You guys do know that big budget hollywood films aren't the only thing out there...right? I just saw Moon at a local independent cinema and it was a fantastic science fiction film. If we're talking Hollywood Inglorious Basterds was also great and I haven't seen District 9 yet but I'm looking forward to seeing it. And if your'e not looking for a popcorn movie there are tons of independent and quasi-independent dramas and documentaries with engaging stories and characters more based in the real world, you know, those Oscar movies that nobody watches?.
Honestly guys it was movies like Star Wars that started the trend of the "shallow hollywood blockbuster". Star Wars was really the catalyst that shifted sci-fi from "Thinking man's sci-fi" such as 2001: A Space Odyssey to "fantasy/action/western set among futuristic backdrops."