X-Files 2 Movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Muldfeld]

I just bought the first Mythology boxed set and I'm really enjoying seeing the huge canvas created all over again. It's nice to not have to sit through the monster episodes (some of which are great, I know) to get to the next installment of the real story.

The second set is flawless!

My problem with the 3rd set is the inclusion of the crappy "En Ami" and not some other episode.

Even though it's not a mythology episode, I wish they'd included "Paper Hearts" on the 2nd set, and also wish they'd put the 4th season finale "Gethsemane" in widescreen, since they shot the last few episodes if not more in widescreen. "Gethsemane" is part of a 3-parter, so why not just at least have that in full wide-screen glory.

Also, after the first set, the audio commentaries are pretty bare! Kim Manners and R.W. Goodwin sound like a nice guys, but they are boring! Chris Carter could also afford to be a little forthcoming on story details.

Frank Spotnitz is the best at these. I even love the sound of his voice and his accent.

If anyone didn't know, here's Frank's official site:

http://www.biglight.com/blog

The monster episodes showed that the writers of the X-Files could put stand alones on TV that rivalled the best of The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Twilight Zone, etc. But I think the Mythology is what really set the series apart from everything that had come before. And only Lost has equalled it in such an overarching convoluted (in a good way) fashion.

I think they did a much better and more dramatically consistent job than Lost has or ever will. Lost is much more commerical and conveniently written.

Why would they not address the mythology? Nonsense.

Because in the middle and the end, the mythology made no sense?

Rubbish. The main mythology made a lot of sense but it was hard to follow and you had to watch it much more carefully than any other show.

The connecting puzzle pieces are "Momento Mori" in Season 4 and especially "Patient X" and "The Red and the Black" in Season 5. When I saw that, my reaction was "wow! It's finally starting to make sense!"
The entire conspiracy is explained in "Two Fathers"/"One Son" and the fate of Samantha is explained throughout the series, ending brilliantly in "Sein Und Zeit" and "Closure".

Sure it could have been more consistent (the black oil was changed from the fully sentient form in Season 3 to a more parasitical form in Season 4), but, considering they were figuring it out as they were writing, they did a great job.

To get back to Uber Beaver's question, I think what happened was that Fox upset things by making the show continue by holding Gillian Anderson to her contract. The new developments after "Two Fathers"/"One Son" were Chris Carter's fault; they WERE running out of ideas on how to create a new conspiracy and were failing pretty badly. Then, with Doggett's arrival, they needed something different from Mulder's ties to the conspiracy. This new conspiracy was damn awful, but had some great episodes like "Within", "Without", "This Is Not Happening", "DeadAlive" and "Essence".

So the writers were running out of thematic ideas and Fox was prolonging the thing. So, to avoid the pitfall of a mythology stand alone movie like "Fight the Future" that appeals to non fans, and which started the decline in quality of the series, they opted long ago to do a stand alone-type story.

I think they'll get back to the mythology and use the alien rebels in some way to defeat the colonists.


My explanation for a lot of the main mythology's dramatic consistency is on this page:
http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=175836&perpage=15&pagenumber=5

 

[FitzChivalry]

This new conspiracy was damn awful, but had some great episodes like "Within", "Without", "This Is Not Happening", "DeadAlive" and "Essence".

Yay! Finally! Someone else who agrees that Season 8 had some damn good episodes!

Everyone writes the series off after Season 6 but, IMHO, I think Season 8 was great. Especially Gillian's acting! I think she should've won an Emmy for "This Is Not Happening" . . . phenomenal, phenomenal acting!

As I've said many times before, Season 8 was definitely one of my favorites.

 

[corianderstem]

I didn't hate season 8 - it had some bright spots. However, I do not believe there was one episode in season 9 that I honestly liked, save the finale.

Maybe the one that dealt with the disappearance of Dogget's son, but I was pretty much fed up with the show by that point. Stupid Scully's baby.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Yeah, I agree. Season 9 was pretty bad; definitely the worst of the series.

And don't even get me started on Scully giving up her and Mulder's love child!!!!

 

[corianderstem]

She had to give it up because even Scully knew how insipid it was to give her character a baby in the first place!

But the whole storyline just freaking pissed me off. She knows she can't keep William safe. No one can - the conspiracy is everywhere, right? There's just no way.

So yeah - just give the baby to people on a farm. That oughta do it.

So freaking STUPID. Smite! SMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE!!!!!!!

 

[Slipstream]

Some more possible cast news -

From moviehole.net -

X-Files sequel to fade to Black?
Date : November 20, 2007 Writer : Clint Morris

Sounds like Chris Carter might be bringing back a few small-screen favourites to join Mulder and Scully on their sophomore adventure.

Lance Henriksen, says a scooper[at a convention in the UK] for Aint it Cool News, could be reprising his role as Frank Black (from “Millennium”, the “X-Files” spin-off) for the “X-Files” sequel, shooting next month in Vancouver.

from the scooper in Manchester - "Henriksen was asked if he would be in the next XFiles movie with the cross over storyline from Millennium and he said he wasnt allowed to talk about it at the moment but he would leave it up to us to decide what that statement meant!"

 

[bonoishot]

Some more possible cast news -

From moviehole.net -

X-Files sequel to fade to Black?
Date : November 20, 2007 Writer : Clint Morris

Sounds like Chris Carter might be bringing back a few small-screen favourites to join Mulder and Scully on their sophomore adventure.

Lance Henriksen, says a scooper[at a convention in the UK] for Aint it Cool News, could be reprising his role as Frank Black (from “Millennium”, the “X-Files” spin-off) for the “X-Files” sequel, shooting next month in Vancouver.

from the scooper in Manchester - "Henriksen was asked if he would be in the next XFiles movie with the cross over storyline from Millennium and he said he wasnt allowed to talk about it at the moment but he would leave it up to us to decide what that statement meant!"

I don't remember an X Files spin off. I obviously took no notice off it.

My box set arrived yesterday. A whole weekend to devour as many episodes as possible.

 

[corianderstem]

I don't know that Millennium was an X-Files spinoff at all. Frank Black appeared in the XF episode "Millennium" in season 7, but that's about it, I think.

 

[jobob]

No, there was a separate series called "Millennium."

 

[Slipstream]

Ya that was the Chris Carter series filmed in Vancouver for 3 season till '99.

imdb - A former FBI profiler(Lance Henriksen) moves his family from Washington DC to Seattle, where he joins the Millenium Group, a mysterious organization of former law enforcement officers, committed to battling a crime wave which grows as the turn of the millenium approaches.

 

[Slipstream]

Some more tidbits. Anyone that's going to be in Whistler the next two months might get to see DD, GA, and some other famous person dining out in the Village.

from xfilesnews.com - Filming on the Fox film “Done One” is taking place in Pemberton(town near Whistler ski resort 2 hrs north of Vancouver) and the production features a “yet-to-be-named” big movie celebrity.

The film producers have identified Eagle Drive in the Benchlands subdivision from Pemberton Meadows Road up to the highest point of the unoccupied lots. Filmmakers sought Pemberton Council approval to close Eagle Drive for up to four weeks to allow for snowfall accumulation.

“They want to turn the road into a riverbed and stage a car crash that comes over the edge and lands in the riverbank. They need enough snow to make it look natural,” said Sheena Fraser, Village of Pemberton deputy clerk.

At present the scheduled film dates on Eagle Drive are Feb. 4 and 5. The dates are subject to change because of actor issues or lack of snow. The goal is to close the road around Jan. 7.



So I wonder who this could be, some guessing around the net say it's Julianne Moore.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Some more possible cast news -

From moviehole.net -

X-Files sequel to fade to Black?
Date : November 20, 2007 Writer : Clint Morris

Sounds like Chris Carter might be bringing back a few small-screen favourites to join Mulder and Scully on their sophomore adventure.

Lance Henriksen, says a scooper[at a convention in the UK] for Aint it Cool News, could be reprising his role as Frank Black (from “Millennium”, the “X-Files” spin-off) for the “X-Files” sequel, shooting next month in Vancouver.

from the scooper in Manchester - "Henriksen was asked if he would be in the next XFiles movie with the cross over storyline from Millennium and he said he wasnt allowed to talk about it at the moment but he would leave it up to us to decide what that statement meant!"

My friends loved "Millennium", but I never saw it.

I don't know. Let's not do the crossover thing. Just Mulder, Scully and a kick-ass "normal" X-Files.

Don't piss me off Carter!

 

[redhotswami]

i thought the only spinoff series was the lone gunmen...which i never saw. anyway i'd rather those 3 come back than millennium.

 

[BonosBaby12]

I loved the Lone Gunmen they were a nice addition to the show. Who could forget Frohike's huge crush on Scully?

Sure Carter is wanting to explore new avenues and all. However don't be pulling in people that weren't a regular spot in The X-Files! Come on we have been waiting too long for another movie. We don't want to see people that we have no clue who they are or what purpose they are serving.

 

[u2popmofo]

Dear Chris Carter,

Please don't do a George Lucas.

Thank you.

 

[FitzChivalry]

^ Seriously!

Well, hopefully, even if Heinriksen is in the movie, it will only be for a scene or two, and not the whole movie.

Regardless, as long as the movie's good, then who cares.

I just hope that it's good!

 

[U2democrat]

i thought the only spinoff series was the lone gunmen...which i never saw. anyway i'd rather those 3 come back than millennium.

I watched The Lone Gunmen...I enjoyed it but wasn't surprised that it was short lived. I love those 3 guys though.

 

[Muldfeld]

Some disheartening casting news:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=46073

Xzibit and slutty Amanda Peet. I know she's probably a normal woman and she's pretty well-educated but whenever I see her, I recall all those roles in which she acted sex-crazed and took off her clothes for nothing. I feel icky when I see her.

My friends loved "Millennium", but I never saw it.

I don't know. Let's not do the crossover thing. Just Mulder, Scully and a kick-ass "normal" X-Files.

Don't piss me off Carter!

Seriously, you guys have to rent or buy Millennium Season 1; the set is dirt cheap on amazon.com. As good as any single season of The X-Files, and is already fully-realized because it's a series of stand alone stories about catching often-sympathetic serial killers, so there's no waiting for a build up. I always hated that X-Files cross-over episode in Season 7 because it had nothing to do with Millennium, which was much more subtle about paranormal stuff and never had zombies. They didn't want to confuse the X-Files audience, but it looks like it just drove a lot of you away from Millennium by making it look retarded. Just embarrassing and insulting!

When I watched it in high school, I was too scared of the grim reality of Season 1 and appreciated the melodramatic mess that was Season 2; it was more X-Files-like and obvious. However, rewatching the stuff on DVD, Season 1 was nearly flawless, and nearly everything that came afterward was terrible because Fox pressured the series be dumbed down and wanted it to be more like The X-Files, so Chris Carter bailed essentially, since he was too busy with the movie, and idiots Morgan and Wong took over and made it all simplistic and cheesy. Darin Morgan wrote a couple of really good episodes in Season 2, though and Michael Perry wrote the season's best episode, which was more akin to the subtle vision of Season 1.

You guys HAVE to check out Millennium Season 1. The first episode is a bit too much like "Seven", but episode 2 on, and especially with the 2nd or 3rd disc, things get phenomenal. It has an entirely different set of themes from The X-Files and a very different kind of subtle and quiet hero. Perhaps the best work of Chris Carter's career, and it only gets better with repeated viewing. It's tense, but not especially gratuitous, and watching Frank Black solve cases with the great Terry O' Quinn from "Lost" is a pleasure, since Lance Henriksen is such a fantastic actor.

This is a scene from one of the lesser episodes of Season 1 and doesn't quite show the strength of the series, but it's all I could find:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8jC-Si9IyY

I think The X-Files has run its course thematically, but they could have done another Season 2 of Millennium just like Season 1, and Chris Carter has expressed a desire to reboot the series along the lines of Season 1, and I'd be all for that. Amazing first season!

 

[FitzChivalry]

Some disheartening casting news:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=46073

Xzibit and slutty Amanda Peet. I know she's probably a normal woman and she's pretty well-educated but whenever I see her, I recall all those roles in which she acted sex-crazed and took off her clothes for nothing. I feel icky when I see her.

WTF!!

Well, I don't share your same feelings on Amanda Peet, though I'm not exactly a hug fan of hers either (especially for this movie), but Xzibit as an F.B.I. agent????? That's stretching credulity way too thi i i i i i i i n !

Crap. That is disheartening news.

 

[Muldfeld]

WTF!!

Well, I don't share your same feelings on Amanda Peet, though I'm not exactly a hug fan of hers either (especially for this movie), but Xzibit as an F.B.I. agent????? That's stretching credulity way too thi i i i i i i i n !

Crap. That is disheartening news.

Hey, what are you doing up? Anyway, check out Millennium Season 1!

 

[U2democrat]

Maybe Xzibit is some kooky character involved in the X-File

(I'm trying to justify this...its a stretch...)

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

He'll probably help Skin-Man pimp his ride...

 

[UberBeaver]

He'll probably help Skin-Man pimp his ride...

lol.

 

[redhotswami]

He'll probably help Skin-Man pimp his ride...

i sure hope so

 

[corianderstem]

slutty Amanda Peet.

Oh, come on man. Slutty? Really? I don't like her either, but come on. You're more intelligent than that.

I never really got into Millennium, but I did catch one episode that completely freaked me out - I think it was near the end of the series, and it featured a character completely wigging out to the entire length of the Patti Smith song "Gloria." It was seriously freaky.

 

[Muldfeld]

Oh, come on man. Slutty? Really? I don't like her either, but come on. You're more intelligent than that.

I never really got into Millennium, but I did catch one episode that completely freaked me out - I think it was near the end of the series, and it featured a character completely wigging out to the entire length of the Patti Smith song "Gloria." It was seriously freaky.

Yeah, but you should take my comments in context. I'm not insulting a member here. She's a celebrity, and I'm just referring to my gut reaction because she's done so many slutty roles. When you see Morgan Fairchild, what's your thought? When I see Cybil Sheppard, my first reaction is over-rated, over-the-hill superficial idiot who can't get over her celebrity status and keeps mentioning how she slept with Elvis. If I were her husband, I'd feel pretty bad.

Anyway, I said Amanda Peet was probably okay, but it's hard for me to get over that. In contrast, Jennifer Aniston is known as attractive, but she's been in some fantastic movies like "Friends with Money", "The Good Girl", and "She's the One", and she always comes off as strong.

The Millennium episode you're referring to was actually pretty bad, and that scene I felt was gratuitously long enduring the length of the song. The woman was Morgan's wife, and those guys loved that song so they had to put it in there. Chris Carter was horrified what they'd done to the show, as was Lance Henriksen and some of the writers. Season 1 was much more subtle about the fear it induced.

Anyway, you and any other X-Files fans will love Season 1.

 

[Muldfeld]

I didn't hate season 8 - it had some bright spots. However, I do not believe there was one episode in season 9 that I honestly liked, save the finale.

Maybe the one that dealt with the disappearance of Dogget's son, but I was pretty much fed up with the show by that point. Stupid Scully's baby.

I totally agree with your comments on Season 9 being painful because of Scully's motherly concerns. I never want to hear about that baby again! I did like the romantic moments between Mulder and Scully in the jail cell and at the motel; that was the only thing I enjoyed about the finale.

I did like the Doggett episode "Release" and "4-D" was really good. Even "Sunshine Days" had some nice humorous touches. I just hope they find new dramatic themes for this new film, avoid gratuitous explosions and dumb chase scenes, and that Xzibit and Amanda Peet die after 5 minutes of screen time; that's the only useful purpose they could serve.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Hey, what are you doing up? Anyway, check out Millennium Season 1!

I'm up late because of stupid, stupid DRAMA! among my friends that I'm slowly getting sucked into. (I'm way too old from DRAMA! in my life.)

I know my friends really liked Millennium. Maybe I'll give it a go.

Man, I am really, REALLY bumming about this Xhibit casting crap! Amanda Peet I can deal with; I can believe her as an F.B.I. agent about as much as I did Anabeth Gish. But Xhibit!!!! Come on! What the HELL were they THINKING!!!????

 

[BonosBaby12]

Man, I am really, REALLY bumming about this Xhibit casting crap! Amanda Peet I can deal with; I can believe her as an F.B.I. agent about as much as I did Anabeth Gish. But Xhibit!!!! Come on! What the HELL were they THINKING!!!????

I gotta agree with Fitz on this one! Not happy at all about hearing of this latest casting. Amanda ok no problem that's fine. The other one though give me a break!

 

[Muldfeld]

I'm up late because of stupid, stupid DRAMA! among my friends that I'm slowly getting sucked into. (I'm way too old from DRAMA! in my life.)

I know my friends really liked Millennium. Maybe I'll give it a go.

Man, I am really, REALLY bumming about this Xhibit casting crap! Amanda Peet I can deal with; I can believe her as an F.B.I. agent about as much as I did Anabeth Gish. But Xhibit!!!! Come on! What the HELL were they THINKING!!!????

Yeah, I was just having fun with you. I was upset with myself being up because I promised myself I would go to sleep earlier.

The Xzibit thing is weird because Chris Carter is directing and he's so perfectionistic. Maybe the guy has decent acting chops or maybe he'll die off really soon. The cynical side of me is Fox saying, "We need someone popular with the kiddies!"

I was happy about Anabeth Gish at the time, but when I watch back she's wasn't on par with Duchovny, Anderson and Patrick in acting. Also, her character was just not that interesting. They just had Reyes and Doggett or Doggett and Scully reenact the same themes about faith and mutual respect and love that Mulder and Scully had tread so often. They need something new!

If you folks want, you could always tell Mr. Frank Spotnitz at his website: http://www.biglight.com/blog
There's an e-mail address, too.