When I went to see Cloverfield over the weekend, the crowd was pretty lively through the trailers. It was not in an excited fan way, but in that last-minute rush of chatter during something that holds little interest. That being said, conversations wrapped up pretty quickly when the Star Trek teaser popped up. At first, when the Bad Robot emblem appeared, people kept talking. I waited. It got a bit more silent as J.J. Abrams' name hit the screen with John F. Kennedy's words bellowing from the speakers. But then, a split second later when the Enterprise came into view, the crowd went wild.

While theater-goers got to see the first teaser in all its glory on Friday, it didn't make it's official appearance on the net until today. Now you can head over to Yahoo and check it out for yourself. Personally, I dug the connections the teaser made between the creation of the ship and America's first forays into space. It made the whole thing seem more real. But maybe all you need is the sight of the Enterprise, and Leonard Nimoy's gravelly voice.

For me, unfortunately, it was a bit ruined when the credits showed up -- I just can't take the idea of John Cho as Sulu seriously. But whatever happens, Star Trek is on its way. What do you think?

I'm still holding out for the surprise announcement that William Shatner will indeed appear in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. In the meantime, though, I expect to hear another complaint from the original Captain Kirk after reading this juicy bit of goodness: George Takei has a cameo in the upcoming movie*, which will be a prequel-ish reboot of the TV and movie franchise. According to a Starburst magazine interview with the actor, Takei will feature in a flash-forward scene that will also showcase original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. From the sound of it, he will be returning to his iconic role as an older version of Sulu. Best guess is that Takei and Nimoy will be sitting in futuristic rocking chairs reminiscing about their beginnings at the Starfleet Academy, and this scene will be the prologue to the rest of the movie. Playing the younger versions of Sulu and Spock throughout the rest of the film are John Cho and Zachary Quinto, respectively.

Well, if Shatner doesn't put up more of a fuss, the fans should. After all, as long as we're getting two of the surviving original cast members, why can't we get the rest? Sure, it would be a sad scene, considering DeForest Kelley (Bones) and James Doohan (Scotty) aren't around to be a part of such a reunion, but the Trekkies would certainly appreciate seeing Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru), Walter Koenig and of course Shatner together again. Am I right? They could all have a few laughs while yelling at the kids to get off their damn lawns. And we could all feel better about having to accept all new actors as these beloved characters. So, who is going to start the online petition? Oh wait, that's already been done.

*UPDATE: Apparently this is just another rumor, one that has been debunked. According to TrekMovie.com, Takei will not have a cameo in the new Star Trek.

CNN is reporting that William Shatner is upset at not being asked to appear in J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek film. Adding insult to injury, the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is on board. I guess you could say the Shat has hit the fan. "I couldn't believe it. I'm not in the movie at all. Leonard, God bless his heart, is in, but not me," says Shatner. "I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn't seem to be a wise business decision." I think Shatner may be overestimating his box office popularity here, but I certainly think that if you're going to have Nimoy, you need to have Shatner. No?

Director Abrams originally had said Shatner would likely play a role, but the pair had a couple of meetings that led to nothing. Chris Pine (Smokin' Aces) is playing the young Captain Kirk. Heroes' Zachary Quinto is playing the young Spock, and we don't know much about Nimoy's role in the movie other than that "there's going to be a sense of guidance in this film and beyond." Shatner says simply, "Having been in on the creation of it, I was hoping to be in on the re-creation." I think the guy's got a point. If I had to guess, perhaps Abrams is trying to make a serious, non-jokey Trek film, and the presence of Shatner would upset that balance? Shatner has become more of a comedic figure these days, with his work on Boston Legal and appearances like his Comedy Central Roast. What do you guys think?

Word from The Hollywood Reporter is that New Zealand actor Karl Urban has joined the cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek re-start. Fans of fantastical cinema will no doubt remember Urban from his work in Lord of the Rings, The Bourne Supremacy, Doom, The Chronicles of Riddick and Pathfinder. Mr. Urban will be playing medical officer "Bones" McCoy, a character made famous by the late DeForest Kelley. Plot details are still being kept under wraps, but here's what the all-new Enterprise crew looks like...

Captain Kirk (previously played by William Shatner) -- Chris Pine (27 years old)
Spock (Leonard Nimoy) -- Zachary Quinto (30)
Sulu (George Takei) -- John Cho (35)
McCoy (DeForest Kelley) -- Karl Urban (35)
Scotty (James Doohan) -- Simon Pegg (37)
Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) -- Zoe Saldana (29)
Chekov (Walter Koenig) -- Anton Yelchin (18)


...and Eric Bana as the villainous Nero. (With a special appearance from Leonard Nimoy!) Production on the film is expected to run from November to March. So what do you think of the whole crew?

Also, feel free to pick through our numerous reports on this flick. Like right here, here and here.

As soon as the new Star Trek movie buzz started up, the inevitable question was soon to follow: who would be in it? In April, it was confirmed that Captain Kirk would be in it. That's the character, not Mr. William Shatner. But really, that's not too surprising since the man, and his Vulcan counterpart Leonard Nimoy, turned the whoppingly ripe age of 76 this year. As great as he has aged, he just wouldn't look the same in that classic outfit. It'd be more of a happy buddha Kirk than the real deal. Since then, plot details have come out that have Kirk and Spock are in their young academy days. Okay, so this is going way back in time. Last month, Chris Ullrich posted about rumors that Shatner was ticked off because he wasn't getting a cameo in the film, but Nimoy was. It's one thing to say there are no cameos, but to exclude Kirk when Spock is in it? Come on.

Now, we've got it straight from the horse's mouth. Over at ShatnerVision, there's a video clip where ol' Kirk talks about the new movie and just what happened: "I called Leonard and I said 'Leonard! Have you heard?' and he said 'Yes, I have.' I said: 'What do you mean?' He said: 'I've read the script.' I said: 'Is it a good script?' He says: 'Yeah.' I said: 'Am I in it?' He said, and it was a pause. He says: 'No.'" While this doesn't make much sense to me (why wouldn't he be given a cameo?), what makes even less sense is the rest of the interview. The poor guy just finished his story about how he's completely not involved in the story, and what's the follow-up question? "When is this coming out?" Yeah, because the guy who got shafted from a cameo is part of the PR train. Sigh. Well, while I'm no Trekkie, I've watched a number of the old-school episodes in my day, and I used to go see all the movies. But really, I'm not sure I'll be interested without a little Shat. I guess I'll just turn on some episodes of Boston Legal instead.

I never really understood the premise behind Transformers, but I didn't care. They were above and beyond the greatest toys a kid could dream of playing with. Who needed either action figures or Matchbox cars anymore? The Transformers were both. And as a loyal consumer child of the '80s, I followed my favorite toy line as it spun-off an animated television series, a comic book series and a full-length feature film. As I said, I didn't really get the story. All that mattered was that there were good guys (Autobots) and there were bad guys (Decepticons), same as any action cartoon. Anyway, the more I try to comprehend the premise of Transformers, the more questions I have about its logic, so I kinda prefer to be in the dark.

It's been nearly twenty years since I sold all my toys at a tag sale, and I haven't watched the television show or read a Transformers comic in all that time. So, when I decided to take a nostalgic look at Transformers: The Movie I was more in the dark than ever. Because it functions as a continuation of the television series, existing chronologically between the show's second and third seasons, there isn't much in the way of introductions. This is a movie for people familiar with the premise, the story and the characters of the Transformers universe.

I am, by no means, a Trekkie, but I did watch a fair amount of the Trek as a kid, since I had a thing for retro television shows. As I get older, I've been discovering that there are a lot more Trekkies in the midst than just the frequent fan convention attendees. Heck, I recently met Trekkie-turned-poet, so it takes all kinds. That's probably why the franchise continues. It not only has a strong, rabid fan base, but a pretty vast circle of outer interest as well. Now, we've been keeping you up-to-date on Star Trek XI for months, and there still hasn't been clear word on those two popular faces of the franchise.

Last November, we wondered if Captain Kirk could be replaced, since the powers that be wants to tell the early years of the team. In March, there was news that William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy met with J.J. Abrams for an "exploratory talk" about the film. Now it seems that those talks seem to be it for the duo, at least for right now. The Trek Movie Report has a post up about Spock and Kirk appearing at a convention in Minneapolis. Neither had news about the next sequel, and Shatner joked that he was "out of the loop." Nimoy, sticking to his guns, reasserted that he was only interested if it would be a "meaningful role." Are they just keeping the possibility of Shatner and Nimoy returning just to keep us interested? Are they putting off further talks because the pair won't like what XI will cover, or who they want to cast? Abrams wants to have this out next year, so I'm surprised that the pair hasn't gotten more information.