An action-rich and suspenseful mythology story, the second season double-header of “Colony”/”End Game” suggests the inherent and indisputable movie potential of the X-Files franchise. Even today, twenty years later, one can screen these two episodes back-to-back and get caught up in the visual and emotional arcs of the Chris Carter/Frank Spotnitz tale Interestingly, I often encounter folks who claim not to like the The X-Files Mytharc stories, and complain that such tales are too complicated, or just too difficult to follow. That argument isn’t exactly air tight ... [Continua a leggere]

This second season episode of The X-Files (1993 – 2002) is one of the sharpest, most stunning social critiques in the entire catalog. In “Die Hand die Verletzt,” Mulder and Scully deal -- in storied New England -- with the Satanist equivalent of “Cafeteria Catholics,” religious practitioners who pick and choose which edicts and dogma they want to believe in, and ignore the rest. But when you’re dealing with the Devil himself, it’s dangerous to break faith, as the episode suggests in no uncertain terms. “Die Hand die Verletzt’s” bri ... [Continua a leggere]

It's been 20 years since Gillian Anderson first picked up the FBI badge and flashlight as Special Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files. Since the series ended, we were more likely to find her on PBS or the BBC than on any major network. That, thankfully, is about to change as she returns to NBC. First in a guest arc on Hannibal (Thursday nights) and later this fall when her pilot Crisis airs. To sate us in the meantime, she's getting back into Scully mode, tracking down a serial killer on the British miniseries The Fall, which will be coming to Netflix May 28. Consider this your much-belated Gilli ... [Continua a leggere]

It’s been 20 years since “The X-Files” opened to viewers’ wanting-to-believe eyes, and the hit paranormal investigation drama’s creator, Chris Carter, doesn’t quite know what to make of that phenomenon. “It’s surreal,” he told a sold-out crowd Sunday at the Hero Complex Film Festival shortly after entering to a standing ovation. “It’s like an X-File…. Twenty years’ missing time.” Asked what he might do differently if he made the show now, he said, “It was of its time…. You probably could make th ... [Continua a leggere]

For a few of the writers gathered, this was the first time they had seen one another since Chris Carter's conspiracy-laden sci-fi drama -- which, at its height, was abducting nearly 20 million viewers a week -- finished its Emmy-winning run 11 years ago. Heck, the last time Vince Gilligan saw David Duchovny -- who also wrote and directed a handful of episodes in addition to starring as FBI agent Fox Mulder -- was at the wrap party. But the show has remained with them, as they've gone on to become some of the most respected showrunners in Hollywood. As Gilligan confides, "Everything we do on ... [Continua a leggere]

Program begins with a presentation on the art and design of “The X-Files.” Following, marking the 20th anniversary of the remarkable television series “The X-Files,” we screen two notable episodes. Season 7’s “Je Souhaite” (2000, 44 min.), whose title translates to “I Wish” and features a 500-year-old genie, was written and directed by Vince Gilligan. Season 6's “Triangle,” (1998, 44 min.), a mix of time travel and WWII intrigue set on a 1939 ocean liner, was written and directed by Chris Carter. Both episodes were designed by ... [Continua a leggere]

PERSPECTIVE I came to “The X-Files,” which turns 20 this year, after its first season, and for a time I had no idea what was happening. This was a good way to watch a show whose greatest strength was its air of dreamlike mystery. Folded across the turn of the 21st-century, it was a millennial show for a millennial time, reflecting a popular preoccupation with apocalypse and messiahs, puzzling phenomena and unexplained mysteries, psychic surgeons and alien autopsies, random mutations and science gone too far. It was also, looking back on old episodes, a time of pay phones, answeri ... [Continua a leggere]

Chris Carter presents one of the darkest and most disturbing The X-Files episodes of the entire series catalog with his terrifying and relentless second season entry, “Irresistible.” Leaving behind the expected “fantasy” elements of the series such as aliens and monsters-of-the-week, the series creator, aided by director David Nutter, instead provides here a glimpse of the ultimate and most fearsome mystery: human evil. As a creative and intellectual series, The X-Files is a very Gothic enterprise. By and large, it concerns a voice of rationality and a voice of romanc ... [Continua a leggere]

Ottawa ComicCon 2013 kicks off on Friday at the Ernst & Young Centre. Adam West, best known as Batman and Family Guy’s Mayor Adam West, had to send his regrets due to a fractured back, but the thousands of attendees will have the chance to see Wil Wheaton, Julie Newmar, LeVar Burton and many other stars. Stop by on Saturday or Sunday to see Gillian Anderson, who discusses X-Files, Hannibal and giving back in this edited interview. Q This year marks the 20th anniversary of the X-Files. What stands out most to you in your memories of playing Special Agent Dana Scully? A. That I was ... [Continua a leggere]

“One Breath” vividly diagrams the boundaries separating life from death, as well as Dana Scully’s “near death experience” at the shore-line between those states of existence. Gratifyingly, the episode provides resonant visuals to embody this strange “border land.” Indeed, many of the episode’s images -- from the opening scene involving Scully’s childhood, to her journey to a long, white tunnel of memory -- prove unforgettable. This episode from early in The X-Files’ second season also continues to chart Mulder’s emotional and ... [Continua a leggere]

The second season episode “3” has never been particularly well-regarded by fans of The X-Files, and there are reasons that support this point-of-view. For instance, this is an episode where Mulder works alone, and Scully is nowhere to be found, thus flouting conventional formula. And, shippers may be disappointed or angry because Mulder experiences a sexual liaison with a woman in the story who is not Scully. Indeed a certain percentage of the hostility aimed at “3” apparently revolves around Mulder having intimate relations with another woman. Some fans consider thi ... [Continua a leggere]

The X-Files first great two-part episode, “Duane Barry”/”Ascension” plays a lot like a 1990s action thriller, with a tense opening act involving a hostage negotiation, and a final act that gets down to business with picturesque locations, and impressive physical stunts. That description, however, only begins to scratch the surface of this two-part epic, a legitimate X-Files classic. This is also the story-line, for instance, that forwards significantly the series’ ongoing subplot about alien abduction (first introduced in the pilot), and ends on a cliffhanger in ... [Continua a leggere]

Let's put the truth out there: Gillian Anderson has never looked better. Dressed all in black, in tight jeans and a polo-neck jumper, she wears her hair scraped back in a ponytail that shows off flawless skin and those famous cheekbones. You'd never believe she was 44.She's relaxed, too, and instantly chatty, with no hint of the "spiky and serious" person she's claimed to be in the past. When she speaks - in the English accent she adopts on these shores - she's considered and thoughtful, but very aware of the clock and the minutes ticking away before she must leave to pick up her two youngest ... [Continua a leggere]

When I reviewed “The Erlenmeyer Flask” a few weeks ago, I discussed the notion of the alien corpse or “wellspring” as a kind of Pandora’s Box. Use of the alien corpse’s DNA in scientific experimentation would mean -- in the universe of The X-Files --a brave new world, one with infinite variations, and infinite capacity for good and evil applications. Chris Carter’s episode “The Host” also involves, at least implicitly, a Pandora’s Box of another brand. In “The Host,” Mulder and Scully investigate a strange mutant spawned ... [Continua a leggere]

The X-Files goes big and deep with its second season premiere, “Little Green Men,” which aired on Fox television September 16, 1994. The story, by James Wong and Glen Morgan, concerns an existential crisis for Mulder. Without the X-Files as an overriding purpose, he has difficulty holding on to and maintaining his belief system. Mulder’s crisis of faith is played out in “Little Green Men” on a much bigger scale than many season one episodes of The X-Files, suggesting a budgetary boost, perhaps. Whereas many X-Files episodes of the first season were contained in ... [Continua a leggere]