James makes quite a bit of sense: I think what it's more of is a point that there's some sloppy filmwork here (which I hadn't consciously noticed before, but it makes sense). But, I don't know that it really detracts from the film all that much: I think it adds to some of the confusion in that particular scene: frantic, hectic, etc.
Callum Keith Rennie: Literally everything. I think literally is probably a bad word for this... Practically everything?
Personally, I'd add in Sam Rockwell to the list. He rocked in Moon, and was also in Iron Man 2, Cowboys and Aliens, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Galaxy Quest, The Green Mile, and a bunch of others.
Gaiman lives in the US, and drops into a bunch of conventions and has a number of appearances that regularly sell out. I'm guessing he isn't in need of financial assistance.
I can't wait to see this: Traffic was fantastic, and I'm a huge fan of Syriana (not this director's, but the same writer). Should be interesting to watch.
The interesting thing is, when we landed on the moon, the entire world did celebrate: there was a lot of out pouring of joy. See Michael Collins in a documentary called 'In the Shadow of the Moon'. On one level, any steps that we take into space *are* human steps, and that's a good start.
Well, a couple of reasons: we don't have a unified, planetary government, and until something like that happens (if it ever happens), you're never going to have any sort of agreement or consensus on the goals or mission of any type of space expedition, outside of the really big thingS: the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, etc.
Any type of successful space program will have to have some sort of vital national interest as part of it: the origins of the lunar missions are rooted in the drive for ICBMs on the part of the US and USSR. There's a lot of gains for any country that takes these sorts of things up: industry, national pride, etc, and when you have a lot of countries paying into the pot, the gains amongst all are reduced. That's not to say that it's a good thing to do, but without some sort of self-interest, you won't have forward movement.
Why the US? Well, we've been the leaders for a long time: we have a lot of technology, the know-how, and that seems to be trickling down into the private sector with some of these companies that are coming out. Other countries, like China, are just taking their first steps, and while that's cutting into our lead, there's a little way to go.
#correction: pand "These are some fairly serious manifestations of mental health problems: self-mutilation, constant rocking back and forth, pand even eating their own feces (as opposed to the perfectly normal behavior of throwing them, I guess). "
Of course, the scene at the end doesn't necessarily mean that a sequel film picks up moments after that (It very well might), but they could pull a Bourne teaser by placing that moment in the middle of the next film.