On Screen: ‘X-Files’ Movie Opens July 25

MULDER, SCULLY BACK TOGETHER | In ’stand-alone’ movie 

From USA TODAY…

First look: ‘X-Files’ returns to theaters, minus alien mythology

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — The sequel is out there.

The conspiracy theories will not be.

Ten years after the first film and six years after the show went off the air, The X-Files returns to theaters with Fox Mulder, Dana Scully — and a lot riding on the bet that fans want more of the FBI’s paranormal-investigating agents.

The film, which remains without a formal title, will dump the long-running “mythology” plotline — that aliens live among us and are part of a colonizing effort — that made it one of the most popular television shows in the late 1990s but ultimately drove away some viewers who found it too complex and ambiguous.

“We spent a lot of time on (the mythology) and wrapped up a lot of threads” when the show went off the air in 2002, says Chris Carter, creator of the series and director of the new movie. “We want a stand-alone movie, not a mythology conspiracy one.”

That will come as welcome news to fans of the show’s stand-alone episodes, which included cults, ghosts, psychics and ancient curses.

Carter refuses to divulge any plot points of the movie, but says he wanted to make the film immediately after the show ended. A contractual dispute with 20th Century Fox kept it on the shelf until the case was settled out of court.

He says the delay may turn out to be a blessing.

“There’s a whole audience I want to introduce X-Files to,” Carter says. “There were kids who couldn’t watch it on TV because it was too scary. Now they’re in college. I wanted a movie that everyone could go to.”

Whether they will could be a test of the show’s legacy, says Blair Butler of the G4TV network, which caters to video-game enthusiasts and science-fiction fans.

“At its strongest, it had really creepy stand-alone episodes,” she says. “They turned it into a great franchise. But a lot of years have passed. We’ll see if it’s fallen off the radar.”

She says the film could benefit from an ironic twist: the Writers Guild strike.

“I think it could be a sort comfort food for the people who loved how original the show was and aren’t seeing original TV now,” she says.

But Carter believes they’ll be drawn by something else: the show’s stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

“For me, The X-Files has always been a romance,” he says. “They had an intellectual romance that’s very rare and restrained compared to so many relationships on TV. I think that’s what appealed most to the fans. And they’re back.”

Associated Press Says Britney Spears is Dead

THE NOT-SO-LATE BRITNEY SPEARS | It’s alive

Not really.

Britney Spears is alive. As far as I know. Sober…maybe not. But alive.

Still, reports say that the Associated Press, the national news service (to which The Herald belongs) has prepared an obituary on the 26-year-old…umm…diva…singer…party animal…

Just in case she dies.

I had quietly pledged to myself that I’ve never write about Britney Spears on this blog. It amazes me to see CNN or Fox News devote precious airtime to the fact that she was late for some kind of custody hearing when there’s real news going on, but TV caters to the lowest-common-denominator. (Which has certainly contributed to newspapers doing some of the same thing, particularly if you read our staff blogs.)

Apparently, Spears’ recent bizarre behavior prompted the AP to put the major pieces of the story of Spears’ life together so that when she did die, all it would need is filling in the blanks on the death part. It’s a common practice for newspapers to prepare obits, or least have files on, major local public figures. Back when Bill Hodges was editor here, everyone on the newsroom staff went through and prepared a “write up” on themselves for background in case of an untimely demise. I think we lost all of those newsroom “obits” when we changed front-end systems about 10 years ago; besides, only R. V. Hight and myself are still left from those days and I’m quite sure R. V. will live forever.

The AP writer who penned the story about Spears’ obit asked the question: “When young celebrities live lives of obviously dangerous excess, is it time for news organizations to begin preparing for early exits for the under-30 crowd?”

Preparing the obits in advance is time-consuming work, especially for someone like Spears…who may very well live another 70s years, but at the same time has racked up an impressive collection of very strange public incidents..

“I don’t think anyone particularly likes this part of the business,” said the AP’s Lou Ferrar, “but it is something you need to do.”