On October 16, Abrams Press will release Monsters Of The Week: The Complete Critical Companion To The X-Files. Written by A.V. Club contributor Zack Handlen and former A.V. Club TV editor Todd VanDerWerff, the book adapts and updates the duo’s popular TV Club Classic recaps, supplementing them with cast and writer interviews, illustrations from Patrick Leger, and a new foreword by X-Files creator Chris Carter. Read on for Zack’s take on season five’s “Bad Blood,” followed by commentary from the episode’s writer,&n ... [Continua a leggere]

Given the perpetual seriousness of Agent Dana Scully, it should have come as a surprise to no one when Gillian Anderson made the post-X-Files decision to step into deeper dramatic waters, appearing in a London production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House as well as television adaptations of such literary fare as Charles Dickens’ Bleak House and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. But appearing in Johnny English Reborn? Now that was unexpected. Anderson’s latest role, which finds her working closer to anticipated form, is Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, which airs on ... [Continua a leggere]

The actor: David Duchovny, who became a star in the ’90s playing an FBI agent investigating the world’s freakiest mysteries on The X-Files. He went on to star in big-budget movies and low-budget indies, often showing a wry sense of humor even when working on the darkest material. He also wrote and directed his own 2004 feature film, House Of D. Duchovny currently stars on the Showtime series Californication as a conflicted writer and serial philanderer; the second season has just been released on DVD, and the third season launches on Showtime later this year. Californication ... [Continua a leggere]

It isn't hard to feed the mythology of the X-Files franchise. Thanks to the steady rise of DVD sales and the Internet since the show's 1993 debut, it's a beast that has found a way to nourish itself untended over the years. The fact that a major studio would bankroll a sequel (of sorts) to a film from a decade ago, based on a television program that limped to its conclusion in 2002, is a testament to the show's enduring mystique. The X-Files: I Want To Believe has been shrouded in secrecy, and its cast has been directed to remain hush-hush about plot points, though that's probably as m ... [Continua a leggere]

Chris Carter spent the '80s working as a writer and editor for Surfing magazine and developing TV shows for Disney before creating the TV series that made his name. Debuting in the fall of 1993 on Fox, The X-Files became one of the defining television series of the '90s. Starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, two FBI agents charged with investigating strange cases, The X-Files mixed hard science and fringe beliefs into stories that were alternately comedic, terrifying, and philosophical. Playing Scully's skepticism against Mulder's credulity, it used pre-mi ... [Continua a leggere]