The movie seems to be getting mixed reviews. I have no idea if/when I'll see it. The local reviewer, who gave it three stars (mostly for the first half), had one fun comment: "The movie is too long by at least a half-hour. If it had spent less time raging at the dying of the light, the light might have been brighter."

It is an odd film, one of the reasons I love it. The acting is about the same as it always is, as Carpenter is using his usual actors. The lead is a bit dull, but he's supposed to be. And, hey, you have to love a movie that combines Gnostic Christianity with quantum physics

Well, it's a movie, so NONE of it is actually happening...

Ah, so it's one of those "if we don't explain anything, people will think it's deep" movies?

The Cropsey doc is on Youtube. Having just watched it, I have to say I would have preferred a good half hour trimmed from it. Lots of padding, long scenes of the filmmakers walking through ruins for no real reason (including one a night because, you know, scary). All the information was hearsay, which while the point, after a while made my ears glaze over. Dragging Satanists into it didn't help, especially as this almost seemed to be the final answer of the filmmakers. A famous Satanic Priest lives nearby? Well, you should have brought that up before and followed that thread instead of having more long walks.

From the video, I swear I heard the announcer guy say the engine was a 108% when it blew. There's your problem

Oh, yes. I saw a local production a few years ago. There's a video of the entire Broadway version on Youtube, with Neil Patrick Harris.

Akira was sort of like 2001. You watched for the spectacle, and either the attempt at being "deep" worked for you or it didn't. Blame the marketing at the time for hyping it, but it did lead to the flood of uncut anime that came after that in the US. Without Akira, you don't get Spirited Away in US theaters.