Paramount announced today that JJ Abrams‘ upcoming Star Trek has been given at PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America for its sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content. At right is the domestic poster revised to add the PG-13 rating stamp.

Also, released today were three new images from the film, which hits theaters on May 8, 2009. See all the images here below and click for full larger view. One is of Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock; another is of Pine on the ice planet; and the last is of Eric Bana as the villain Nero.

The official Star Trek site has been updated to include sections for Mosaics; a Model Gallery with pictures of model ships from The Enterprise Project; Dossiers with new images and info for Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, Pike, and the USS Kelvin; and Panoramas with 360 degree views of the Enterprises corridors, bridge, and the bridge during red alert [...]

Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, fans of the original Batman films can now run out and purchase the entire four-movie set on good ol’ Blu-ray.

Since Christopher Nolan took over and re-invented the way we see Batman cinematically, most have forgotten about these original films — some, understandably so. While these movies aren’t as highly-praised as the new ones, they do, and will always have a place in comic and superhero movie fans’ hearts.

First and most importantly, keep in mind that this new release is Blu-ray, so no matter how many times you’ve seen the movies, you haven’t seen them at this quality level. Love them or hate them, they do look really great in Blu.

I highly doubt there are people out there who aren’t familiar with these movies and what goes on in them, so instead, I’ll simply talk briedly on each one and why ultimately, it’s worth picking up this set.

The first and the best known of the bunch is the original — Batman. Batman was one of the first big comic book superheroes to successfully grace the silver screen. [...]

Multiple sources have received an interesting little list — a list that apparently shares the names and descriptions of all of the robots that we will see in the upcoming Michael Bay blockbuster, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

One noted absence is the name Megatron, which is kind of a head-scratcher even with the fact that he got dumped in the ocean at the end of the first. The first thing that comes to mind with things like this, is the fact that Michael Bay openly admitted that everything that came out about the movie over the course of production would be a flat-out lie. I assume most of these, if not all of them, are true, but there’s a gut feeling that it’s not a complete list is all I’m saying.

The most intriguing two are The Fallen, and obviously Devastator. The Fallen definitely sounds like he could be one scary presence and Devastator you need only gauge Steven Spielberg’s quoted reaction to him featured below!

Click over for the whole party.

Here is the list and descriptions of what you can expect to see based on information offered from both Yahoo! and USA Today. [...]

New York, NY, April 1, 2009 — MTV Games and Harmonix’s Rock Band® are joining forces with Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment to celebrate the May 8th theatrical release of the film STAR TREK from director/producer J.J. Abrams. The first-of-its-kind collaboration will fuse together the massive cultural followings of both STAR TREK and the video game phenomenon Rock Band to engage fans with free music, an in-game battle of the bands, and futuristic avatar creation contest.

Beginning today, fans can register for a 15-day sweepstakes that will give away 500 free

Rock Band Music Store downloads each day from April 7th through April 21st for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®Store for PlayStation3.

And if that’s not enough – fans will want to fire up Rock Band 2’s online Battle of the Bands mode to participate in the STAR TREK Ultimate Battle. Bands of three to four players can battle the Rock Band galaxy. The band with the highest score will win a STAR TREK hometown movie screening for their band and their friends. Additionally, twenty randomly selected players will win an awesome STAR TREK/Rock Band prize pack equipped with STAR TREK and Rock Band gear. The Battle of the Bands component will begin on April 20th and run through April 27th [...]

The headline pretty much sums up the story, but as we’ve all come to expect with mega-blockbuster movies — their sequels are usually given the greenlight before the initial movie is even released. This is no different for J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek, which already has a sequel script in the works with the hopes of a Summer 2011 release.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are again handling the script duties, but this time the duo will also be joined by Lost co-creator, writer, and executive producer Damon Lindelof. Recently — in regard to Transformers 3 — Orci and Kurtzman said that it was time to pass the torch along to the next writers (they wrote Transformers 1 & 2), so I can’t help but wonder if this new Trek project was the reason they’ve decided to move on from Michael Bay.

When it comes to a possible storyline, well, obviously we have to wait and see how the first goes before they begin sharing those sweet little morsels. Thankfully, the filmmakers aren’t rushing, as Alex Kurtzman explained: [...]

Attention Anime-loving über-geeks! We Geeks of Doom have just gotten our geeky mitts on a copy of the new mind-bending adventure game for Nintendo DS, Lux-Pain, as well as a sweet carry case, and we’re giving it away to one lucky reader.

One (1) winner will receive:
– One (1) Lux-Pain for Nintendo DS
– One (1) Nintendo DS carry case

Lux-Pain is set in historical Kisaragi City, a town plagued by mysteries from small mishaps to murders – with no logical explanation as to why these events occur. It seems “Silent”, a worm born through hate and sadness, has infected humans and forced them to commit atrocious crimes. The hero’s parents, Atsuki, are victims of such crimes. To avenge his parents, Atsuki goes through a dangerous operation to acquire Lux-Pain in his left arm, a power so strong that his left eye turns golden when using it to seek and destroy Silent for good [...]

Disney has shared some new information on the upcoming 3-D re-release of two of the most important movies in the evolution of computer animated movies — Toy Story and Toy Story 2. On October 2, 2009 for a limited time, you will have the opportunity to run out to theaters and see the cherished pair of movies together in double-feature fashion.

The re-release is for everyone to experience the two movies for the first time with their new 3-D makeover — a makeover that many older animated movies are getting, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Another reason this is being done, is to get folks more excited than they already are (which is tough to do) for the highly-anticipated June 18, 2010 3-D return of Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the gang in Toy Story 3. The first teaser trailer for Toy Story 3 is expected to be shown at the double feature event in October as well (instead of the usual Summer before tradition), in case you needed another reason to go. The third installment is directed by Lee Unkrich, who was a co-director on the first two films. [...]

I hate April Fools Day. Hate it. It’s a day filled with weak attempts at elementary school shenanigans and absolutely zero pay off. All it accomplishes is annoyances and aggravations. It should be banned alongside The Hills, Madonna, and the Sham-Wow guy.

Now that I’ve vented, I must make mention of one of these horribly useless pranks on Adult Swim’s late-night lineup.

Adult Swim usually plays a couple of episodes of Family Guy at 3:00 and 3:30AM. Being a big fan, most nights I’ll throw it on and watch, especially because at that time of night, there’s very rarely anything else on. Last night when I changed it over to watch, it appeared that there was some kind of soap opera on. This confused and scared me. After a few minutes, the Adult Swim logo appeared at the bottom, so I knew mischief was being had. After a few more minutes, it was made known that I was watching something called The Room.

Now, when it comes to the description “Worst Movie Ever,” it’s something that’s used very liberally and very rarely does it hold any water. As I continued watching this odd film, still confused at Adult Swim’s logic, I quickly realized that it may indeed actually be THE worst movie ever made. As absurd as it sounds, though, I just couldn’t stop watching! The unbelievable amounts of horrid material that I was witnessing demanded that I keep watching, that I keep taking it all in. I’ve never once felt so vulnerable in my entire life. [...]

In another exciting cinematic event announcement, Disney has informed the world that their new half live-action, half motion capture take on the classic Alice in Wonderland tale will be presented in IMAX 3-D along with its regular wide theatrical release on March 5, 2010.

Alice in Wonderland is directed by Tim Burton and stars Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. It is based on the story by Lewis Carroll.

President of Disney Studios Motion Picture Group, Mark Zoradi had this to say about the announcement:

If ever there was a film that cried out to be presented in Disney Digital 3D(TM) and the premium IMAX 3D format, Tim Burton’s fantastic interpretation of Alice in Wonderland is that film. This is going to be an eye-popping cinematic experience as Tim takes moviegoers down the rabbit hole and into the dimensional world filled with incredible characters, sly humor, and wild adventures. Disney’s partnership with IMAX is taking shape with two amazing films already on the schedule. We look forward to working with them in bringing exciting new experiences and quality entertainment to IMAX screens around the world. [...]

Since the release of the Xbox 360, Microsoft has touted the machine as more than a gaming console and preferred to describe it as a complete media center where Xbox Live subscribers could purchase music, feature length films, television shows, arcade & mini games and recently, stream their netflix rentals. But while Xbox possesses a mighty user community of 20 million worldwide, it’s suffered from an absence of original programming that is essential when competing with the likes of apple’s iTunes.

That all changes with the debut of Con Trek, a magazine-style web show that delves deep into the strange and glorious world of fan conventions. That’s right, the kind of coverage you’d expect from a professional sport’s league draft except all about Cons that feature geek news, interviews and hundreds of beautiful Summer Glau caliber women dressed in Slave Leia costumes.

And because this is Xbox Live, you can even get it in High Definition.

The first episode of the series, which premiered this last week, features interviews with Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek, Heroes) and Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), along with a glimpse of Dragon*Con’s amazing costume contests, drunken debauchery, scantly clad women, aisles and aisles of dealers selling collectibles and items from all over the world and much more [...]

Most people know William Shatner for his iconic role as James T. Kirk, the Captain of the USS Enterprise on the 1960s TV series Star Trek (and its subsequent movies). The actor went on in the 1980s to popularize the title character on TV’s TJ Hooker and today he’s a favorite on the show Boston Legal, where he plays law firm partner Denny Crane. Oh, and let’s not forget his most-seen persona as The Priceline Negotiator in the Priceline commercials.

While everyone knows William Shatner the actor, how many people are familiar with William Shatner the music artist? I’m guessing not many. Now’s your chance to check it out, because Amazon’s MP3 album deal of the day is William Shatner’s The Transformed Man for only 99 cents (discounted price is for today only).

The Transformed Man, released in 1968, was Shatner’s first foray into music and contains six tracks of the actor performing spoken word versions of some popular tunes of the time like The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Most of the songs are accompanied by dramatic (and … I … mean … dramatic) readings from the works of William Shakespeare against psychedelic orchestrations and definitely what sounds like the Star Trek television series soundtrack. Shatner took the opportunity to juxtapose classic literature with modern-day poetic lyrics, and til this day, stands by this experimental endeavor [...]