First trailer for Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity hit the streets yesterday. Already a good deal of postive buzz including this tweet from Andy Ihnatko @ihnatko which pretty well captures my thinking on the matter.

How To Sell Andy Ihnatko A Movie Ticket: Lesson One of a One-Part Series. youtube.com/watch?v=kayC3K…

— Andy Ihnatko (@Ihnatko) May 10, 2013

Not really sure what else to say, other than … damn!

Ender’s Game, the 1985 classic novel from Orson Scott Card is finally coming to big screen.

I’ve read this title a jillion times … it earned and has kept a permanent spot in my “keepers” book shelf.

A great cast, big budget … I surely hope it doesn’t suck.

I appreciate free as much as the next guy, but attempting to bring order to my Posterous extracts is making me re-think how much faith I’ll put in “free” in the future.

Had to whip up some console utilities (working in C# here) to deal with a variety of little inconsistencies that, frustratingly, were not consistently inconsistent.

Think I’ve finally got it now. But the combination of weird character encoding and Pandoc’s translation of HTML to Markdown means I’m having to go through each and every one of 400 some odd posts checking for clean and tidy appearance.

Anyway, if you go nuts and decide to go look at old posts, you might see a few inconsistencies until I get everyting tidied up over the next couple of days.

Also, no “Me On Monday” metrics post today. Too much fiddling w/ import and real work today. Hopefully have something ready for next Monday.

Just got back from an afternoon showing of Iron Man 3 (2D, thank you). I went with my Pop as my wife wouldn’t be caught dead within a thousand yards of a Marvel flick … although, Avengers was an exception.

Verdict? Big thumbs up, I think.

Let’s face it, Shane Black isn’t Faulkner or Steinbeck, but his screenplay moved things along and made me give a rats ass about most of the characters. A notable exception being the forgettable Happy; a thin part anemically portrayed by Executive Producer Jon Favreau. Shame, really, as I loved that character the first time out.

Pepper Potts as portrayed by the world most hated woman (really?) Gwyneth Paltrow got some good screen time in a non-pathetic, non-whiney, kind of kick-ass female supporting role. Without spoiling, I do wonder why the hell she’d want her situation fixed at the end of the film. Seems to me, might be kind of an interesting future plot point for her to stay the way she was “at the end.” Sorry folks, that’s the most you’re going to get. It’s hard to dance around “it” and I really don’t want to spoil things.

Robert Downey Jr. shines in all but the scenes where he’s meant to demonstrate debilitating anxiety. Didn’t buy it for a second, but maybe that’s just because I’ve actually seen / known people with debilitating issues, and it’s not something that just pops up, then goes away. That being said, IM3 isn’t meant to be a feel good mental health rehab movie, so this digression can be easily dismissed. In all other facets of the performance, I though RDJ was spot on. The swagger, the flippant delivery, and most especially the relationship with young Harley Keener, played to perfection by Ty Simpkins. Again, not a huge part of the film, but that scene or three ring true to the ear and help humanize some ugly on both sides.

Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin? Brilliant, although done a terrible dis-service by the script. Again, trying to make this a no spoiler review. His performance given the material he was dealt is just outstanding. Go see, you’ll understand.

Also not sure I bought Guy Pearce as the baddie Aldrich Killian. Good actor. Like the stuff he’s done before, but seemed like he was working pretty hard to be both a dork and a suave, debonaire scum bag. Your mileage may vary, but his portrayal felt a bit stereotypical.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. I’m not sure I’ll remember all of the plot points tomorrow morning, but the wit and tone, special effects, and overall character of the film left me happy and content. One of my daughters is home (graduated / forever!) here this week, and I’ll likely go see it again with her.

A wonderfully pleasant use of a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Wife and I pretty much spend every Saturday night at Seasons 52, a Darden owned restaurant chain who’s motto is “A Fresh Dining Experience that Celebrates Living Well”.

Despite all the falderal surrounding Darden’s employment practices, they deliver on that promise. Every dish on the menu comes in under 475 calories. Menus are based on seasonally fresh ingredients. Service is, at least in my HO, very fine for a “chain” eatery. Certainly better than most and comparable to all but the highest class of restaurant.

Just to be clear, in my neighborhood of Naples, Florida that’s pretty high praise.

Hell, even the parking valet (admittedly a contract service) is top notch. Those guys recognize wife’s truck week over week and greet her by name … and that’s before we even leave the parking lot.

Blah blah blah you say … but what has this restaurant review have to do with entrepreneurship?

I would suggest everything. Darden:

• Recognized a niche opportunity to provide “healthy”, or at least healthier, dining paired with better than average customer service.

• Developed a clear vision for how to serve that niche.

• Executed on that vision in a repeatable, sustainable fashion.

• Created franchise opportunities nationwide around the solution.

Any of that sound familiar?

It certainly does to me. This is the age old, sure fire avenue to success, irrespective of business segment or opportunity. Let’s boil it down to generics:

• Find the underserved niche.

• Develop a plan to service that niche.

• Execute.

• Repeat.

Are there other ways to create a “successful” company or business? I suppose so, but why not follow in the successful footsteps of Darden and Seasons 52? That entrepreneurial path is proven, has a built-in feedback loop ready to tell you if your ideas are wrong or if you’re falling off the path, and has made fortunes for its founders.

Works for me.