SFF On-topic Chat

1:42 PM

@Randal'Thor 12 and 12. And i thought it was that no one cared.

4:11 PM

Decided to watch Superman II. Maybe it's just me, but an 8.5 minute montage of clips from the first movie to pad out the credits seems like overkill.

...the Daily Planet is running an article about a terrorist attack on Paris? wow, that's a hell of a coincidence :/

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec I suspect that Superman writers were more motivated by Eiffel Tower visuals than by any realistic geopolitical considerations.

Ixrec

definitely

DVK-in-exile

Might be worth asking on main Q&A... in case someone digs out some interview or Richard has a novelization :)

Ixrec

there's something very contradictory about making your own orange juice from fresh oranges while also holding a cigarette in your mouth

Rincewind

4:31 PM

Oh look... some new thing!

What we talk about in here?

Jul 10 at 12:28, by DVK-in-exile

This room is for chatting about SciFi and Fantasy works. If it's ontopic on the main site, it's ontopic here.

Thought this was Mos ^?

Ixrec

Mos is for talking about whatever on Earth you feel like

this room is for staying on-topic

I wonder why they chose astronauts to be the red shirts the evil Kryptonians kill for no reason

Rincewind

@Ixrec Cause.... Space?

@Ixrec ..... Well.... So was Mos.

Ixrec

actually the bigger question is why was the Phantom Zone gate close enough to Earth to be shattered by the nuke Superman threw up there in the first place

Rincewind

:p

@Ixrec That would be a question

Ixrec

indeed

DVK-in-exile

4:35 PM

@Ixrec Early exposition? Since they didn't get to earth yet?

@Ixrec Also.... mayhem and murder.... IN SPACE! :)

Ixrec

very slow floaty mayhem!

and random canonization of a joint US-Soviet space program because everyone can be friends in this universe

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec If you don't plan to ask on the main site, please let me know, and I'll ask. Now you made me intensely curious if that's somehow explained in-universe

Ixrec

I probably will

after I actually finish watching the movie

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec Well... that's actually among the MORE realistic things :)

Ixrec

thankfully yes

DVK-in-exile

4:37 PM

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) (Russian: Экспериментальный полёт «Союз» — «Аполлон», Eksperimantalniy polyot Soyuz-Apollon, lit. "Experimental flight Soyuz-Apollo"), conducted in July 1975, was the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight, as a symbol of the policy of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time. It involved the docking of an Apollo Command/Service Module with the Soviet Soyuz 19. The unnumbered Apollo vehicle was a surplus from the terminated Apollo program and the last one to fly. This mission ceremoniously marked the end of the Space Race that had begun in 1957...

I actually made scale model of them for school project, back when

Ixrec

I like the needlessly pink bear rug

Rincewind

@Ixrec ... Ought I to be worried?

Ixrec

that Kent made a really strange hotel choice? probably

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec Which scene was that in? Google-fu is failing me

Ixrec

Rincewind

4:41 PM

@DVK-in-exile The one by the falls when he save Louise and she finds out he is superman!

@Ixrec There you go..

Ixrec

not that scene lol

Rincewind

@Ixrec Or that you like it.... 0.0

Ixrec

it's amusing

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec Umm.... Umbridge's permanent room for overseas vacation?

Rincewind

@Ixrec lol...

DVK-in-exile

4:45 PM

Make me wonder if Louis picked the room and not Clark?

Ixrec

apparently they're investigating this hotel chain for some vaguely nefarious deeds

Rincewind

@DVK-in-exile I think it was Clark cause wasn't he all embarrassed about it?

@Ixrec They certainly have a list of crimes against Taste and Decor

DVK-in-exile

@Rincewind Yah, it also doesn't sound like her personality at all from my limited knowledge of DC canon

Ixrec

neither of them is particularly happy with the room itself, lol

I'm a little surprised the Fortress of Solitude simply lets Lex Luthor walk right in

DVK-in-exile

@Rincewind Look at it this way. It could have been worse. Could have had a heart shaped bed, mirror on the ceiling and pink kittens

Ixrec

4:49 PM

the bed is circular, but the pillows and the hot tub are heart-shaped

Rincewind

@DVK-in-exile ... If I remember right it at least had two of those three things!!

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec Is the fortress actually in any way sentient as a whole outside the specially activated crystals?

Rincewind

@DVK-in-exile That is however better than my zero DC canon knowledge

Ixrec

in this continuity I guess it's not

Rincewind

@DVK-in-exile I think not...

Ixrec

4:50 PM

I'm probably getting that idea from the more recent DC movies

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec My last one was the one where Supes has an illegitimate child and abandons him.

Ixrec

when was that!?

Rincewind

@Ixrec Superman returns I think

ok going to go for a bit!

DVK-in-exile

Superman Returns

Superman Returns is a 2006 American superhero film directed and produced by Bryan Singer. It is based on the DC Comics character Superman and serves as a homage sequel to the motion pictures Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980), ignoring the events of Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). The film stars Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, with James Marsden, Frank Langella, and Parker Posey. The film tells the story of the title character returning to Earth after a five-year absence. He finds that his love interest...

Ixrec

wow, the phantom zone was created just for these three evil guys

I thought it got a bit more use than that

DVK-in-exile

4:54 PM

@Ixrec I suppose that the marginal cost of creating an energy jail is rather low, unlike physical one.

Ixrec

this feels like something that goes all over the place depending on the writer

e.g. the current Supergirl TV show had a huge physical space station inside the Phantom Zone with dozens of inmates

LOL, the pink bear rug contributed to the plot!

DVK-in-exile

I wonder, how long is the average that it takes Louis to figure out Clark's real identity across all continuities? She seems really clueless for an investigative reporter with a fixation on Superman AND close proximity to both identities.

Ixrec

5:09 PM

tbh I think 1.5 movies is a perfectly reasonable time frame for her to work it out

at least in this continuity

the time skip between movies seems like it'd cover the "omfg extraterrestrials are real, is he on our side? are we all going to die?" phase that most of us would probably have to get past before doing secret identity deductions

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec What is the actual in universe time that passes between S1 and S2?

Ixrec

that might be another question worth asking, it "feels" like a couple years but I dunno of any clear evidence

DVK-in-exile

A bigger question is: how does the sure knowledge that aliens are for real after Superman's reveal change human society in DCverse? A lot of SciFi assumes it's a Big Deal revelation.

Ixrec

I was under the impression DC normally does to, isn't he like the first superhero of the modern era other than Batman or something?

DVK-in-exile

@Ixrec Think so. But I mean the high level fact that "aliens are for realz". "We are not alone in the Universe" type of thing.

Ixrec

5:14 PM

true, did the Justice Society include any aliens?

I suppose "superheros are real!" is different from "aliens are real!"

DVK-in-exile

So next question is... whether, how, and when, is it revealed to people at large that Superman is an alien, not just an unexplained miracle of nature?

Ixrec

iirc in this continuity he said so when Lois interviewed him in the first movie

DVK-in-exile

So, where's the whole "let's give shitload of money to SETI and up the space program" inevitable outcome? :)

Ixrec

If his planet blew up, not much left to look for in that part of space at least

DVK-in-exile

5:39 PM

@Ixrec Right, but if he's an alien means the chances of MORE OTHER aliens is now much higher. Basic Bayesian reasoning :)

Ixrec

on the other hand, in Marvel-land and DC-land the aliens keep coming to Earth on their own so we don't really have to look

DVK-in-exile

6:05 PM

@Ixrec WRONG kind of aliens, considering they keep smashing things.

Even more important to break out into space, to seek allies

Napoleon Wilson

6:19 PM

@DVK-in-exile I know people/the internet don't really like that film, but I always appreciated its strong feel of nostalgia very much, even if it's sure not the best Superman film.

DVK-in-exile

@NapoleonWilson It didn't really leave too much impression on me, not too awful, not too great. But the character was not at all likeable, which is contrary to my expectations of Superman.

Napoleon Wilson

Yeah, he stayed a little pale indeed.

DVK-in-exile

It definitely was an improvement on Superman IV :)

Ixrec

I'm feeling like Reeve's first two movies should have me covered for classic Superman movies, are any of the others must watches?

Napoleon Wilson

Urgh, I don't think I ever saw the infamous 4th one. But the 3rd was already enough for me. Richard Pryor in all honours, but not in a Superman film please.

@Ixrec So yeah, pretty much.

@DVK-in-exile How the Wikipedia onebox always picks the stupidest images from the article. ;-)

b_jonas

6:38 PM

@NapoleonWilson Fourth what? Ice Age film?

Oh, Superman.

Napoleon Wilson

16 mins ago, by Ixrec

I'm feeling like Reeve's first two movies should have me covered for classic Superman movies, are any of the others must watches?

Ixrec

6:52 PM

@DVK-in-exile asked

I think the other one or two askable questions from that conversation came from you so I'll stick with just the one

> In a film duo already packed with amazing special effects, the greatest of these was the reversal-of-time sequence, performed by Superman flying the Earth in reverse ... it was a massively expensive effect for the production (arguably the most eye catching of either film). Crucially, it was intended as the climax for Superman II. If Superman II never came to be, then the shot would be wasted; thus, it was moved to the end of Superman.

O_O

DVK-in-exile

@NapoleonWilson I don't know, but let's ask:

0

Q: How does OneBox decide which image to pull out of Wikipedia article?

I posted a oneboxed Wikipedia link in chat, and the image picked was seemingly a random image from the article. It wasn't the first image in source HTML it wasn't the first image in rendered HTML it wasn't the first image alphabetically. The link was to main article, NOT to an anchor tag insi...

@Ixrec You're welcome to them. I have far more questions to ask on the site than allowed by either my laziness or by willingness of site users to tolerate a flood of questions from a single user :)

Ixrec

looks like the super obvious question has been done already:

12

Q: Superman throwing the S!

Was this an original comic book power of Superman or Fortress defence... or was this completely made up by the director Richard Lester? There's quite a few sites which talks about this, probably the best two which contradicts one another are these where the first mentions the throwing of the "S"...

movie dc-comics superman

DVK-in-exile

@NapoleonWilson Very few films survive 3rd sequel (well, 2d, being pedantic), without a loss in quality. The only ones that come to my mind immediately are Harry Potter (even there #3 was imho far worse than first 2) and Highlander, although if you pretend H2 didn't exist then it also follows the rule).

Ixrec

Mad Max?

DVK-in-exile

7:07 PM

@Ixrec Which one was #3? I don't remember them too well. Was that the Tina Turner one?

Napoleon Wilson

@DVK-in-exile Hah, thanks for asking. I never bothered to, but it always bugged me.

Ixrec

I only know Fury Road but I don't recall anyone saying that was a low point

Napoleon Wilson

@DVK-in-exile I would add Star Wars and LotR to that list, but am sure not everybody agrees to the former.

DVK-in-exile

@NapoleonWilson it bugged me after I posted THAT specific onebox as well, so I figured it merits the effort

@Ixrec Fury Road is a reboot, isn't it? (didn't see it yet)

Napoleon Wilson

@Ixrec Well, we're talking 3rd part (or so I thought) and Beyond Thunderdome, while nice, couldn't really beat Road Warrior, IMHO.

Ixrec

7:10 PM

@DVK-in-exile iirc none of the Mad Maxes are necessarily meant to share a continuity; the director said they were all "legends" or something like that

DVK-in-exile

@NapoleonWilson Star Wars, good point. LOTR, I don't think actually classifies as "sequels" in that they are simply 3-part ecranization (sp?) of the same single book.

Napoleon Wilson

@Ixrec Yeah, which actually is a great feature not found that often in nowadays' continuity-seeking society. James Bond is another (albeit off-topic) example, even if the latest movies go into a much more continuous direction, too.

@DVK-in-exile Good point. Though, you could argue that from the 2nd onward Star Wars was planned as a trilogy, too.

Ixrec

I feel like it happens fairly often but rarely as part of a formal "series", precisely because there's no intended continuity

DVK-in-exile

@NapoleonWilson If your believe Lucas, from 1st on it was planned as novemology. If that word exists.

Ixrec

the Dollars trilogy and the Cornetto trilogy come to mind for instance

Napoleon Wilson

7:13 PM

In fact Beyond Thunderdome even started as a totally different story (concentrating on the Lord of the Flies style kids' society) and was only later reappropriated as a Mad Max film.

@DVK-in-exile Meh, while I certainly don't hate him as much as the internet wants me to, I'm not really buying that. ;-)

Ixrec

there's at least a half dozen questions on our sites about how much Lucas did or didn't plan

iirc the answer was "it changes every time you ask him and no one knows for sure"

Napoleon Wilson

@Ixrec Hah, the (alleged) Dollars "trilogy" is a pet peeve of mine actually.

Ixrec

I remember reading somewhere that they marketed it as a trilogy retroactively or something

Napoleon Wilson

@Ixrec Indeed! (Though, I fear we're getting off-topic.)

Ixrec

wait, those movies are off-topic

Cornetto trilogy is...2/3 on-topic?

Napoleon Wilson

7:18 PM

@Ixrec I guess.

b_jonas

8:38 PM

@DVK-in-exile There's Shrek (although some believe the 3rd and 4th films didn't have the quality of the originals), Ice Age. If you count prequels, then Despicable Me might grow to this, because it has a sequel and a prequel, and another sequel is planned.

I'll definitely watch.

25

Q: Are there non-squib wizards/witches who work 100% in muggle world?

This Q/A ( Does Hogwarts teach non magical classes? ) made me realize that I can't seem to remember a single HP wizard/witch who had a muggle job with a muggle company, aside from Kingsley's bodyguard cover as the Prime Minister's secretary. Everyone whom I recall being mentioned as having a job...

harry-potter muggles

^ Wasn't there some recent Pottermore entry or something about some witch who is almost unique in that he became famous both in the wizarding and Muggle world? Probably some sportsman or singer or something.

Found it => scifi.stackexchange.com/a/114969/4918

"Thus Angus Buchanan became world-famous among wizards whilst also being celebrated among Muggles, a hitherto unknown achievement."

Ah, but apparently he was a Squib, so that doesn't answer that question.

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