You've watched The X-Files. If you were too young to watch it when it was on TV, then you went through a phase when you were 13 and trying to impress that mysterious, older, proto-goth in your geometry class. It's the show that created both the monster-of-the-week format and the series-long mystery, and -- tragically -- it never really got a worthy successor. Fringe is earnest but unwatchable, Supernatural is sorta unwatchable, and what the hell is Warehouse 13? See, no other show has captured a subtly beautiful relationship like the one between Mulder and Scully -- the believer-skeptic dichotomy, tempered by the raw heat of sexual tension.
And that, my friends, is where Pacific Rim comes in (I work that movie into all my columns). If you exclude all the scenes that involve elbow-rockets or cutting skyscraper-sized monsters in half lengthwise, then this is the best scene in the movie:
In case you can't watch that clip because you're at your job "contributing to society" or whatever, here's the rundown: Charlie Day is excitedly explaining some pseudo-science bullshit that he wants to do to a giant alien monster. Meanwhile, Ron Perlman is skeptical, confused, and essentially just Ron Perlman as hell about it. I mean, look at those goddamn sunglasses. Who else could pull that off? Nobody.
Warner Bros.
Not even Perlman, arguably.
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