The X-Files Revival: S10X03 Mulder and Scully

We've hit the halfway mark with the X-Files revival! It's so hard to believe that we're nearly two episodes until the season ten finale already. The third episode really lays on the charm and kitsch with a brand new monster-of-the-week episode: Mulder and Scully Meet the Were Monster.

Hold up in his office, Mulder is questioning his middle-agedness. Nearly all of the cases he and Scully investigated, or runs that excited him the most about the possibilities of the world, have been solved - either through technology, a weather phenomenon, or hoaxes. It's safe to assume that the sails have been knocked out for him, and he immediately realizes the childish naivete he had all those years ago.

Until Scully springs a new case on them: it's got monsters in it. Well, a monster to be exact. Out in the middle of a small Oregon town (where everyone nearly seems to high off their rocker), a series of animal attacks on humans brings the agents out to investigate. Mulder begins leaning towards a lizard-man Guy Mann (played by Rhys Darby) as the culprit, while Scully sorta sits back and enjoys this new side of Mulder. A side of Mulder who now uses the internet for all of his google-searching on supernatural phenomena, and a new app he hopes will help him capture phenomena on his phone. What would the Lone Gunmen think about this?

Darin Morgan has written and directed a few fair favorites of the series so far - War of the Coprophages might be my all-time favorite. This story that he brought to Chris Carter for the mini series had been scrambling about in his brain until the original series, and you can totally tell - this episode goes far beyond just a throw-in homage to all of the tiny, minute details fans know about - the two paint-huffing stoners, how Mulder and Scully are supposed to die, Dagoo, and so much more! There's some hidden details even die-hard fans caught that I never believed could be caught. What Morgan brings back is the humor and horror that was so memorable about the monster-of-the-week style.

It's not hard to do when Darby as Mann is so charming. His monologue of being a human sized lizard, becoming a human and facing the confusing trials of what mankind puts itself through - getting dressed, getting a job, keeping a job he hates, worry about retirement and the future, is funny and touching.

As funny as the episode is, it's heartwarming too. Mulder starts out very much in a skeptic Scully sorta way; sulking in the corner of his office and struggling to believe what he wants to believe. And, this case comes along that takes them on a wild goose chase. Scully into the lair of who the serial killer is, and Mulder into understanding who and what Mann is - a human-sized lizard man.

The newer episode are also treading the fine line of handling the advancement of modern technology since the series finale. Staples of the original series was big honkin' computers hardly hooked up to the internet and landlines. If Scully and Mulder went on an adventure together, or separate, they had to be near a payphone or phone in general to stay in contact to the outside world. Now, the world is so much smaller with the internet. While the agents now are not completely obtuse to today's world, their work is not grounded in constantly being hooked to smartphones. Again, another nice touch accomplished between Mulder and Mann.

My only complaint for the mini-series so far is Scully - there just isn't enough of her (well, in this episode we see enough of her in the best ways but there just isn't enough of Gillian). While I would've liked to have seen more of Scully for the mini-series so far, this is another tall-tale of Mulder relinquishing to the truth. It's not necessarily about proving something deep about the truth being out there - you gotta believe it in your heart. He makes a genuine connection to Mann, and we certainly do too. By the ending credits, this episode brings on the feels and has us frolicking with rejuvenated hope. This is the way we like our Mulder and our X-Files.

The Age of Adaline (2013)

The Age of Adaline could've been a great female version of the hastily simplified The Time Traveler's Wife or the magnificent The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Something strange happens in Hollywood when a romantic drama dealing with time travel or time itself is in the works. Somewhere between idea and script to the final product, once interesting characters and stories try too hard to be unique from the rest of the pack.

Adaline (Blake Lively) was struck by lightning after a brutal car crash giving her the power not to age. Living carefree through the Prohibition, this new ability is a blessing more than it is a curse. Over the coming decades, she remains twenty-nine forever. Living discreetly from suspicion and on the run, a chance encounter with Ellis (Michiel Huisman) may show her the kind of life she's been missing.

Elements from different films affect each other via choices by the director, production designer, studio, etc. Instead truly using the power of its cast and the story, the making of the film seemed to convinced with trying to it as unique as possible. When looking at the film's inspiration for its production over several years (which included overhauls to the script and changes with directors), I was surprised to learn that Amelie and Network was the film's prime sources.

Amelie is a light and airy adventure, using side stories of the protagonists' neighbors and friends to unfold her own adventure of discovering love. Adaline utilizes flashbacks in much of the same sense showing her in the present and in the past. But instead of putting Adaline at the forefront of her own life, the flashbacks disrupts the flow of her story. And, Network is centered on an angry prophet denouncing the hypocrisies of our time and the political powerful medium of television. Narration is used through to describe the main character and pivotal moments of his arc. This aspect was used for Adaline as well, but often it felt random, popping up in places to explain the 'scientific nature' of her condition rather than just letting it all play out naturally.

There's nothing really wrong with using contrasting parts of films to make something new, but this combination simply doesn't fit. I would feel less disappointed by the film if it had a thinner love story or protagonist to work with. But it doesn't. Adaline has a lot going to juggle. For decades she doesn't let anyone close to her. She's outliving her friends and children. She has a steady job as a librarian, but we're alluded that she consistently moves between cities to avoid being "found out". Little pieces of her history are laid out like breadcrumbs, but it doesn't come into a whole narrative: it's fleeting, even distant and convoluted rather than intimate and layered. If the film was told without the pizzazz of time-jumping and unnecessary narration, it could've add much more continuity.


Blake Lively elegantly creates an intriguing heroine with Adaline. Even though she has the inability to age, she doesn't let anything hinder her experiences, wisdom, or intelligence. The McCarthy witch-hunt stamped her with the fear that if she allows anyone close to her, they'll become suspect of her lack of aging and might see her as a science experiment or freak rather than a real person. Even though she lives her life in fear of being found out, she spends her life the best she can: reading, learning languages, and traveling. Maybe it's just the hermit in me, but I found this to be a dream life (but with the aging). I loved Lively's refreshing ability to be vulnerable, complex, and dignified. Even though Adaline has lived through it all, can read situations and people instantly, she wasn't about anyone up. She's just naturally one step ahead of everyone.

Except Ellis. If there is one person who really challenges Adaline to open up, it's him. He is so unlike all the other men who have tried to be romantically involved with her. Having managed to acquire his millions early in his life, he lives rather free but not in an egotistical or arrogant way. He's quite the charmer and a respectful one at that. He doesn't want to toy around with her heart but open it up. Like Adaline, he is a true old-soul and has a very youthful energy to match her contained lifestyle. Together, from their style and personalities to temperament, they bring a classy mystique to the 21st century, even a timelessness. Their romance has all the potential for being epic, and in some ways it is if not for the film's faults. It's almost electric, like they were struck by lightning for each other.

The Age of Adaline is a beautiful film in many regards. Floating through the decades, the production and costume design mixes modern and vintage seamlessly. Every setting and Adaline's costumes transport you back to another era and makes you forget you're in the 21st Century. Even though the story is set in present time, it feels otherworldly. In contrast to other time-travel films that beckons us to see how time is so fleeting, Adaline challenges us to think about having all the time in the world but no one to spend it with - until the right one comes along. Lively and Huisman's chemistry makes the notion come to life. It's like they were made for each other in this movie.

I really wanted to love this one more. Unfortunately, as great as the cast, production design, and character Adaline was, the movie's too hindered on being stylish. With its pros and cons, the film stands on its own and away from other time-travel related flicks. Give me a few weeks and surely I'll be aching to watch it again. Maybe I'll like it a bit more, but there's also a nagging feeling of being just as frustrated by what could've been. But there's a part of me that wishes I could back and save The Age of Adaline.

The X-Files Revival: My Struggle & Founders Mutation

Mulder and Scully finally return for the highly-anticipated The X-Files revival. Finally we can say adios to the long wait for the tenth season! Below is a recap and my thoughts of the premiere episode as well as the follow-up. Hope you enjoy!

My Struggle, directed and written by show creator Chris Carter, had a lot to catch up on in the fourteen years since the show last aired, and nearly eight years since his second film opened to negative reviews.

In the series' finale Mulder escaped his indictment with the help of Scully and their fellow agents. The duo met with a wise man in the Grand Canyons who had knowledge of the alien's invasion at the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012. What the pairing discovered was the thought-to-be-dead Cancer Man, who was then blown to smithereens. Having survived yet another deadly encounter against their rival, the agents moved forward lying low from the FBI. For the second film I Want To Believe, the charges against Mulder were eventually dropped when he was called in to investigate a serial kidnapping, which left him and Scully's personal relationship strained.

One lingering question from the series' finale we wanted answered was the meaning of Cancer Man's revelation about the Mayan Calendar and the end of the world. Since the real world pushed onwards past 2012, the series made a turn to use that famous apocalyptic date as our own inflicted demise.

Extraordinary Artwork of The X-Files

CalebDoodles

Now that the episodic recaps are over, it's time to take a look at The X-Files in another way. The epic revival is just around the corner, and I thought it'd be fun to look at some of the awesome and adorable fanart out there. Here's part one of artwork with Mulder and Scully on their alien-esque adventures. Enjoy!

8 Awesome Trailers to Pump Up For 2016

We have a whole new year of superhero battles, women kicking ass, forgetful fish, and fantastic beasts ahead of us.

Here are eight awesome movie trailers to pump us up for 2016! What are you looking forward to this year? Feel free to share in the comments!

10 Guy Movies I Proudly Survived

HALT: Is that misogyny I hear yander?

It's hard to believe in the 21st century that No Women Allowed clubs are still prevalent in the entertainment world. Sony hack emails revealed actresses being paid less than their male co-stars. Female cosplayers and video gamers are objectified. Female directors can't seem to break new ground in Hollywood. And according to a recent film critic, women shouldn't see an abrasive movie like The Revenant.

For the past year director Alejandro González Iñárritu's adaptation has gained media attention. The story ventures the early American west as a frontiersman Hugh Glass is left for dead by his crew after a crippling bear attack. It's centered on a father enacting revenge for his son's murder as he attempts to survive a harsh winter against Native Americans reclaiming what was stolen from them and violent, pillaging raping settlers. Due to the epic nature of its film-making, crew members walked off the project and brawls between actor and director broke out on-set. There's hunting, pillaging, blood and guts, rape, animal carcasses, and vengeance.

X-Files Xtras: Thoughts on Season 8 and Season 9

The ending of season seven forced us to embark on a new era: one without Mulder, one with two new agents and replacements working alongside Scully, one that left us with questions about his disappearance and with the startling news of Scully's pregnancy. It pretty much dismantled the entire series as we knew it and tried to rebuild against a series imposed deadline.

So Mulder is gone, and season eight was another day. When a main character leaves it's hard to welcome the new kid in town. But, my god, I loved John Doggett. Choosing Robert Patrick as David Duchovny's replacement was perfect. He has to be given credit where it's due - his character comes in at the last second to tag-along with Scully in finding Mulder - two people he had no real prior investment in. He's a career guy without a family, a skeptical city cop, not built or trained to be investigating paranormal / supernatural phenomena. In a lot of ways, he's like Scully; he's assigned to the X-Files to spy on it for Assistant Director Kursh - someone who's oh so happy to have the department gone and out of the FBI. Doggett took over Scully's role as the skeptic, and Scully tried to think more like Mulder. But Doggett respects and likes Scully. She has the authority and he doesn't try to override or undermine her intelligence. In fact, he's pretty smitten and intrigued by her from beginning.