‘X-Files’ movie looks like iffy proposition

As a freshman in college, my floormates on the 16th floor of Syracuse University’s Lawrinson Hall and I would gather around the lobby TV set every Sunday night for our ritual.

First was “The Simpsons” and then “King of the Hill,” followed by the flavor of the moment, “The X-Files.” I’d never seen the Fox series until I entered college, but I was hooked from my first sight, and my viewing habit of seeing Scully and Mulder continued for several years.

I gave up on the show in its final few years, but I loved the first “X-Files” movie and admit being intrigued when I heard earlier this year that a new movie based on the show was coming out this summer. Now that the movie is about to be released, I am as much apprehensive as I am excited.

Is there any reason to revisit the past? Can Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny recapture the magic that made them TV’s most memorable duo since the British Bulldogs?

The show’s legacy is undeniable. Even now, six years after it signed off, its theme song is still synonymous with the heebie-jeebies, and its DVDs remain popular sellers (not to mention the parody done on “The Simpsons” remaining one of that show’s funniest episodes of all-time).

For the movie to have any sort of impact, “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” needs to blow people out of the water with its impact. I haven’t seen it, but I’d like to believe it will do so.

Early reviews are mixed, but that won’t stop me from seeing it if I get the chance (we don’t get to the movies as often as we’d like, which is understandable with cute little Penny being at home every night for us to enjoy). I hope it’s as good as it could be, but my gut tells me the world is in for a big bout of mediocrity.

•••

This review is courtesy The Associated Press.

The makers of the new “X-Files” movie have done themselves a disservice in coming up with the elongated title, “The X-Files: I Want to Believe.” Really, it just invites a whole bunch of bad jokes which, unfortunately, are justified.
It’s easy to imagine how they might go: I want to believe another “X-Files” movie is necessary, 10 years after the first one came out and six years after the pioneering sci-fi series went off the air. I want to believe it’s worth my time and money, even if I wasn’t a fervent devotee of the TV show. And I want to believe that Mulder and Scully still have the same chemistry they once did — a big reason the series developed a cult fan base.
Well, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do slip comfortably back into the roles that made them superstars in the 1990s, but the movie itself from director and “X-Files” series creator Chris Carter never feels like anything more than an extended episode. It lacks the complexity and scope required to rise to a theatrical level; it doesn’t challenge us in any new or exciting ways. The big mystery? Just a rehashed urban legend.
In deference to the show’s many secrets and twists, we won’t give anything away here. We’ll just say the plot involves a missing persons case, severed body parts and some creepy hunts and chases through the snow.
In writing the script, Carter and longtime collaborator Frank Spotnitz have come up with a stand-alone story, one that doesn’t require expertise in “X-Files” minutiae to follow, although they’ve also left some nuggets for loyal fans along the way. The title itself is one of them, sorta: It’s the phrase on a poster that hung in Fox Mulder’s office.
These days, the former FBI agent spends all his time hiding in his office at home, clipping articles about the same kinds of unexplained phenomena he used to investigate and obsessing, still. Meanwhile, the no-nonsense Dana Scully, the doctor he was paired with, is practicing at a hospital. (The appropriately named Our Lady of Sorrows.) But when FBI agents Whitney (a severely thin Amanda Peet) and Drummy (rapper Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner) approach her about finding Mulder to help them track down a missing colleague, she gets dragged back into the fray, too. Billy Connolly co-stars as a fallen priest who may or may not be experiencing psychic visions; he and Anderson, as the ever-doubtful Scully, have a couple of intense exchanges.
But you immediately know it’s of no use when Scully says to Mulder: “I’m done chasing monsters in the dark.” And that’s one of the few compelling parts of “I Want to Believe” — the fact that these two are once more searching for answers, together, bickering and bantering along the way. Duchovny can still whip out a wicked one-liner, and his character’s dark humor is crucial when things threaten to turn too self-serious. Anderson still brings grace and gravitas as his straight-laced foil.
Their work on “The X-Files” turns out to have been the best of both actors’ careers — though Duchovny was great in the little-seen satire “The TV Set,” and won a Golden Globe this year for Californication — and it is indeed a pleasure to see them team up again. Too bad Carter and Co. couldn’t come up with a feature-length film that rises to the occasion. The definitive “X-Files” movie may not be out there after all.
“The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” a 20th Century Fox release, is rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing content and thematic material. Running time: 104 minutes. Two stars out of four.

‘Step Brothers’ is stupid fun

Fun doesn't get much dumber than Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in "Step Brothers."

We went to see “Step Brothers” last night, the new Will Ferrell comedy where he and John C. Reilly become relation after their parents get married.
Boy, was it stupid.
And boy, was it funny.
Don’t expect an ounce of intelligence if you go to see this; in fact, your IQ may drop a few points during the roughly 90-minute film.
But some of the stuff that comes out of their mouths (their filthy, filthy mouths) makes you wonder what would happen if such active imaginations could be put to good use.
Both men do excellent jobs portraying 40-year-olds whose refusal to grow up begins to wear on their parents. The bunk bed scene seen in so many commercials is still funny when you watch it play out in full (what are they planning when they preach about “so much more space for activities?”), with plenty of Chewbacca, dinosaur and curse-laced references to keep the laughs coming. Especially in the scenes when they’re in bed at night, Reilly and Ferrell trade barbs that come so funny and fast that you miss two jokes because you’re laughing at the last one (“As soon as your eyes shut, I oughta punch you square in the face” – classic).
Heck, they even manage to get a couple laughs out of opera.
If you want to be stimulated by the movie you see this weekend, avoid “Step Brothers.” If you want to turn your brain on auto-pilot and come up with plenty of R-rated quotes to trade with buddies on Monday, this is a can’t-miss.

And you’ll never be able to think of “white dog poop” again without wanting to vomit.