Spectre and the X-Files

Spectre

Saw Spectre the other day … and liked it a lot. Not loved it, but enjoyed it. Not a big fan of Daniel Craig’s James Bond. Too dour, moody, thuggish. I grew up on the Roger Moore James Bond, and while that characterization descended into clownishness at times, I miss the humor and suave sophistication Moore brought to those roles, particularly those in the 70s. Sean Connery, I guess, is the best Bond, bringing together the perfect proportions of physicality, light-heartedness, and, when called for, ruthlessness. A balanced Bond, unlike the robotic incarnation we’ve seen over the past decade.

Anyway, Spectre is more back to form, back to the 007 we grew up on and loved. I’ve always thought that the villain, and his egomaniacal world-dominating plot, were equally important, if not more so, to a Bond movie. And face it, the villains from the past few Craig flicks – Le Chiffre, Green, Silva – couldn’t hold a candle to Blofeld, Scaramanga, Drax, Stromberg. But now Blofeld’s back, played by the excellent Christoph Waltz, and he’s got his lair, and he’s got his world domination scheme (although I still pine for a more SF-ish MacGuffin).

Still hate the revisioning, though. But overall, I’d grade Spectre a solid B.

X-Files

Been watching the new X-Files reboot with the wife. Both of us were huge X-philes back in the day, twenty-some-odd years ago. But the new series strikes me as tired and aimless. Mulder looks bloated and drugged up; Scully looks like she went a little overboard with the botox. Both seem to be struggling too hard to recapture the magic. The first four episodes have been uneven, focusing more on gore than legitimately intriguing theories outta left field. I’d grade them, in order, D, C, B, and D. For a series that peaked with its first motion picture installment in 1998, The X-Files: Fight the Future, I’m not so sure the whole thing should have been resurrected.

But I may be biased.

I love reveling in nostalgia. I re-read those goose-bump-inducing books I originally cut my teeth on thirty years ago. I initiate my children in the cinema of my youth. I seek these things out, actively, like a detective, and the rediscovery and re-visitation give me great pleasure. For years I hunted for my beloved physics book, the book that made me major in the subject in college, and I am still searching for a comic book I read, and re-read, and re-read, way back in the fourth grade. Ah, nostalgia.

So I thought I would enjoy revisiting the original X-Files series. A friend has it on his FIOS stick thingie, and he lent it to me. The wife and I settled in for nostalgia overload over the past couple of nights and we watched the pilot and the first two episodes from Season 1. And you know what? I didn’t feel nostalgic at all. Instead, I just felt old.

Not sure why. Well, actually I have a pretty good idea. It’s because I was an adult when I saw the show’s original run. Not a kid. Now I’m just an older adult. And it’s not a comforting feeling.

Don’t know if we’ll continue to watch Season 1. We have the FIOS thingie for another five days. I think if, perhaps, I got Little One into it the show might deliver a good vibe for me, but the wife doesn’t think she’s old enough yet. I dunno; I’ve watched John Carpenter’s The Thing and Vin Diesel’s Pitch Black with her, to no ill effect. But I’ll capitulate to the Mrs. on this. Probably because I’m feeling old …

Miscellanea

Movies on Deck:

The Walk

Everest

Current TV rage:

Portlandia

Current musical infatuation:

Mozart, particularly his piano concertos