I had the pleasure of being interviewed by CNBC. The interview consisted of some pretty open-ended questions about innovation and entrepreneurship, their role in society and the global economy, and their impact on my life.

You can read the interview at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/47802920

I must admit I really like being called a visionary 🙂

The movie does not quite rise as high as the Rotten Tomatoes 93% critic and 96% spectator scores imply, but is very well done and extremely entertaining. I would reserve scores like those for The Incredibles, Shrek or Batman Begins when it comes to movies in this genre. That said the movie crushed my expectations. Spiderman 3 and Shrek 3 largely failed because they introduced too many disparate characters that were not developed enough within a muddled story line. When The Avengers was announced, I really feared it would succumb to the same flaws.

However, The Avengers works as an ensemble movie because it unifies its cast to fight a single threat. The banter between the various characters while the various Avengers learn to work together is also tons of fun. It includes a reply I wish I could utter: “Take that away, and what are you?” “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philantropist”

Another reason the movie works well is that it gives characters like the Hulk, which may be too simplistic to be the lead character in their own movie, just enough screen time to shine.

Go see it on the big screen!

Watching the movie in IMAX 3D was glorious. Many of the settings and effects were amazing. Unfortunately, despite a few good scenes, the story does not live up to expectations. It’s completely predictable despite being illogical at times. The pre-credit final scene is also risibly and laughingly bad.

What’s disappointing is that it feels like there was the potential for a much better movie. The movie asks a few interesting questions, but ends up going in too many different directions to really answer any of them.

Likewise, Michael Fassender’s “David” character feels like it had so much more potential. This is not to say his performance is not great. He’s easily the most interesting character in the movie, but he could also have been so much more.

Arthur C. Clarke managed a tour de force with Childhood’s End. I could not believe the book was written in 1953. I now know where the inspiration for the opening scenes of V & Independence Day with massive ships hovering over major cities came from!

When the story began, I felt I had heard it before and that even if this was the original version, it would feel clichéd. A superior alien race comes to earth, takes control of the world and ushers a golden age. I was convinced I knew what was coming next: without wars, conflict and with an unprecedented level of material wealth, most humans would lose their drive and accept what was essentially a disguised form of slavery, while a brave few started resisting the Overlords, eventually unmasking their sinister ulterior motives.

To my utter delight the story takes a completely different path and makes a profound statement on humanity’s role in the universe. I don’t want to take away from your enjoyment of the story and won’t reveal the objectives of the Overlord or humanity’s destiny. Read the book!