On Conan O’Brien last night J.J. Abrams was asked about the recent controversy over a moment of contrived near-nudity in Star Trek Into Darkness. And I actually respect Abrams’ response: he says that his intention was to do a quick joke in the midst of a bunch of action, but says “I don’t think I quite edited the scene in the right way,” and of those that felt the scene was exploitative “I can also see their point of view.” There are ways that the scene could have been directed or edited in a way that actually made it appear that Carol Marcus’ reaction to Kirk being a supercreep shamed or cowed him in, well, any way. If Abrams felt this scene was really the “balance” to a brief scene of Kirk post-coitus with two alien women, where his nudity before the opposite sex is a product of his sexual prowess, not something that he has just expressed a clear desire to avoid, I just wish he’d executed that better.

Abrams also shared a few seconds of Benedict Cumberbatch‘s character taking a shower, which was not included in the final cut of the movie. And since Cumberbatch is kind of a rising nerd property now (particularly among women), that clip is getting spread around quite widely, touted as the end to the argument. And I’d like to, just for a moment, talk about what this clip isn’t: it isn’t evidence that men and women’s bodies are treated equally in the movie.

“I copped to the fact that we should have done a better job of not being gratuitous in our representation of a barely clothed actress. We also had Kirk shirtless in underpants in both movies. Do not want to make light of something that some construe as mysogenistic. What I’m saying is I hear you, I take responsibility and will be more mindful in the future. Also, I need to learn how to spell ‘misogynistic.’” - Star Trek Into Darkness writer Damon Lindelof in a string of four tweets sent out roughly a half hour after we posted his lackluster answer as to why actress Alice Eve was made to strip down in the film for no reason.

It’s nice to see Lindelof comment on the complaints at all, and we hope he really is more mindful of these types of things in the future but we must point out – having half naked actors in a sex scene does not equal the treatment Eve received. Again, it’s all about context and Dr. Carol Marcus was put on display with none. What do you think of Lindelof’s apology?

(via tipster commenter Eric)

Previously in Star Trek

“Why is Alice Eve in her underwear, gratuitously and unnecessarily, without any real effort made as to why in God’s name she would undress in that circumstance? Well there’s a very good answer for that. But I’m not telling you what it is. Because… uh… MYSTERY?” - Star Trek Into Darkness writer Damon Lindelof writing probably the most idiotic thing he could write in a letter to MTV.

They had asked, “I feel like I have to start with the biggest mystery/conversation that’s surrounded the film from the get go. Why is Alice Eve in her underwear at one point?”

Because, well, that is an incredibly relavent question to ask.

I mentioned it briefly in my non-TMS review but really, I could have gone on for pages about it. Eve’s character of Dr. Carol Marcus was touted to have incredible intelligence, though instead of allowing her to use it to effect the plot, she was used as the most blatant eye-candy I’ve seen in a long time. We see this kind of thing a lot in Hollywood, sure, but the scene in question was akin to an actor holding up and verbally speaking the name of a can of Coca-Cola during a scene about cats or general surgery. And for a writer to respond to serious criticism in such a flippant manner is disappointing to say the least. Not to mention what he said when asked about a rumored shirtless scene for Benedict Cumberbatch’s character:

Tomorrowland is a movie shrouded in secrecy, being put together by Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof, two names that many folks would follow to any movie theater even if they weren’t working together. We’re interested in it not the least because if rumors are to be believed, while George Clooney and Hugh Laurie are playing major characters, neither are playing the lead. In fact, the lead, and both of the two remaining main characters will be played by young women. Those rumors stand supported with the announcement of Raffey Cassidy in the role of a butt kicking robot girl.

Damon Lindelof has heard our demands to know the true identity of Benedict Cumberbatch‘s villain in Star Trek Into Darkness. And he’s looked down and whispered “No.”

In his own words, here’s why maintaining the Cumbervillain’s Cumbersecrecy is so important:

It doesn’t take much to make our ears perk up and pay attention to a movie, and the possibility of some cool ladies in a movie is definitely one of those things. Cool being an, admittedly, simultaneously very broad and very specific definition.

Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof have been teasing their upcoming Disney project for months now, first under the working title 1952, before the film’s actual title was revealed to be Tomorrowland, after the themed attraction at many Disney parks. They even went so far as to reveal a mysterious image of a suitcase full of random stuff, so that the internet could go crazy identifying it all and wondering what it might mean. Clearly somebody out there knew what the movie was about, since Hugh Laurie and George Clooney are both attached to the movie. And now, thanks to casting info, we might have a clue to what it’s all about.

Late last year we learned AMC’s The Walking Dead was going to lose its second showrunner, Glen Mazzara. While everyone was dying to know why someone creating a successful show for the network would leave (or told to leave), Mazzara was fairly tight-lipped on the subject. To fans it made no sense and perhaps that’s why he was asked about it at a National Association of Television Program Executives panel with Damon Lindelof. Read on for what he had to say about his departure as well as how Lindelof could relate. 

Science in sci-fi movies is rarely all that accurate. We get that. It’s OK. Space battles wouldn’t be nearly so visually interesting if there weren’t any impossible explosions taking place in a vacuum. But some movies take their disregard for the basic principles of science to the next level. And according to Popular Science, the worst perpetrator from 2012 is…

Ridley Scott‘s going to have to find himself a new writer to (hopefully) explain all those crazy plotholes in the Prometheus sequel, because Damon Lindelof has officially taken himself out of the running.

Lindelof, who rewrote Jon Spaiht‘s original Prometheus script (which had facehuggers galore and a chestburster sex scene), told Scott that he’d be unable to commit to writing the Prometheus sequel because he has so many other projects in the works.

Look, this will all make sense in a moment.

Brad Bird, see, the guy behind The Incredibles, The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, is working on this unnamed science fiction film, according to Hollywood buzz. Written by, yes, Damon Lindelof, it’s currently running with the code name 1952, understood to be a codename that may or may not have anything to do with the actual content of them movie.

The movie was also briefly known as Tesla, which, again, may or may not actually be related to the subject of the movie. Who is currently related to the movie? George Clooney.