I saw him in person in the British Library earlier this month (and combined with the info on his WIKI page) it's clear he's living on another planet. He's into some crazy shit like carrying tarot cards around all his life and consulting them. I think he makes David Lynch look normal.

Here's the full British Library event...

Could it be that this movie feels like it was okay because of all bad publicity beforehand? Everyone's expectations were lowered.

Whereas had the movie had an unblemished PR campaign causing everyone to be super-stoked... we'd all now be going 'meh', especially at the anti-climatic ending. Even so, there's plenty who 'meh'-ed anyway.

The exciting space news for later this year is the Rosetta craft orbiting a comet and landing a probe on it. Stayed tuned in November.

One form of nit-picking pedantry that's good fun is when someone who specializes in science (e.g. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Phil Plait) points out all the scientific flaws, for educational value. Naturally, this should also not be confused with film criticism. The fact that Kate is looking up at the wrong nightsky didn't hurt Titanic.

While we can forgive light-hearted action romps their science transgressions (Star Wars, 2012, Armageddon, etc), those movies that pride themselves on being serious science-fiction should expect to be closely scrutinized (Prometheus, original Star Trek movies, Gravity,  Interstellar, etc).

If your budget is $100M+, how hard is it to allow a Caltech PhD student a a quick read-through? (Ridley, you arrogant tosser). Leaving English majors to write the science  is one of my pet peeves of Hollywood.

Just like Trey was saying about the importance getting the plot watertight in bank heist movies, serious science fiction needs to have a science advisor on board at the script development phase.

Having said all that, if the movie works well enough to succeed telling its story DESPITE breaches of logic, of continuity, of scientific plausibility, than well done.

So are you all pissed that there's no third Hobbit trailer yet? Me neither.

What am I watching tonight?

Argentina v Netherlands play for the right to get kicked in the nuts by Germany

Ripley from Aliens is the gold standard. So much so, men can arguably complain they were portrayed as incompetent (e.g. I'm thinking when Gorman loses control and Ripley takes control of the APC). Hudson is a coward, Hicks is kinda passive, Burke is slimy, and the most reliable "man" is a robot.
Furthermore, the most kick-ass solder is a woman, Vasquez. And the only one to survive on the colony is a young girl.

Michael Bay Traded To Afghanistan For Five Taliban Film and TV Directors

http://hollywoodandswine.com/michael-ba … directors/

Actually, I'll say something nice. I don't think JJ will dumb down Star Wars like he dumbed down Star Trek, but that's only because Lucas already drove the dumbness through the basement. The only way is up. See, I'm graciously magnanimous. 

So that leaves the intriguing question... what demographic these new SW movies will be pitched to?

Lucas seems to have deliberately pitched the Prequels to young kiddies, while ignoring the original OT fans. The main actor was a young kid, there was Jar Jar and many other cartoon creatures and droids.

But, as you say, the young kids that did love Jar Jar in 1999 are now grown up and in their mid-20s, so will this new series be consciously more adult, gritty, dark, or will there be another effort to appeal to a new generation of young children? The teens who grew up with the OT will be pushing 50 and hopefully have cultivated a more sophisticated taste than laughing at stepping in the poopy.

I'm not so sure "EVERYONE IS GOING TO SEE THIS". So many people were disappointed with the Prequels, Indy4, and with Abrams' Star Trek effort, and with the general reaction to lame over-CGed PG13 tentpoles, that if early reports are that it's a turkey, (e.g. reshoots were required, grumbling actors) and if the Rotten Tomato rating is <50%, it might do a healthy $500-$800M, but not threaten the top #20 in any way.

Even Phantom Menace, when goodwill in Star Wars was an all time high, didn't topple Titanic.

In other words, the onus is on Ep7 to prove itself. It doesn't get a 'free pass'. Not with me anyway.