X-Files

“The X-Files” taunted fans for years with the idea of a romance between intrepid agents Mulder and Scully, played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. But the show’s creator, Chris Carter, always strongly felt that the two leads could never be a couple. “I think they never got closer again than they did in the pilot,” Carter said with a laugh during an appearance at the fourth annual Hero Complex Film Festival, where he and two of the show’s writers, Glen Morgan and Darin Morgan, appeared on stage to celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary. “I knew they should never be together,” he said. “It was wrong, but in the end, after the show was over, of course, if you saw the second movie you know that they are together.” Watch the video above to hear more from Carter about what […]

“The X-Files,” the landmark science fiction television series created by Chris Carter, was built on elaborate conspiracies and a healthy dose of paranoia. The show premiered 20 years ago this year, but in many ways it still seems contemporary — and relevant. Speaking at the fourth annual Hero Complex Film Festival, Carter said he’s somewhat surprised to find that the show has a kind of resonance in the present era, but he feels that it did come along at the right historical moment. “It was of its time, it seemed to be right for its time, it sort of capitalized on its time,” he said. “You probably could make the show today, but I don’t know why, it feels like it was made exactly when it should have been made.” Watch the video above to hear more from Carter about his […]

“The X-Files” remains a moody and mysterious hallmark of science fiction television, even as the show celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. But amid the conspiracies and monsters-of-the-week, there were famously funny moments, too. The episode “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” from the series’ third season remains a high point in terms of showcasing the show’s ability to garner laughs, and it was one of three episodes showcased in a tribute to “The X-Files” that closed the fourth annual Hero Complex Film Festival in Hollywood. At the event, the show’s creator Chris Carter, along with the writer of the episode, Darin Morgan, and his brother and another longtime “X-Files” writer Glen Morgan, recalled his surprise about the way “Jose Chung’s” broadened the stylistic scope of the series. “You can never imagine where it’s going to go,” Carter said. “To do […]

It’s been 20 years since “The X-Files” opened to viewers’ wanting-to-believe eyes, and the hit paranormal investigation drama’s creator, Chris Carter, doesn’t quite know what to make of that phenomenon. “It’s surreal,” he told a sold-out crowd Sunday at the Hero Complex Film Festival shortly after entering to a standing ovation. “It’s like an X-File…. Twenty years’ missing time.” Asked what he might do differently if he made the show now, he said, “It was of its time…. You probably could make the show today, but, I don’t know why, it just feels like it was made exactly when it should have been made.” The festival’s closing night was devoted to the acclaimed Fox series, and included screenings of three fan-picked episodes – the pilot, which he wrote, “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” and “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” Carter said […]

PERSPECTIVE I came to “The X-Files,” which turns 20 this year, after its first season, and for a time I had no idea what was happening. This was a good way to watch a show whose greatest strength was its air of dreamlike mystery. Folded across the turn of the 21st-century, it was a millennial show for a millennial time, reflecting a popular preoccupation with apocalypse and messiahs, puzzling phenomena and unexplained mysteries, psychic surgeons and alien autopsies, random mutations and science gone too far. It was also, looking back on old episodes, a time of pay phones, answering machines, tape recorders, dot-matrix printouts, padded shoulders and big eyeglasses. The basics were fairly clear: Fox “Spooky” Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dr. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) were FBI agents whose particular job it was to handle cases outside the bounds of […]

Visionary genre talents Guillermo del Toro, Frank Darabont, Roland Emmerich, John Carpenter and Chris Carter will be among the special guests at the fourth annual Hero Complex Film Festival, set to take place May 10-12 at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood. The festival will open May 10 with a double feature from writer-director Carpenter — a 25th anniversary screening of “They Live” and a 35th anniversary screening of his landmark horror film “Halloween.” The always candid and entertaining Carpenter will appear in person between the films to discuss his career, which has produced genre favorites such as “Assault on Precinct 13,” “Escape From New York,” “The Thing,” “Big Trouble in Little China,” “Starman” and many more. On May 11, writer-director Darabont will be on hand for an afternoon screening of his 2007 Stephen King adaptation “The Mist,” the riveting […]

With “The X-Files,” Chris Carter created the template for the modern science-fiction series and influenced the direction of serialized storytelling on television, which is why we’re thrilled to announce that we’ll commemorate the 20th anniversary of the show with a special closing-night screening at the fourth annual Hero Complex Film Festival. What’s more — you get to tell us which three episodes of the landmark series that detailed the exploits of intrepid agents Mulder and Scully that we’ll screen at the event. The Hero Complex Film Festival will take place May 10-12 at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, and the event will culminate with an evening tribute to “The X-Files.” Starting today, you can vote for three of 11 hand-picked episodes from the annals of “The X-Files” that we’ll show on the big screen. Your choices range from quirky […]

The truth is still out there, and IDW is ready to search for it once more. San Diego-based IDW Publishing is adding “The X-Files” to its already extensive lineup of comics based on beloved movie and television properties — a list that includes such major titles as “Star Trek,” “Transformers,” “Doctor Who” and “True Blood.” The comic will pick up after the landmark sci-fi TV series and the two feature films chronicling the adventures of intrepid agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). IDW will also reprint the “X-Files” comics published between 1995 and 2009. The title is one of many that IDW editor in chief Chris Ryall was excited to discuss looking at what’s ahead for his operation in 2013. Ryall, of course, is the author whose own Eisner Award-nominated series “Zombies vs. Robots” was optioned […]

Sarah Michelle Gellar isn’t the only high-profile “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” veteran making an appearance at Comic-Con International in San Diego this year. NBC will screen the pilot for “Grimm,” the network’s upcoming fantasy police procedural, at the pop-culture expo, and two of the series’ producers, Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, who spent time toiling on “Buffy” and its spinoff, “Angel,” will participate in a Q&A session along with the show’s stars. The duo recently chatted with Hero Complex contributor Jevon Phillips about “Grimm,” which is described as a “modern retelling of the Grimms’ fairy tales, in a fractured kind of way.” JP: Where did the idea for “Grimm” come from? DG: Well, our hero has the ability to see the big bad wolf in the child molester, and the three little pigs in the greedy people. He has the […]

Is it a conspiracy? “The X-Files” went off the air in 2002 and the spooky brand name won’t be seeing the light of day anytime soon after that forgettable feature-film revival in 2008. But here in early 2011 it feels like the truth is still out there — and we’re not just talking about the flashlights and lab coats inherited by Fox’s  ”Fringe.” Hollywood has a half-dozen movies hitting theaters — all within a 42-day release window — that might be filed under X, in one way or another. Consider: “I Am Number Four” (Feb. 18): Sure, “Smallville” and “Twilight” inform the tone and character vibes of this movie, but the subplots of secret alien wars on earth, discredited conspiracy theorists and extraterrestrial abductionwere written with the basic alphabet of the old Fox series. Don’t trust us, just listen to supporting character Sam (played by […]