Know that when celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson nitpicks the bad science commonly encountered in mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, he's not trying to spoil anyone's fun. He's just being a nerd, and I think we can all respect that. There's nothing shameful about possessing a lot of scientific knowledge, and pointing out the physics and astronomical errors in a movie can only, one might hope, encourage filmmakers to be more accurate next time. Case in point: Tyson infamously complained to director James Cameron that, in "Titanic," he got the night sky wrong. Tyson knew what the constellations looked like in the North Atlantic on that fateful April night in 1912, and suggested that Cameron, using digital trickery, rework the skies to match. Cameron, also being a nerd, obliged.

When it comes to most space-bound movies, though, Tyson has a lot to complain about. Audiences have accepted that most sci-fi spacecraft, for instance,...