Tag: Quora

Deano’s answer to: “At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, why is Lando wearing Han Solo’s clothes?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

I’d like to submit a theory here:

He’s NOT wearing Han Solo‘s clothes!

Seriously, Han Solo won the Millenium Falcon from Lando Calrissian. Mightn’t he have also won everything on board the ship, including the onboard wardrobe? Because Solo apparently won(*) the Falcon after Lando was already running Cloud City, it would make sense that Lando would shed all of his former smuggler identity when he lost his ship.

Thus, in point of fact:

Lando Calrissian is simply wearing his own old clothes, which had previously been used by Captain Solo.

For those who might argue hygenie/sizing issues with this, keep in mind that:

  • both men are roughly the same size, and
  • it’s fairly common for people to “try on” old clothes that have nostalgia value
  • So-called “spacers(†)” would necessarily exhibit thrift-driven behaviors with regard to any supplies – when you don’t know when or where you may next land, you can’t be too picky about what to eat/wear, when to sleep, etc.

While Truly Evil Bob‘s answer evokes the Star Wars MMO or other video game logic, I think he is on to something – by putting his old outfit back on, Lando Calrissian is expressing/recalling his former smuggler days, which he clearly missed as a responsible colonial administrator.

[UPDATE]

Alexander Bogdan raises an interesting point about documented sourcing of Han Solo’s outfit depicted in semi-canon Star Wars novelizations, but since I’m already merely theorizing, let me extend into the Bat-verse for a supplemental defense:

Perhaps, much like The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Han Solo’s stories about how and where he started wearing his iconic outfit changes with the telling, in order to distract attention from the truth of his background/true origins (which might be used against him somehow), or to increase his perceived reputation/leverage in a given situation.

(* this is mentioned in passing as part of the Millenium Falcon’s Wookiepedia article: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/M…)

(† In the Star Wars Universe, this would primarily represent people who roam from port to port, rather than having a single established planetary base of operations – smugglers, bounty hunters, traders, and the like.)

This answer originally appeared on Quora: At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, why is Lando wearing Han Solo’s clothes?

Deano asks: “Is Summer Glau cursed?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Is Summer Glau cursed? It seems like she’s a main cast member of every promising-but-prematurely-killed SciFi series on network TV for the past several years:

• Firefly

• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

• Dollhouse (okay, ongoing guest star here, but still…)

• The Cape

Has she ever been in anything successful? Is her bad luck the result of some other coincidental factor? Does someone powerful in Hollywood hate her? Does the combination of looks, intelligence, and acting chops hurt her chances? What’s the deal?

And if she is cursed, HOW CAN WE HELP HER!?!? 

Think you know the secret? Write an answer on Quora: Is Summer Glau cursed?

Deano’s answer to: “Are the Black Panther and Storm the right match for one another?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

In a word? No.

(Image courtesy of http://thatsmyskull.blogspot.com…)

While I wouldn’t consider the storyline to smack of racism directly, the “Bachelor-style” run up to the nuptials, combined with the “two African ‘mutant royals’ are a natural fit” logic is just a little too unbelievable to think that this would’ve happened in the real world… At least not without a great many more references to their mutual attraction throughout their respective Marvel timelines. It just seems like they said “Ororo is a black woman, which black dude should we hook her up with?”

(Sorry dude, maybe next time? Image ‘courtesy’ of http://splashpage.mtv.com/tag/de…)

For a counterexample for how a good, realistic, and touching retcon-romance is done, check out Brian Michael Bendis’ amazing Alias miniseries, which seeded the spark of what would be an eventual pregnancy and shotgun marriage between Luke Cage (Power Man) and Jessica Jones (formerly Jewel).

(The beginnings of the best Marvel couple ever! Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/ist…)

As a presumptive “black person” who feels more “ethnically geek” than anything else, I really dislike the appearance in entertainment media that reinforces the idea that people of a given race are happier “with one of their own”… Both because it closes them off to a huge percentage of the general population of potential (better?) matches, but also it just seems… Well… lazy.

“Lazy + Superhero King of Wakanda” just does not compute for me. The fact that it was all just a misguided push to attract black women to comics[*] just makes it sadder, in my opinion.

As for good options for each, I suggest the following candidates:

T’Challa:

  • Sue Storm – scientific genius, similar interests and relationship issues
  • Pepper Potts – she can put up with Tony, she can put up with T’Challa
  • Black Cat – Same feline theme, and if he has to marry a “black” girl… 
  • Goliath – I think it’s insulting that no one considered he might be gay
  • Misty Knight – Great detectives = Sunday morning crossword champs?

Storm:

  • Forge – Come on, put ’em back together!
  • The Falcon – She’s the wind, he’s the bird. Nuff said!
  • Blade – What can I say, sometimes love bites! 
  • Doctor Strange – Her ancestors were witches, they could share clothes
  • Yukio – Punk Mohawk Ororo plus Insane Ninja Hottie = Yes, please!

[* Digging through the Wayback Machine, we find the dirt here: http://web.archive.org/web/20061… ]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Are the Black Panther and Storm the right match for one another?

Deano’s answer to: “What video game displays the best example of storytelling?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Far and away the best example of storytelling in a videogame is:

(Okay boys, now show me… Blue Steel! Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/brn…)

Why MGS IV? It’s simple, really… But in order to fully understand, we need to head to our Magic Dictionary[*], and look up the definition of “storytelling”:

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment.

So, basically, storytelling is the act of… Er… Telling Stories.

Show me another videogame that has a 1604 word plot synopsis on Wikipedia.

Or how about one that includes 9 hours of CGI cut scenes, or roughly an hour or two longer than the time required to play the game? Finish that last boss off? Nothing like kicking back for… a 90 minute cut scene! Hope you went to the bathroom during the gameplay mode.

(How’d I get the name ‘Liquid Ocelot’? Now That’s a story… Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/326…)

In short, because Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots tells, rather than shows or has the player play through that much of the story, it is necessarily the best example of storytelling in a videogame.

Now, if you meant the exact opposite – which video game is best at revealing the story through gameplay, then I’d have to go with the still-unsurpassed Out of This World, aka Another World:


(The re-release has updated graphics, too! Image courtesy http://www.anotherworld.fr)

This game has no dialogue, and no real instructions. Cut scenes are brief, and mostly act as thematic transitions from one level to the next. Learn by doing/experiencing the world itself, and experimenting with different solutions, not all of which work as expected in this utterly alien environment. What could be better? How about a Javascript port of one of the game levels? Okay, here you go: http://www.megidish.net/awjs/

[* Hey Wikipedia, I will sell this name to you for $10,000, and I guarantee it’ll make you rich like bankers! ]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What video game displays the best example of storytelling?

Deano’s answer to: “What are the chances of a Hawkeye feature film?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

From the original question – Hawkeye has an incredible background and seems like the perfect candidate for a grittier darker film. Thoughts?

Hawkeye - Can he handle a movie?
Ready, Aim, Wait - you brought a bow and arrow for the HULK?!?

You know who else had a nice dark, gritty, incredible background?

  • Daredevil
  • Ghost Rider
  • The Punisher
  • Man-Thing (no, really!)
  • Wolverine

Uh-oh(*).

Historically, Marvel’s “dark knights”, if you will, have had a problem: how do you make money on the movie?

  • Because it’s a licensed film, you can’t go too low budget, or you’ll hurt the overall brand.
  • If you aim too wide, especially in terms of movie ratings, a lot of the grit/pathos that makes the character interesting is lost.
  • Related, if you focus too much on star power, what ends up on the screen is Ben Affleck in red leather, rather than Matt Murdock, Daredevil.
  • Of course, stars are bad for other reasons… It might be easier to get a fan of the title to sign on, but then they may use their leverage to screw up the script or direction because they “know better” – looking at you, Nic Cage!
  • Sometimes Hollywood gets lost in the origin issue – how can you tell fun new stories about the Punisher without first doing a “set up” piece about how he became a deranged homicidal maniac?
  • If you ignore the origin and just tell the story, “won’t all the non-fans get lost/turned off?” – this is not entirely unfounded… A lot of Marvel characters, especially, depend on their origin and background in the larger universe to be interesting. The Punisher by any other name… Is a dude with guns killing bad guys. That becomes a “red ocean” problem, where you suddenly ALSO need to just make a kick-ass vigilante action movie to compete with the rest of that genre, on top of everything else.

For these and other reasons, comic book movies tend to have a lot working against them from the very outset… And if the comic title in question isn’t a “household name”, well, for most producers and studios, it’s just too risky to do as a tentpole/blockbuster.

On the brighter side – this is, in large part, why Marvel pulled out of its production deal with Sony in order to found their own studio – use your own cash, make your own rules. And now that they are “free”, their execution has been much better… They will have released the entire “Avengers Core Team” as solo films by the end of 2011 – Hulk, Thor, Cap, and the Tin Can. With the exception of Captain America (not yet released), performance globally has been from decent to astounding.

The next step is to bring them all together in an eye-exploding orgy of hopefully-not-suck called The Avengers, in 2012. That movie should also see an expanded list of tier-two ‘masks’ like Hawkeye getting a bit of screen time… If done right, that might tip such heroes into the household name category, enabling them to star in their own films, gritty or otherwise.

To say the least, there are a lot of “what if’s” involved, and only time will tell. But it’s certainly fair to say that Marvel has learned an important lesson about fully-outsourcing its product to Hollywood, and that while there are likely to be continued misses down the road (Ghost Rider II, whaaaa?!?), the batting averages for the next 20 years are almost going to be better than the last 20.

(* Daniel Shi, like some kind of mothafucka trying to ice skate uphill, pointed out that I left Blade off my list, but I had good reason: the titular hero, while dark and gritty as the rest, had a pretty good “daywalk” at the box office for a movie series of its time – $415,098,928 grossed in theaters across 3 films, with additional revenues from domestic and international licensing, digital, and DVD sales. For more details on the Blade trilogy, check in with my good buddy Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bla… )

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What are the chances of a Hawkeye feature film?