July 1998: On my birthday my fiancée took me to see the X-Files movie; not because he wanted to, not even because I thought it was going to be good, but because, as I told him, "It's the X-Files. If I don't see it, I'll tear myself to bits wondering what happened."
If you are an X-Files fan, you do have to see the movie. They do a quite nice job of bridging the gap between seasons, although they certainly haven't dealt with every worm they let out of the can last TV episode.
It is worth seeing on the big screen.
Quick notes:
- Mulder is still a dweeb. He is a lovable dweeb, but he is definitely a dweeb.
- Scully is an admirable woman in many ways, but she is desperately in need of a co-dependency program.
- I don't mind the director copying the twisted organs look of the "Aliens" architecture, because I admired it too, but I wish he hadn't copied the dark, confusing, over-rapid action sequences.
- There are a couple of logic problems at the end. I won't go into it yet until everyone's seen the movie.
- Sequel Warning: An alien spacecraft has Mulder's cell phone!
July 1999: As you can tell, I don't get to the movies often. This year, My Wesley took me to see The Phantom Menace -- because "It's Star Wars."
We both enjoyed it a great deal. It is definitely worth seeing on the big screen -- the special effects are the main point of the movie, no slur intended, this is Star Wars! Some of the scenes reminded me of Dark Crystal -- lots of loving effort put into detailing a creature that you catch a brief glimps of as it skitters through one corner of the screen.
This being a prequel, spoilers are built in -- you know before the end of the movie that Qui Gon Jinn isn't the one who will train Anakin; as young as he is, you can't help reading future expectations into the relationship between Anakin and a member of Queen Amidala's court with a personality a lot like Leia's (they can both shoot); keep an eye on Senator Palpatine, but don't expect to get a warning through to Amidala no matter how loud you shout.
I want the next movie now.
Indulge in Star Wars Mania at Amazon.Com
How Far Have We Come Moment
The first movie to feature spaceships created entirely by computer was The Last Starfighter -- and still a lot of fun. The premise of a young man saving the Earth (oh, yeah, the rest of the Galaxy, too) with his great skill at video games is a little ... ironic, these days.
May the Farce Be With You
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SFFBooks, a discussion list for science fiction, fantasy and horror.
