Thats brilliant! A more concise assessment of the film could not be had. We can only hope the next two films have less of a premature ejaculation vibe to them.

This.

How many times do we need to see Goblins getting knocked off wooden plank bridges by dwarves with a pole?
Not enough it seems.

Scorsese understands it.

Goodfellas, The Departed, The Aviator, etc are all over two hours, but they don't drag or slog like most newer films that are > 2 hours.

there is a reason for them to be long(>2 hours).

I'm a HUGE Tolkien fan, and went to the LOTR Extended Version Trilogy Marathon recently before seeing The Hobbit.
I was surprised at how well the longer versions of the films held up, after not watching them for around five years.

However, The Hobbit film was a let down on several levels, most of which I won't go into here. My main complaint? You do not need three films to tell the story. PJ has thrown in everything but the kitchen sink into The Hobbit, and it drags. Even the uber-videogame-esque "escape from the Goblins" scene drags... Too much of a good thing can ruin a film.

I would also say the same thing about the last Batman film. Too long and drawn out. Scenes that should be edited or removed alltogether. Thats why they call it the Directors Cut!

It makes me wonder if there aren't people involved in the film such as producers or editors who tell guys like PJ or Nolan, "hey bro, you might want to trim things down, just a smidge... You know, just to kind of keep the flow of the film going"

Is that Stratfor link the Anonymous version?

I highly recommend reading this:
http://www.slideshare.net/earthpolicy/full-planet-empty-plates-slideshow-presentation

A shift will need to take place in the priorities of those in the "First World" regarding water usage, diet, food and crop priorities, etc;.
The overly consumptive lifestyle we have been used to will need to become a thing of the past.

I guess they think that if they don't try to debunk something that is important to only a very small percentage of the public, that that group will then assume NASA's silence is "proof" that Nibiru is on its way to smash into us.

Hey, I'm all for a good conspiracy theory but this is utter horseshit.

Humanity has so many things on its plate that coming up with a contrived pseudo-history doomsday event is just ridiculous. Hey, Nibiru nuts,I've got some brand new black-and-white Nike Decades athletic shoes for you to try on.

My thoughts exactly. Well done writeup about Trillian!

Because back during the days of Compuserve, Prodigy and AOL, there really wasn't a "Web" as we know it. In the late 80's-mid 90's people were either on BBS's or on one of those services. Prodigy didn't even have a "portal" to the "World Wide Web" until late '94...

So to contrast that era to the mid 90's to now, when we have had a much more developed or "grown" Web, users migrated back to the "Garden" of FB.
That was my point.

Though I don't agree with some of his prognostications, Marshall Brain has some very interesting articles written regarding human labor and the coming Robot takeover.

Eric Schmidt

You know I see this term bandied about, "post scarcity society" and I have to laugh.
Really? Post scarcity?

Please read up on our prospects for clean drinking water(one among many of coming scarcities.)

I agree with much of your analysis.
However the speed of technological change, and the rate at which human labor becomes irrelevant, are quickly outpacing any kind of egalitarian drive in human society, any kind of evolution as a species regarding our interactions with one another.

The reality is, in the next 50 years much of the human race, especially in the developed world, will become irrelevant to the "machine world" that will replace human labor. The systems in place to support the lifestyles of those in control won't need the millions of permanently un-employed, and they won't foot the bill for some kind of social welfare system to keep them quiet.

More likely a permanent state of drugged obedience via constant virtual escapism while being constantly controlled and monitored by the omniscient security apparatus.

Bang Bang Shoot Shoot

https://www.facebook.com/rlanza