Otis screwed up the co-ordinates of one of the missiles. Later, when Superman scoffed that Luthor didn't even care where the other one was going, he replied he knew: Hackensack. The missile was probably originally going to hit New York City, but Otis' bumble shifted the target slightly. (Not that Lex minded, since Hackensack is close enough to harm New York, and it was still a populated target.)
Listen to Pa Kent's voice when young Clark asks "Is a bird showing off when it flies?" You can hear the panic when he realizes that Clark has begun to think about flying.
The first three Superman films comprise a single narrative arc that explores the theme of the Superman/Clark Kent duality through the character’s romantic relationships. In Superman: The Movie, reporter Lois Lane develops a crush on Superman, but otherwise looks down her nose at Clark Kent. In Superman II, Lois learns that Superman and Clark is the same person. She becomes his lover, but before their relationship can be consummated, Superman is required to renounce his powers. This means that Lois ends up being stuck with Clark, even though her true feelings were for Superman. This puts a great deal of strain on their relationship, as is evidenced by Lois’ dismay when Clark is brutally beaten by a bully. Realizing that the relationship is unfeasible, Superman (after regaining his powers) erases Lois’s memories of their relationship and moves on. In Superman III, Clark reconnects with his school friend Lana Lang. Unlike Lois, Lana seems to genuinely like Clark for who he is, respecting him for his honesty and gentleness. She does not seem to be particularly impressed by the idea of Superman, although her young son is a big fan. Indeed, Lana seems to intuit that Clark and Superman is the same person, but seems to go along with the pretense for the sake of her son. When Superman is exposed to the synthetic kryptonite created by Gus Gorman, it results in a change of behavior, which reveals that the Superman persona is his weaker half. Superman visits Lana’s house as a special treat for her son, but seems to spend most of his time hitting on Lana. He also drinks, destroys public property and engages in other petty anti-social behaviors. This behavior continues until Clark Kent extracts himself as a separate person and kills his Superman half, proving himself the stronger. In this sense, the struggle between Clark and Superman, which has persisted through the three films, is resolved with Clark becoming the ascendant persona.
Consider the scene where Clark first shows up at the Daily Planet and Lois takes note of his strange, folksy mannerisms. The easy assumption is that Clark (or at least the surface personality constructed for the secret identity) is just that wholesome and old fashioned. But consider that he has spent the last twelve years completely isolated in the Fortress of Solitude. It's possible that it isn't just a front — Clark Kent seems old fashioned because he's literally more than a decade behind the times.
When you take into account that the movie was scripted and filmed from 1977 till 1978 you realize that Kent went into seclusion by 1965-1966, before the summer of love and the hippie movement came out, so it does help explain Clark Kent's quaintness.
Superman starts making the headlines everywhere in Metropolis, including the Daily Planet ("Caped Wonder Stuns City!"). Perry White, naturally, doesn't like that the Planet doesn't have anything the other papers don't, so he demands an exclusive. One or more of his reporters must interview Superman at once — it'll be "the single most important interview since... God talked to Moses!". I remembered the story of Moses was an influence on Superman's origins!
Many people believe that Superman was exerting force on the Earth, causing it to spin backwards and reverse time, but it was most likely the other way around. Superman achieved sufficient speed to time travel, and the Earth was spinning backwards because he reversed time.
The intent seems pretty clearly that the Earth's rotation is reversed. In your analysis, why would he need to stop and fly in the direction of normal rotation a few times? And, if simply going fast enough was the idea, it would have been better communicated if he went with the rotation, but the Earth started going backward anyway.
Why would a guy like Luthor, who is both intelligent and completely ruthless, align himself with people like Otis and Miss Tessmacher? Psychologically, there is a very good reason. Sociopaths cannot form deep relationships. Most people who hang around someone like Luthor for any amount of time will figure out he's bad news. So he has to have a dummy like Otis and an Extreme Doormat like Miss Tessmacher as his toadies.
Moreover, Luthor still accomplished several major terrorist feats with apparently just two lackeys, failing only because an unlikely chain of circumstances culminating in Superman violating the laws of physics. Luthor spends much of Superman II manipulating Zod, too, only seemingly losing control of the situation when Superman briefly outwits Lex by appealing to Lex's ego.
