Review of "Hollywood A.D."
Rebecca Bateman
rebeccaxf@bigfoot.com
http://phile.cjb.net


Well, I've been HAD.

Pun intended.

I really don't know what to think of it. It wasn't *nearly* as cheesy as 
I thought it would be. Not by a long shot. But, well...

What I liked:

- The X-File. LOVED the X-file. Very creepy. Very cool. I really would have 
liked to have seen more about that.

- The fact that they didn't explain everything. Yes, it was somewhat 
frustrating, but it did leave much up to interpretation. (Remember that - 
back when we actually had to THINK about the plot?) Speaking of which, here's 
what I think happened: The dancing bones were some sort of hallucination 
caused by Field Trip-type fungus. (He was a movie producer, after all - 
CGI...) Hoffman's (Abby, anyone?) cell phone was on the dead person because, 
as he said, he was Christ. Maybe he actually *did* die and then come back to 
life. But, Scully's hallucinations? I'm stumped.

- Loved the all the in-jokes - the high heel thing, the fact that the movie 
was filmed in LA on the Fox lot, the bee thing, dressing to the right or the 
left, "Tea Leoni has a crush on me," and so does Gary, blah blah blah. <g>

- Chuck. Gotta love Chuck.

- DD's little references: Micah *Hoffman*, the Bob Dylan quote, etc.

What I did not like:

- The stupid, cheesy movie guy. Like Skinner would *actually* allow the details 
of this case -while it was open- to be revealed to some movie producer who 
planned to write a movie out of it.

- The Leoni/Shandling thing was not as bad as I thought it would be, but I still 
could not watch that coffin love scene twice without gagging.

- Skinner and Scully. Yeeuck.

- The dumb dancing corpses on the movie set. Huh? Was that supposed to be 
creative in some weird Twin Peaks sort of way? Uh-uhn. Ain't buying it.

- Why do we need to see Mulder and Scully *and* Skinner talking on the phone 
in the bubble bath?

- The fact that Scully was laughing every other conversation. Yes, it's nice 
to see her smile, but the stuff she was laughing at *was not funny*. Death, 
heresy, and your job suspension are funny now?

- When Chuck pulled the sounds off the bowl, Jesus was singing Beatles' songs. 
Riiiiiight....


On the whole, it wasn't nearly as ridiculous as I had thought it would be. I'm 
glad the "movie" didn't take too much time in the ep, but I'm still puzzled as 
to the point. I think DD was trying to be too clever almost, and the story 
suffered a bit. It was intelligent in many places, and I'll admit to several 
belly-laughs, but I just don't quite know what to make of it. I suppose, if 
anything, HAD reminded me why The Show should end after this year. When you 
try to do too much and end up with a shortage of good ideas, it's time to leave 
the stage.

And speaking of which - three episodes left and they still don't know whether 
it will be renewed. Anyone else afraid the last ep will be CC hedging his bets 
and the quality will suffer as a result?

But, per my vow, I'm gonna try to overlook what I didn't enjoy and like the ep 
simply because it was The X-Files.