After a full 10 years, Chris Carter brings back former Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully for yet another... err, wait. I do not intend to write a review so I'm stopping at this point.
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I won tickets. I won the tickets to this movie's premiere and I wasn't expecting to. Well, actually I was. Until I gave up all hope of winning last Wednesday, and instead had tickets reserved to the movie's first showing day (on August 13). I was dead set on watching the movie ahead. Or at least be one of the first to do so. I dunno why. Maybe the X-phile in me was revived. Maybe I was just excited to know that Mulder and Scully are back... together. Or maybe I just missed seeing them doing the stuff that they do best: being Mulder AND Scully. So now that I've already watched the movie, what the effing hell am I going to do with those ticket reservations I made for tomorrow?! Hmmm...
Anyways, I got to join the contest by accident when I chanced upon their ad on the tube. It was the evening of July 19, a Saturday. Here's the thing: one would just watch the 3-episode marathon aired from 11pm to 2am and be able to answer the question they'd be flashing during the marathon. Answers are to be emailed and, if chosen, the winners get tickets to the movie's premiere. I never had much luck in contests, but that didn't stop me from trying.
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I watched that evening's marathon and started late. Well, I kinda tuned in at about 11:08pm. Only to find out that that evening's question was, "How many times did Skinner appear in this evening's marathon?" I was thinking, "Aargh. I must've missed something during the first few minutes of the show." 11:08?! Aargh, 11:08! "Oh well..." I just counted all of Skinner's appearances I saw in the duration of the show. I counted 15. Again, I was racking my brains thinking, "Did I miss anything in the first part of the show?" "DID I miss anything in the first part of the show?!"
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A few days later, with high hopes of winning, I began browsing for reviews on the movie. A lot of people were saying that they were disappointed with how the movie turned out. A few said that this movie was the long-awaited fruition of the Mulder-Scully relationship. And a handful, still, are punchdrunk from Heath Ledger's phenomenal portrayal of the Joker. Reading a lot of reviews made me think twice if I should still see the movie. But I got to thinking that if I should have a reason not to watch it, it should be because I have seen for myself why it shouldn't be watched and not just because some punk in a skirt told me not to. Besides, I was hoping to win the tickets at that time.
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Monday, August 11. We got to Rockwell around 6:17pm. That was just after we got caught in a minor scuffle between the cabbie (who apparently beat the red light) and a traffic officer. We had to butt-in crudely between their conversation and intrude in the defense of the poor cabbie who was just following our very, very poor set of instructions. Good thing the officer was in a nice, forgiving mood and he just let things slide. We payed the cabbie after the stressful encounter and headed to the Power Plant Mall. Whew!
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We proceeded into terra incognito. I was a virgin at Rockwell, both literally and figuratively. I was gawking at the sights, when I remembered that we went there for a particular reason: to watch a movie (good thing the meds kicked in at just the right time). After ascending a number of escalators, and after a good number of minutes searching, it was decided that we were definitely lost. You're probably thinking, "Why the hell doesn't he just ask somebody (a guard or another person) for directions?!" I dunno (again). Maybe it's pride. Or maybe not. I've never been one to ask for directions. I just rely on what I know and try working from there. It's kinda more fun that way. Okay, okay, fine. Unless I was: a) pressed for time; b) cramming desperately or c) terribly (yet still fashionably) late, then I DO ask for directions. But in this particular instance, we weren't. So there. Finally, we got wind that the cinema was just ahead of us when I smelled butter-flavored popcorn. We followed my nose's lead until we reached the Cinema. We were plenty early despite the fact that we've been wandering aimlessly around the darned place. There were no lines yet and the staff were just setting up. We asked what time they would be letting people in. 7:30. We had to go around the place and wander some more to pass time. And in a jiffy it was 7:30. Well, almost.
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We went in line for the loot bags and after that fell into a queue for the food (a good-sized tumbler of popcorn, a cheese dog with everything on it and a large root beer). We went into the theater and since there were still a number of nice seats available, we took the 7th row, center seats (yes, we chose we're we could sit). We sat through tv ad plugs from the movie's main sponsor. The movie started around 8. The movie started and my mouth was gaping with anticipation. An X-phile's dormant blood was slowly being awoken. Gasp! I was in a seat, in a theater showing the movie for the first time! I mean, yay! YAY!
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Time has certainly taken its toll on the movie's main actors, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. They are more... mature-looking. Understandably enough, the timeline in this movie does take place many years later, when both agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are no longer working with the FBI. Although the movie can be considered standalone, a lot of the humor present can be appreciated more by those who followed the series. Overall, the movie did well by veering away from the traditional extraterrestrial/conspiracy plot. As I am not feeling particularly sinister right now, I'd stop here (again) and prevent any more spoilers from coming out. Just watch 'till after the credits roll. I'm glad I did.
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After almost 2 months of my blogging-hiatus, I am back (though not with a vengeance). I am aware that it has been ages since my last post. I've been busy with work and have been up-to-my-neck with DS games that I've neglected writing for quite some time now. Some would say you shouldn't have come back. Or, "Your writing sucks." We'll I couldn't agree with you more. Now that I am experiencing no emotional duress, I feel that my writing has become lackluster since. On the bright side, me not writing means I'm not in a stark-raving-lunatic-sitting-on-a-corner-mumbling-to-myself mode. With a handful of unfinished drafts, it would seem that I am nowhere near finishing them any time soon. Oh well...
