J.J. Abrams on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

Credit: Comedy Central

Soon enough you'll get to decide for yourself on "Star Trek Into Darkness." Will you be delighted as a general moviegoer or up in arms with a large sect of Trekkies who have gotten bent out of shape? I'll be interested to find out (and we'll inquire on Friday), but for now, some fun with J.J. Abrams.

One guy taking the reins on both the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" franchises remains fascinating/crazy to me. I have no real deep love for either but it's still just…weird. Anyway, Abrams stopped by "The Daily Show" yesterday to discuss the two entities and the differences between them. Stewart is a "Trek" fan and that made for some fun conversation, but they also get into Stewart's upcoming directorial effort.

If you weren't aware, Stewart will be taking the summer off from "The Daily Show" to direct "Rosewater," based on Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy's 2011 book "And Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival." It's the true story of a Canadian-Iranian journalist Bahari, who was accused of planning to overthrow the Iranian government and arrested for four months in 2009. Months before his capture, Bahari appeared in a "Daily Show" sketch, in which correspondent Jason Jones pretended to be a spy. Bahari's captors even used some of the footage against him.

Al Pacino

Credit: AP Photo

When that fake list of Cannes titles went up a few weeks back, just a day or two before the official line-up was unveiled, I was hoping one particular title was true: David Gordon Green's "Joe." Alas, it wasn't. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Tye Sheridan (hot of an amazing performance in "Mud," directed by Green's former North Carolina school mate Jeff Nichols) and it's part of what I feel is a new period for Green as an artist, taking what he's learned (and the relationships he's built up) to date and finding more fertile creative territory. His next film sure seems to be an extension of that.

Angelina Jolie at the Women in World Summit last month.

Credit: AP Photo

Via New York Times op-ed, actress Angelina Jolie had this to offer tonight:

"My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman…

"Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex."

Read the rest here.

Did Stanley Kubrick give an assist on this one?

Credit: Chris Hadfield

I struggled with posting this because it's not movie-related (or even entertainment-related) and it seems like a weird way to use HitFix resources, but the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't really resist. After all, "Star Trek Into Darkness" is set to hit theaters on Friday and capture the imaginations of space freaks the world over, while at the same time, we have the homecoming of Commander Chris Hadfield and company from a few months' stint on the International Space Station -- real-life heroes of the cosmos. And Hadfield in particular has been doing what I think is some Pulitzer Prize-worthy work up there. Let me explain...

James Franco in "As I Lay Dying"

Credit: Millennium Films

One of the most fascinating projects in James Franco's compelling and vast arsenal as of late is an adaptation of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying." The film is set for the Un Certain Regard section of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival and is the first big screen adaptation of the novel, widely considered one of the greatest ever written.

Bruce Dern and Will Forte in "Nebraska."

Credit: Paramount Pictures

(Welcome to Cannes Check, your annual guide through the 20 films in Competition at this month's Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 15. Taking on a different selection every day, we'll be examining what they're about, who's involved and what their chances are of snagging an award from Steven Spielberg's jury. We're going through the list by director and in alphabetical order -- next up, Alexander Payne with "Nebraska.")

Olivia Colman holds one of her two BAFTAs aloft -- a sight a lot of people wanted to see last year.

Credit: AP Photo

Well, I'll say this for BAFTA: they know how to make an apology. You may remember that the British Academy came in for some flak last year when they announced their film award nominations -- and beloved local actress Olivia Colman, who otherwise cleaned up on the UK awards circuit for her shattering lead turn in Paddy Considine's "Tyrannosaur," wasn't on the Best Actress list.

Marine Vacth in "Young and Beautiful."

Credit: Mandarin Films

(Welcome to Cannes Check, your annual guide through the 20 films in Competition at next month's Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 15. Taking on a different selection every day, we'll be examining what they're about, who's involved and what their chances are of snagging an award from Steven Spielberg's jury. We're going through the list by director and in alphabetical order -- next up, François Ozon with "Young and Beautiful.")

Takao Osawa in "Shield of Straw."

Credit: Warner Bros. Japan

(Welcome to Cannes Check, your annual guide through the 20 films in Competition at next month's Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 15. Taking on a different selection every day, we'll be examining what they're about, who's involved and what their chances are of snagging an award from Steven Spielberg's jury. We're going through the list by director and in alphabetical order -- next up, Takashi Miike with "Shield of Straw.")

'The Butler'

Credit: The Weinstein Company

"The Butler" is preparing to move to August 16.

"Precious" director Lee Daniels' all-star historical drama was originally scheduled to be released October 18, in time for awards season, but The Weinstein Company has pushed it up two months, according to Deadline.