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"California here we come."
When one of the characters asks the question "Who made this?" in "Hollywood A.D." I thought about the child's voice we hear at the end of every episode saying "I made this." However, in this case the answer was instead "we're not sure." It certainly wasn't a Chris Carter episode even though he appeared in it. It wasn't a classic Darin Morgan episode though that is what it seemed to be trying hardest to be like. It wasn't even a "Bad Blood" type parody of the X-Files from Vince Gilligan. No, "Hollywood A.D." was pure David Duchovny and that worked both for and against it.
I really wanted this episode to be great. I enjoyed "The Unnatural" and I knew that this one would have a lot more of what that was missing - namely Mulder and Scully. David Duchovny is an extremely witty writer. I laughed at many of the jokes. The site of Scully running full speed back and forth in the background before a bored Tea' Leone chatting on her cell phone through the running in heels demo was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on this show. I thought "no ifs, ands or... bees" was a very amusing poke at the frustrations of the movie. However, in the case of this X-Files episode the jokes didn't know when to stop. Duchovny went so far with his clever word play that by the time Mulder muttered "Man oh Manischevitz" it took me out of the story. I too wanted to say "one more pun and I pull out my gun." I think the main problem with the writing was that it tried to be two different things and never really gelled as either. Instead, both the X-Files story and the show business parody never fully connected - each falling short of its goal. The X-File I presume was serious. Murder, religion, forgery, visions - but it didn't make much sense and is wrapped up in two sentences by Scully before she drags Mulder out for a night on the town. Micah was making forgeries, but spent so much time thinking about Christ he thought he became him? He's a Beatles addict that along with "I am the bearded cow-like sea beast koo koo katchu" manages to slip in an actual dead raising ditty? Frankly, I found the idea of the Cardinal (played wonderfully by the ever reliable Harris Yulin) who was hiding what he thought was the truth the most interesting part. Why was Scully having visions yet again? Force of habit? Too big a whiff of that gum arabic in the studio? Hoffman's talk of being Christ made her think she should work him into her seventh season hit parade of religious visitations? It all got kind of lost in the muddle of Serpico and Altamont and Mary Magdalene.
imagine people that are in the business of show business might enjoy "Hollywood A.D." more than I did. I found it a little too in-jokey for my tastes. It always seemed to go one step too far. There are no doubt many Wayne Federman types wandering around with their cell phones muttering things into a Dictaphone like "Jodie Foster's foster child on a payless budget" or "Jehovah's witness meets Harrison Ford's Witness." How in the world the "Skin Man" has stayed friends with this guy over the years is an X-File in and of itself. While we have this serious case going on Skinner is going to allow a pal to seriously disrupt meetings and tag along cracking bad jokes? He's got Mulder for that.
Duchovny did show us that his take on the characters in "The Unnatural" was no fluke. It seems both he and Anderson believe Mulder and Scully spend a lot more time outside of work together than we usually see on the screen. Given what we've seen from these characters over the years watching Scully giggle as she flashes a bureau credit card or Mulder lay on his couch and act along to "Plan 9 From Outer Space" can be a little unsettling on some levels. Still, it is fun to think of Mulder and Scully as the occasionally gossipy pals calling each other for no reason but the fact that they like each other.
liked "Hollywood A.D." despite its flaws. I enjoyed the tale of Sister Spooky which *was* a very cool story especially coming from Scully. I thought that as a director Duchovny seemed to feel very comfortable behind the camera on this effort. There were some wonderful visual moments in this piece from the way he shot the movie within with the laser lights piercing the dark to the fog swirling around a slow motion Shandling and Leoni as they roll into the grave to swooping down on Mulder and Scully walking on the FOX lot. I appreciated what he was trying to accomplish with the last dance of the dead even though I felt the coda went on a bit too long. In the end I just wish more of it had really worked. It came across as flashes of brilliance lost in muddied waters. "Hollywood A.D." made me laugh, but if I really want to enjoy a parody of the show I'll put in my much worn tape of "Bad Blood" for the 42nd time.
-Date Stamp. Kinda. The toe tag on the autopsy body appeared to read 12/14/98 which would fit with the X-File in the episode taking place about 18 months ago.
-"Cigarette smoking mackerel snapper?" There's really not much else to say about that line. I wish I knew what the heck it meant.
-Clever moment: Gary Shandling hiding behind a tombstone bearing the name "Alan Smithee" that so many directors hide behind when they want their name off a movie.
-Surely Mulder and Scully could have stopped their names from being used in a movie, especially if the characters were meant to be a "loose amalgamation." Or did all that Hollywood style wining and dining convince them to sign on the dotted line?
-Looks like Duchovny made some friends while shooting "Return to Me" since he got both David Alan Grier and Minnie Driver to be in the premiere audience along with Chris Carter.
-I think that the whole "Sir have I pissed you off in a way that's more than normal?" bit would have been funnier had we not just seen Mulder use this same sort of tact in "Chimera" a few weeks ago.
-I was amused by Federman and his implications at Skinner requiring Scully's services. Obviously he thought Skinner was using that bigger flashlight to charm Scully.
-I'm not quite sure why the cell phone on the body saying "Micah Hoffman" in the Caller ID window was used to identify the body. Especially since that shows who is calling not who you are. One would hope you already knew that.
-Frank's Fashion Spot: You probably thought I was going to talk about Scully and her little black premiere dress. Instead I'm going to focus on the absolutely hilarious costuming of Tea' Leoni's version of Scully. Not only was she wearing one of those button up shirts I hate so much, but this one was unbuttoned so far that you could see most of the black bra underneath. Along with that huge gaudy cross it was quite the parody of Scully.
-At least Tea'!Scully was competent enough to steal the CSP's gun when the moment arose. Other than that Scully had to have been pretty mortified at the whole thing.
-Our Little Sailor: Even though she said "b.s.ing" instead of saying the words we did get a "damnit" when Scully cuts herself with her trigger happy scalpel.
-This one had a lot of behind the scenes folks in it. The movie's Assistant Director is played by Barry "Sugar Bear" Thomas an Assistant Director on the show. The craft services woman who provided the turkey is a craft services woman. The director was played by Bill Millar who is responsible for Special Effects on the X-Files. The odd thing about that last credit is that the press release for this episode listed David Duchovny's brother Daniel in that part.
-I have to wonder if the director was supposed to be an impression of Kim Manners in a way since the wardrobe and "kick it in the ass" are very much like that director.
-Just how many languages is Scully a "little rusty" in - she knew enough German to get her by in "Unruhe" and here she manages to read ancient Greek texts? I took four years of Spanish and I can barely understand everything the Taco Bell dog says.
-I supposed Mulder was getting back some by walking his hands to his coffee cup after hearing Wayne's tale of reanimated bones.
-Speaking of that, I thought that Mark Snow could have laid off the Disneyesque sound track at that point. I thought the skull was going to start singing there for a while surrounded by a chorus line of assorted bones in little top hats.
-I guess Scully isn't the only one who has completely given up on home security since Mulder leaves his door unlocked in the middle of the night.
-That whole scene was pretty cute, seeking each other out when they can't sleep. Mulder answering Scully's question before she finishes. Musing about Ed Wood. One of the better written scenes in the episode.
-I couldn't help but wonder exactly why all the bubbles in Mulder's tub started moving around after Scully mentions "sexual fears and desires"...
-Nice touch: Federman kissing Mulder and shaking Scully's hand.
-I have to wonder why Scully decided to have a religious moment and take the time to cross herself before arresting who she believes was a murderer.
Autumn
"Doesn't that make you sad? It makes me sad."