Personally, I think if they're going to continue off the X-Files franchise at all, they need to expand the X-Files project to form a full institution. They now research and study all of the weird and paranormal things they encounter. A full lab of scientists and documentation to understand these strange things, while groups of agents slowly expand the borders of the known.

The "aliens" mythos can be sidelined then. They'll still be out there, but won't be the underlying thread they have to pull every few episodes. They can focus on that "monster of the week" format for a while until one of the writers stumbles on some really compelling idea. No not the multiverse. Lets... let's cool it on that for a bit alright?

Being used to hearing about film releases today that were made recently, and being a bit tired, I saw the movie caps and thought, "Wow, they have aged REALLY WELL."

Then the words caught up with my sleep-deprived brain and I realized this wasn't actually a good plot for an X-Files movie, but was a movie from almost 20 years ago, which would explain why they looked like they hadn't aged since the last time I saw an X-File anything.

Not being into Hulu for various reasons, it's probably not going to be streamed. But the movie will hit physical media sooner or late. I wasn't a huge fan of the series, but IIRC, it was less obnoxious than some offerings. So a capstone on what I did see (I did NOT see any of the 2010's stuff) could be entertaining. Especially if they restored the original vision of the director.

In the meantime, I think I need some sleep.

Personally, I think if they're going to continue off the X-Files franchise at all, they need to expand the X-Files project to form a full institution. They now research and study all of the weird and paranormal things they encounter. A full lab of scientists and documentation to understand these strange things, while groups of agents slowly expand the borders of the known.

The "aliens" mythos can be sidelined then. They'll still be out there, but won't be the underlying thread they have to pull every few episodes. They can focus on that "monster of the week" format for a while until one of the writers stumbles on some really compelling idea. No not the multiverse. Lets... let's cool it on that for a bit alright?

So basically SCP Foundation: The TV Series?

I could get behind that.

So basically SCP Foundation: The TV Series?

I could get behind that.

I suppose it's fitting, considering X-Files was a pretty big inspiration for SCP stories in the first place! It's also the natural progression. Just keeping the status quo of a pair of doubted FBI agents with one that eternal skeptic and one an eternal believer only gets so far. There's a reason people got tired of the series even back in the 90's.

Personally, I think if they're going to continue off the X-Files franchise at all, they need to expand the X-Files project to form a full institution. They now research and study all of the weird and paranormal things they encounter. A full lab of scientists and documentation to understand these strange things, while groups of agents slowly expand the borders of the known.

So, Fringe/Torchwood/Warehouse 13. Not against the idea, but feels like following the followers. It would be all about the execution.

Chris Carter has effectively become the TV version of George Lucas. He cannot stop meddling with the original formula and has retconned the crap out of the show so much I didn't even bother watching whatever retcon they were retconning in the last season.

Now he is going back to mess around with the existing properties. What is he going to change in that which contradicts some other main story line? Is everything a new, new lie now or is it just the retcon that's a fake conspiracy and the original, original conspiracy is now the real one?

Or was it the result of a dog pushing buttons in a control room all along?

Tells us he hasn't RTFA without explicitly saying so.

The original inspiration for this movie was that I read about a doctor who had done a head transplant from one monkey to another monkey’s body, and he’d done it successfully.... It was successful, but ultimately the monkey died.

Obligatorily pedantic Ars comment: Ultimately, both monkeys died.

Obligatorily pedantic Ars comment: Ultimately, both monkeys died.

That's a heady observation.

The DVD release and the BLU-Ray release of "I want to believe" both included an Extended Cut...how does this differ from that?

The Extended Cut largely just slightly extended existing scenes and shots, a few seconds here and there. This comparison goes through them although it incorrectly calls the Extended Cut a "Director's Cut":

https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=343186

From this interview and other articles about this new cut, it sounds like a nearly ground-up reworking of the film. We'll have to wait until it's released to get all the details, but one notable fact that's been revealed is that, instead of "extended," this Director's Cut is shorter than the theatrical cut, by a few minutes.

https://www.polygon.com/x-files-i-want-to-believe-directors-cut-chris-carter-interview/

Obligatorily pedantic Ars comment: Ultimately, both monkeys died.

I have some bad news for you my friend...eventually,  every monkey will die. Even the ones that haven't been born yet. But you can help! For less than the cost of a cup of coffee per day (if that cup were delivered to the ISS before it cools) you too can help stop the senseless slaughter of innocent monkeys. The best part is, if everything is successful, then my patent for a reactor powered by monkeys will be worth TRILLIONS! Get in on the ground floor before they find out that the reactor doesn't actually consume the unkillable monkeys and instead just really pisses them off for maximum gainz.

Tells us he hasn't RTFA without explicitly saying so.

Oh, I read it and Carter says the same things every time. He always has "justification" for a decision and then usually it involves some other thing that changes something else for no good reason.

Literally here he says: "The [2008] movie was a relationship movie for Mulder and Scully that happened to have an X-Files case."

Yeah, no shit. And that's what made it more memorable than just an expanded TV episode like the first movie. It was a character-first movie.

And then two questions later it's "Ars Technica: For many fans, Mulder and Scully will always be the beating heart of The X-Files. "

Which is exactly why IWTB actually worked and doesn't need messing around with to make it "more scary".

But hey, maybe this time Scully will get her head replaced to be more horrific and then every episode going forward will not be the real Scully - even though like many of his retcons we literally see the story beats happen that he then writes as never actually happened.

[...]

And let's not forget Carter's excellent Millennium. That show was creepy as hell, and Lance Henriksen's pathos-laden performances were outstanding.

I really enjoyed Millenium. Thanks for reminding me

No mention of the fact that the President of the United States just had a meeting with Robert Bigelow in the Oval Office discussing the reality and tactics of disclosing non human intelligence to the American people?

Feels kinda relevant to the theme of this movie from 2008.

The Lone Gunmen might watch it a few times. I don't really see a need for it. However, if the X-File reboot has the same creepiness that Sinners had, I'm all for it.

If they are going to reboot, I hope they can go with events that can be interpreted as either paranormal or natural, leaving it for the audience to decide. With out that tension, at least for the beginning of the run, you lose the "X-files" and end up with just another supernatural show. It helps too if they can focus a little more on story over spectacle, but that's a vanishingly rare ability these days.

I suppose it's fitting, considering X-Files was a pretty big inspiration for SCP stories in the first place! It's also the natural progression. Just keeping the status quo of a pair of doubted FBI agents with one that eternal skeptic and one an eternal believer only gets so far. There's a reason people got tired of the series even back in the 90's.

The cast rotations as Duchovney and Andersen moved on to other projects / negotiated for better pay never really jelled. I liked Patrick's agent Dogget as the by the book agent with no background in science or conspiracy lore but you watch him get sidelined in real time when Duchovney came back. It was a bit too late in the run to turn into an ensemble cast show when so much of the previous few seasons was leaning into the closeness of the leads.

I would say 9/11 also did a good job of putting another nail into it's coffin. A lot of the "shadowy conspiracy" stuff felt somewhere between quaint and exhausting.

The cast rotations as Duchovney and Andersen moved on to other projects / negotiated for better pay never really jelled. I liked Patrick's agent Dogget as the by the book agent with no background in science or conspiracy lore but you watch him get sidelined in real time when Duchovney came back. It was a bit too late in the run to turn into an ensemble cast show when so much of the previous few seasons was leaning into the closeness of the leads.

I would say 9/11 also did a good job of putting another nail into it's coffin. A lot of the "shadowy conspiracy" stuff felt somewhere between quaint and exhausting.

Agreed, which is part of why I'd push the setting itself forward, to get a little further from that angle. Instead of trying to uncover a conspiracy, they ARE the shadowy organization, and the secrets they're uncovering focus more on the paranormal elements you saw in all those "monster of the week" episodes. Building a database of that, testing and exploring and expanding knowledge, and then using that knowledge. That'd make for some compelling TV I think.

I really enjoyed Millenium. Thanks for reminding me

It seemed to fall under the radar.

When it was first airing, I loved it.

Probably 10 years ago, I revisited the shows. They held up; I enjoyed them just as much.

Ars Technica: Vrach Frankenshteyn is Russian for Victor Frankenstein

No, akshually. It's Russian for Doctor Frankenstein. (With 'doctor' in the sense of 'physician' or an MD, as opposed to generic PhD.)