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After a ten year wait, The X-Files returns to the big screen. Is the truth really out there?

The X-Files: I Want To Believe

Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Alvin Joiner
Release Date: 7/25/08

Plot: Very little has been revealed about this follow-up to the incredibly popular sci-fi series The X-Files. It has been ten years since the first X-Files movie, and about six since the series ended. All we know is that Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) are back, and they have moved on with their lives since last we saw them. Scully is back in medicine and Mulder is slowly going crazy with boredom now that he is no longer chasing aliens every day. The movie is not about aliens and moves back to more of the original paranormal roots, with a psychic pedophile priest (Connolly) who is in touch with a missing FBI agent. Supernatural things are going on and the FBI needs their favorite duo.

This movie was a big risk since it is guaranteed to get the fans coming for a view, but what about the people who were never interested to begin with? For everyone who wants to go back to the time of monsters of the week and the couple who defined sexual tension, this is the movie for you. It remains to be seen if it will translate to the general public.

Fan Inspiration: Well, this is obvious. Mulder and Scully have some of the most dedicated and obsessive shipper fans in the fiction/video community. During the show there were little hints to implicate the romantic involvement of the two partners and fans were given what they wanted in the last few seasons. Did it ruin the chemistry for them? Not for me - the two characters are practically glowing with it together. Also this movie will inspire nostalgic memories of the series, with mystery and sci-fi stories and theories.

Dee Doyle brings you the 411 on this weekend’s can’t-miss movie releases.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss
Release Date: 7/11/08

Plot Summary: Big Red and his crew are back for this fiery sequel directed by the King of stunning costumes and visual weirdness, Guillermo Del Toro. The world of Hellboy (Perlman) is one that suits del Toro with its supernatural strangeness and world weary hero. The truce between mankind and the magical world is broken and Prince Nuada (Goss) is out for blood: he wants to reclaim the world for his fantastical kin. With an army of unstoppable beasts, only Hellboy, Liz (Blair) and Abe (Jones) can protect the world, even if it fears and hates them. Will Hellboy protect his adopted home, or is he inevitably drawn to the paranormal creatures that accept him?

Fan Inspiration: Well, the first Hellboy movie already started out the super sweet pairing of Liz and Hellboy. She is now out of the mental institute and in control of her powers, and their relationship has grown as well. This movie also introduces a new pairing of Abe and Princess Nuala. Other than that, keep an eye out for inspiration on very creative adventure/action stories. Hellboy is a fantastic character for angst and reflection pieces due to his struggle between his inner nature and who he wants to be. Del Toro made a world that you will not be able to take your eyes off of and it is just the sort of material writers like to drawn from.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem
Release Date: 7/11/08

Plot Summary: Based very loosely on a book of the same title, this movie will wow audiences with its incredible special effects. Trevor Anderson (Fraser) is an unconventional scientist who goes to Iceland with his nephew Sean (Hutcherson) on an exploratory expedition. They are joined by a local guide named Hannah (Briem) and discover a passage into the very center of the Earth. What awaits them below is anyone’s guess, but it is certain to be incredibly dangerous…and exciting!

If you get a chance to see it in 3-D, I personally highly suggest it because I was lucky enough to see an advance showing with Fraser himself. We were allowed to see a few scenes and, while it may not be a genius plot or screenplay, the visual beauty is well worth it.

Fan Inspiration: The pairing of Trevor/Hannah is canon and looks to be a snarky love/hate sort of relationship which is always funny under the right writer. Plus they are both very attractive people for your video fans! This movie has a beautiful background and idea that will be great for adventure tales and fun mental explorations of your own.

I am always on the look-out for a good immigration story. The topic is a big one in our curriculum. Imagine my delight upon having The Dragon's Child A Story of Angel Island, by Laurence and Kathleen Yep delivered by my fab colleague Jen.

A young boy, Gim Lew, is living with his family in his father's village in China. Father doesn't stay with them, however. He is a Guest of the Golden Mountain. In other words, he lives in America. He comes back periodically, brings money, and takes the sons away. Gim Lew first met his father two years ago, when he was seven years old. His father is a dragon, and the boy is nothing like him.

Gim Lew has a stutter and uses his left hand as well. He is just getting hit with the bamboo rod by his Uncle Jing, when word comes that his father has returned. His father is the most important man in the village, and as he usually brings gifts from San Fransisco, everyone is excited about his arrival. The New Year is just over, and most people could use the extra food that celebrations bring.

Gim Lew is shy around his father. His stutter is more pronounced, and he struggles to communicate with this important man. Imagine his surprise when he finds out that he too, is to return to the Golden Mountain with his father. Eventhough he does not want to go, he knows he must. The situation in China is precarious. If bandits do not get paid, they destroy villages. If the weather fails and the crops die, families will have nothing to eat if money is not sent.

Father soon starts preparing the boy for the "test". Gim Lew must learn every answer to any question that American immigration might ask of him. He is only ten. Can he overcome his shyness and his stutter to please his father?

Laurence and Kathleen Yep tell of the start of a journey and the stay at Angel Island. This story is a piece of their family history, though fictionalized. Readers get a clear view of a Chinese village, and of Shanghai as well. The journey on the ship is not glamorous, and one can only imagine the heat and stench of the hold. Even though Gim Lew's father is an American citizen, and therefore his children are too, the racism he faces everytime that he travels is intense and predictable.

The text is chock full of details that will enrich many a lesson on social justice, immigration, and family. There is a fourteen page essay after the conclusion of the book that details some of the hardships and legislation faced by the Chinese (and American Chinese) from the mid 1800s until the mid 1900s. Also included are some family photographs, and photos of the ships and of Angel Island.

A moving piece of historical fiction.