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As 3 months ago I'd like to continue the idea stolen from inspired by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Meta and once again ask the community for their favourite questions and answers from the past quarter. Coincidentally we also have a Self Evaluation going right now which is more objective and motivated by different criteria, though. But it could make for an interesting comparison to contrast it with a more positively-biased evaluation. So let's shove it right into Community's face what a great place for interesting questions and answers this is.

So please link to your favorite questions and answers which were either asked or answered from July 1st 2014 through September 30th 2014.

Since we currently get ~750/1300 questions/answers per quarter, here are some data queries to help with the decision making process:

But those are really just hints, feel free to mention any question or answer you really enjoyed. Also don't hesitate to mention questions and answers you posted yourself but which you think didn't get the apreciation they deserved.

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Quite partial to the "Batman talking to himself" discussion which deals with a potentially silly, "because it's a movie" moment from TDKR by actually supplying a couple of very plausible explanations to it and also delving into the character's psychology. Nicely done.

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So I've skimmed over the last quarter of questions to look for the posts I'd deem good and diverse examples, be it by personal interest, quality, informativity or just originality. This is neither an exhaustive list, as there have been many good questions and answers, nor ordered in any way. And of course this is entirely my own opinion.

Questions:

  • Are more movie stars acting in TV shows nowadays (and if so, why)?

    An excellent general film-industry question. It asks about an observation I (and I guess others) have made before but never got the idea of actually asking about. It adresses the IMHO quite prevalent problem (well, not really a "problem" so much) of TV shows rising in significance and quality nowadays and has elicited some very interesting and insightful answers, even if I feel the topic is still far from exhausted yet.

  • The Matrix vs. eXistenZ: how did they influence each other?

    A very interesting and well-written question about mutual influence of two characteristic movies, even if the last part of the question is a bit inappropriate and unnecessary. The existing answer is also quite exhaustive an reasonable, even if there might still be more to it and an even further analysis of the cultural climate those movies were created in might be in order.

  • Why is Gabriel a lady in Constantine?

    A very intriguing question about quite an interesting casting choice leading to good and exhaustive answers, especially BigBadaboom's one, filled with interviews with Tilda Swinton on the topic.

  • Is Apocalypse Now, an anti-War film or a pro-War film?

    While this question might seem quite simple at first, it has the potential for a much deeper discussion of what actually differentiates a war movie from an anti-war movie, if one can actually make the latter without simultaneously glorifying the war, or if one can glorify war without simultaneously damning it and what important role each individual's subjective reception and attitude towards war actually plays in all this. And the answer is concise and to the point, including Coppola's own comment on the movie.

  • What are the qualities of Watchmen unique to comics and in which way did the movie achieve to adapt those to the medium of film?

    I really love this question for the fact that it tries to tackle the whole problem of comic-adaptations by concentrating on an extremely fitting example, even if it might be a bit broad. And the various answers it generated are quite exhaustive and interesting, approaching the problem from different sides. And this question also motivated an utter comic-ignoramus like me to finally read the source material to a movie I always found quite unique.

Answers:

  • Why isn't James Bond a code name?

    No favourite list without James Bond! I immediately loved this answer when I read it. It is such an obvious and simple explanation of why James Bond is not a code name but a character, even if rather grounded in impression and reception rather than hard proofs. In this way it makes an amazing contrast to all the theories of desparately trying to force the James Bond movies into some kind of reasonable continuity (not that this was a problem with this particular question, as that follows quite a different and interesting premise on its own).

  • Why does Batman talk to himself in the batvoice?

    An excellent answer to what at first seemed like quite obviously answerable as "that's just a throaway line". It provides good reasoning about the character himself, supported by an interview from the respective actor and even presents background info on a completely different but discarded explanation.

  • Was Sharknado planned as a trash movie?

    An excellent analysis of a current trend in a certain studio's productions.

  • Are the stories connected by more than just marginal references?

    An extremely insightful answer providing an exhaustive analysis of each of the individual characters and their various incarnations. Helped me understand the bigger picture of the movie a bit better to some degree.

  • Why does Cobb wake up in the water?

    I have to include one of my recent Inception answers because it was actually this site that motivated me to rewatch this movie. While having already seen it for quite a few times, I still found questions that made me think more about the movie than I had before and especially this answer got me to think about and appreciate the movie's ways of staging even further. And this is in fact what the whole fuss about "contributing to the appreciation of the movie" in the site's manifesto is all about.

Honorable Mentions:

  • In Fight Club is Marla Singer a second figment of Jack's imagination?

    While this answer isn't really of exceptional quality regarding its structure, being just a huge quote block (or only a link before the edit), it is absolutely great content-wise. No matter if you agree with all the points made in the answer and the linked site, it presents an amazingly interesting analysis of an equally unique movie and I was very glad when I finally took the time to read through it.

  • Why does Django choose to dress like that?

    I find this question remarkable mainly for the fact that it spawned two completely orthogonal answers which approached the problem from entirely different but equally valid perspectives, providing an exhaustive list of alternative explanations. That's what multiple answers are for.

  • Is there a name for Robin Williams' style of physical comedy?

    While the question is admittedly not too interesting to me (while still being a generally good one) it is especially relevant as a very good way to pay tribute to a recently deceased remarkable actor. It serves as an excellent "obituary question" without being off-topic or too opinion-based.

  • Aliens and vampires don't sell?

    Well, JohnSmithOptional again. But this is really an excellent analysis to what honestly seemed to be a bit of a stupid or at least "remote" question. So while the general answer to the question might be obvious even for laymen not having seen those movies, he did more than enough to put it into the correct words with a great deal of background information.

  • Did Vin MoCap the Dance?

    While the question itself isn't bad, at least content-wise, the answer stands out not only because it's apparently correct, but even more so because of the fact that it was answered by a film-industry insider who used his "inside contacts" to gather an authoritative and definite answer. Even if the information could also have been found on the internet by "ordinary" people, it is certainly an interesting and rare occasion of actual insider information used for answering on this site.

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I think my favourite of this quarter has to be Mr. Manager's excellent Futurama question How can Philip J. Fry be his own grandfather if he is sterile? and Kevin Howell's equally excellent explanation.

The reason I love it is that it proves that no matter how silly the source material, it's always worth asking about apparent inconsistencies because there may well be a great answer that you happened to miss.

And the runners up:

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