Undercover Boss

Any other H'thonners into this show? I never watch reality television but I've eagerly devoured all eight episodes of this excellent, Dickensian CBS series. It's uplifting and troubling at the same time; I think it's, like, the essential chronicle of these our times. Anyway I'm curious if anyone else from our little corner of the internet is into this.

George Takei PSA on Census

Jordan's modern "2001: A Space Odyssey" trailer

Exactly in line with Handsome Stan's comments about old trailers, here's my modern trailer for Stanley Kubrick' 1968 sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. I did this a couple of years ago and added it to my reel; all the typography is new, including some CGI text (see above). Take a look.

ttp://www.jordanorlando.com/2001

HHD: Crime and Punishment

As most of you might know, Octo and I were arrested in 1984. Yep, that’s right, arrested. Our crime? On a warm spring evening Octo, myself, and our friend Keith (who is unfortunately insane today) were bored and we decided that it might be fun to climb on top of Barrington Middle School. Let me provide a bit of context here; Octo and I LOVED climbing and we took every opportunity to climb on trees, buildings, structures, you name it. Octo had recently acquired his driver’s license, which made our ability to explore new climbing opportunities that much easier.


Octo circa 1984


JPX circa 1984

After mulling over our options the Barrington Middle School appeared to be the most convenient and appealing climbing challenge. We quickly hopped into Octo’s tiny excuse for a car and made our way to our climbing destination. Pulling into the parking lot we were delighted to find that the place was completely deserted – mind you this was in the early evening so it wasn’t that surprising. We started our assent.



We made it onto the roof lickety-split and began frolicking around, titillated with our (simple) achievement. We explored every corner and eventually lowered ourselves into the courtyard where there was a small green house. At some point we tried the door to get into the school but had no luck, which turned out to be a very good thing. Climbing back onto the roof from the courtyard we were horrified to see a vehicle pull into the parking lot. We weren’t certain but I recall some nervous chatter about it possibly being a police car. We lay low for a while but our hearts sank when several more cars pulled into the lot – there was no mistake, they were police cars.


A plan was quickly hatched to slowly lower ourselves onto the ground in an attempt to make it back to Octo’s car, which was unfortunately in plain view. We almost made it. We were stealth-like in our decent off the roof and we actually got back to Octo’s car. Unfortunately this was also when we heard, “Freeze!” It was all over. Before we knew it we were swarmed by cops. We were quickly lined up against Octo’s car and handcuffed together. The beefy, mean cop who nabbed us noted, “Sonitrol got ya!” Later we were to learn that Sonitrol was a silent alarm system. Go figure.



The rest of the evening was just a nightmare. We were taken to the police station in the back of a cruiser and we sat in terror as we listened to the squawk of the police radio. We heard communication suggesting that the cops were inside the school checking to ensure that we hadn’t stolen computers (?!) or caused any sort of mayhem. The worst part was hearing the police desk jockey phone our parents to inform them that their thug teenagers were arrested and to come pick us up. The aftermath was uncomfortable. My father picked me up and he was cool about it. My mother, on the other hand, was livid and I was grounded (the only time in my life) and prevented from seeing Octo for a few weeks. It all blew over, of course, and today my mother is able to acknowledge that we really hadn’t done anything too terrible. Still this experience had a profound effect on my life. To this day cops scare the hell out of me.



So how about it, Horrorthonners? Tell me your tales of crime and punishment. What did you get away with? What did you get caught doing? I’d like to believe that the Horrorthon crowd is pure and above such seedy matters, but I suspect differently.

Best Sign Ever

From Respectful Insolence.

The Original Tron Gets Modernized Fan-Created Trailer

I'm not wearing any pants!

Seriously, where is everyone today? Rare Star Wars pictures! Jason Voorhees takes a corpse to Burger King! Is this blog on?

This is a picture of No Pants Day, 2008. How did I miss No Pants Day? Are you people to blame? I'm looking into it!

Rare Star Wars set photos

From cinemablend, You’d think by now we’d have all seen everything there is to see when it comes to Lucas’s original Star Wars movies, but these photos are new, to me at least. A site called Coolthings has posted a collection of what it claims are rare, behind the scenes photos from the sets of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

The pics are whimsical and revealing. You’ll see a stormtrooper on the back of a non-CGI dewback, but you’ll also see the cast just sort of hanging out and clowning around. Carrie Fisher in particular, always seems to be having a good time. My favorite picture is the one you’ll see first below, of Fisher just hanging out taking a break with her blaster.

See more here

Lame videogame spin-offs

4) Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

From toplessrobot, It's a total failure. Ignoring everything that made the original game a cultural phenomenon, the SNES and Sega Genesis' The New Adventures is more akin to the horrible '80s cartoon, following Pac-Man in his hometown, wandering about trying to perform chores like getting milk for his baby or picking a flower for his wife. Even if that sounds vaguely entertaining, the player has no control over Pac-Man -- he wanders about like a drunk, insane baby, while the player tries desperately to focus his attention with a slingshot. It can be cartoonishly entertaining, but Pac-Man? It is not.

See the full list here

Questionable - Burger King's new ad campaign

From worstpreviews, A Dubai-based advertising agency called Tonic was hired by Burger King to create a marketing campaign that will let people know that the fast-food chain stays open till 4am every night. The result is some of horror's most iconic characters.

The company said: "We were asked to communicate that Burger King stays open until the wee hours of the morning. Thomas and Kris came up with the following campaign showing the villains of the night that we know all to well, enjoying their favorite meal after a night out. The ads were shot in South Africa and Dubai by French photographer Ben Dauchez and retouched by Thomas himself. A job well done! The series comprises of four ads which will run in press and outdoor."

New Stephen King novella just announced

Cemetery Dance Publications is proud to announce Blockade Billy by Stephen King, an original, never-before-published novella that only the King of Horror could have dreamed up!

Even diehard baseball fans don't know the true story of William Blakely, but in just a few weeks you'll be holding this dark tale in your own two hands so you can read it for yourself.

That's right! This Cemetery Dance exclusive trade hardcover edition is already rolling at the printer and will be arriving at our warehouse in mid-April.

This beautiful hardcover edition also features stunning cover artwork by Glen Orbik and eight gorgeous pieces of interior artwork by Alex McVey.

Order it here

'Godzilla' to be remade, courtesy of Legendary Pictures

From ew, The giant Japanese monster is getting the Hollywood treatment — again. This time Legendary Pictures will do an American Godzilla movie, based on Toho Company’s legendary monster. The studio, which is behind the upcoming Clash of the Titans, has made it clear it won’t be a sequel to the 1998 film that Sony and Roland Emmerich made. (That movie starring Matthew Broderick grossed close to $400 million worldwide.) Rather, it will be a re-imagining of the original Godzilla movies. Legendary has plans to announce a director for the film soon. The movie — which Legendary hopes to release in 2012 — will be a co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros, and Toho will distribute the film in Japan.

Higher Prices Make Box-Office Debut

From wallstreetjournal, Major U.S. movie-theater chains, seeking to capitalize on the surge in revenues fueled by such 3-D hits as "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland," are imposing some of the steepest increases in ticket prices in at least a decade.

The new prices take effect Friday in many markets across the country in theaters owned by such major exhibitors as Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings Inc. and AMC Entertainment Inc.

The increases, in one case as much as 26%, vary from theater to theater, but many cinemas are raising prices most—or even solely—for 3-D showings, which accounted for the vast majority of last year's 10% jump in domestic box-office sales. 3-D movies accounted for 11% of domestic ticket sales in 2009, up from just 2% in 2008.

At an AMC theater in Danvers, Mass., a Boston suburb, 3-D ticket prices are jumping more than 20% to $17.50 from $14.50, while the adult admission price for a conventional film will remain at $10.50. At one Seattle multiplex, adult admission is rising to $11 from $10 for a conventional film, to $15 from $13.50 for a regular 3-D showing and to $17 from $15 for Imax 3-D.

A 3-D Imax movie at New York City's AMC Loews Kips Bay will cost $19.50, up from $16.50.

Read full article here

Buck Rogers in 3D by Paul W.S. Anderson

From variety, Buck Rogers is taking flight again, this time with Paul W.S. Anderson directing from a script by "Iron Man" co-writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.
Character is the latest classic hero -- including Conan, the Green Hornet, Doc Savage, Dan Dare, even Popeye -- that bowed in the 1920s through 1950s and are being reintroduced on the bigscreen.

Paradox Entertainment, which is in the midst of lensing a reboot of "Conan," with Marcus Nispel helming, will produce the "Buck Rogers" adventure. Pic could be lensed in 3D to take advantage of the latest theatrical craze.

The shingle paired up with Incognito Entertainment and Randall Emmett/George Furla Prods. last year to acquire the movie rights from the Dille Family Trust to Buck Rogers. Lawrence Abramson, Jeremy Bolt and Fredrik Malmberg will produce the pic, with Furla, Anderson and Flint Dille exec producing.

Read full article here

Rachel Weisz is the Villain in "James Bond 23"?

From worstpreviews, Rachel Weisz has previously expressed interested in joining Daniel Craig in a James Bond movie. And now that she and Craig are working on "Dream House," it comes as no surprise that talks of "Bond 23" would come up.

CinemaBlend has now learned from a reliable source that the actress is currently in discussions to star in the film, as a villain. But not just any villain, the head of Quantum, which is the secret organization responsible for all the trouble in the last two installments.

While there have been several actresses who have played villains in the Bond franchise, this will be the first time that one would play the mastermind.

Orson Welles' latest project

From iwatchstuff, Creepy Christmas! The special effects house turned production company Drac Studios is going to take some just-found old recording of Orson Welles reading a story about Santa's dog saving Christmas (yup) and turn it into a movie--using his posthumous voice as the narrator, of course:

The late Orson Welles is back in the movie business. A rare recording only recently discovered of the filmmaker narrating a children's Christmas novel is being used as the basis for a film.
Drac is in development on "Christmas Tails," a 3D live-action/CG hybrid movie to be directed by Todd Tucker and narrated by Welles, who died in 1985.

"It's a movie about how Santa's dog saves Christmas, but on one level, this a story about the discovery of Orson's lost tapes," Drac president Harvey Lowry said. "This is a substantial find. It's something that a filmmaker dreams of."

What filmmaker hasn't had that dream? Usually, an aspiring director starts by dreaming, "I hope I can make a movie as respected and enduring as Citizen Kane!" But later, when that dream starts feeling a bit lofty, they'll think, "Well, maybe I can at least find an old recording of the dead director of Citizen Kane's voice, and make that into a broad Christmas movie about a CGI dog."

With any luck, the lost recording specifies, "That's 'tails' spelled T-A-I-L-S, like a dog's tail," so that people will get it for sure.

Box Office

From ew [excerpt] How to Train Your Dragon won the weekend box office race with ease, grossing $43.3 million for the three-day frame. (A solid 11.5 percent of that cash came from 187 IMAX theaters.) The DreamWorks Animation film, which has won rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, may well have bowed with a far bigger number had it not been sandwiched between two other high-profile 3-D releases. The Viking-era-set action-adventure had to share 3-D screens with Alice in Wonderland, which in its fourth weekend in theaters managed to claim $17.3 million of box office gross, a respectable 49% drop that leaves the Tim Burton-directed film on the precipice of $300 million total. Dragon should enjoy solid grosses during the upcoming week with kids across the country out of school for spring break, but it’s likely to get squeezed next weekend when the highly anticipated Clash of the Titans rolls into 3-D theaters with a vengeance.

Hot Tub Time Machine bowed to an estimated $13.6 million for its opening weekend, good enough to claim third place. The R-rated ’80s nostalgia fest starring John Cusack drew in a crowd mostly over age 25, playing strong on the two coasts and in college towns, while underperforming in the South. The movie, from director Steve Pink, generated a B from Cinemascore, a response that doesn’t necessarily portend a strong second weekend. Surprisingly, The Bounty Hunter, which debuted last weekend in third place, held in well its sophomore session, dropping only 40% for an additional $12.4 million. The Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler-starrer has now grossed $38.8 million total. Diary of a Wimpy Kid suffered from Dragon competition. The well-reviewed film fell 55% in its second weekend to $10 million and a fifth-place finish. The movie’s two-week take now stands at $35.7 million.

She’s Out of My League landed in the sixth spot in its third weekend with another $3.5 million and a total gross of $25.6 million. Green Zone took in $3.3 million; total gross for this expensive Matt Damon-starrer stands at only $30.4 million after three weekends. The Leonardo DiCaprio-Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island earned another $3.2 million for a six-week total of $120 million. Repo Men landed in 9th spot with $3 million. The Jude Law-Forest Whitaker-starrer has grossed only $11.3 million after two weekends. Our Family Wedding rounded out the top ten with an additional $2.2 million. The film has earned $16.7 million in three weeks.

I penned the suckiest movie ever - sorry!

From nypost, Let me start by apologizing to anyone who went to see "Battlefield Earth." wasn't as I intended -- promise. No one sets out to make a train wreck. Actually, comparing it to a train wreck isn't really fair to train wrecks, because people actually want to watch those.

It started, as so many of my choices do, with my Willy Wonker.

It was 1994, and I had read an article in Premiere magazine saying that the Celebrity Center, the Scientology epicenter in Los Angeles, was a great place to meet women.

Willy convinced me to go check it out. Touring the building, I didn't find any eligible women at first, but I did meet Karen Hollander, president of the center, who said she was a fan of "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." We ended up talking for over two hours. She told me why Scientology is so great. I told her that, when it comes to organized religion, anything a person does to reward, threaten and try to control people by using an unknown like the afterlife is dangerous.

Read the rest here

Uma Thurman's "Motherhood" is a bomb in the UK

From ew, Uma Thurman's attempt to be an average harried mom on film did not go over well UK audiences.

'Motherhood,' which was a decided flop in the US, was a monster bomb when it opened in the UK.

According to The Guardian (via Page Six), the movie made about $130 its opening weekend in a movie theater in London.

The film made just £88 on the weekend of Friday 5 March. On its debut Sunday, box office takings were £9, meaning one person bought a ticket.

The disaster has now degenerated into a bitter confrontation between Metrodrome, responsible for marketing the film in the UK, and producer Jana Edelbaum, who blames the company for Motherhood's atrocious performance.

The film, thought to have cost $5m to make, earned just over £ 40,000 when it opened in the US last October, but Edelbaum had no idea quite how badly it had performed in the UK until contacted this week by the Guardian. "You're kidding?" she said. "We must have broken a new record for grosses."

Fun With Bubble Wrap

Been playing around with bubble wrap making cheap FX.

Marmaduke continues to enrage me

I watchstuff, He's winking at you because, in addition to ruining the lives of his owners, now Marmaduke talks, and America's children are going to want to go see Marmaduke ruin lives and talk, and he knows there's nothing you can do about that.

If Saul Bass Had Created The Openings of Lost and Tron

LOST

Lost vs. Saul Bass from Hexagonall on Vimeo.

TRON

Tron vs. Saul Bass from Hexagonall on Vimeo.

From slashfilm, If you’ve ever seen a film by Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick, then you’re probably familiar with the title sequence designs of Saul Bass.

Some of the title sequences he’s more notable openings include The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), Vertigo (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), Spartacus (1960), Exodus (1960), Ocean’s Eleven (1960), West Side Story (1961), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Broadcast News (1987), Big (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991 )and Casino (1995). His minimalistic 1950’s/1960’s-style is very unique, and we often post movie posters imitating his style in our Cool Stuff columns.

But what is Saul Bass designed the opening title sequence for every movie and television show? What might they look like. Hexagonall decided to try to recreate the opening of Tron and the tv show Lost using Saul’s minimalistic style.

Release the Kraken!!!

I've been laughing at this like the whole damn day.

Results HHD Co-workers

I have to say this was the most difficult HHD decision I've had to make. So many great contributions, just so funny.

JPX's obsession with poop and barrage of ribbing brought on by JSP addressing it had me literally laughing to tears. Stan, I totally agree we should have a JPX poop haiku day!

Uni-sex bathroom
Who left the floating B.M.?
I don't want to know

Octo has me green with envy with this one:

Robot Chicken stint
Seth Green shared joint after work
Celebs have best weed

I totally want his job.

AC represented with charm & grace as she chose to mentally blot out what appear to be some of the worlds all time worst co-workers.

jeff's right, we worked with
alcoholics, borderlines
narcissists galore

come to think of it
a catalogue of assholes
*resume forgetting*

jeff, former colleague,
is retraumatizing me
haiku hiatus please!

JSP got a taste of karma when he got poop bombed after picking on JPX.

Damn karma police
Just got back from the restroom
The stench made me cringe

and strangely enough completed the day with another barrage on poop.

It is getting late
But I must tell you this tale
The office "shitter"

Shit stains led the way
Crime scene: the ladies bathroom
Suffocating stench

I am on the case
As is my trusty sidekick
We will solve this crime

Stan truly captured the essence of co-worker hell with:

Waited two hours
For actress to stop crying
Reason? No talent.

DCD made me glad I never got into the hotel business.

Found one girl asleep
on bags of ancient towels.
She still kept her job.

Did manage to can
the one we found stealing cards
from wedding couples.

So who wins? I have been struggling all day with these entries.

From JPX

"Super-delicious"
Is what a patient called me
Now that's my nick-name

and Octo. I could just imagine the look on your face when you realized what Gregario was saying.

Discussed quitting time
"Going to have me a beer
And then masturbate."

It's "hace pajo"
Since I know you're curious
Hand motion translates

In the end I had to go with JPX because I could imagine no worse hell than being cursed with the nick-name Super-delicious day after day. Congratulations and you have my sympathy.

OMFG

I keep reading and re-reading the announcement... maybe I'm just dreaming. If not, I can safely say no one in the world is as excited as I am that Davy Knowles will be playing with the Rhythm Devils this summer.

'At The Movies' is cancelled: A bad thing for criticism on TV?

From ew, The news that At The Movies has been cancelled — a show that began its life under the title Sneak Previews on PBS in 1978 — is certainly the end of an era in the TV presentation of reviewing and criticism. And it’s sadly ironic that the show should be snuffed just as it attained two hosts, A. O. Scott and Michael Phillips, who are probably the most rigorous film critics the franchise ever had. (It bears noting that on his Chicago Sun-Times blog, Ebert has already announced he’ll proceed with plans for “a new movie review program on television.)

Two things, quickly. First: There will be a lot of wailing about At The Movies disappearing, but such protestations are like the ones that abounded when Conan O’Brien was ousted from The Tonight Show — i.e., it’s likely that few of the people who now regret the passing of At The Movies are actually watching it every week these days. Second: We shouldn’t forget that the show’s original hosts, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, were not always the lionized figures they are today.

Read the full article here

Real life Meg

The 17 Most Unintentionally Hilarious Propaganda Posters

The Message:

The Soviet Union is building a better tomorrow. And we've got the modest, one-bedroom apartments to prove it!

The Problem:

Look, we get that it's probably hard to convey emotions like pride when you've never seen anyone smile without the assistance of vodka. But the star of this poster doesn't seem to be saying, "Welcome to your new apartment!" so much as, "Oh God, they took everything!" Propaganda 101: Never use a bereaved man whose left eye appears to have been beaten halfway shut to make you feel good about the future.

See them all here

Jamie Foxx Is Writing Us a 'Laverne & Shirley' Script

From I Watch Stuff: Jamie Foxx has got some time between movies. He's already sung the hook on a Kanye West track, started a satellite radio channel and hosted a BET awards show, and no one seems to be sending him a script for Stealth 2: Stealthier; what's he going to do with all this idle time?

Hmm...

Might as well write a modernized film adaptation of Laverne & Shirley to star Jennifer Garner and Jessica Biel, says Laverne's biological brother:

"Jamie and I are trying to do it,” Garry [Marshall] confirms. “He’s writing it. It’s a whole different modern day take on how they came up on the streets during difficult times. Laverne would be this very tough girl with a big ‘L’ tattooed on her arm. Jennifer Garner would play Laverne and Jessica Biel would play Shirley.”
As strange and awful as I'm sure I'll find this news in half an hour, right now I'm mostly just enjoying the relief of hearing that this project, as of yet, has no connection with Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence's sassy Wanda and Sheneneh characters. I just assumed. Which is sad, because it means our Earth has reached a point in pop culture that, when hearing about a Laverne & Shirley movie, somehow it seems more likely that the duo will be played by men in drag (and possibly whiteface) than actual women. WaW! (What a world.)

Blockbuster is 'bleeding to death'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Blockbuster is in a heap of trouble with nearly $1 billion in debt, and its latest fixes might not be enough to keep the company from filing for bankruptcy.

Read the full article here

Versatile 'I Spy' actor Robert Culp dies at 79

By Gary Strauss, USA TODAY

Robert Culp's leading-man looks and suave demeanor marked a varied six-decade film and television career, but he'll forever be remembered for his iconically hip '60s TV hit, I Spy.

Culp, 79, died Wednesday after hitting his head in a fall while walking outside his Hollywood home, his manager told the Associated Press.

The versatile Culp had more than 150 roles starting in 1953, including military officers, gunslingers and assorted bad guys. But the globe-trotting 1965-68 show I Spy helped make him a household name, as it did for Bill Cosby, the first African-American co-star of a TV drama series.

As Kelly Robinson, the debonair spy masquerading as a tennis pro, Culp received Emmy nominations three years straight. Each time, he lost to Cosby, whose cover was Robinson's trainer, Alexander Scott. (Culp was a gifted tennis player.)

Their characters had a sly, bantering relationship that extended off-screen. In a statement through spokesman David Brokaw, Cosby cited Culp's professionalism and enduring friendship, calling Culp "the big brother he never had."

Culp and Cosby co-starred in 1972 movie Hickey and Boggs, which Culp directed, and reunited in a 1987 episode of The Cosby Show. Though TV dominated his career, Culp's many movies included Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Hannie Caulder, PT 109 and The Pelican Brief (as the president).

Culp's quick wit led to stints on game shows such as Hollywood Squares, and he starred as an FBI agent in 1980s series The Greatest American Hero. His last recurring role was on Everybody Loves Raymondas Raymond's father-in-law.

[JPX] I, Spy is one of those shows that I've heard about all my life but never once has it ever been in re-runs in any place that I've lived. To this day I've never seen an episode. This is also the case for Space 1999.

Eye Candy: Nintendo 3DS Gameplay Video

From geekology, Note: Skip to around 0:50 for the start of the good stuff.

This is a little video of what 3-D gameplay will look like on the Nintendo 3DS. It seems pretty awesome. And by awesome I mean I just want to crawl into the screen and escape from this cruel, cruel world. Kind of like Pan's Labyrinth, except with a big f*** no, absolutely not to ol' eyeball hands.

George W. Bush Wipes Hand On Bill Clinton's Shirt After Shaking Hands With Haitians

Haiku Hump Day: Co-workers

This is where I work. The lady in white is my boss.
All women, no men. Need I say more?

Co-workers are an interesting group. Myself, I have worked in more than 10 different fields with an even greater number of employers in all my 45 years on this earth. Still, no matter what the place was there always seemed to be a similar cast of characters on each job.


There's the informant. You know, that person everyone is walking on eggshells around because they run to the boss to tattle. Otherwise known as the douche bag.


The clown, this would be JSP for example. Known for their pranks or legendary farting into megaphones.

The train wreck, always late, disheveled, messy and looking stressed. They can never find what they're looking for.


The party animal. This person comes in hungover on any given day of the week. Once they wake up they usually have a few good stories.

Then there's the dreaded ass kisser. This person often thinks they are a second boss. Best to just ignore their existence altogether.

This person needs to be shot.

Now there are a host of other characters that seem to be unique to each place. I think you all have a few of them in mind right now. I can sense your creative juices flowing.

Finally, we all have them, heck some of us have even been each others. So let it rip and don't hold back, you know you have something to say about your co-workers.

That Big Thing Back There 6

J. J. Abrams' Star Trek movie gets its own TBTBT post for honoring this fundamental sci-fi schtick so marvelously. Here's 23rd-Century Iowa, still clean and untouched, with enormous arcologies on the horizon in every direction (presumably standing on or near the sites of the original population centers). What better way to teach contemporary, disaster-weary Star Trek newcomers that (unlike nearly all popular filmed sci-fi) the whole Trek project is fundamentally optimistic and non-dystopian; i.e. you are encouraged to imagine a future without a ruined Earth for a change. Anyway, That Big Thing Back There, Star Trek style, and a class act it is, courtesy of ILM. (Click for full resolution DVD frames.)

UPDATE: Here's a better view, from the 1080p HD trailer (click to see full size):