There’s been some controversy over a scene in Star Trek Into Darkness where Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) strips down to her underwear on screen for no reason.  Director J.J. Abrams recently went on Conan to explain his decision by saying that it was intended as a moment of levity in an action-packed scene.  He also said that we see Kirk (Chris Pine) naked from the waist up post-threesome with some alien babes.  Abrams doesn’t seem to quite get it that both scenes objectify women, but in terms of eye candy, Eve and Pine are both very attractive people.  However, if you want some more partial nudity, it turns out there was a deleted scene of Benedict Cumberbatch showering, and thus creating today’s most searched phrase on Google.  This is a real scene, not one made up by Conan.

Hit the jump to check out Cumberbatch’s “evil shower”.

Star Trek is not iconography.  There are plenty of iconic moments, inside jokes, winks, nods, and more, but it all stems from an original story starring fleshed-out characters who answered the call of duty and the call of adventure in equal and enthusiastic measure.  Director J.J. Abrams only sees iconography, but it was enough to get him through 2009′s reboot.  The story was barely patched together, still filled with holes, and wrapped in coincidences, but Abrams’ talent as a director managed to bring the story and characters to life in a way that felt fresh and exciting.  Much like his take on Captain Kirk, it was slapdash, occasionally clever, frantic, and charming.  Unfortunately, a flashy smile and big set pieces can’t save Abrams a second time as his follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness, amplifies the shortcomings of his original effort, and removes the joy as the picture stumbles around looking for character arcs, themes, and a compelling, well-constructed plot.  But its greatest embarrassment is in trying to steal classic Star Trek moments without having a clue as to why those moments had meaning.

We’re just days away from the US release of J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, and to mark the occasion Paramount has released a batch of high-resolution images from the film.  By now, you probably already know whether you’ll be seeking this one out or not, but if you’re a fan of Trek and just can’t wait another 24 hours before seeing the film, this image gallery should appease you for now.  We’ve seen some of these images before, but a few of them are new and all of them are in glorious high-resolution.  If you missed Steve’s spoiler-free video blog review of the film, click here.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Alice Eve, John Cho, and Bruce Greenwood.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D tomorrow, and in both 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 16th.

The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for director John Wells’ (The Company Men) adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play August: Osage County.  The story follows the women of a family whose lives have splintered in many directions until a crisis bring them back to their childhood home and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.  While a bit lighter in tone than the actual story, this trailer does a swell job of teasing the film’s absolutely terrific ensemble cast, led by a characteristically great Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in what could potentially be her best role in years.  Given the talent involved both onscreen and behind the scenes (Argo‘s George Clooney and Grant Heslov produce), this thing is a surefire Oscar contender that also promises delectable interplay amongst the film’s incredible ensemble.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margot Martindale, Chris Cooper, Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, Abigail Breslin, and Sam Shepard.  August: Osage County opens on November 8th.

As fans await Star Trek Into Darkness with both excitement and apprehension (early reviews have been mixed), all eyes are on what J.J. Abrams has brought to the latest installment of the rebooted Trek franchise.  To be fair, he has attempted to step up and take the reigns of a major franchise and he also now has Star Wars on the horizon, but it remains to be seen if 2009′s Star Trek was lightning in a bottle, or if the sequel will falter despite the presence of a strong cast and a tremendous-looking performance from Benedict Cumberbatch as the antagonist.

In a recent interview with Star Trek Magazine, Abrams talked about trying to make a Trek film for both the average moviegoer and the die-hard fans, stepping up the villain, if a third film is planned, how he’ll balance directing duties for Star Trek with Star Wars, and more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say, and be sure to pick up the latest issue of Star Trek Magazine for much more on the film.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and 3D and 2D on May 17th.

Paramount Pictures has released six clips from director J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.  We’ve seen these clips individually before, but now they’re all together in one convenient place.  If you missed any of our recent coverage, be sure to watch Steve’s spoiler-free video blog review of the film, the 3D trailer, three new TV spots that unveil an unmasked Klingon, and the final poster for the film.

Hit the jump to watch all the clips.  The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Alice Eve, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 17th.

Paramount Pictures has released a new 3D trailer for director J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.  If you happen to have a pair of red/blue 3D glasses handy, then you’re in luck.  If not, well I hope you like slightly blurry images.  This trailer is simply the latest theatrical trailer only refashioned in kinda-3D.  I say kinda-3D because this is far from the quality 3D you’d see in a theater.  Nevertheless, if you happen to have a pair of 3D glasses nearby, go nuts.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Alice Eve, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D in traditional theaters on May 17th.

The Star Trek Into Darkness marketing blitz rolls on with three more TV spots for the upcoming sequel.  A couple of the TV spots hammer home the same plot points we’ve seen before: Kirk (Chris Pine) needs to be responsible, the villain “John Harrison” (Benedict Cumberbatch) is really sinister, etc.  But the third spot is an interesting evaluation of Uhura (Zoe Saldana) by Harrison.  We saw this kind of evaluation before with Spock (Zachary Quinto), but the evaluation of Uhura sneaks in a couple frames of an unmasked Klingon.  I’m not exactly sure why they needed masks in the first place, but as far as the design goes, it’s fairly subdued.  However, in the TV series, the Klingons (from TNG onwards, which is when they got their distinctive foreheads) have different craniums.  They have ridges, but the ridges vary from Klingon to Klingon, so we don’t know if that will be the case with Abrams’ film or if he’s gone for a uniform design.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spots and first image of an unmasked Klingon.  The film also stars Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, and Alice Eve.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 3D and 2D on May 17th.

Some new U.K. character posters for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sequel Star Trek Into Darkness have made their way online.  We previously saw a few domestic character posters for Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and Benedict Cumberbatch, but in this grouping we see Alice Eve, John Cho, and Karl Urban get their own one-sheets alongside new posters for the aforementioned actors.  The lack of Anton Yelchin’s Chekov in most of the marketing, though, is starting to become glaring, and I’m beginning to wonder about his character’s fate.  Also, where’s Scotty’s poster?  Surely Simon Pegg deserves a one-sheet of his own, especially as part of the U.K.’s marketing materials.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in the U.K. on May 9th, in IMAX 3D in the U.S. on May 15th, and in traditional U.S. theaters on May 17th.

With Star Trek Into Darkness opening in a month, our partners at Omelete recently sat down with Benedict Cumberbatch.  During the interview, they talked about the challenges of making a “huge, huge, huge film,” the physical training, whether he was a Star Trek fan to begin with, how he feels as a new member of the cast, the morality play aspect of the early episodes, and much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, and Alice Eve.  The film opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

Yesterday, a new image from Star Trek Into Darkness was released that showcased Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain John Harrison looking rather, well, villainous.  Today, Paramount has released a new promo clip for the film that features Harrison monologuing over some fuzzy clips from the J.J. Abrams-directed sequel.  He’s obviously not very fond of Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the showdown between these two characters when the pic hits theaters next month.

Hit the jump to watch the new video.  The film also stars Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, and Peter Weller.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens on in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

Though the film opens in a little less than a month, we’re certainly not lacking for Star Trek Into Darkness materials.  The final trailer was released on Tuesday, and Steve has been sharing his video interviews from CinemaCon with castmembers Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, and Alice Eve over the past few days.  Now a new image from the J.J. Abrams-directed pic has been released online, this time showcasing Benedict Cumberbatch’s villainous John Harrison.  It’s tough to parse out just exactly what Harrison is doing in this new image, but he certainly doesn’t look like he’s doing anything nice.

Hit the jump to take a look at the new image.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th, and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

Since the film is only a month away, Paramount has released what will presumably be the final major trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness.  If you want your Trek movie epic and deadly serious, then it looks like J.J. Abrams has you covered.  I’m glad this new trailer finally turns the attention to Kirk (Chris Pine) rather than Cumberbatch’s villain.  The trailer also hits home that the Enterprise is going to get destroyed, and when you factor in the destruction it already suffered in Search for Spock and again in Generations, the impact for Into Darkness feels somewhat diminished.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with the character poster for Kirk, and click on the respective links for the posters for Spock, Uhura, and “John Harrison”.  The film also stars Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Alice Eve, and Peter Weller.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th, and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

The third of what will probably be four character posters has been released for Star Trek Into Darkness.  We previously saw posters for Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), and tomorrow we’ll probably see Kirk (Chris Pine) along with the new trailer.  A sneak peek at the trailer was released yesterday, and this poster builds off part where see the villain “John Harrison” (Benedict Cumberbatch) fighting Spock on some kind of flying contraption.

Hit the jump to check out the new poster, and come back tomorrow for the new trailer.  The film also stars Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, and Peter Weller.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 3D and 2D on May 17th.

You could always use some more Star Trek Into Darkness marketing in your life, so Paramount has released a new sneak peek as well as a character poster for Spock (Zachary Quinto).  Yesterday, we got a poster for Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and I’m curious to see if the upcoming character posters will be for anyone other than Kirk (Chris Pine) and “John Harrison” (Benedict Cumberbatch).  In the meantime, we can watch Spock bathe in sweet, hot lava.  As for the sneak peek, it’s basically a TV spot, although I don’t know if it will play like any other commercial.  It’s debuted on MTV’s website, so perhaps there might be something longer on the MTV Movie Awards later tonight.

Hit the jump to check out the sneak peek and poster.  The film also stars Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, and Peter Weller.  Star Trek Into Darkness opens on May 17th.