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X Marks the Spot: The X-Files and the conspiracy sphere

The X-Files all but defined the 1990s. As a television show, it was not only a cultural phenomenon for the majority of its run, but it also set a template for the serialized storytelling that is dominating the current landscape. Beyond that, however, it also defined the decade by helping, for good or ill, to crystallize the …

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‘Citizenfour’ seethes with paranoia and anger

Citizenfour A Documentary Directed by Laura Poitras Germany/USA, 2014   Citizenfour functions not only as a great primer on the Edward Snowden NSA case, but also as a straight espionage-thriller.  While at times self-aggrandizing and frustratingly vague, Laura Poitras’ documentary is never less than fascinating, frightening and infuriating.  This is a must see for political …

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Ten Conspiracy Thrillers with Cynical Resolutions

In his book Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, journalist Rick Pearlstein posits that Nixon, one of history’s most reviled presidents, manipulated social trends, tense racial crises and even war to assume the office, and, perhaps inadvertently, created the way the Right and Left deal with each other in the present day. The scars of the seventies indeed still hang like a dark cloud over Washington, its internal systems ravaged by covert bugging operations and illegal payoffs. With Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations and Wikileaks at the forefront today, America has once again regressed into paranoia, though nothing in contemporary cinema compares to the violent, bleak reactions filmmakers had to the Watergate scandal. The occasional modern conspiracy thriller, such as Closed Circuit, typically winds up under the radar these days. Why? Because America already saw this show, and now it’s on Blu-ray.

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The X-Files Conspiracy #2: A Mediocre Ending To A Mediocre Crossover

Written by Paul Crilley Art by John Stanisci Colors by Stephen Downer Letters by Chris Mowry Standard Cover by Miran Kim Published by IDW Publishing After a meandering and, more often than not, tedious tour through several of IDW’s licensed properties, the Lone Gunmen return to their usual stopping grounds for a perfunctory ending to …

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X-Files Conspiracy: The Crow #1 Surprisingly The Most Effective Chapter Yet

Written by Denton J. Tipton Art by Vic Malhotra Colors by Matheus Lopes Letters by Shawn Lee Standard Cover by Miran Kim Published by IDW Publishing While this issue by no means achieves the level of fun and playfulness a storyline like this needs to thrive, this final chapter, before the narrative winds its way …

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X-Files Conspiracy: Transformers #1 Has A Hard Time Meeting the Eye

Written by Paul Crilley Pencils by Dheeraj Verma Colors by Joana Lafuente Letters by Chris Mowry Standard Cover by Miran Kim Published by IDW Publishing Unfortunately, X-Files Conspiracy: Transformers #1 features the same problems that have plagued this crossover nearly since the beginning: ho-hum reactions by the Lone Gunmen to the fantastic characters they’re meeting, …

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The X-Files Conspiracy: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 – Why Isn’t This More Fun?

Written by Ed Brisson Pencils by Michael Walsh & Inks by Adam Gorham Colors by Jordie Bellaire & Letters by Chris Mowry Standard Cover by Miran Kim Published by IDW Publishing This issue of The X-Files Conspiracy crossover features the biggest potential breaking point of the concept yet. Whereas the Ghostbusters in the previous issue, …

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In X-Files Conspiracy: Ghostbusters #1, Ghosts Are Real, But No One Seems To Care.

X-Files Conspiracy: Ghostbusters #1 Written by Erik Burnham Art by Salvador Navarro Colors by Esther Sanz Standard Cover by Miran Kim Published by IDW Publishing This issue finds the Lone Gunmen arriving in New York City, intent on tracking down the first “urban legend” found in the “files from the future” they received in X-Files: …

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Portrayals of Nazis on film

Godwin’s Law, a well-known law of the internet dating back to the virtually prehistoric times of 1990, states that ‘as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one’ (see TV Tropes). Perhaps a related law should be established stating that ‘the more films are made within a …

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