I would like an alternative approach but I don't see anything in the links here that "just works" in the way that the fake-leather thing in OP just works. I also see stuff that seems nice-looking but not-functional.

If this sounds harsh or dogmatic, sorry.

But any image that falls off the edge of screen is broken as a far as usability-at-glance goes no matter esthetically pleasing it might be. Looked at from the point of view of static beauty, the Metro stuff is indeed far superior. Looked in terms of an app I would use, I see massively wasted real estate and texture that distracts from the task rather than helping it.

I'm just a programmer pretending to be a designer but who really is creating a Facebook client.

It feels like Metro copied really-world typography that works well for situations where people simply read/consume information but I can't see it translating to interaction.

The last quote in your links: "Fantasy User Interfaces in movies are your best friend." Sadly, it seem more Metro is a fantasy user interface. The fantasy user interfaces only exist for the one-way communication from the show-writer to the viewer. They work great for that. Total fail for something people use on an ongoing basis.

I know few will care about this rant but I am honestly a discouraged at how much of failure as an interactive interface Metro seems to be.

I could be wrong. I will keep my eyes open going forward.