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the story with Frank Spotnitz. The movie was directed by Rob Bowman, who directed countless episodes of the show (by the time of 2000, he had directed 33 of them). The next film in the franchise was with The X-Files: I Want to Believe in 2008.*

Honestly, it is an okay movie, but it is a bit amusing to think this was once conceived as the thing that would follow the fun that came from the TV show, mainly because for the most part, the so-called "Monster of the Week" episodes were mostly superior to the ones involving the "Syndicate" or whatever². It basically is an okay rendition of a usual two-parter (albeit much longer at 122 minutes to say, two TV episodes), one that basically coasts on how much you really care about the lead duo wrapped in the shadowy doubt of whatever lurks beneath the cornfields (this was 1998, before select people believed chemtrails were a thing). It's funny that a movie with a variety of returning characters from the show tries mildly to just have a fraction do something (seriously, Pileggi spends most of his time glaring or, um, sitting down*). The unraveling of actual answers only leads to just asking more questions, which is as frustrating as is easy to see coming for a film that mostly sticks the landings of making you curious for more with these folks. Regardless of how much one has seen the show, it is clear that Duchovny and Anderson were pros at making it clear how much they understand and respect each other in the mish-mash of grounded purpose (ironically, despite the obvious relationship these characters had, there were people actually whining on the Internet about it at the time). So you get the bemused expressions of Duchovny in seeing someone just as odd with Landau while Anderson basically glides through the mumbo-jumbo presented (namely, bees) with graceful charm to basically glue the film from what could've just been mumbo jumbo (right down to the opening scene involving black oil and cavemen, but nothing tops the ending scene involving the X-Files being re-opened...again, because, yes, they did that before). Landau and Danner lurk every now and then to deliver the spiel that comes with having name actors doing things that basically already happened in the show (i.e. "crackpot" and "authority figure in a hearing"), but at least Davis has not lost any sense of malevolence on the transition to the big screen and it is nice to see the cold steely dignity of Neville one more time (hey, it can't all be shadowy rooms with figures standing around). In general, the movie is moderately entertaining when focused on Mulder and Scully rather than the idea of unravelling the proverbial mystery bar (spoiler: the core of that bar is basically a roll of paper saying "try again later") to go along with a few decent visuals for a mostly standard affair. Regardless if you saw the show or not, the movie is mostly one to be enjoyed in the margins of middle ground entertainment, which is fine by me, I suppose.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

*Evidently, there were rumblings where the Season 7 finale "Requiem" (aired in 2000) could have just easily have been the finale of the show or just the setup to doing another movie.

*Regardless of watching the show on Season 10 or Season 1, what the fuck was "My Struggle IV" even meant to be? Nearly six years later and that's what the show ended on?

² See that's how you know the character of Marita Covarrubias stinks (blame Chris Carter?), she wasn't even in the movie despite being, you know, the informant character (of course I might be biased, I adored Deep Throat and X in the "oh hey, they are in this episode"). Even The Lone Gunmen got to be in this movie, and those guys are lovable scamps. Of course, this note section can't be just geeking out about random X-Files musings, then it would be too obvious (such as saying I would fold to Scully immediately).

Futureworld.

Review #1170: Futureworld.

Cast: 
Peter Fonda (Chuck Browning), Blythe Danner (Tracy Ballard), Arthur Hill (Dr. Duffy), Yul Brynner (The Gunslinger), John Ryan (Dr. Morton Schneider), Stuart Margolin (Harry Croft), James M. Connor (Clark the robot), Allen Ludden (Game show host), and Robert Cornthwaite (Mr. Reed) Directed by Richard T. Heffron.

Review: 
Westworld (1973) was a fine and enjoyable experience, having a fine cast alongside an interesting premise and execution that has quite a bit of fun with thrilling elements alongside sci-fi and western aspects. Paul N. Lazarus III, producer of the previous film, returned to help produce alongside James T. Aubrey while having financing from American International Pictures. Michael Crichton did not have any direct involvement in this film, with the task of writing the film going to Mayo Simon and George Schenck, with the former having experience in writing films such as Marooned (1969). In any case, the only person to return for the sequel is Brynner, making his penultimate film appearance. Perhaps it is his appearance that helps best describe the whole film experience: embarrassing and not having much point, as he appears in a dream sequence midway through the movie, where he at one point twirls a character around with a scarf after saving her from some nameless villains. The rest of the film is pretty bland and ultimately serves as a disappointment in part because it never really kicks itself into high gear in terms of story or acting. The fact that the corporation in the film spent over a billion dollars in safety to re-open the park is probably the only real surprise, since I would have assumed they would have been sued out of existence, what with the whole thing about the robots malfunctioning and killing people in the park. I suppose a little bit of polish (along with having a control center with all robots) and a bit of good PR will help fix everything - and that is where Fonda and Danner come into the picture. It's amazing how two characters (one being the skeptic and the other being less cynical) who seem to fit right into a conspiracy thriller film are played so blandly; they also having the added downside of having little to no chemistry with each other, and they aren't too interesting to follow along with. Hill is okay, but the film doesn't really have any real sort of villainous presence, and the lack of any real tension makes this for a bland experience. The film has some notable effects at times, notably for the use of 3D computer-generated imagery (CGI), being the first major feature to do so, with the effects being an animated hand and face. Clips from the short film A Computer Animated Hand (1972) were used, which is an early example of computer animation that was directed by Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke, with the former later co-founding Pixar. By the time the film reveals its card involving the nefarious scheme by the people running the park, it already feels like it should have been revealed sooner, and it doesn't really have too much impact. I really thought there would be a bit more to the fact that robots run the park, but you really get more interest in Margolin and his robot buddy in the time they get on screen. The climax comes and goes without any big punches or surprises, with an ending that doesn't feel too particularly satisfactory (unless you like someone running away from the park after giving a scientist one particular gesture). Ultimately, Futureworld manages to come off as a chore to sit through at times, not having any real suspense or spectacle aside from a few interesting effects that make for a movie that just doesn't have what it takes to make for good entertainment, being a middle-of-the-road kind of feature.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.