Black Phone 2 (2025)

To be fair, there were a lot of distractions in the theater when I went to see Black Phone 2. Perhaps that's why I had difficulty losing myself in the movie, but I don't think that alone is enough to explain why I didn't like it as much as the first one. I'll go out on a limb and say, I think The Black Phone is a victim of its own success. The first movie was an unassuming, quality horror movie about a kid trying to escape a serial killer. I feel like this movie is trying too hard to turn "The Black Phone" into a phenomenon. Not every good horror movie needs to be a franchise.

Let me be a little more specific. There were supernatural elements in the first movie, but they played a supporting role, and ultimately served the narrative. In the sequel, they've been pushed to the forefront, jettisoning any remaining tether to reality. As if demoted to the level of franchise mascot, Ethan Hawke - whose subtle creepiness contributed much to the unsettling feeling of the last movie - isn't given much to do here besides go on a murderous rampage, threatening to kill people in their dreams and from beyond the grave - while doing it in ice skates, like a wannabe Canadian Freddie Krueger. And though the setting (while stunning in its frozen beauty) seems to give nods to Friday The 13th and even John Carpenter's The Thing, the movie isn't strong enough to raise these details from the bin of derivativeness to the level of homage.

Even on a superficial level, this movie doesn't have the charm of setting and tone and style that the first one had. The kids are older now, with the focus switched to the sister and her psychic dream powers. The actress did a fantastic job in the last movie. I hate to be vain, but they've given her a ridiculous haircut, and it's like she's a completely different person (I actually had to double check the cast list to confirm that it was the same actress). Maybe it's because they now look like adults (despite still being treated as "minor children" by the camp staff) and it's not quite so charming, but the vaguely inappropriate banter between siblings that felt so effortlessly humorous in the last movie, now feels forced and over the top (I kid you not, the phrase "dinosaur dick" appears in the dialogue at one point). And to top it all off, the movie even lowered itself to include a jump scare or two, as if forgetting what made the first movie so effective. More likely, it's pandering to a different audience. A less sophisticated audience, to my disappointment.

The X-Files - S8:E7 "Via Negativa"

[ S8:E6 "Redrum" <<< Season 8 >>> S8:E8 "Surekill" ]

I am positively dumbfounded. But in the best possible way. It's enough to say that I never could have predicted that I'd like the Robert Patrick episodes as much as I have so far, but to like an episode that puts even Scully on the sidelines in order to focus on Agent Doggett (and a little more of Skinner than we usually get to see) as much as I enjoyed this one? Preposterous! And yet, there it is. Written by Frank Spotnitz (who rarely goes solo, and even rarer on a non-mythology episode - I think the only previous examples are Our Town and Detour), and directed by Tony Wharmby, this episode manages to construct an even more effectively Lynchian atmosphere than Field Trip did, with haunting and surreal dream sequences.

Getting herself out of the way through the majority of the episode, Scully checks herself into a hospital, recalling the period during which she was sick in the latter part of season 4 (especially Zero Sum, in which she didn't appear at all). Doggett (who may just be starting to get wind of Scully's big secret, revealed in the last moment of Requiem), then is left, along with Skinner, to investigate the mysterious deaths of two agents staking out a religious cult. The cultleader is a creepy guy who has allegedly reached a higher plane (preacher, keep on preachin') by walking "Via Negativa" - the path of darkness - and who bears a literal third-eye (which is one of those things that, superficially, could be considered cheesy, but that I honestly think is kind of awesome). Although it begs the question of why, if he has found God, he's going around killing people...

Anyway, his modus operandi apparently involves death by nightmare, drawing comparisons to Freddy Krueger, as well as previous episodes The Walk, and Sleepless. The latter is probably a more apt comparison (and not only because it's a better episode), as it involves government experiments. While that may not specifically be the case here, The Lone Gunmen (formally introducing themselves to Agent Doggett in this episode), reference MKUltra, a real world experiment in which the CIA attempted to effect mind control via the use of LSD. Everybody knows that acid makes you hallucinate, but imagine doping yourself up to the point that you can give other people hallucinations! Here's a tip, though: it's not a good idea to put a guy who can kill through dreams into a coma...

This episode further presses the dynamic introduced in the two-part season opener, in which Skinner decided to embrace the paranormal, with Doggett now being held liable for it under Kersh's command. The episode also hints at another personal connection Doggett has with a fellow agent, emphasizing that - unlike Mulder, the outcast - he is a real inside man. I know that Kersh most likely put him on the X-Files to discredit his reputation, but I wonder if his involvement could actually bring some legitimacy to the X-Files. Yet, here, Doggett actually begins to question his own skepticism, as he becomes lost inside the psychic hallucinations of this week's freak. (I'm kinda relieved he's not as bull-headed as Scully was. Unlike her, he seems to be of the "seeing is believing" persuasion). Robert Patrick's kept his character pretty straight so far, but in this episode we get to see Agent Doggett experience real uncertainty and fear. And it's as thrilling as witnessing Scully's range of emotions for the first time in Beyond The Sea. If I didn't know better (and I don't, really), I'd say that The X-Files has just caught its second wind.

Memorable quotes:

Doggett: This is damn weird.
Skinner: It gets weirder.

Doggett: If I'm workin' this case, I'd appreciate a heads-up before you tell the deputy director any more science-fiction stories.

Scully: I appreciate your discretion.
Doggett: Yeah, well, it's easy to be discreet when you don't know what's going on.

Kersh: It's over, Agent Doggett. I don't need every 'i' dotted or every 't' crossed to know that we've got our man.

(I'd expect this kind of unprofessionalism from the local P.D., but the Deputy Director of the FBI? More proof that this man is not good news).

Doggett: Last night, I dreamt Tipet was inside my house, holding an axe. I thought I woke up this morning. I thought I was awake, but...but then...
Skinner: What do you want me to do, pinch you?

(It's pretty thrilling to see the unshakeable pillar that is Agent Doggett moved almost to tears out of a combination of fear and confusion. And never has "go home and get some rest" ever sounded more like a death sentence).

Doggett: You just saved my life, Agent Scully.
Scully: I just woke you up, Agent Doggett.

The X-Files - S4:E10 "Paper Hearts"

[ S4:E9 "Terma" <<< Season 4 >>> S4:E11 "El Mundo Gira" ]

Paper Hearts opens with an uncomfortable juxtaposition of whimsy and the macabre (perhaps to reflect the similar juxtaposition of innocence and evil that the particular murders this episode deals with evoke), as Mulder (apparently dreaming) begins to follow a laser pointer - like a cat - to a park where the body of a little girl has been buried. (Thankfully, the rest of the episode sticks mostly to the macabre, as this is a pretty dark subject we're dealing with here). He tracks down the spot after he wakes up, orders an excavation, and finds a child-sized skeleton buried in the ground. By a cloth heart cut out of the girl's clothing, he identifies the M.O. as belonging to a serial killer he helped to put behind bars (as in Young At Heart). This, of course, raises the question of how many other victims the killer claimed that he never confessed to.

This is an unsettling premise to begin with, but when Mulder begins to suspect that one of those unaccounted-for victims may have been his sister (first suggested to him in another dream, in which he relives his sister's abduction, but this time it's the killer that takes her away), it becomes personal. It plays on that fear you get when someone (especially a child) goes missing, and you start to wonder - not knowing for sure - if she might not have been one of the victims of a serial killer. Mulder gets a little extreme in this episode (not that that's unusual - he can be pretty intense at times), but in this case you have to forgive him, because it's his sister we're talking about after all. Not someone like his sister, as we've seen in the past (Conduit, for example), but - if the killer is telling the truth - his actual sister.

I mean, what would you do? What could you do, if you had lost your sister (or your daughter), and you thought you had the man who knew where to find her, and he wouldn't tell you? What could you do, but give in to his demands - anything he asks? Could you just walk away? What kind of strength of character would that require? This episode really does a great job of making the emotions personal, by bringing Mulder's sister into it - in a way that doesn't feel cheap and superficial, like it was in Miracle Man. Really, this has been the most touching an X-Files episode has ever gotten - and it feels natural, given the dark themes, not like The Field Where I Died, which tried too hard. Writer Vince Gilligan really hit it out of the ballpark on this episode.

Other notes: Tom Noonan is thoroughly unsettling as the serial killer John Lee Roche (it's funny how true it is that the best villains on the X-Files are the killers with three names), who manages to be one of the most frightening characters in an episode of the X-Files, despite being totally human, and even while doing nothing but sitting behind bars, completely harmless (aside from his mind games). It speaks to the horrible nature of his crimes, combined with his unaffected attitude.

On the other hand, this episode does play into the easy stereotype that anyone who would be attracted to innocence must necessarily be itching to snuff it out (I have no idea how that logic works). Have you ever noticed that the victims in these crimes are always made out to be as cute as possible? I guess it makes the crime that much uglier - and hell, I don't deny that it's an effective horror premise. But I would appreciate a more realistic depiction of this particular pathology. I had to groan when they found the paper hearts in a copy of Alice in Wonderland.

It was pretty exciting to see Skinner out on a case, working with the agents for once, instead of just sitting behind a desk supervising them (i.e., yelling at them for stepping out of line - although there's some of that, too, heh).

Scully's scientific explanation this time is pretty predictable, and utterly unconvincing. Normally, I don't go in for the concept of prophetic dreams, but this is The X-Files, after all. And I have a hard time believing Mulder's dream mind would be able to figure something out from clues he already had, that his brilliant waking mind couldn't work out. There's ultimately not much explanation as to where the supernatural elements of this episode come from, but I can forgive that, because it suits the emotional impact of the script quite satisfactorily in the end.

I really appreciate the continuity, though, when Scully references something Mulder said about dreams in season 2 - a dream is an answer to a question we haven't yet figured out how to ask.

Honestly, when Mulder asks Scully if she believes his sister was abducted by aliens, she should have said, "Mulder, I was abducted by aliens - except that it wasn't aliens, it was really the government." The non-mythology episodes seem to gloss over that whole incident, although I guess maybe Scully is just willfully repressing it because she's not ready yet - until the proper mythology episode - to embrace that truth.

Memorable quotes:

Frank Sparks: I used to think that missing was worse than dead because...you never knew what happened. But now that I know, I'm glad my wife's not here. She got luckier.

Scully: You're in here for life - you've got nothing to lose.
John Lee Roche: I've got nothing to gain.
Mulder: You can gain one moment of decency in your life.

Mulder: Where were you in 1973?
John Lee Roche: What, the whole year?

(See, this sounds funny - and it is - but it's a joke told wryly in the context of a very unsettling and emotional scene - it does more in setting up the inappropriately glib manner of the killer than it does in adding any levity to the atmosphere).

The X-Files - S2:E4 "Sleepless"

[ S2:E3 "Blood" <<< Season 2 >>> S2:E5 "Duane Barry" ]

Following an anonymous tip, Mulder opens an investigation into the mysterious death of a sleep disorder specialist who had been involved in wartime experiments with "sleep eradication". He ends up chasing down a traumatized war vet (Tony Todd) who is looking for retribution for the crimes committed by his squadron. To his frustration, Mulder is also assigned a new partner, which makes Scully a little jealous. This episode contains shades of A Nightmare on Elm Street, but without being too derivative.

Spoiler Warning: the rest of this review may contain spoilers related to important developments in the mythology of this show.

Season 2 is really starting off on a strong note. Sleepless is a perfect example of what I mean by the mythology being more interesting than monsters-of-the-week - even monster-of-the-week episodes are greatly improved when they include mythology elements! Contrasting this episode with the last one, it's clear how much of a difference it makes when the episode includes bureau activity (notably Skinner's involvement), and features development between recurring characters, as opposed to just diving into the case of the week without linking it much to any of the show's overarching plot elements.

This episode also features Nicholas Lea in his first appearance as the character Alex Krycek. I couldn't remember at what point in the series this character appeared, but I can tell you that when he marched over to Mulder's desk and introduced himself, I squealed like a fangirl! Krycek is such a fun character; he's the first television character I've ever described as being someone I "loved to hate". He was certainly a more effective villain on the show than the later appearance of the spindly Agent Spender. We also get our first face-to-face meeting in this episode with Mulder's new informant, the unnamed X (Steven Williams).

The final scene is also quite remarkable, not only in its startling reveal of Krycek's true loyalties (which had been in question all episode-long), but also in foreshadowing what's about to befall in the next few episodes, and preemptively demonstrating that the Smoking Man carries some (if not all) responsibility for the ordeal that Scully is about to be put through. In season 1, the Smoking Man was little more than an archetype - the shadowy authority figure standing in the background to represent a conspiratorial government. Here we're finally beginning to (slowly) get some development of the character, as he becomes a more active villain with more concrete goals, which is a lot more fun to watch.

Memorable quotes:

Krycek: I don't appreciate being ditched like someone's bad date.

X: You still don't get it, do you? Closing the X-Files, separating you and Scully, was only the beginning. The truth is still out there; it's never been more dangerous. The man we both knew paid for that information with his life - a sacrifice I'm not willing to make.

Scully: It must be nice not having someone questioning your every move, poking holes in all your theories.
Mulder (deadpan): Oh, oh yeah, it's great. I'm surprised I put up with you for so long.

Smoking Man: Every problem has a solution.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

I didn't really know what to expect from Eyes Wide Shut, but it was one of those movies on my periphery that I had marked as "should check out" but "not in any hurry". However, it came up in a discussion about Mulholland Dr. that I recently watched, so I decided to give it a watch. Also partly because it was directed by Stanley Kubrick. Lots of film buffs rate Stanley Kubrick as one of the greatest directors of all time, but I personally consider him to be overrated, since of his films that I've seen, I've been generally underwhelmed. I think his adaptation of Lolita flopped, and pales in comparison to Adrian Lyne's later version. The Shining is a good horror movie, but would I rate it a masterpiece? I don't know. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a truly inspired piece of science fiction - but as a movie, it just drags on and lacks coherence. And A Clockwork Orange - well, I liked it, but it's not one of the best movies I've ever seen.

So anyway, I heard that this movie was directed by Stanley Kubrick, and I was intrigued by the reference to David Lynch, since I can appreciate Lynch's sensibilities, so I figured I'd give this movie a watch and see if it improves my opinion of Stanley Kubrick as a director. Well, the verdict is that this was a good movie - but it hasn't really changed my opinion of Stanley Kubrick. After all, I don't think he's a bad director, I just don't think he's the best director of all time. But there's other movies of his I have yet to watch, and who knows, my opinion might change in the future. After all, I was underwhelmed by Jimi Hendrix the first time I heard him on the radio!

As for this movie, Eyes Wide Shut, you might call it something of an erotic thriller, but it's really more of a dreamy exploration of psychosexual themes. It stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman - and let me tell you, Nicole Kidman is gorgeous in this movie. And she's not afraid to get a little naked, which earns instant points of respect in my book. Plus, she's gorgeous. Did I say that?

The movie explores various sexual concepts, largely surrounding the theme of fidelity. Like, within the context of marriage. I'll be honest, as a sexual progressive, this couple's concerns were a little unsympathetic to me. I mean, like, it's clear that neither one of them actually cheated on the other. So is it really that devastating to learn that your spouse has sexual fantasies and desires for other people? The thing that's special about committed relationships isn't that people impossibly reign in their sexual interest in other people, but that they refrain from acting on that interest. The vows aren't about "I will never look at another man/woman", but "I will never pursue another man/woman". And that's assuming the couple is into monogamy, which is popular, but as a pro-polyamory type of person, I just don't see it as that big of a deal.

Anyway, it didn't destroy my appreciation for the movie, it just lessened my sympathy for the characters' struggles. The way the movie turns out, after a Christmas party in which both partner has eyes for others, the wife later divulges the fact that there was this one time when she totally had the hots for some naval officer. And Tom Cruise's character breaks down, leaves the house, and basically goes on a hunt for some woman to cheat on his wife with. Although he has a hard time actually going through with it. But his journey, and the people he meets, and the trouble he gets into, is where the film gets really interesting.

And the pinnacle of that is this wild party he sneaks into which is ostensibly attended by some wealthy and/or renowned luminaries, but it's all secretive because everyone wears masks. But they perform this sexual ritual, and they have impossibly beautiful women - albeit hookers and drug addicts and the like - who roam around naked among the cloaked and hooded men, and there's all this sex going on throughout this mansion, right in front of everyone else, and it's every bit as surreal as it is erotic.

And really, the movie's worth it for the erotic themes alone - between Nicole Kidman's beauty, and the women Tom Cruise runs into, and this bizarre sex cult party. But the surreal, dreamy aspect is a nice touch to it. I'd definitely rate it as a good film, and recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds intriguing.

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

I'll be damned if this movie makes any sense at all (although it helps to know that it was a failed-TV-pilot-turned-one-off-film, and this analysis makes me think twice), but you know what? I didn't even mind, because David Lynch has such a talent for creating an atmosphere of mystery and uneasiness. This is true art, and while it makes you think, you don't so much want to put the pieces together as you revel in the feelings that it can evoke in you.

Also, Lynch has an uncanny knack for faces, and he creates such intriguing characters. There's even some real eroticism in this movie, like you so rarely see, between the two female leads - the one of which, Naomi Watts, is, in my opinion, stunning in this role.

I wonder if maybe David Lynch would be better suited to creating shorter pieces (his movies seem frequently to exceed the two hour mark), since he's masterful at creating atmosphere, but his stories rarely seem to tie themselves together in the long run (at least not without extended analysis).

For example, the scene in this movie where the man at the diner is talking about a frightening dream he had. One of the most amazingly unsettling scenes in a movie I've ever seen, and I think it would be just as effective out of context of the rest of the movie - in fact, its connection to the rest of the plot is tenuous at best (or at least not obvious).

And the scene where Bettie goes to audition for the soap role - it's unreal. I'm not even sure what the hell that blue box is, or what the film set has to do with anything - although The Cowboy character was fascinating, and intimidating in his own way.

But as I said, I didn't even care that I couldn't fit all the pieces together, because it was the experience of it, the feelings of uncertainty that David Lynch evokes in you, that make it so captivating. And the music is not only perfectly suited to the mood of the piece, but it's fantastic in its own right.

I very much recommend this movie, even more than the other two Lynch pieces I've seen - Blue Velvet, which wasn't quite as effective for me as this one, and Eraserhead, which was very effective, but perhaps too out there for general audiences.