The X-Files: Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"

I finished rewatching season five of the X-Files last weekend which allowed me to rewatch the film for the first time since it was in theaters. In honor of that, I'm posting a five photo album from my favorite episode that I had posted on my old deleted reddit account.

Writer Darin Morgan again proves he's brilliant by stitching together a plethora of neat references and deadpan humor into a seamlessly entertaining story that respectfully pokes fun at the series itself. Here are some of my favorite moments.

"You ever flown a flying saucer? Afterwords, sex seems trite."

Notice the mashed potato homage to Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. 

"I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons

and not learn a little something about courage."

Notice the "I Want To Believe" poster in Blaine's room. 

Conspiracy hound Jesse Ventura as a Man In Black 

Ventura performs a Pendulum Backbreaker on Blaine 

"As for Reynard Muldrake, a ticking timebomb of insanity, 

his quest into the unknown has so warped his psyche one 

shudders to think how he receives any pleasures from life."

Easy. By masturbating while watching the Patterson-Gimlin film.

House Of Cards (2013) [TV Series]

I don't write about television on my blog, but I'm making an exception.

House Of Cards is now available on Netflix to stream. It's their self produced series starring Kevin Spacey, part of their foray into original content. It's Amazing! Spacey plays Congressman Francis Underwood, and the series is about sausage making... or rather the inner workings of our federal government's leadership. I'm talking Congress, The Executive Branch; likely the Judicial Branch will even come into play at some point. It's dark, it's gritty, and it relishes the sadism of power. This is how DC works. The backstabbing, the power plays, the vengeance. It's the government as rotting corpse, draped with the American flag.

Cleverly written with subtle double meanings, foreshadowing, and character revelations, not to mention Kevin Spacey occasionally breaking the fourth wall to great effect. And that's just the pilot episode! David Fincher's black eye truly lends itself to the subject matter. Old Monk hand Jeff Beal turns in a perfectly toned score. The acting? Unspeakably good. They even threw in a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's Witness For The Prosecution, simply to allude to .

Brilliant. Watch it. Now. 10/10.