Wondercon sucked this year. In the main hall room with the panels, as opposed to years past, each panel had a moderator who asked their own dumb questions for a while and then turned it over to the audience, BUT Wondercon had people there screening questions and standing by the mic like crazy.

I guess the incident with Ali Larter at Wondercon 2007 forced them to make changes. In fact, I even saw that Pappy guy at this Wondercon. He was sporting a t-shirt gloating about how he got Larter's character killed off "Heroes." He was in line to ask Anne Hatahway an innocent question, told me it was "Is it true that you turned down the starring role in Knocked Up because of your objections to the "Crowning" scene?"

But the Wondercon people saw him and his t-shirt and told him to get out of line or they would call security. He said they wouldn't even screen his question, they were too mad about the Larter incident last year.

Too bad because I didn't think the Larter incident was all that bad and he had a good question.

Unfortunately this guy single-handedly ruined Wondercon for years to come since they have moderators now and don't let the whole session go Q&A with fans.

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.$