Cinematic Disasters: The X Files: I Want To Believe

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

There has been a recent string of new content for TV shows that ended their runs years ago. Shows like Will & Grace and Mad About You returned with new episodes to moderate success. The big one was The X Files getting two more seasons, which as a die hard X Files fan I find average at best. Leave things in the past. Focus on new content and not this devotion to nostalgia. It is never the same. Case in point, The X Files's abysmal return to the big screen in 2008, I Want To Believe.

The worst sin this movie commits is being boring as sin. This film is painfully slow and at times also self righteous and up its own ass. It moves at a glacial pace and the characters just over analyze everything and go over everything we've already seen and heard from the show. Writer director Chris Carter, the creator of the X Files, said he wanted this to be a standalone film for both fans and non-fans but that doesn't work. The non-fans are probably uninterested in anything, nothing happens for long stretches, and die hard fans are frustrated. Why is this so boring? Mulder and Scully are back to the "will they won't they" point of their relationship, which was resolved in the show, and the whole thing feels unimportant. Also a convicted pedophile is seen as a sympathetic figure in this film. What the actual fuck, Carter?

If shows aren't going to evolve when they return, then what is the point? I know nostalgia is a thing and we miss the shows and movies we loved, but it never works. If the characters act the same as they did when the show ended, even after there was development when they ended, then it basically makes the final episodes moot. X Files belongs in the past. I don't need more episodes or content unless Carter does something interesting. Mulder is no long a young naive conspiracy theorist. He's a grizzled former federal agent who has been betrayed by his own government. The writing needs to show that. Avoid this painfully dull and atrocious film. Just rewatch the series main run. Or the first movie, Fight the Future, which is awesome.

Comments

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

A retrospective by Brooks Rich Let's kick off the spooky season with a bona fide classic. I love the horror genre, but not much really scares or creeps me out. Most horror films I just watch and enjoy. However, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is one of those that really gets under my skin, and not just because the Sawyer family are eating people. The way Tobe Hooper shoots the film gives it an almost documentary feel. If you have never seen 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' you should probably fix that immediately. Do I need to explain what it's about? A group of '70s kids is driving across Texas in a van and runs afoul of the Sawyer family, including the man himself, Leatherface. It's a classic of the horror genre and one of the pioneers of the '70s and '80s horror boom. The film has a reputation for being sickeningly bloody and violent, but that is not true. It's essentially a bloodless film, which makes it even more horrifying. Most of the violence...

Forgotten Film Friday: Absolute Power

Clint Eastwood stars as Luther Whitney, a jewel thief who works in the Washington DC area. One night while he is stealing from a mansion he is forced to hide in a secret compartment with a two way mirror. From there he observes a sexual rezendevous with the wife of a powerful man and the President of the United States Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman) Suddenly the president gets aggressive and while defending herself the woman is shot to death by two Secret Service agents. Luther manages to get away with a letter opener the woman stabbed the president with. At first Luther plans to flee the country. But when he is disgusted by a statement the president makes, Luther decides to expose the crime. I miss these kind of films. The nineties was a great time for thrillers exactly like this. They are not the flashiest films but they are also not obsessed with big action scenes. It's all plot and character with them. Sure this plot might be a little out there but Eastwood makes it work. He's...

John Candy month: Summer Rental

A retrospective by Brooks Rich Air traffic controller Jack Chester (John Candy) is given paid time off when he nearly causes two airline disasters. He takes his family down to Florida for a vacation. Hijinks ensue because its '80s comedy and Candy ends up challenging a pompous Richard Crenna to a yacht race to close out the summer. This is a movie that has been forgotten to time in the grand scheme of Candy's career. Even with Carl Reiner directing it does have the same name recognition as some of Candy's other works. But I think it's a solid entry in his filmography. He plays a great everyman who we have no problem rooting for. The slobs versus snobs relationship he has with Crenna works like a charm and he genuinely seems like a good father and husband. Candy was always great at playing both the everyman and the aloof goofball. Sometimes he'll even play both. His character of Jack Chester in this is a good example of that. At times Jack is the goofy comic relief...

Cinema Basement

Search This Blog