What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly column chronicling all that is good and true(ish) in the world. But enough gay banter, its author caught the new trailer for The Muppets this evening — it’s attached to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides — and it was adorable. Not Pirates, that wasn’t great, the Muppets trailer. Speaking of Muppets, here’s something sad… 21 years ago today, Jim Henson passed away. Our friends over at /Film are remembering him by posting a wonderful documentary called The World of Jim Henson. It’s worth your time, as you might imagine.

Why?

In a sea of some of the most important pictures the world has known to date – why? In a collection spanning nearly one-hundred years of film history and inclusive of a large portion of the greatest filmmakers we’ve ever known…why? With a library containing movies which focus heavily on visual artistry and emotional complexities and probably have a combined budget *possibly* equal to that of this film…why? With another picture released the same year about pretty much the same thing made by a studio from the same country garnering stronger critical reception and sporting an [in]arguably more plausible solution and execution to the prevention of the end of the world via meteors the size of really, really big things…WHY? Why is this mammoth-sized summer blockbuster which is a masterpiece of the color orange alongside some of the most revered pictures of the last (nearly) 100 years?

The answer is simple, concrete, and indisputable:

Update: Trek Movie has gone ahead and debunked the entire story about Chris Pine speaking out on the Star Trek 2 script. Writer Bob Orci has confirmed that it’s not done yet. Apologies for the error. With all the recent talk about JJ Abram’s upcoming summer movie Super 8, what its trailer reveals, what its viral marketing is hinting at, and what those twenty minutes of footage some people got to see contains, I had kind of forgotten that Abrams made a Star Trek movie that a lot of people really liked: a Star Trek movie that will be demanding at least a couple sequels. But one person who hasn’t forgotten about Star Trek 2 is the first film’s star Chris Pine. His career probably depends on it.

We are going to see it. We just don’t know when. This was the message Matt Reeves had for fans during a conversation with Total Film in which he continued the refrain from the past year set to the tune of a monster destroying the city. He, J.J. Abrams, and writer Drew Goddard are all busy right now, but they’re also dedicated to making Cloverfield 2 a reality. The last we heard about the project was a line about them doing it if they had a good idea, so either they’ve resolved to do it (while resolving to figure that good idea out) or they’ve already hit upon something they want to shoot for. Either way, mark your calendars (somewhere) for Cloverfield 2.

The Super 8 trailer that proved that 1) most other trailer creators are slacking big time and 2) you don’t have to show everything to sell a movie, is going one step further with the mystery. No surprise there, really. Reelz Channel was intrepid enough to discover a website hidden in the aperture of the film reel shown inside the camera lens during said trailer, and it leads to S8EditingRoom (dot com) where an old government film with a ton of frames missing awaits. It’s one more piece of the puzzle, and it will probably only be the first step on the viral path, so stick around for more surprises. Also feel free to tool around on that site for a few hours until you unlock a new trailer or set of images. It’s not like you’d rather be doing that budget report your boss keeps yelling about.

That Amblin logo at the front of the new trailer for Super 8 is an important signal to audiences that fell in love with the studio (and fell in love with movies because of the studio), and the rest of the trailer seems like it was cut from a movie Steven Spielberg directed in 1981 using all the best technology from 2011. Simply put, the trailer finally fives a sense of the plot to this mysterious flick without giving away everything. It’s incredible, a heartfelt looking movie, and it raises genuine excitement in the way that trailers haven’t seem to do in months. Get that feeling for yourself:

Most of the time I try not to revisit past boiling points. Once I get it out of my system, I like to pretend I’ve cast out the anger. This, however, is not true. The anger never subsides. No. It grows. Grows and grows and boils over again and again. Still, to keep things fresh, I try to point my anger in new directions. But sometimes thinks deserve a second chance. With that said, I’d like to take a second to just remind everyone that putting a big name on top of a movie is complete and utter horseshit.

At some point within the last six months, a magical cat let out a huge meow while dropping off a magical copy of the Super 8 script in front of Kyle Chandler’s magical doorstep, and now he has a role in the film. Early Edition references aside, Kyle Chandler has been cast in an unnamed role in the unnamed plot of the named movie. Joining him is Elle Fanning who is, probably, playing one of the young children that find the footage of the alien on their camera footage. Judging by the trailer, that would mean those kids were playing by themselves on the train tracks at night. That’s bad parenting, and it makes me think twice about supporting this movie. J.J. Abrams and company should win me back by casting Connie Britton as the bad parent. [Vulture]

If you’re a long time reader of this column (be honest, you can’t start your week without it) you may recall me blasting off against films that are “presented by (big name)” or those that otherwise try to capitalize on a big name that, in reality, has little to do with what you’re about to watch. Like “from Executive Producer Steven Spielberg” or “Quentin Tarantino presents.” Nothing against these gentlemen, but hell, more than 99% of the time they’ve had absolutely zero to do with what you’re watching. I think the last time I went down a similar road was when JJ Abrams was getting all the credit for Cloverfield and less than 10% (made up statistic!) of people knew who Matt Reeves was, despite the fact that he directed a smart and enjoyable film. The recently released Devil faced a similar situation, though one in a much more negative way. Virtually all critics and a relatively wide swath of audiences dismissed Devil once the name M. Night Shyamalan appeared on the screen. After all, the guy’s said some ridiculous stuff about his own career, has made a handful of junk movies, and recently stunk up screens with The Last Airbender. So maybe Devil does deserve a lukewarm reception. Except that M. Night didn’t write or direct it so it’s not really fair to judge the film on his name.

It feels like only yesterday that the Reject HQ crew was sitting just a few feet from Leonard Nimoy as he flirted with Neil’s mother after a mind-blowing screening of Star Trek – a film that surprised everyone by being better than good. Now, we’re waiting to return to the stars. To go where so many audiences have gone before. Unfortunately, that trip is still a ways off. Fortunately, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were nice to enough to give SFX Magazine an interview where they give word on the project – and it might be word that fans of Khan and Klingons might not want to hear.

For many fans, closing the book on Lost once and for all has been a difficult task. Not only was it one of the most devoutly followed shows of all time — a series that showed us that the world of television could be delivered in a manner that felt cinematic, but existed over a longer period of time — but it was also one of the most intriguing and divisive shows in recent times. Our most recent memory of the J.J. Abrams championed show is just that — the great divide created by the big finale, dubbed appropriately “The End.” On May 23, 2010, it all came to an end. And with it came the answers to questions, some six years in the making, as well as more questions that have continued to plague the starving masses to this day. None of that hysteria will end with the release of the Complete Collection on Blu-ray. The questions remain. However, this week’s release of Lost in its entirety, complete with delicious goodies, is meant for a celebration. It’s time to look back at Lost from the beginning and celebrate one heck of a journey.

Things were going well for the currently in development fourth Mission: Impossible film. Tom Cruise was ready to get back into the shoes of super spy Ethan Hunt. Paramount scored a great director in Brad Bird. And former Alias scribes Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec were putting together a script. This was all before Cruise’s latest action flick, Knight and Day, took a giant steamer at the box office. Now the word on the street is that Paramount is looking to retool Mission: Impossible 4 and give Cruise’s character a new role: mentor.

We’re not sure what Lost and Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof had for breakfast, but his Twitter feed has revealed today that he’s ready to get to work on Star Trek 2. As you know from previous reports, writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have been at work on the story, which will eventually become a movie that will hit theaters on June 29, 2012.

Whether you love him, hate him, love to hate him, or hate that you love him there’s no denying that Tom Cruise’s career decisions in terms of what directors he will work for have been second-to-none. Or, maybe they have been. You decide.

Last night at a packed theater at the Regal Cinemas downtown I had the opportunity to enjoy said fare, as Edgar Wright sat down for an excellent two hour Q&A session moderated by the monstrously talented J.J. Abrams. It was strange seeing J.J. as the guy pressing the questions, putting the focus on another filmmaker; I almost sort of wished the event was a double-whammy of Abrams/Wright goodness, but the evening was more than satisfactory being Edgar Wright-centric.

It’s been more than a week since the big finale, and we’re still talking about Lost. I say give it a few weeks and it will be old news. But for now, we’re going to continue on our quest for answers.

ABC has provided us with the full details on the upcoming release of LOST: The Complete Collection on DVD and Blu-ray, which will hit stores on August 24, 2010 right alongside the release of The Complete Sixth and Final Season.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we talk with Mystery Team director Dan Eckman about piracy, hot women casting, and what the cool kids are wearing for Halloween this year.

A fantastic creative pairing just took place right under your nose. Hopefully Sidney Poitier will be involved again.

Last night I recapped the second to last episode, “What They Died For,” exploring all of the questions that have been answered and discussing some of the questions that have risen just in time for the Big Finish. Today, I’m looking back much further — back to the beginning. Well, before the beginning.