Movie News
WonderCon 08: The X-Files 2
Posted by Rob Hunter (rob@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 25, 2008
Easily the most anticipated panel at WonderCon this year was for The X-Files 2. The crowd was at capacity for the first time this weekend, and they cheered loudly at even the smallest things. The girl that came out to place the name cards dragged the act out for a few minutes as each card drew a bigger response from the audience. By the third and fourth card (for Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny), the audience had become a writhing mass of sweat and sex juices. (In the interest of honesty, I myself am a huge fan of the show, particularly the Duchovny years, but I was able to keep my bodily fluids in check.)
The panel was preceded by a very slick-looking new trailer… the very one leaked to YouTube less than a day later. (And no, I am not the nefarious scoundrel responsible for said leakage.) The trailer showed off some great action pieces as well as some fresh faces including Amanda Peet and Billy Connolly. The crowd’s response was huge, but easily dwarfed by the screams and cheers once the guests actually came onstage. It’s apparently a big deal that Duchovny and Anderson appeared together as they never have at any convention prior. The reason for that was evident on their faces (on creator/writer/director Chris Carter’s face as well) as they absolutely did not want to there. It’s clear they appreciate the fans, but you can tell this is not their preferred scene. Yes they were tired from shooting the night before and flying in that morning, but they looked bored and put out for the first fifteen minutes or so.
They jumped right in with the Q and A (which culminated in the weekend’s second example of the crowd acting as moral arbiter… see my article on Get Smart for the first.) Fans seemed mixed on the idea of the sequel being less concerned with the X-Files mythology (ie. aliens, Cancer Man, and the black goo) and more of a ‘monster of the week’ movie. I for one am thrilled by the news, as I think the alien abduction storyline has been driven into the ground. Plus, a stand-alone film will have a wider audience, which means bigger box office, which means more sequels. Carter made two guarantees about the new film, first that “it will scare the pants off you” and second, that we’ll “see Mulder and Scully in a whole new way.”
Duchovny and Anderson were asked how difficult it was getting back into these characters. Anderson replied that she “sucked for the first two days of shooting… I kept telling myself no no, that’s a Scully mannerism, before realizing that yes, I was supposed to be Scully.” Duchovny agreed saying he was “woefully unprepared” to return to the role. When asked if any other familiar faces return in the new movie, Carter would only say that nobody’s ever really dead in the world of the X-Files.
Towards the end of the questions one fan reminded the panel why they hate coming to these conventions. “I love you guys. You mean more to me than anything else,” she said, with no trace of exaggeration. “My husband had a stroke last night and I’m here.” She was not joking. And after a few seconds of stunned silence, the room erupted with boos and hisses. She mumbled something then fell back into the crowd’s gaping maw.
On a more positive note, Duchovny thanked the crowd for proving to them and the studio that the X-Files still had an audience. Anderson also shared the news that “memorabilia, paraphernalia, and prophylactics” from The X-Files 2 movie set will be auctioned online to benefit various charities.
The X-Files 2 opens July 25th.
Read more articles by Rob Hunter
One Comment
March 18th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
WonderCon 08: The X-Files 2 - Dud!
brovi says:
A NAZI HOLLYWOOD ‘X-FILE 2′ - FOR REAL
“I’M TIRED OF FIGHTING IT.”?(GILLIAN ANDERSON FEB, 2008)
[Reality lies behind the camera not in front.]
CONWONDER 2008 ‘X-FILES 2′ - BROKEN PANEL -
A+ ANDERSON HOLDS INTEGRITY
The upcoming movie ‘X-Files 2′ hype was thrown out to the
somewhat excited San Francisco fans at the WonderCon
2008 event last week. Notably, Gillian Anderson was in true
Anderson form. Resistance.
The ‘horse and pony act’ opened with Spotnitz as the first to
be introduced. He then entered from stage left. Carter’s
introduction came next. He then made his entrance. Both
uneventfully took their seats side by side at the end of a
long table which stretched the length of the stage, facing the
Sci-fi audience. The noisy room jumped to being more
rowdy and steady with moderate applause and shout-outs.
Anderson then suddenly took the stage without being
announced and it was clear that it wasn’t by accident. She
refused to be heeled onto the stage. The house exploded
into riotous appreciation. In the deafening confusion
Duchvony hastily slipped onto the stage at a half run coming
up from behind her. The roaring crowd then noticeably
muted ever so slightly a notch or two. Anderson’s stride
across the stage was relaxed with calm radiance looking
neither left nor right and she seemed almost oblivious to the
malay going on around her. Noticing the drop in the sound
level she whipped a sharp glance over her shoulder, almost
flinching at Duchvony’s rushing in on her unexpectedly.
A bit startled but not surprised, in a spontaneous split
second an expression snapped across her face in the
direction of his feet. She was less than amused.
Simultaneously she remained unruffled, and gracious to a
point, just short of striking out in reflex. The stalking
Californication celebrity looked done in and unkempt while
taking his questionable fill of her thunder. Duchvony
pretended not to notice as he found his way to his chair and
nervously gaged the room while mechanically acting his
jacket onto the back of his chair.
His ‘grasping at straws’ entrance correlates famously and
congruently with his kind of professional ethics. This could
be the sum of his inner working dynamics with Anderson as
a whole then and now, a microcosm or summation of their
decade old rift; a palpably weird and tense moment. His ‘X-
Files 2′ stage debut was an embarrassing and blatantly
awkward moment, tripping them both up. It immediately
brought back 2002 flashbacks of Duchovny’s past
intolerable uneasiness with Anderson’s popularity
overshadowing his own, his then demanding higher pay, and
then his exiting from the TV X-Files first (knowing she
wisely had resigned.) Not much has changed between GA &
DD.
As a prelude to the panel event: For those who may not
know, old Hollywood has stalked and threatened Anderson
with this project for years. Consequently throughout the
panel discussions Anderson displayed a near morose
demeanor and tone. She mixed it up with an occasional
pouty lip of pointed displeasure. She at one point interjected
a show stopping (literally) comment relating to them wanting
to fire her during the X-Files TV series. More importantly,
her absolute refrain from ever endorsing the movie spoke
volumes.
This holds true especially for those who are familiar with the
facts. Old corp. Hollywood, along with their X-Files projects,
has a tarnished and documented history. It’s extremely
oppressive. There’s no love lost between them and
Anderson. This coincides with the hostilities injected and
lack of support from coworkers on the set of the TV X-Files,
in Anderson’s fight against departmental injustices relating
to women’s rights for working mothers. All the boys on the
WonderCon 2008 ‘X-Files 2′ panel showed the world
precisely were they stood (or rather sat) in 2002 when Gillian
Anderson stood up for herself, more importantly for her first
newborn child and for women’s rights.
Taking the bizarre further, corp. Hollywood’s suspiciously
handpicked members [or should we say paid actors] of the
audience and/or questions stunk of methodical foul play. On
average, Carter and old Hollywood’s ‘X-Files 2′ marketing
voice and promoter Duchvony received the sophisticated
beautifully scripted glorifying questions. Anderson got the
star-struck fan on behavioral meds spewing garble.
IN EXAMPLE (to paraphrase):
‘David haven’t you almost got your Doctorate Degree and
you’re famous. Tell us how you do it! Can you please give us
your secret?’
‘Gillian I’ve watched you since I was three …garble, garble
…and X-Files series …garble, garble …I wuvvy you
…goobby, wooby, oobby! …ooh!’
The entire ‘X-Files 2′ broken WonderCon panel affair
[Spotnitz, Carter, Anderson and Duchvony] was captured on
video and spread widely on the internet.
The unedited professionally shot full version (that you could
actually see unhindered)revealed such a truthful state of
affairs indeed. It highly emphasized the reality that this
group is so sadly lacking in mutual comradery and
continuity that the video immediately disappeared off the
net. “Sorry video no longer available” started popping up
everywhere and rightly so [that telling version is no longer to
be found.]
This WonderCon panel’s dirty laundry of bygone X-Files days
captured digitally said it all. No amount of minute Hollywood
office congeniality and/or smiles, backhanded jesting
(mostly directed at GA by DD to include an oral copulation
jab), or poses for the still shot could ever hope to mask the
disjointed lameness of this forced gathering of people.
The WonderCon panel video was killed within 24 hrs and
replaced with a flood of -the same- half dozen giant
beautiful photos showing friendly smiles now plastered all
over the net.
These smiley-face mili-seconds caught digitally were
carefully chosen and constructed as ‘real time’ to
misrepresent the truth of the moment and paint a facade of
solidarity and success. Not even the trick photography of old
Hollywood can put that wonderland back together again.
Overall this ‘X-Files 2′ group of broken pieces was an
example of forced association at its best.
There’s little doubt that this ‘X-Files 2′ movie sequel has all
the indicators of cheap graphics, a lot of Connolly and Peet,
a little of Duchovny and just a hint of substance, Anderson.
Oh, and a substantial amount of public rip off.$