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Reviews
The X Files: All Things (2000)
An exploration of the other world we all live in.
"All Things" follows Dana Scully as she consciously drops out of her routine as the great skeptic, Mulder's straight-man, and instead is cast into circumstances entirely outside her expertise and experience, the spiritual, emotional, even the feminine aspects of this world. This is an entirely different, introspective interpretation of the X Files' fundamental theme of other world influences on human existence. In keeping with this "other world" theme, Scully finds herself dealing not with aliens and present dangers, but with the interconnectedness of all things, her own past decisions and their unintended consequences. And to reflect this mirroring of the usual X Files' storyline, the plot progression throughout this episode does not rely on causal connections and reasoning, but instead the plot is moved forward by synchronicity and emotion, the forces at work on the other side of all our lives. There is some exceptional cinematography in this episode, as for example in the sidewalk scene, unexpectedly broken like a dream by the creaking Apothecary sign. (Look up the etymology for the word. It's about things that are concealed, put away. The creaking sign represents Scully's awakening to aspects of her own life that she needs to recognize and come to terms with.)
"All Things" is a pretty spectacular first effort for writer-and-director Gillian Anderson, a bold re-formulation of the series' tried-and true thematic foundations. This episode also gives us the best use of music in the entire series. Moby's "The Sky is Broken" works to tie the tale together like The Dude's rug. "All Things" gets my vote as the most impressive episode of the entire X-Files series
and the runner-up is right down the road at "Hollywood A.D."
Shimotsuma monogatari (2004)
a truly fine example of what cinema can be
Kamikaze Girls uses the Japanese fascination with all things Rock and Roll as an ideal framework for its utterly fun tale of opposites coming together. The saturated colors used throughout the film work well—as the technique did also in Amelie—to lend a sense of magic to every scene. It is refreshing to see such cinematic energy—American cinema is often bogged down by its addiction to size, resulting in season after season of movies like beached whales. Kamikaze Girls is, in comparison, like watching dolphins play. And many of them are worth keeping an eye on. Anna Tsuchiya's performance as the complex Ichigo is absolutely electric—she can be over-the-top and subtle in the same breath. It is hard to imagine a film that could fully utilize Sadao Abe's remarkable physical talent—but I hope to see it when it happens. The film is about being what you want to be
and it gets a 10 from me because it does exactly that.
The X Files: Hollywood A.D. (2000)
Beyond swell episode that will keep you up late, thinking.
This episode will sort of sneak up on you. On its surface, it's just another stand-alone with nary a Morley cigarette in sight. But beneath its soft exterior, the script is an autopsy of the New Testament, carving it open, re-enacting and re-animating the Good Book. The plot is a mirror: we start in a church where faith in life eternal has become just an empty show, and end on the other side of America, on a Hollywood set where, in the closing scene, the dead really are resurrected. Duchovny's sure-handed balancing act as writer and director is impressive. The bubble bath scene, with Skinner, Mulder and Scully, (Father, Son and Holy Spirit?)each soaking in a cloud of bubbles and talking to each other on telephones, is just plain brilliant, and the ghosts arising to dance and (presumably) make love on a Hollywood set after the cameras are gone and the lights are out, just gave me chills. God I wish I could write like that! (I wish I had a bigger flashlight, too!)