Tag Archives: The X Files

DVD cover for “The X Files” Season 3 (1995)

May 16, 2025 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Fox.

A few quick words on “Dark Matter” Season 1 (2024)

September 12, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

“Dark Matter” (2024) is easily one of the best science fiction tv series I’ve ever seen. It’s like “Sliders” (1995-2000) got together with “North By Northwest” (1959) to create an homage to Homer’s “Odyssey.” I’d cheerfully rate Season 1 a 10 out of 10.

I had two concerns about whether I would enjoy “Dark Matter,” after it was recommended to me by a college alumnus.

First, I was afraid that it would be too campy. C’mon … a nice guy being kidnapped by his evil twin from a parallel universe? That’s a potentially cheesy plot device, and one I feel certain I’ve seen more than once before … maybe “The X Files” (1993- 2018), or some iteration of “The Outer Limits.” But this is a surprisingly grounded story that assiduously sticks to realism in its tone and plotting (even if it’s occasionally injected with an effective jolt of horror).

Second, I thought it might be too hard for me to follow. Its premise relies not only on physics, but on the enigma of the “Schrodinger’s cat” thought experiment. (I will never truly understand it, no matter how many times I pretend to on Facebook. Reality is objective!) But the storytelling here is direct and easy to follow, even if the (logical) surprises take the viewer happily off guard. If my ADHD-afflicted brain could follow the story, then so can you.

And Season 1 ended so perfectly that I’m not even sure I wan a second season. (It has been renewed by Apple+ TV.)

I definitely get the sense that “Dark Matter” benefitted from having Blake Crouch as the showrunner and head writer. (Crouch is the author of the 2016 novel that is its source material). And it’s got great performances by Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga and Jimmi Simpson.

It’s really good stuff. Check it out.

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Poster for “The X Files” (1998)

May 23, 2024 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

20th century Fox.

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Throwback Thursday: this 1983 TV ad for “Stratego!”

April 30, 2020 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

I barely remember this TV commercial for Milton Bradley’s “Stratego,” but I sure remember the game. (Thanks to Youtube user Lokke for posting it online.) When I was a kid, I used to think of it as “pre-chess” — the strategy game that kids played before they graduated to that paragon of all games — even for adults. (I was quite the chess enthusiast when I was in gradeschool, which is odd, because I wasn’t exceptionally good at it.)

My skill at Stratego was similarly undistinguished, I guess. I pretty consistently relied on the most obvious gambit … planting my “flag” piece in the corner and surrounding it by “bombs.” (To keep my opponent guessing, I’d sometimes pull a switcheroo and plant my “flag” in the other corner.)

My older brother had been playing Stratego for longer than I had; it was his board game, after all. So he regularly sent his “miners” and expendable pieces straight for my predictable strongholds to ultimately win the game. (Come to think of it, the kid next door got wise to my standard gameplay pretty early on as well.)

But I still loved it. Stratego was hella fun. (Yes, I am back on the “hella” train.) I remember being in my early 20’s and being delighted when it was mentioned on “The X-Files.” It was in the Season 2 episode “Colony,” in which Fox Mulder’s long lost sister returns. (Or does she?) The first thing the putative sibling does when she she spots her brother is joke about Stratego. That felt like a shout-out just for me.

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Poster for “The X-Files” Season 11 (2017)

July 5, 2019 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Fox Network.

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A short review of “Truth or Dare” (2018)

April 24, 2019 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

Blumhouse’s “Truth or Dare” (2018) isn’t high art, but it isn’t quite as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I’d rate it a 6 out of 10 for being a passably good fright flick.

It’s a gimmick horror film, but the gimmick kinda works –a powerful demon possesses an oral game of “truth or dare” — then follows its players home from vacation with lethal consequences. It’s actually not quite as stupid as it sounds; I had fun with the premise, which sounds like the basis for a decent “The X-Files” (1993-2018) episode. An exposition-prone minor character explains to our protagonists late in the game that demons need not infect only people and objects, but also “ideas” like games or competitions. The notion of an idea or a philosophy being demonically possessed has a hint of creative brilliance, and I’d love to see it fully developed in an intelligent, well written horror film.

Alas, this isn’t it. And instead of lovable heroes like Mulder and Scully, we get a predictable, throwaway group of unlikable teens on spring break. The movie’s most interesting character is the one it sets up as the stereotypical jerk, Ronnie, adroitly played by Sam Lerner. The film would have been much better if it had fleshed him out as a three-dimensional character, and had the story revolve around him as a surprise anti-hero.

“Truth of Dare” also borrows maybe a bit too much from “It Follows” (2014) and “The Ring” films (2002-2017). Finally, it confuses the viewer with some head-scratching plot turns near its end.

Oh, well. The movie still doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. I figure it’s at least a fun time waster before bed on a weeknight.

Truth+or+Dare+2018

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A few quick words on the premiere of “The Twilight Zone” (2019)

April 23, 2019 Eric Robert Nolan Leave a comment

If the premiere is any indication, then Jordan Peele’s relaunch of “The Twilight Zone” (2019) looks to be quite decent. It’s got Peele’s fingerprints all over it (he even serves as the narrator here), and that’s a very good thing. I’d rate it an 8 out of 10.

This first episode, written by Alex Rubens and directed by Owen Harris, channels the same muse as Peele did with his outstanding “Get Out” (2017) — it’s got clever characters, snappy dialogue and gravely dark humor. I suppose it’s impossible to gauge the quality of an anthology show by its initial episode, but I’m on board.

And one of the upcoming episodes is penned by Glen Morgan, of “The X-Files” fame. I’d say that’s an auspicious sign too.

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