X-Files mythology, TenThirteen Interviews Database, and more

Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Social media archive: 2023 (part 1)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Jan 10, 2023 18:39

Happy new year, 2023 is the year reaches the impressive age of 30!

There have been many interviews by the TXF Fan Retrospective, especially of lesser known crew members, but I am singling this out. This person articulates well how important working on the show was for his career, how innovative he felt the show was for bringing cinema aesthetics to television in the 1990s, and how driven and close-knit the behind-the-camera crew was. Philip Azenzer is a colorist who worked on the early years — IMDb credits him for seasons 4-5-6, but in his interview he mentions working with Carter from the very beginning, the pilot and episode 1 (so much work goes uncredited!). He did color grading of the footage, very important for the look and feel of the show (I learn that this was done with the DaVinci software at the dailies stage, before any editing was done!). A good example of how the medium of television is collaborative.


Jan 13, 2023 9:57

[FRENCH] Suite du podcast mensuel. Saison 3, la saison de la maturité à tous les niveaux ! Chris Carter pense que c’est la meilleure saison, et je suis d’accord. Jusqu’au mois prochain.

https://podcast.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/the-x-files-saison-3-rien-ne-disparait-sans-laisser-de-trace


Jan 26, 2023 9:10

After being coy about it, Mark Snow finally spills the beans on what composers specifically inspired him on writing music for , among classical and avant-garde composers: Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Brian Eno. I can definitely hear the avant-garde in his TXF score, now I need to enrich my knowledge of classical composers to see the other connections.


Feb 01, 2023 9:35

Sad news today. Jeffrey Vlaming has died (cancer — he must have been in his 50s). He was a story editor in season 3 writers’ room (he wrote “2Shy” and “Hell Money”) and was responsible for plenty of doodles that entertained the writers during that year. He worked on many other shows (#battlestargalactica #BSG, #fringe, #Hannibal…).

Announced by fellow writer Tom Schnauz:


Feb 10, 2023 16:54

Five years have passed since the second revival season and William B Davis takes questions about his character very, let’s say, humorously! Here he is talking to @[100063679957588:2048:Radio of Horror]:

“There was lots I liked about the revival, there was a lot of stuff I liked. I got bogged down in the story about the child and all of that. I liked I ran over Skinner in my car and stuff like that. There were some really clever episodes, but as for the ongoing story it got a little complicated. And of course I got killed again. […] After we shot that last episode, I said ‘you know what Chris, I’m still not dead, that was a hologram that wasn’t me, so if you want me back you can bring me back’.”

Maybe we should all think of the revival humorously.


Feb 10, 2023 20:00

There are few people as responsible for the success of as executive producer Bob Goodwin. He brought to the show a deep knowledge of the filmmaking craft and he ran a tight ship with schedules and budget. His interviews are rare so it’s always nice to hear from him, this time thanks to The X-Files Fan Retrospective (if you stick around there’s a cameo from his wife Sheila “Ma Scully” Larken!). I think this third element in his recipe for success is key and often underappreciated:

“I’ve always felt there’s three elements you need to have:
– the material of course; you know without the script, and in this case we didn’t have much, this was even before we started production but just the very beginning, but we knew the stories, I had already seen enough of the story outlines and I participated enough that I knew they were really fascinating stuff;
– the cast has to work; and and we already knew from the pilot that David and Gillian had amazing, you know, charisma and, you know, they were just so great together;
– and then the other element is how it’s mounted and directed, and I knew what I could do with it, so I said to him [Chris Carter] just, you guys this could be a huge hit really, you know, as long as you don’t make it cheesy!
So yes I honestly did know [right from the start that the show was going to be a big hit].”


Feb 15, 2023 13:24

[FRENCH] Podcast sur saison 4. Les fans ont la tendance de vouloir classer et comparer, et s’il faut vraiment le faire alors oui la saison 4 présente certains défauts par rapport aux saisons immédiatement précédentes — mais c’est vraiment chercher la petite bête, surtout par rapport à ce qui va suivre…

https://podcast.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/the-x-files-saison-4-croyez-au-mensonge


Feb 22, 2023 15:09

In the 1990s, MADtv not only made a parody (that I posted a few months ago): there was also a parody too — in the style of the sitcom”Suddenly Susan”!

 

 

Social media archive: 2022 (part 3)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Nov 03, 2022 13:22

Some nice graphics from the official account to promote the series on streaming!


Nov 10, 2022 17:46

Some x-cellent discussion of some of my favourite media: the original Topps comics run by Petrucha/Adlard: #4-6 “Firebird” and #7 “Trepanning Opera”! By @[930414780360852:274:The X-Cast\: An X-Files Podcast].

https://pod.link/1157097612/episode/98235e5d203a11dc968c05ab18df2929


Nov 15, 2022 12:37

[FRENCH] Plongée profonde dans la saison 1 avec ce podcast de pas moins de 3 heures bien remplies ! J’adore l’utilisation des musiques de Mark Snow appropriées lors des discussions sur chaque épisode. Quels joyaux d’écriture déjà avec la 1re saison ! #LVEI

https://podcast.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/the-x-files-saison-1-la-verite-est-ailleurs


Nov 18, 2022 18:31

Just found out that the Flexifinger Terrestrial Mix of theme was only in certain versions of “The Truth and the Light” CD — it was there in UK, Europe and Australia and not in US and Canada (and France?), looks like.

https://www.discogs.com/master/101667-Mark-Snow-The-Truth-And-The-Light-Music-From-The-X-Files?format=CD


Nov 19, 2022 19:58

I had the impression that the first episode of “Dark” had a 1013 reference but I was not sure (the time 22:13, i.e. 10:13 pm, was on a suicide note, to keep it vague). With the number 1013 also appearing in the first episode of the new series “1899” (room number where some weird things happen), I’m pretty sure the writer/director duo of Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar are fans!

#1899Netflix #darknetflix


Nov 20, 2022 17:11

RIP Nicki Aycox, gone just at 47 years old! She was Chastity Raines in the season 7 episode “Rush” and Cheryl Cunningham (the swimmer that gets abducted) in “I Want To Believe” in .

https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/Chastity_Raines

https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/The_X-Files:_I_Want_to_Believe?file=Janke_Dacyshyn_looks_through_Cheryl_Cunningham%2527s_window.jpg


Nov 21, 2022 17:21

Today is 11/21, the birthday of Chris Carter’s wife Dori (74 years old!). Carter being big on #numerology, here are all the appearances of 1121 in (taken from http://www.lunacynet.com/xfiles/xf1013.html):

Pilot: time on Scully’s clock
Deep Throat: Colonel Budahas’ birthday
Fire: the case is X-File #11214893
Miracle Man: Autopsy time
Erlenmeyer Flask: time on Scully’s clock
Little Green Men: 1121’s on ‘WOW Signal’
The Host: Autopsy case #DP112148
Irresistible: time on Scully’s clock
Colony: time on Scully’s motel room clock
F. Emasculata: Package #DPP112148
Paper Clip: Samantha Mulder’s birthday
Syzygy: Time Mulder brings first girl to police station
Piper Maru: Flight 1121 to Washington
Talitha Cumi: time when Mulder first visits his mother at the hospital
Talitha Cumi: time when Scully is working at her computer
Unrequited: time when Mulder & Scully see the upset woman at the war memorial
Redux: time one of the calls was made (from above Mulder’s apartment)
Travelers: date Mulder first meets Arthur Dales
FTF: time Mulder goes to the Dallas Field Office, where Scully joins him and analyses the fossils
FTF: a number on one of the domes in Antarctica
One Son: time everyone meets at the air force base
Millennium: time the policeman stops to help Mr. Johnson with his flat tire
William: time of the first scene in the X-Files office, with Doggett doing push-ups
The Truth: time Knowle Rohrer pulls up to the USMC Base Brig to “retrieve” Agent Mulder


Dec 13, 2022 10:00

“Today, no music.” Angelo Badalamenti will only live on now in our dreams and nightmares.

“Where we’re from the birds sing a pretty song and there’s always music in the air.” I think without the precedent of the music of #TwinPeaks, the music of would have been different, less moody and surrounding, and there would have been less of it over the length of an episode.

There is plenty of Badalamenti I listen to, but I often listen to these fan mixes by Twin Peaks Soundtrack Design:

https://www.mixcloud.com/TwinPeaksSoundtrackDesign/


Dec 14, 2022 16:56

[FRENCH] La rétrospective continue avec la saison 2! C’est là où j’ai commencé à regarder la série aussi.

https://podcast.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/the-x-files-saison-2-ne-faites-confiance-a-personne


Dec 19, 2022 19:13

Catching up — another Chris Carter interview, this time for 25th anniversary fan retrospective. Several things are similar to what he said earlier this year; here are some quotes (and my notes):

On the ‘original’ show:

  • Before TXF, he tried to sell a new Kolchak: The Night Stalker series with a twist to NBC.
  • He remembers discussing with FOX executives about complaints that they didn’t wrap each episode up with an explanation, and that the executives had him add to the Pilot the “based on actual events” note.
  • He reminisced the production side of the series, it was important that everybody was feeling to be a part of something significant. After the writers, the crew was the first audience.
  • “I didn’t do it alone and I think that sometimes goes unappreciated. I did it with the help of so many people.”
  • He wanted to do a homage to the 1981 Whitley Streiber film “Wolfen”: M&S go to a small town, something happens with wolves, mix it with classic UFO mythology.
  • He enjoys reminiscing about the episodic nature of the show, something no longer done today.
  • He thinks there are ways to tell ghost stories that they didn’t go for during the series.
  • He liked Robert Patrick in the 1993 alien abduction film “Fire in the Sky” (– confirmed!)
  • During the show’s wrap party (in 2002 I am guessing), the International Space Station sent them a message! (I want to see that!)

On the revival:

  • The revival (that he keeps calling “reboot”) was also to introduce the show to a new generation.
  • Were seasons 10 & 11 derived from the script for a 3rd film that was written at some point? “No. Completely different. Actually I wrote a script that was a terrible idea for a 3rd movie. At the time I don’t know what inspired me. The reboot was not really a result of that script, gladly. The reboot was really taking individual characters, Mulder, Scully, the CSM and William, and telling about what had happened to them, catching up with them, telling about each of their struggle.” (This XF3 script that Frank Spotnitz has also referred to is my holy grail, I want to know what could have been. There is a possibility that Carter here was referring to a different iteration of a script than the one he worked on with Spotnitz, who knows.)
  • On Reyes siding with the CSM: “I don’t remember what the thinking was on that to be honest, I would have to go back and figure it out. It made sense to me in the end.” (too bad he doesn’t remember, some insights would have been welcome!)
  • On Doggett in the revival: “there were places to use him but I felt it wasn’t a big enough part for him” (so I am guessing that instead we got one scene with a healed Jeffrey Spender?)

On William and the series ending:

  • When Wiliam moved that mobile when he was an infant: “That kid has a kind of a supernatural quality. And I think that everyone attributed that to Scully, that that came from Scully. But it was never in my mind that it was something inherited from her. It was something greater and different than that. That’s how you got the William that you saw in the series finale.” (All sorts of avenues and red herrings were explored throughout the series, seasons 8 and 9 had the divine miracle and the organic Supersoldier experiment, then Ghouli came and added yet another layer of experiments on William; so it’s not as if this would specifically make reference to any involvement by the CSM. Note: “series” finale.)
  • What questions should the fans be asking? “Everyone assumes that the CSM had sex with Scully. That is an assumption that you should question. The CSM has lots of access to, controls, alien technology. There’s something in that night of Scully’s life that needs to be explained and explored.” (OK, but it’s an assumption that he planted in our minds with the subtelty of a scud missile and I would have been fine with letting sleeping theories from “En Ami” lie. Does he really plan to open season 12 with more flashbacks to “En Ami”?)
    (A lot has been made about William being only a creation of the CSM, but still to this day CC uses the word “son”, as in “the CSM’s son” to describe what the CSM told Reyes.)
  • Why is William smiling at the end of My Struggle IV? “What did he succeed at? What was his plan all along? What would be some of his intentions in that motel room telling Mulder emphatically that he’s not his father? Who’s saving who there?” (This is still about the reading of the last episode being that William is manipulating Mulder in order to get away from him at the end and have Mulder and Scully stop searching for him.)
  • About William and the end: “People made lots of assumptions. I always thought there would be more X-Files episodes. I didn’t think that last one was going to be the last. I thought there’s always more stories to tell. So I would have answered a lot of those questions for…satisfied a lot more people with what came after episode 218.” (Reversal of the reversal twist confirmed! That’s good to know but it’s sad he couldn’t sacrifice some stand-alone in season 11 to flesh out his mythology ideas properly, he was *extremely* lucky to have been given not one but *two* seasons of a revival…)
  • Where are Mulder and Scully today? “I think I would have flashed forward, I wasn’t interested in dealing with that pregnancy. I don’t know. I have some ideas but I don’t know if we’ll ever get to ever see them.” (He’s really thinking about the setup of season 12!)

The future:

  • He likes the idea to do all comedy with animation, he put out the idea to put people back to work during Covid, and two writers came up with an interesting approach. (Since the news that this “TXF: Albuquerque” idea came out in 2020, there have been no more developments. Maybe it’s for the best.)
  • What does Disney plan on TXF’s legacy? No news. “I never imagined doing the show without Mulder and Scully.” (He really makes it sound as if Gillian Anderson’s departure derailed his plans. I don’t know that FOX would have greenlit a season 12 anyway, now Disney even less.)

Dec 20, 2022 14:06

Matt Allair from The X-Files Lexicon discusses the 1980 UFO/conspiracy film “Hangar 18”, and his work, in “Creature Features”, a staple of US TV.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/8273206453?multi_permalinks=10160921698891454


Dec 21, 2022 17:00

Happy #solstice! One day away from the ten year anniversary of December 22 2012, a date all x-philes were looking forward to for a decade: the date of the final alien invasion. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, this was the premiere date of 3 feature film, an underground conspiracy thriller with more atmosphere than action. Recent interviews have confirmed that one or even several film script treatments exist, and I would definitely want to see these before I die, if the Fox/Disney gods would be kind enough.

This is the opportunity to link to an interview I missed from earlier this year, with this precious quote:

Frank Spotnitz: “the story that I’m saddest not to have told was the culmination of the alien mythology. We ended the TV series on a cliff-hanger that I fully expected would continue in a movie franchise. That obviously didn’t happen, and I consider it by far the greatest lost opportunity in the history of The X-Files.”

https://www.cbr.com/x-files-robert-patrick-annabeth-gish-frank-spotnitz-interview/

Social media archive: 2022 (part 2)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Aug 01, 2022 16:33

“It’s what I will be remembered for.” The X-Files Diaries interviewed Chris Carter and as always it’s a mix of joy and frustration hearing from him!

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/114-chris-carter-interview/id1076322073?i=1000571541534

There’s a *lot* to unpack here. Now that it appears that the show is over for good he sets some things straight about some controversies from the revival’s My Struggle episodes that he didn’t have the opportunity to clarify before, years after the fact, especially about William’s parentage: “I knew it would be controversial, it was a huge turn in the mythology.”

After En Ami (season 7), did he always know that CSM being the father was a possibility? “Yeah, he spends a night with Scully, he’s got alien technology, she has a child that spins a mobile on its own. We always thought that Scully’s implant or her DNA resulted in that mobile spinning, but he had her somewhat at a disadvantage and could have taken advantage of her. People aren’t asking the right questions because someone can take credit for the parentage issue and there was that flash on the screen ‘I Want To Lie’. I think there’s an element of disbelief by the audience but also disbelief by the CSM himself that he may or may not have been rightly able to call himself William’s father.” (It appears that Carter wanted to entertain the *idea* that the CSM was the father but not really go through with it. In interviews after MS3 and in MS4’s audio commentary, Carter defended the idea that CSM could be, if not William’s biological father, at least his creator.)

Carter strongly agrees that the show never definitively stated that the CSM was the father. “Was the truth being told? Were we to believe the CSM, a person who had been entirely untrustworthy his entire career? We’re also looking at the CSM as a person who maybe wanted himself to be the father, not knowing whether he was the father or not.” (In concept this similar to Two Fathers/One Son, when the CSM *wanted to believe* he was Mulder’s father because Mulder was the worthy son (and it turned out that indeed Mulder was the CSM’s son!). But it could be very well argued that it was definitively stated that the CSM was William’s father, given that in the opening to MS4 William identified his father with the CSM in his visions; that’s stronger “proof” than whatever we got before, stronger than whatever the show told us about Mulder being the father.)

On William telling Mulder he is not his father: “Do we believe him? Who’s protecting whom?” “When you see that smile when William comes out of the water, he knows a truth that he hasn’t spoken. I wanted to leave that ambivalent. I think people take everything at face value.” (Is Carter back-tracking given how most fans received this, in a particularly shipper-pleasing interview? So William was manipulating Mulder and Scully to convince them to abandon him so that he could pass as dead and be free. The implication here is that William knows Mulder is the father, somehow. Hiding the truth in dialogue is typical TXF, but this contradicts William’s opening narration.)

Did you have a destination in mind for the William story that you didn’t get the chance to finish playing out because you didn’t get a season after 11? “Yes. […] I to a point thought there were continue to be more XF episodes where I could answer some of those questions that I had posed and created these controversies. I thought that the show would go on.” (Carter introduced a twist but he didn’t write the twist over that twist even when season 11 appeared to be the very end.)

Where are M&S today? “I can’t tell you. Sworn to secrecy.” (So he *still* thinks he can continue telling their story after all? If not, why hold out so tightly to these thoughts?)

On Scully’s second pregnancy: “It set up a lot of things in motion going forward.” (Going forward to where?) It was a late decision: “When I learnt that Gillian wasn’t coming back, I had actually not given Gillian a full script of the season finale because I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do.” “It’s a relationship that’s a decade old and consummated in the most mysterious ways. That it would come down to a moment at the end of a dock, wrapped in each other’s arms, revealing possibly the biggest secret ever on the show, that was for me a fitting end.” (Some weird uses of the word ‘mysterious’ and ‘secret’ here…)

Overall, Carter continues the “who’s the daddy” trend of season 8. Ever since En Ami and Requiem, the fan theory has existed that the CSM violated Scully and gave her back her fertility by manipulating her chip, allowing a natural conception with Mulder. MS3/4 seems to pick up that thread while adding more ambiguity on whether the CSM is the biological father too, and transposes season 8’s climax of the miracle child to Scully’s new pregnancy.

The idea of the CSM as creator, not actual father, still introduces an additional traumatic medical rape for Scully nearly two decades after the fact and never lets Scully comment on it: it’s drama yes but it’s a weird decision at a time when the world is finally overcoming the spell of toxic masculinity. CSM-as-creator would not negate William as Scully and Mulder’s child, yet William is summarily rejected by his parents at the end of MS4. Still, unfortunately, I don’t see the CSM-as-actual-father as being ruled out in MS4 either. Was it necessary to fix something that was not broken?

Moreover, there is a big disconnect between what Carter now presents as his intentions and how they were translated in the episodes. The CSM-as-father possibility was a storm in a teacup that occupied a very short narrative span, just two episodes, certainly less than necessary for following through the consequences of such twists, and was presented in a very soapy dramatic way. MS3 used elements of the cinema language to mark this reveal as significant, yet it is easy to point out that they were just unverified statements. MS4 did nothing to reverse that revelation (and in my opinion strengthened it), a bit like how the big twist of there being no colonization of MS1 was both reversed and not reversed in MS3 (depending on which line of dialogue one follows). This leaves the paternity issue in a limbo that was not the author’s intent. Most fans are in denial, some consider the CSM as the father, and some few are holding on to saying it was ambiguous. What most people will take from this interview is comfort that the CSM was not the father after all, but what’s really on display here is that the material itself was lacking. Instead of using the opportunity of the revival to provide a coda to the series, Carter chose to be more ambitious; but it appears to have back-fired.

Now, I don’t particularly enjoy being negative and I don’t want to end on this very bitter note, so I will have a second post on this interview about the rest of the series!


Sep 10, 2022 19:47

29 years! Pilot


Oct 05, 2022 14:09

The blog name says it all: Statistics! How many times did Scully save Mulder? Screencaps of all the times Scully was wearing glasses or Mulder was holding a gun, and more. For people that, like me, love lists, this is great! Too bad it’s been abandoned for a while.

Times Scully has saved Mulder


Oct 13, 2022 17:53

Happy Ten Thirteen! Happy birthday to our favourite surfer and to Spooky M! Here’s some fun: the opening credits to The CAT Files. Follow the link for actual cases of the Feline Bureau of Investigation.

https://catfiles.tumblr.com/post/136403082063/cat-files-opening-credits


Oct 20, 2022 10:38

Carter’s script from My Struggle IV reads like an ALL CAPS screaming ASSAULT on your SENSES. As Clyde Bruckman would say, “visions of a mad man”.

https://www.twitter.com/jamesjordan555/status/1507443207633834016


Oct 21, 2022 18:56

[FRENCH] Un podcast excellent commence avec l’analyse du pilote ! La série de podcasts culminera avec le 30e anniversaire de l’année prochaine.

Ca se passe par ici : https://podcast.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/the-x-files-nous-ne-sommes-pas-seuls

Social media archive: 2022 (part 1)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Feb 23, 2022 13:06

Map lovers, do you remember Official Map that covered seasons 1-3? It was like a mini-episode guide. Today, most of everything can be found online. If you missed that rare item, you can find the HQ version (50 Mb!) here: https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7635/26490967354_90964b09d0_o.png


Mar 07, 2022 19:53

the very first case in Bellefleur, Oregon : 30 years ago today, already! Wow!


Mar 30, 2022 22:18

For those in the back that are still asking for a season 12. Harsh words from #GillianAnderson but I’m fine with leaving the memory of the series as it was.

“It just feels like such an old idea,” says Anderson. “I’ve done it, I did it for so many years, and it also ended on such an unfortunate note.”
“In order to even begin to have that conversation [about another season] there would need to be a whole new set of writers and the baton would need to be handed on for it to feel like it was new and progressive. So yeah, it’s very much in the past.”

https://tribunecontentagency.com/article/gillian-anderson-variety-icon-awardee-on-playing-radical-women-and-what-shes-rebelled-against-in-hollywood/


Apr 30, 2022 5:19:03pm

Happening right now in New York state: the inauguration of the @[1618472925051059:69:X-Files Museum] with Chris Carter cutting the ribbon! I wish them the best of luck, and I hope to visit in the future.


May 19, 2022 12:21

20 (TWENTY!) years ago today, “The Truth” finale first aired in the USA and with it ended! A day to celebrate!

The show ended with an implicit promise that before long the mythology would have a continuation and a resolution. At the time, December 22 2012 was such a faraway date in the future, yet that date came, and passed, as do all things, and the TXF Cinematic Universe barely materialized. Who could have predicted the trajectory the show took back then?

The good thing with a nine-year long show is that you can run 10-year anniversaries on a loop: next year marks the 30th anniversary of season 1, and so on and on!…


Jul 11, 2022 18:48

I often wonder how the appreciation for changes over time. Its IMDb rating has dropped by 0.5 points from 9.1 to 8.6 since 2009. Part of this is due to IMDb changing its algorithms on how this is calculated, but part of it is also people rating it lower over time (for what that’s worth). There are exceptions but as a general rule, as time passes, more recent things are rated high and older things are re-evaluated lower.

Recent viewers might be less forgiving of the mythology’s overall non-conclusion compared to more recent end-focused series, and there is less patience for the episodic format — I have even seen the monster-of-the-week episodes being described as “filler”! The general negative reception of the revival certainly didn’t help in the series’ overall appreciation. As a comparison, #TwinPeaks dropped by 0.7 (!) and #TheWire by 0.4.

Source: this tool allows you to see the evolution of IMDb ratings over time: https://yathish1618.github.io/imdb-rating-history-graph/

Social media archive: 2021 (part 4)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Oct 05, 2021 19:46

https://www.facebook.com/afterthemillennium/posts/1507493652950550

Millennium after the Millennium
5 October 2021
Documentary Executive Producer Troy L. Foreman will be interviewing the man himself, CHRIS CARTER this Friday about Millennium’s upcoming 25th anniversary! Do you have a question for Chris? Leave it in the comments and we may ask Chris your question! #MLM25


Oct 13, 2021 15:52

Happy 10/13 day, happy birthday to Chris Carter! He is becoming 65 today, a mature age many look at for retirement, but there is no retirement for creative people! I for one hope that he will realize more projects in the future.

New interview with Carter on the upcoming 25th anniversary of , where he talks about his inspiration for the show, his love for David Fincher, his regret for not going past season 3, a possible continuation (*with* Lance Henriksen), and more! #millennium25 #mlm25

Direct link: https://sammensvaergelsen.libsyn.com/interview-chris-carter-2-millennium-at-25

https://www.facebook.com/Sammensvaergelsen/posts/1019045215552676


Oct 20, 2021 18:35

A story from 1993!

https://www.facebook.com/SciFiPropsGuy/posts/269724115161571

Sci Fi Props Guy
20 October 2021
One From the Vaults of The X-Files –
“Conceiving a Salamander Hand”

It was coming up to the much-anticipated Christmas hiatus for the first season of the fledgling series, but there would be no break for me. I was tasked with a strange request… to create a ‘Salamander Hand’ for a character named John Barnett who would appear in episode 1X16 “Change of Heart.” Yes, that’s right, a ‘Salamander Hand’.
Now it was never explained to me why I, as the Property Master was being tasked with coming up with something for the show that was clearly to me, a prosthetic appliance. I’m not sure if Toby Lindala our Special Make-Up Effects Artist was otherwise occupied and too busy, or that someone had the misconception that if I created the piece, it would somehow be done cheaper (I can assure you this was never, ever the case).
So, over the last weekend of production, before everybody else’s looming hiatus, I was summoned to a breakfast meeting with our leader and creator of the show, Chris Carter. To those of you not totally familiar with Hollywood or show business in general, the notion of a ‘breakfast meeting’ can be a very loaded event. Being involved in a meeting over breakfast can mean one of two things –
1) You are pitching a story or script idea that may or may not be sold on the spot (keeping in mind that this was before the writing part of my career took off, whence I did pitch an idea and got a development deal) or,
2) Someone is going to be fired, and it’s not usually the person who called the meeting. With that knowledge in the back of my mind, I went to possibly my ‘Last Breakfast.’
INT. QUASI-UPSCALE HOTEL DINING ROOM – DAY
It’s mid-morning in this 4.5 Star eatery. White linen tablecloths and napkins abound and smartly dressed Servers cater to the whims of patrons. An efficient and officious Maitre D’ leads our hero, Property Master KEN HAWRYLIW through the restaurant. Ken carries a stack of science-y looking books and a laptop.
Fearing the worst, Ken’s senses are acute, much like a condemned man being led to the guillotine. He hears everything – clanging of engraved cutlery, snippets of conversations over clinking glasses of orange juice and Bloody Caesars (the Canadian version of Blood Mary), and his own gulps and shallow breathing.
At last Ken is shown to a table tucked away from the other patrons who cast the occasional glances, feigning recognition at the guest already seated there – CHRIS CARTER. Also, at the table is, Director MICHAEL LANGE, who sips from orange concoction from a fluted glass and looks somewhat puzzled albeit happy to see Ken. Chris smiles warmly, motioning for Ken to sit.
CHRIS: Good morning, thanks for coming. (to the Maitre D’) Can we get another mimosa, please?
MATRE D’: Certainly sir. (he leaves)
KEN: Mimosa?
CHRIS: It’s champagne and orange juice.
KEN: I know, but why?
CHRIS: Celebrating the hiatus and the Salamander Hand.
Michael smiles a possibly ironic shit-eating grin and Ken looks relieved, maybe he’s not being fired today?
KEN: Cool, I brought some reference material.
Between sips of mimosas and nibbles on over-priced eggs benedict, Ken goes over several photos in the books of a wide variety of salamanders in wide variety of colours. Chris sees one he particularly takes a fancy to, an orange-y and mottled green one, and shows it to Michael.
CHRIS: What about this one?
MICHAEL: Uh, yeah, that could work right? (looking at Ken for reassurance)
KEN: (still not sure why he’s doing this) Yeah, sure, that could work.
CHRIS: Okay let’s talk about the size of the hand. It’s going to be worn by Barnett as you know, but it must be smaller than a human hand. That would be cool.
MICHAEL: (glancing at Ken) Smaller than a human hand? You mean smaller than the actor’s hand?
CHRIS: Exactly. That way it will look weird and cool.
MICHAEL: Yes, but…
KEN: Let me get this straight, so I understand. It’s gotta look like this salamander hand you chose, it’s gotta be smaller than a human hand so it looks weird, but it’s gotta fit over the actor’s hand who’s gonna be wearing it. Does that sound right?
CHRIS (excited) Exactly right! This is going to be cool.
KEN: Physics.
CHRIS: What’s that?
KEN: Physics. What you’re asking for defies the laws of physics as we know it. A mass with a particular volume cannot exist in a space of lesser volume. It won’t fit.
CHRIS: But it needs to be smaller than a human hand, so it looks weird and cool.
MICHAEL: But it needs to fit on the actor’s human hand.
CHRIS: That’s why it’s going to be so cool. (looks at Ken) The good thing is you’ve got the whole hiatus to figure it out.
KEN: That is THE good thing.
CHRIS: (very excited, looking at both of them) This is going to be very cool. (back at Ken, still excited) What do you think it’s going to look like?
KEN: Probably going to look like a big orange rubber glove.
CHRIS: I think this going to be cool.
MICHAEL: Cool, definitely (grinning and sipping mimosa). CUT TO:
First morning back from the hiatus, Day 1 of episode 1X16 I showed up with what was tasked to provide, and to quote Michael Lange, “You were right, it does look like a big orange rubber fucking glove.” Michael, bless him, shot around it as best he could but when the Salamander Hand showed up in dailies Chris realized that, although I could pull off certain small miracles, I could not re-write the laws of physics.
Eventually Toby Lindala created what was always a prosthetic make-up appliance and although it did not appear smaller than a human hand, it was in fact, weird and very cool.


Oct 25, 2021 17:01

Happy birthday, ! #MLM25 25 years since the airing of one of the best things Ten Thirteen ever did: your pilot episode. 25 years is a landmark date, a quarter of a century! You were much, much more than “that other series that creator made”, in so many ways ahead of you time — but presently you are hardly seen by anyone, with no HD transfer, nowhere to be found in streaming, with DVDs almost out of stock, with only part of your sister-series’ fandom having watched you…

With time passing and Lance H not being all that young, a MLM revival is by now quite unlikely — but a sequel/soft-reboot series could focus on a now-adult Jordan Black! Could that be the marketing opportunity to also make an HD transfer of the series, like Fox did with the blu-ray and streaming release of TXF with the revival? One can only wait…worry…and hope.


Nov 09, 2021 16:33

Another Ten Thirteen alumni has passed away: William Golding portrayed Roky in “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” (an…experiencer who wrote a Hollywood script of his alien encounters, met Jesse Ventura and ended up preaching a New Age group about Lava Men) as well as Detective Thomas in ’s “Loin Like a Hunting Flame” (a rare case of a Ten Thirteen show with explicit sex).

William Lucking Dies: ‘Sons of Anarchy’s Piney & Veteran Character Actor Was 80


Nov 10, 2021 17:36

[French] 25 ans de , et un podcast qui donne envie de revoir toute la saison 2! On n’avait pourtant rien demandé à Morgan & Wong et ils ont produit une œuvre plus structurée, pensée, complexe et courageuse que la plupart des production de l’époque et d’aujourd’hui. Un classique méconnu. #MLM25

https://www.facebook.com/LeCoinPopPodcast/posts/1305383069923041

https://smartlink.ausha.co/le-coin-pop/millennium-saison-2-voici-qui-nous-sommes


Nov 17, 2021 16:46

Why wasn’t this guy in more interviews back in the day? Busy making the show and the movie, that’s where! @[1618472925051059:69:The X-Files Preservation Collection] interview the legendary Rob Bowman and the passion and excitement this man feels for his work is communicative. This is one of the key people who made look as cinematic as it did, to the point where he got sort of stuck with directing the movie itself. Great stuff!

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D3eKp3DACs
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxzjdmMvba4
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIv7Rp7b7nM


Nov 22, 2021 18:54

Saratoga Springs, New York, will be the place to be come 2022! @[1618472925051059:69:The X-Files Preservation Collection] is accompanied by cast and crew and Chris Carter himself in their announcement. We wish them well!

“The BIG Announcement!
We are so excited to be sharing this news with all of you. We want to thank you all for your support and ask that you please share this announcement far and wide.
P.S. definitely watch the video all the way through.”


Nov 25, 2021 22:07

EatTheCorn.com becomes 16 today! Time flies! Because I don’t have anything better to offer and because I am always amazed at fandom’s creativity, here are some doodles, one for every single episode of the series! — art by https://megdoesart.tumblr.com/


Dec 22, 2021 16:11

Today is December 22 – first day after the solstice, beginning of the winter, also anniversary of an alien invasion that never materialised, and also release day of the #MatrixResurrections! Here’s an interview of David Nutter wearing what can best be described as a Matrix-inspired pyjama-shirt, talking about his experience directing some of the best of (Ice, Beyond the Sea, Clyde Bruckman, hello?)

Social media archive: 2021 (part 3)

Archived from the Eat The Corn Facebook page.


Jul 02, 2021 1:05

An important loss in the 1013 family: Bill Terezakis has passed away! He was the special makeup effects supervisor for Harsh Realm, the I Want To Believe film, and the two revival seasons. Here is an archived interview with him.

http://web.archive.org/web/20170313151509/https://makeupmag.com/the-x-files-returns-with-a-new-group-of-monsters/


Jul 23, 2021 13:34

New interview with Darin Morgan! From our Danish friends, who did a live projection of the episode Small Potatoes on a cinema screen! (remember those?)

Direct link: https://sammensvaergelsen.libsyn.com/interview-darin-morgan

https://www.facebook.com/Sammensvaergelsen/posts/966187387505126

Added Sep 07 11:07: Once again, an excellent interview from @[195561691234370:274:Sammensværgelsen – en dansk X-Files podcast] with Darin Morgan that is comprehensive and includes his Millennium work as well as his X-Files work! Some Ten Thirteen behind the scenes info is corrected for posterity, we get insight on how creatives perceive parts of the fandom, we learn where the Lenny puppet from Humbug is today, and much more. Darin is so Frank and straightforward about what works and what doesn’t in his episodes, even though each and every one is now the stuff of legend, I wouldn’t change a thing. Very recommended listening!


Aug 29, 2021 19:58

Ed Asner was “paramasturbatory” Maurice from “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas”.

Ed Asner Dies: TV Icon Who Played Lou Grant Was 91


Sep 10, 2021 18:16

*OUR FAVOURITE SHOW TURNS 28 TODAY!*

Yet another stellar interview from @[195561691234370:274:Sammensværgelsen – en dansk X-Files podcast], with the *legendary* Bob Goodwin, perhaps the most important person behind the scenes after Chris Carter! He ran a tight ship and steered it towards a vision of a TV show that didn’t pale in comparison to theatrical films, and he even wrote the excellent semi-mythology episode Demons along the way. His enthusiasm is infectious, when he talks on and on about this beloved show, how he directed his wife Sheila Larken (Ma Scully), how Spielberg thought was the best show ever (and approached him to do Taken), how his cameo on Anasazi was edited out, how he had to let go of the show when it left Vancouver, and much, much more!

Direct link: https://sammensvaergelsen.libsyn.com/interview-rw-goodwin

https://www.facebook.com/Sammensvaergelsen/posts/979566286167236


Sep 10, 2021 22:49

Some few words from the all-too rare Carter: “It feels like [the conspiracies] have gotten crazier”

Chris Carter on the Continued Prescience of The X-Files, 28 Years After Its Premiere


Sep 26, 2021 1:13

Young Bill Mulder!

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=264377332354950&id=100063480552820

Dean Aylesworth
26 September 2021
🎥🎬🙏 A behind the scenes snap shot. On the set of The X-files shooting the “Travelers” episode.
#Deanaylesworth #YoungBillMulder #agentbillmulder #travelersxfilesepisode #BTS


Sep 27, 2021 13:53

#Millennium25 th anniversary coming up:

https://www.facebook.com/afterthemillennium/posts/1501522316881017

Millennium after the Millennium
26 September 2021
We are celebrating Millenniums 25th anniversary! This coming Friday, Jason Morris & Troy L. Foreman will be joined by Lance Henriksen, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Klea Scott & Thomas J. Wright in LA for a special #Millennium25 Q&A filming! This is your chance to send in a question about the upcoming anniversary! Email your questions to asklance@outlook.com. In the email subject, put Millennium25! We’d like to get questions for each of the participants, so the more the merrier. Get your questions to us by 5pm EST on September 28th!