X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)

I watched the supernatural “X-Files” TV series with so-so religious devotion, and the 1998 “X-Files: Fight the Future” film was well-timed, bringing back paranormal FBI agent investigators Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson). Yet, by the time “X-Files: I Want to Believe” came 10 years later, I was over the show. So seem the actors and creator/director Chris Carter. This is a “stand-alone” episode, not just in theme, but time. It’s more akin to “Se7en.” Not anything to obsess over. Here, Scully works miserably at a Catholic hospital, while Mulder clips news articles and miserably grows a beard. A perplexing case involving a missing FBI agent, a severed arm, and a psychic criminal priest (Billy Connolly) brings our heroes back to flashlights in the dark and grisly conspiracies, and as the mystery is uncovered, the limits of PG-13 ratings are stretched as is any semblance of logic: A hero hears dogs barking in No Where West Virginia and instantly recognizes the bad guy’s lair. Really? No one here has been to West Virginia, the snow screams Canada. Believe? My faith vanished long ago. C+

The Jonses (2009)

America’s addiction to consumer glitz gets skewered in “The Jonses,” a satirical comedy-drama about an atypical family with Demi Moore and David Duchovny as mom and dad, respectively. One will figure out the film’s wink-wink catch within 10 minutes, but I’ll hold dishing on it. The gist is, of course, that keeping up with the Jonses -- who have the best cars, latest cell phones, killer TV gaming system and the tastiest flash-frozen food you’ll ever eat -- is hell. The Jonses have unlimited funds. Their neighbors do not. The deficit is not kind. Much of the film plays like “Fantasy Island”: People live like this? What jobs do they have? No one here seems to work. It’s sci-fi to me. Director/writer Derrick Borte has a point to grind, and he does it well for a while, but there’s a nagging feeling that a thousand companies fought to get their products placed on camera, from the Audis to the coffee makers, and the fancy-pants Dell laptop at film’s end, all to make the audience say, “I want that.” Muddled message, eh? Duchovny and Moore are fantastic, movie stars forever. B-