This summer has been a big one for the fanboy (and girl) nation. Geeks have rejoiced as their favorite icons have come to grace the silver screen either once again or for the first time -- Tony Stark, Indiana Jones, Bruce Wayne, Bruce Banner, Kit Kittredge -- with each film accompanied by its own modest fan frenzy (yes, a $155 million opening weekend equals modest 'round these parts).

But naturally, as if so often the case with the potent combo of radical fanaticism and internet anonymity, the nastier trolls have not seen fit to shirk their responsibility of maintaining the sacred Tomatometer with a crudely constructed death threat or two (or two hundred). For them, this is personal. They can't possibly enjoy their long-awaited flick should some goateed snob decide to feel any degree of lukewarm or otherwise before the public gets their peek.

This is blood for blood, and by the comment. These are the new days, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days. They're back.

When you think Chris Carter, you think spooky, right? Well, don't feel bad, most of us do. But as it turns out, Carter very well might have pulled a fast one and is already directing another film right under our noses -- and no, it's not X-Files 3. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carter is already hard at work on a dark coming-of-age drama called Fencewalker, starring Natalie Dormer (The Tudors), Katie Cassidy (daughter to David), Xzibit (fresh from the set X-Files), Derek Magyar and Meckah Brooks.

So far there are very few details about the project, and reps for the actors and Carter have not confirmed whether or not the production was even underway (seems like an awful lot of effort for an indie drama, but who am I to judge?). Little is known about the story as well, but THR did say that it's "essentially a coming-of-age semiautobiographical character piece with no supernatural elements" -- well, you can't blame a guy for wanting to fight against type. Fencewalker was described as a "passion project" for Carter, who also wrote the script and independently financed the flick.

If you're familiar with Carter's M.O. when it comes to keeping secrets, then a covert project isn't exactly outside the realm of possibility. (Besides, if he's making a film about himself, why wouldn't he keep it secret -- he's a hush hush kind of guy!) Think about it, the man already managed to shock us once already this year -- what's one more surprise?

The Cannes Film Festival got off to a kind of dark and depressing start, with two movies about the worst side of humanity screening. But hey, it wouldn't be a film festival without some nice movies about human suffering to brighten your day, right?

Seriously, though, we can see light-hearted rom-coms anytime; a festival like Cannes is where you go to see movies that make you ponder life, wax philosophical with friends about the use of voice-over in film and the deeper metaphorical meanings of this or that scene, and geek out over things like editing and cinematography.

The National Post ran a story today about the press conference the X-Files cast and crew held on Wednesday. (Minus Gillian Anderson, who seems to be practically absent from this whole circus in general.) The cast and crew thanked Vancouver and revealed that those photos of Mulder and Scully kissing were fake.

"We staged that," David Duchovny told reporters. The article mentions the photo causing "breathless speculation about the characters' are-they-or-aren't-they romance" which makes me wonder what sites they visited. Only the most diehard sites could be breathless about it -- and only fans who completely forgot the whole offspring element.

Director Chris Carter complained about the attention focused on the production. "It's been a two-way street. To tell you the truth, I would like to make the movie secretly and put it out there on July 25, have everybody get a gift they could open." Is that why your movie still doesn't have a title?

USA Today has a piece up today about 16 "hot" movies to watch for in 2008. Here's the list:

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Sex and the City: The Movie
The Dark Knight
Mamma Mia!
The X-Files
Quantum of Solace (aka the New James Bond Flick)
Star Trek
Iron Man
Speed Racer
The Incredible Hulk
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Madagascar: The Crate Escape
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Day the Earth Stood Still

If you thought werewolves were scary, just you wait. According to Hollywood North Insider, the new X-Files movie, strangely called X-Files: Done One, will have Fox Mulder and Dana Scully heading up to northern Canada -- Newfoundland, to be exact. Their sources say that the extras for the film are being told that they are "Newfies," which is slang for people from Newfoundland, and that they need swimsuits for a scene being shot on a reservation in Mount Currie. Is this where werewolves come from? Considering the suit angle, I wonder -- are the beasties titillated by the appearance of an over-abundance of skin?

Meanwhile, X-FilesNews.com has another source that has provided possible set pictures and call sheets. While the 'Newfies' will be prancing around in bathing suits, this call sheet shows lots of snow, and what's going one with some of the players involved -- like Billy Connelly's Father Joe, as well as Amanda Peet, and Xzibit. So far, this is looking to be one strange film. Whether that strangeness will translate into a good return of the story and characters -- that remains to be seen.

Personally, I just keep thinking about video games. Xzibit makes me think of Def Jam: Fight for New York, which makes me imagine that game X-Files style. I can see it now: Cancer Man stubs smokes out in opponent's eyes, Xzibit trains you, since he's an old pro by now, and Scully just beats down on everyone. Ah, I wish.

I'll just come right out and say it: I think werewolves are dumb. They could be interesting, and I'm sure they once were, but for me they're typically a let down, whether they be the lame werewolves in Wes Craven's Cursed or the badly generated werewolf transformation in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban or even the blood-splattering werewolves of a well-written horror film like Dog Soldiers. Maybe it's because the first werewolves I was familiar with growing up were Michael Jackson in the "Thriller" video and Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf, but whatever the reason, the fact remains that I don't think they're scary and I don't think they're cool.

So, you can imagine how disappointed I was to see JoBlo's new spy shots from the set of "X-Files: Done One" (aka X-Files 2), which feature what looks to be a werewolf mask. I guess there's a chance that thing in the photos could simply be a wolf -- not of the 'were' variety -- and that would be OK. But seeing as this is the paranormal world of X-Files, I'm betting on my first thought being correct.

For other fans of the show, these photos are probably pretty exciting. They're certainly a lot more interesting than that first pic we saw last month, and more intriguing than these simple photos and video of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson from FlynetOnline or these more official shots from ComingSoon.net. Also, with all the secrecy surrounding the plot of the sequel, these photos allow us to speculate a great many things while we wait to hear about the actual plot synopsis. Perhaps one of those new cast members, say Xzibit or Billy Connolly or Amanda Peet turns into a werewolf. Wouldn't that be super neat? Yeah, well you already know I think it would be boring, but I'm trying to be excited for the rest of you.

It's been so long since I last saw an X-Files episode that I haven't the tiniest recollection of how the series ended. So, it isn't surprising that I'm a little confused about the plot of the upcoming X-Files movie sequel/series spin-off. The guys at Moviehole have the scoop on some heavily spoilerific details on at least the first half hour of the untitled XF2*. Apparently it involves more aliens, a "Frankenstein-type" doctor, body snatchers, missing persons and a hostage situation being investigated by some new FBI agents we've never met before, including one who might serve the bureau as the "new Mulder". There's also another main agent character that might be played by Lance Henriksen, despite the fact that the actor has previously been on the show as his Millennium character, Frank Black. According to Moviehole, there's no sign of Mulder and Scully in the first-act synopsis given to them by "a little green man," which would certainly be a problem were it to be true.

Imagine an X-Files movie without David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. Or, even one that didn't feature them prominently. Obviously, this is not the case with XF2; it's probable that they will indeed be re-introduced early on in the movie and will appear a lot throughout the first act in their own part of the grand scheme of the plot -- the synopsis shared with Moviehole is likely just the subplot that doesn't involve them, perhaps because it's being shot first and/or separately. Anyway, as always, the truth is out there, somewhere, and it's only a matter of time before we hear what the real deal is. Moviehole additionally reports that casting is currently happening in Canada, so hopefully we'll hear some news on that soon, as well. As we previously learned, the movie is supposed to begin shooting in December and is set to hit theaters next July.

*UPDATE: Apparently the plot/character details are incorrect and director Chris Carter is merely using old character descriptions in order to more-secretly cast for XF2. Thanks to all the commenters for pointing out the correction.

It's taken a bit of time for the trades to catch up to the long-awaited X-Files sequel, currently being referred to as X-Files 2, but now that they have a flurry of information has hit the net. Variety just announced that 20th Century Fox has set a release date of July 25th, 2008 (that's this summer people!!) for the first X-Files flick in ten years. Unfortunately, that's all we know right now, and a plot synopsis was not released, but they did offer up the following: "Studio is keeping the film's logline under wraps, but stressed the pic is a stand-alone story and supernatural thriller that takes the complicated relationship between Mulder and Scully in new directions."

Hmm, so they're taking their complicated relationship in new directions, huh? Perhaps the two will get married and have a child that turns out to be ... a Predalien?! Could it be? Maybe? As of right now, the only other films opening on that same weekend are the Will Ferell/John C. Reilly comedy Step Brothers, and yet another Ice Cube family flick. What's up with Cube and the family flicks, anyway? He was really doing well with the badass roles (although XXX: They Should've Stopped at Diesel didn't exactly live up to the hype it didn't receive); I wish he'd go back to kicking butt. Or, if not that, then give us another another another Friday. All that being said, X-Files 2 should do fairly well against its competition, but they'll need to WOW us a bit when it comes time for trailers. A stop at NY ComicCon this spring wouldn't hurt either.

Random Note: For some reason I kept writing X-Men, and not X-Files, but caught the mistake right before I pushed this sucker live. That would've been a funny one, huh? Oh, the comments ...

Although nothing is official, it looks like we could be one step closer to a live action Dragon Ball Z. CHUD is reporting that an "old and trusted scooper" has confirmed that James Wong (Final Destination) has signed to write and direct a big-screen version of Akira Toriyama's anime series. According to CHUD's sources (one, Tailgunner Joe), a casting notice was released that had not only attached Wong as writer/director, but gave a hint as to what characters would be included in the film. Some of the names mentioned include; Goku, Bulma, Mai, and Gohan. Now, to be fair, I'm not as well-versed in Dragon Ball as some, so I'll leave it to the fans out there to tell me if anyone has been overlooked.

The series was adapted from Toriyama's original Dragon Ball manga, and first appeared on Japanese television in 1989. It was then released in China, Europe, and eventually made its way to the US. The series centered on Son Goku (the protagonist from the original manga) all grown up with children of his own. All the while instilling family values while defending the Earth against various bad guys. The series even ran into some censorship problems when it was released in the States because it included some crude humor and a level of violence that US audiences weren't used to in their children's content -- which seems silly if you think about it; have these people ever seen Rabbit Fire?

Just last month, TV Squad had reported that shooting was due to start this year on the film, which might mean that there is more to CHUD's report than idle gossip. Plus, Wong hasn't directed a film since 2006's Final Destination 3, so it's not like he doesn't have the time. We'll know soon enough if Tailgunner Joe can be trusted though; Dragon Ball Z will reportedly begin shooting in Montreal, Canada this November.