Rumor has it that J.J. Abrams is known to approach strangers, hold his finger beneath their nose while stifling a laugh and then ask them if they can tell which box it smells like. That probably isn’t true, but the man most definitely loves a good mystery. As writer, director and/or producer he’s been attached to dozens of films and TV shows featuring mysteries both big and small. The secret to Lost‘s island, the reveal of the monster in Cloverfield and the alien in Super 8, the explanation as to why Felicity cut her hair… all mysteries we eventually saw answered after a glorious period of intense curiosity. Hell, we’re still eagerly awaiting an answer to what exactly he was thinking while writing Gone Fishin’. Abrams famously explained his attraction to the idea of a “mystery box” during his 2007 TED Talk, and it basically boils down his belief that “mystery is more important than knowledge.” There’s a semantics argument to be had there, but the core point is a sound one that more often than not gets lost in an online world used to having all of the answers and information available 24/7. People who read books don’t (usually) read the ending first, so why do so may of us want to know as much as possible about the plot points, casting and cameos in the movies we’ve yet to watch? Abrams simply prefers as little as possible be revealed in advance of our eyeballs actually seeing his work

Whether or not you’re a fan of Star Trek Into Darkness, you should take a look at the latest SoundWorks Collection shorts on the music of the film. Michael Coleman visited the 20th Century Fox Newman Scoring Stage to document some of the recording of the Star Trek sequel’s score. While there he interviewed Tim Simonec, the conductor and orchestror, while also getting some footage of director J.J. Abrams and composer Michael Giacchino overlooking the sessions. Also named in the video is co-producer Michelle Rejwan as the orchestra plays “Happy Birthday” in her honor (at least I think it’s in her honor since the camera is turned toward her). Behind the scenes stuff like this is always neat, and here Simonec explains some of what’s different about the Into Darkness score compared to the previous Star Trek movie’s music. For one thing this has more synth less choir. I also just like watching all the professional musicians. It’s easy to forget about all that talent while watching a movie, especially when you wind up nitpicking at the writing and directing. While Giacchino’s compositions themselves may be criticized, there’s absolutely no digging at the people on the strings and horns and percussion. Their performance of the score is objectively perfect, as that job always has to be. Watch the brief video after the jump.

After four years of waiting and anticipation, geek honcho J.J. Abrams has finally given us the sequel to his 2009 box office and critical hit. And it is … serviceable. Abrams’ new movie is as sleek and shiny as his first Star Trek picture but lacking much of its charm. The novelty of seeing these characters coming together is gone, the villain is lackluster in bizarre ways, and the high-flying pacing is absent, making many of the film’s logic gaps even more head-scratching. And there are indeed some real head-scratchers. Choosing emotion and spectacle over logic can work, and it does in the last Trek outing and the first half of Star Trek Into Darkness, but this time around Abrams and his screenwriting team can’t gloss over all the leaps in logic and other narrative problems. What starts off as another thrilling Abrams movie ends up turning into a mess by the end. Here are some (spoiler-y) questions which arise out of that mess:

It’s hard to watch Star Trek Into Darkness and not think about Star Wars. Yes, J.J. Abrams is directing Episode VII and so we have that knowledge on the brain going into this. Maybe we’re even on the lookout for clues hinting at what we should expect from his take on that galaxy. This isn’t the first time the Trek franchise has had to try and prove itself in the shadow of George Lucas’s own series. Even though it originated with a TV show in the 1960s, Trek‘s cinematic resurrection a decade later was in part allowed by and somewhat influenced by the success and quality of the first Star Wars. But even regardless of the fact that Abrams is following the latest Trek with the next Wars, I often otherwise felt like I was watching one of the latter while sitting through Into Darkness. Before getting into the evidence that Abrams is a clear fan of Lucasfilm works (and not just Star Wars) and likes to sample from them, let’s take a moment to think about what all his call back references and allusions to both Wars and Trek might mean for Episode VII. Will there be too much winking and fan-service, unhidden Easter eggs and inside jokes and maybe even outright recycling the way Into Darkness is with certain prior Trek installments? Could Episode VII have a number of allusions to Trek the way Into Darkness pays obvious homage to Wars? Rather than creating new worlds of his

Please note, this piece is to be read by those who have either seen Star Trek Into Darkness or who don’t mind having its various plot points spoiled for them. It is a frank discussion of what works and what doesn’t work in the film and will include descriptions of all the major beats, including the ending. Let me start by saying that I quite like Star Trek Into Darkness. I have now seen the film three times and while I don’t quite love it like I love the 2009 Star Trek – director J.J. Abrams‘ first attempt at boldly going and so on — I did enjoy it. The first film certainly has problems of its own, but several things keep you from stopping to think about the film’s issues, mainly the breakneck pace, the incredibly charismatic cast, Michael Giacchino’s fantastic score and, yes, even Abrams’ direction. In fact, it’s most of those same things that help keep Star Trek In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida afloat. But the cracks in the hull are far more apparent this time around, and the whole thing could have easily been a disaster. After the jump I review the downsides and then move past them to highlight the upsides.

2009′s big screen Star Trek reboot was a success on just about all fronts thanks to director J.J. Abrams and friends’ delivery of an exciting and entertaining adventure that managed to overcome large script flaws with personality, fun and a real sense of energy. It was a hit with audiences and critics alike and left many people genuinely interested in a follow-up. Four years later and Star Trek Into Darkness is finally here, but instead of taking that time to strengthen the area of their first film’s biggest weakness (the script) they’ve actually made things worse. Fresh faces, dazzling lens flares and witty one-liners were enough to distract before, but this time the script’s egregious efforts to pillage the past for story ideas and even lift whole scenes has resulted in a hollow shell of a film that thinks ticking recognizable boxes is a valid substitute for earned emotion and engaging narrative. After a brief pre-title card scene on a primitive alien planet where the Prime Directive is seemingly redefined, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and his pointy-eared second in command Spock (Zachary Quinto) are called before Admiral Pike for punishment. Kirk is demoted, but when a terrorist attack in London leads to a deadly assault on Starfleet headquarters he’s quickly de-demoted and sent after the suspect, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). Himself a member of Starfleet, Harrison has gone rogue for reasons unknown, but when the Enterprise follows him to a Klingon planet the truth is revealed and endangers everyone aboard.

If you’ve been bummed about getting shut out of next week’s Friday screenings and sold out Wednesday night IMAX sneak peeks of Star Trek Into Darkness, worry no more (or, at least, worry a bit less), as Paramount Pictures has now officially moved the release date of the J.J. Abrams sequel to Thursday, May 16th. So, yes, you can now see the film on Wednesday at an IMAX preview. Or on Thursday at a regular theater near you. Or even on Thursday at an IMAX theater. Or, well, on Friday or the rest of the weekend and onward wherever the heck you want. The possibilities are just endless on this one. Will you be catching STiD this week, or are you holding out on this one? [Press Release]  

The Oscar season is long gone. Long gone, I say. Movies about old presidents and singing about your horrible life are over. As are the early dumping ground months, which weren’t all that horrible this year, thankfully. Now the summer movie season has begun. Marvel, once again, is starting things off on what won’t be a tough act to follow, but a pretty darn good one. Seeing Tony Stark crack jokes for two hours isn’t the only highlight of this month or this summer. Summer 2013 is packed with plenty of movies to act giddy over, both big and small. May represents what we should come to expect over the next three months with a nice amount of variety. There are ten films this month which are must-sees:

Harmony Korine and friends already gave us a taste of sand, sun and heavy weaponry, but it doesn’t quite feel like summer yet. Maybe that’s because global warming is making everything so cool or because President Obama keeps delaying all of our vacation planes, but the hugeness of the season still hasn’t fully descended. That’ll change this weekend when Iron Man 3 drops an arc reactor into theaters. Then, the parade of unbelievably massive summer movies commences with buddy cops, mischievous teens, people probably named Khan, bald Matt Damons, super men, and the end of the world itself in tow. It’s a tight race this year. Optimism runs high, and the next few months are packed full with studios and indie outfits hoping to entertain and score big, so the task of naming the 13 most-anticipated summer movies was a tough one. So instead of hurting our brains over it, we let math do the work by putting the question to the whole staff and tallying up the results. It’s a slightly eclectic mix, displaying the powerful potential of cinematic storytelling to bring us into the cool, dark room with a single light source. As luck would have it, we found a fittingly seasonal place to start:

Tonight’s edition of Movie News After Dark keeps it simple as we bring you back from your weekend. Hopefully you got a little sun, as we’re about to jettison you into space to talk a little Star Trek, but not before we check in with the progress of this week’s big star, Iron Man.

What with Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Elysium, Pacific Rim and the myriad other blockbusting sci-fi movies coming out, 2013 is shaping up to be a great year for the genre. If by “genre” you mean “these four ideas repeated over and over again.”

Turns out, all of that Khan mumbo jumbo has just been some super-clever misdirection on the part of Paramount and J.J. Abrams, as this new series of Star Trek Into Darkness character posters reveals the film’s true nemesis – wind! Big, gusty, blowing wind! Somebody, put a goddamn helmet on! We are, of course, kidding (or are we?), but this batch of posters certainly puts wind power front and center, and with the highly anticipated sequel just about a month away from release, there’s little else to talk about beyond the silly stuff and our excitement over the new feature. Check out the rest of the new Star Trek Into Darkness character posters, including Benedict Cumberbatch as whoever, Zachary Quinto as Spock, and Zoe Saldana as Uhura.

This week’s Fund This Film is not about a film that needs funding. But it is still about a crowd-funding campaign that is somewhat movie-related. The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) of America has gone to Indiegogo for an effort to spark interest in the U.S. space program, and they’re seeking money to put a promotional trailer into theaters to play ahead of Star Trek Into Darkness. The 30-second video, narrated by Peter “Optimus Prime” Cullen, is a commercial-size edit of a longer NASA promo called “We Are the Explorers,” and it aims to remind us all that the end of the Space Shuttle program did not mean the end of American space exploration. This is especially important now that everyone’s watching Room 237 and becoming convinced that Stanley Kubrick faked the moon landing for the agency. It’s apparently against the law for NASA to buy advertising space to promote themselves (come on, if the Army can, why not them?), so that’s why the AIA is reaching out to citizens without the agency’s endorsement or involvement. In only six days, the campaign already reached its goal of $33,000, which was to pay for pre-show spots in 58 movie theaters in major cities. Now the hope is to reach $94,000 for an expansion to 750 screens around the country (at least one in every state). Anything above that amount will go back into programs for space science education. Basically this is a way to show your support by helping to grow more support. Anyone can

Less than two years ago, scientists at UC San Diego made the “discovery” that spoilers don’t matter. Not only did they find that stories aren’t ruined by knowing the ending but that people prefer stories when they know the ending. That sounded like hogwash to a lot of us, and to a degree the study was faulted. For one thing, it doesn’t really apply to anything but short stories, as that’s the only medium employed. And on top of that, these short stories weren’t of much significance to the participating subjects. The people weren’t invested in the stories, which makes a huge difference according to a more in-depth look at spoilers in a new article at The Atlantic. Change the studied medium to a series finale of a TV show the subjects had been watching for years (or at least many seasons’ worth of episodes), and you’ll surely see different results. Even then, there are always a number of factors to consider. One thing the UCSD study got correct, not that it was a revelation, is that good storytelling throughout is more important than plot, especially a plot’s conclusion. That is what matters most to enjoyment, regardless of the medium, and what makes us return to certain stories over and over. But if you consider the way we relate to stories, the return to some works can also be more akin to revisiting our past, thinking back on a memory or watching an old home movie. Even if you’re re-reading

Tonight in the world of Movie News After Dark, we explore the reasons why Iron Man 3 is going to kick ass, watch the Game of Thrones cast do something that every violinist with a YouTube account has done, and we highlight some of the more unique experiences of SXSW 2013.

If you’re starting to look at pieces of Star Trek Into Darkness just to imagine what J.J. Abrams‘s Star Wars movie will look like, the second trailer for the upcoming sequel is perfect for you. There’s a scene in which Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) are in a small ship being chased around what looks like a trench on the surface of the Death Star, and they squeeze through a tight spot reminiscent of when the Millenium Falcon eludes two TIE Fighters on a large asteroid in The Empire Strikes Back. Also, the Enterprise crew appears to venture underwater… Maybe they’re looking to recruit Jar Jar Binks?

Oh, man, things are looking rough on the Starship Enterprise. At this point, we may not know exactly who Benedict Cumberbatch is going to be playing in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, but we do know that he’s a formidable villain who is going to toss some of our most beloved characters into a universe-threatening tailspin. Of course, this is an Abrams film, so that means lens flares and sparkling lights and a galaxy-sized serving of concernface. Or, at least, that’s what we’ve gotten so far and that’s what some brand new pictures, over at EW, are showing us. These exclusive new shots aren’t exactly anything new – Cumberbatch is the lone composed wolf, even Zoe Saldana‘s Lt. Uhura is looking mighty put out, lens flare – it’s still nice to see the old crew back together and ready to battle a common (maybe?) enemy. The outlet also reports just a touch more about Cumberbatch’s character, in saying that the feature focuses on “the headstrong Kirk [who] violates Starfleet orders and jeopardizes his command in order to take the Enterprise on the trail of a terrorist who launches spirit-crushing attacks on London and San Francisco. Sherlock star ­Benedict Cumberbatch plays the bad guy in question, a man called John Harrison who’s described by co-writer Alex Kurtzman as a ”member of Starfleet who turns on Starfleet.”” Spirit-crushing, eh? Check out five new, sparkly, concern-laden pictures from Star Trek Into Darkness after the break.

For many of us, the Super Bowl isn’t about the game so much as the party and the food and the commercials, especially the movie previews. As usual, this year gave us a mix of ads for films opening fairly soon and blockbusters arriving this summer. And as usual, some studios spent their dollars wisely while others didn’t, so there was also a mix of good and bad that will lead the buzz on these titles for at least the next couple days. After the jump we’ve listed all the movies advertised during Super Bowl  XLVII and categorized each as one of the winner or one of the losers of this annual Hollywood marketing game. 

With the world all abuzz about J.J. Abrams stepping up as the director of Star Wars: Episode VII, it almost feels like we’ve forgotten that there’s still another Abrams-directed Star Trek movie that we haven’t gotten to see yet, and chances are it’s going to be pretty awesome. So, in order to remind us to spend money on Captain Kirk and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise, the promotional team behind Star Trek Into Darkness has put out a new behind the scenes featurette that talks up how crazy the movie is going to be and how it’s such a complete filmgoing experience that it’s essentially the last movie you’ll ever need to see (until the next one). What’s in the video? Well, honestly it’s just a series of the film’s big effects shots interspersed with talking heads interviews with Abrams and some of his cast members, but it’s worth a watch to get a sense of just what the expectations for this film are. Abrams calls the movie “the most fun and challenging experience that I’ve had” and “everything I’ve done wrapped into one movie,” and great pains are made to promote how much bigger in scope this sequel is than Abrams’ first Star Trek movie and what a relentless and action-packed roller coaster ride it is.

While answering questions about something very few people care about (NBC’s Revolution) writer/director/mystery boxer/producer J.J. Abrams went on the defensive about his secrecy concerning projects. The filmmaker, who has his hands in many, many different pies, has long been known to keep relatively mum about his projects, whether they’re television shows like Lost or the upcoming sequel to Star Trek. Abrams said that it was no fun always having to keep mum on his projects, but ultimately it’s worth it. On the subject, he said “all the work we’re doing is about making this a special experience for the viewer; let’s preserve that as long as we can.” He went on to say that, as a movie fan himself, he doesn’t understand why people are always clamoring for information. While Abrams and I may disagree on the subject of lens flares, on this one we are 100% in agreement.