MovieGeekBlog

The X-Files (S1.Ep24) – The Erlenmeyer Flask

The X-Files – Season 1 – Episode 24 – The Erlenmeyer Flask 1/2

Director: R.W. Goodwin Writer: Chris Carter. Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Lindsey Ginter, Anne De Salvo, Jerry Hardin, William B. Davis.

With “The Erlenmeyer Flask” Season 1 really ends with a bang (not just figuratively). There are so many great moments here as Mulder and Scully get deeper into the conspiracy and they seem to (both) get as close as they’ve ever been to the truth. This is the moment the show was propelled into stratosphere and became a must be seen show. It all starts with an exciting car chase and then for the first time we got a new message on the title sequence instead of the usual “the truth is out there” we got “Trust no one” (another classic x-files favourite). The scene with the room with the bodies suspended in liquid inside those tanks (and the subsequent one when the tanks have been removed) is also PURE X-Files!! Creepy, mysterious, shocking (well… for the time), intriguing. And how to forget the iconic moment when Scully actually sees an Alien foetus?

The internet went wild at the time and the online rumbled helped the series get a better slot next season (and its rating started going up).And then of course the very shocking death of one of the recurrent characters, which left everyone speechless. The episodes works as an end (when they wrote it, they didn’t know whether they were going to get another commission) but also as a cliffhanger.

What a great way to end the season. And how excited I am to start watching the second one now!

The X-Files (S1-Ep23) – “Roland”

The X-Files – Season 1 – Episode 23 – “Roland” 1/2

Director: David Nutter. Writers: Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Zeljko Ivanek 

When scientists at an aeronautics lab die under mysterious circumstances, Mulder and Scully begin to suspect a mentally challenged janitor. Zeljko Ivanek is brilliant in this (especially when you see him playing the villain in 24, True Blood or Heroes) and possibly he’s the highlight of the episode, however I wonder if today in our ultra-sensitive world, they would have ever been able to make a story like this (the scene with the other mentally challenged patient are particularly corny and on the nose). Once again (spoilers ahead) the X Files plays with life after death, but here the twist works extremely well and when it comes it’s very unexpected. Once again David Nutter directing proves himself a winner.

The X-Files (S1.Ep22) – “Born Again”

Series 1 – Episode 22 – Born Again

Director: Jerrold Freedman Writers: Chris Carter, Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Brian Markinson 

Back to the average fair that’s mainly been season 1. There’s always something to be gained by having scary looking kids in films. It works most of the time and some of the best horrors have creepy kids in them: The exorcist, the Omen, Goodnight Mommy, Pet Seminary, The Ring, the shining.. and the list goes on. This is not as good as any of the above mentioned movies, but it feels like a story we’ve seen before (in fact the idea of re-incarnation and revenge is explored a few times in this season). Nothing particularly stands out here. I’m not saying it’s boring, but hardly exciting. Also, annoying the title “Born again “ gives away the mystery from the start. Also after 2 such strong episode, this felt even more of a let-down.Probably the episode is more famous now for having Maggie Wheeler (a the time Duchovny’s girlfriend) playing a detective. She became well known as Janice in friends (and her famous catch-line “Oh my Gooooood!”).

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Director: Dean DeBloisCast: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill

In a world where a sequel to an animated feature usually means “finishing returns”, I was expecting something a lot worse than this (Toy story” is obviously an exception to the rule). In fact I thought this was rather good. “How to train your dragon 2” has quite a few surprising twists to the old formula up its sleeve. For a start it has the courage to jump ahead 5 years since “part 1” and have all the kids grown up. While this choice might be a surprising one to start with, once the ending is revealed and you see where it was all heading to (No spoilers for those who haven’t seen it), it all makes a lot of sense. It’s a sequel that has its own story and its own arc, without having to retread old grounds or having to rely of you having seen the original (though there are enough call-back for the fans).

It is slightly more chaotic and unfocussed than the first one (especially at the start) and it’s also aimed at slightly older kids too (with plots about war and actual deaths) and what’s probably lost this time around is that magic, that senes of mystery and discovery that made the first one so endearing and lovable, but there’s also has a much stronger emotional resonance to it and consequently it feels more weighty.

I have to confess that this time around I found the voice of “Hiccup” a little bit distracting. Jay Baruchel’s nerdy and high pitched/nasal voice might have worked for the younger version of his character, the slim unsuspecting hero, but now that “Hiccup” has grown and his animators have made him look cooler, I found the dichotomy between the look and the voice slightly jarring. However, on the technical side of things, the animation is possibly even better this time, aside from the great flying sequences (now a must for this series and always the highlight), those grand vistas and the atmospheric lighting, there are some truly breathtaking shots (a particular one comes to mind where the camera zooms down from the sky to find a huge battle taking place below, swoops around dozens of men down below and ends up focussing on one of the baddies shouting), exciting battles, fast visual gags and lots of beautiful dragons.I was never bored and got even a bit moved… though with all the playing with “sheep” and feasting with “fish” sequences (all of them played for laugh of course), the vegans and vegetarians out there may want to give this one a miss.