Sydney, Australia was the lucky city to host the official world premiere of the new JJ Abrams prequel film Star Trek last night but the folks in OZ were not the first ones to be able to watch the film in full. An even luckier group of folks in Austin, TX who were told they’d be seeing a preview of clips from the film were treated to a full showing of the film … AND Leonard Nimoy (the original Spock) was in the hiz to introduce the screening. But, we’ll get to that in a sec. Co-stars and jogging buddies Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto were joined by Eric Bana, John Cho and Abrams on the red carpet in Sydney last night … here are a few photos:

The 11th Star Trek movie in 30 years had its world premiere on Tuesday, its markedly younger cast boldly going along the red carpet to a makeshift cinema in the Sydney Opera House. Chris Pine, 28, who plays a cadet-aged James T. Kirk, admitted he’d never met William Shatner, who starred as the original Captain Kirk in the television series dating back to 1966 as well as the first Star Trek movies. But he said he watched the TV show “quite a bit.” “All it was doing was making me think about what the best way I could do a William Shatner impersonation,” Pine said. “It wasn’t helping bringing this story to life.” Hundreds of fans, including one wearing “Spock” ears, waited for hours to meet the leading men who spent nearly an hour walking the red carpet, signing autographs and talking with journalists. “It’s hard to believe Eric Bana plays a meanie when he comes across as such a nice guy,” said Alicia Wetherley, who drove from central Australia to the Opera House for the premiere. Bana plays Nero, the film’s heavily-tattooed Romulan villain bent on avenging the destruction of his planet. He said all the film’s cast “did everything they could” to come up with something fresh this time around. The plot follows the young lives of the original cast from Gene Roddenberry’s TV show as they find their places on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise as junior officers. It was directed by J.J. Abrams, director of “Mission Impossible III” and “Lost.” “I was never a huge Star Trek fan growing up and so what I hope people will experience when they see the movie is one that stands on its own,” Abrams said. “It’s a huge action spectacle but at the core it is got a big heart,” said Abrams. Zachary Quinto plays Spock, the role made famous by Leonard Nimoy, 77, who has a cameo in the film. Nimoy had joined a campaign for the movie to hold its premiere in the small farming town of Vulcan in Alberta, Canada, that was unsuccessful, partly because the town has no cinema.

LOL! Well, since Nimoy couldn’t get the premiere to take place in Vulcan, he decided to surprise a group of fans in Austin, TX for a screening of Star Trek that took place even before the Oz premiere went down:

While a world of Trekkers believed the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek would premiere in Sydney, Australia Tuesday, Leonard Nimoy made a surprise appearance in Austin, Texas Monday night to screen the film for an unsuspecting audience. A theater full of Trek fans showed up in the Texas capital thinking they were going to see a new print of the classic Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and 10 minutes of Abrams’ reboot, all organized by Ain’t It Cool News. But, Nimoy shocked the house by announcing they would in fact see the entire new movie just hours before it made its international bow in Sydney. The early fan reviews on Twitter are running almost entirely positive so far.

Click HERE to read some of the Twitter posts that came from last night’s Austin surprise. Kudos to Paramount for really capitalizing on getting the buzz for the film going right. Orchestrating a splashy premiere and a surprise screening on opposite ends of the globe all almost the same time is pretty brills. I know I’m amped to see the film … even without all this hoopla … but the word of mouth can only help the film when it opens in May. I’m sure we’ll be seeing the new Trek crew trek the world for other premieres in the weeks to come … but it’s all foreplay to me. I want the real goods and I want them now!

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source, Source]

Star Trek co-stars Chris Pine (who plays the young Capt. James T. Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (who plays the young Spock) have made their way to Australia ahead of the world premiere of their new movie in Sydney … and almost immediately upon arrival, the pair put on their work-out garb and went for a jog together in a Sydney park. Here are a few photos:

Clearly, the guys were really anxious to get in some physical activity together after such a long flight but I’m sure I could’ve come up with another way for the lads to get all worked up together that doesn’t involve running. But, let’s not go there (not yet, anyway). Now that the promo machine for the Star Trek prequel movie is about to officially get underway, these guys (and their ST cohorts) are bound to be spending a lot of time together traveling the world, perhaps staying together in close quarters. I mean, the possibilities for hijinks are endless. The fact that Chris and Zachary are the principal stars of the film means that they are, most likely, going to be spending a lot of time together. If these pictures are any indication of what’s to come, I can’t wait to see more.

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

Heroes star Zachary Quinto (who will also be playing Spock in the upcoming Star Trek prequel movie this Spring) is featured in the current issue of GQ magazine in a multipage spread that attempts to teach fashionable men “How to buy a Raincoat”. In a few animated photos, Quinto is photographed jumping for joy in this season’s hottest rainwear … behold:

Spock and Awe Zachary Quinto, it appears, was uniquely qualified to play Spock in May’s rejiggered Star Trek. For one thing, the 31-year-old actor has a built-in cult following, thanks to his role as the brain-eater on NBC’s Heroes. But more important: Have you seen those eyebrows? When Quinto heard that J. J. Abrams was rekindling the cherished fanboy franchise, he told his hometown newspaper he wanted the role. “Then that article got syndicated…,” says Quinto. Engage! (To borrow a phrase.) In a few months’ time, the guy was shaving and sculpting his brows to Spock-like spears, and rehearsing scenes with Winona Ryder, who, through the miracle of makeup, plays his mother. (“She’s, like, five years older than me.”) So are there any other roles he’d like to land through the press? “I really want to go on SNL.” Noted. And you’re welcome.

Clearly, raincoats cannot be full appreciated in photos unless they are worn by a person in midair. The photoshoot is a cute one, tho … I wonder how many times exactly ZQ had to jump thruout the course of the day just to get the four best shots for publication. I’ve been a fan of Quinto since his days on the short-lived Tori Spelling series So noTORIous aired on VH1 all those years ago. Back then, Zachary played an oversexed gay guy who wasn’t shy about showing skin OR sucking face with other dudes on the show. HMMM. Those were the good ol’ days. I am really, really looking forward to seeing Quinto play Spock in Star Trek. True, his eyebrows seem to be made for the role but I have a sneaking suspicion that he also possesses the skill to pull off the part expertly. I guess come May, we’ll know for sure. For now, I guess we’ll just have to entertain ourselves with these fun photos of Zachary jumping around in raincoats.

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While People magazine is honoring its annual list of the Sexiest Men Alive today, GQ magazine has compiled its own list of men to honor as well. Both male and female celebs made their way out to the Chateau Marmont in LA, CA last night to enjoy GQ magazine’s 2008 Men Of The Year Party — bestowing top honors to Leonardo DiCaprio and John Malcovich. Here are a few pics from the red carpet arrivals last night:

Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and John Malkovich walked away with top awards at this year’s GQ Men of the Year ceremony. The Body Of Lies star picked up the Leading Man Trophy, while Malkovich was named Mad Genius of the Year at the men’s magazine awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Tuesday. President-elect Barack Obama was given the nod as Game Changer of the Year, actor Jon Hamm was handed the Breakout award and Olympic champion Michael Phelps took home the ultimate accolade for Golden Boy of the Year. The glittering party attracted some of Hollywood’s brightest male stars, including DiCaprio, Zac Efron, Adam Brody and Aaron Eckhart. And although the annual celebration recognizes leading men, the ladies were out in full force too, with Megan Fox, Rosario Dawson and Elisha Cuthbert turning out for the red carpet bash. The main list of winners is as follows:

Leading Man: Leonardo DiCaprio
Game Changer: Barack Obama
Breakout: Jon Hamm
Golden Boy: Michael Phelps
Mad Genius of the Year: John Malkovich
Obsession of the Year: Megan Fox
Drama Queen of the Year: Sean Penn
Screen Idol of the Year: James Franco
Tough Guys of the Year: The Wire Writers
Mogul of the Year: Seth MacFarlane
Prick of the Year: Gordon Ramsay

While I don’t necessarily agree with this list of honorees as I did with the People magazine list, there are a few winners that I am in complete agreement with — Barack Obama, Megan Fox, James Franco. After the jump, check out a few more photos from the red carpet arrivals last night — there is more hotness to be had …

Yesterday we got our first look at the cover of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, which features Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as James T. Kirk and Spock respectively, as well as new photos from the set of the new JJ Abrams-directed Star Trek movie prequel. EW.com has updated their website with new outtake photos that will not be published in this week’s issue. Here are new pics of Pine and Quinto as well as pics of Jon Cho and Karl Urban as Sulu and Dr. Leonard McCoy, also respectively:

Love it! Love it! Love it! I was geeked by the photos we got to see yesterday and I’m just as geeked by these extra outtake photos as well. The beloved Star Trek characters have been so well-cast with these fresh-faced young actors (and actresses) that I can’t wait to see them in action. I’m curious to see how JJ Abrams will be able to make the future technology in his movie look advanced without making it too advanced-looking so as not to make the original vision of the Star Trek future (made famous in the 1960′s series) look foolish. I trust that JJ will be able to pull it off … I can’t wait to see what he does with the world of Star Trek.

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Chris Pine as James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock are featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine. The magazine takes an inside look at the new JJ Abrams-directed Star Trek prequel and offers some new insight from the set as well as a whole slew of new photos from the film. Here is the coverphoto for this week’s issue of EW mag as well as a portion of the coverstory:

Aboard a monstrous and gloomy interstellar cruiser — part Death Star, part Mordor — the man who would be the next captain of the starship Enterprise finds himself under fire from bald, blue-tatted alien brawlers. At the moment, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), the hotheaded, horndog hero of Star Trek, is still a fresh-faced space cadet. At his side is his young half-human, half-Vulcan BFF, Spock (Zachary Quinto), looking quintessentially Spocky with his black bowl cut, slanting eyebrows, and blue smock. Here on the set of director J.J. Abrams’ $150 million bid to bring Gene Roddenberry’s beloved sci-fi world back to the big screen, the two geek pop icons have infiltrated a Romulan warcraft only to see their mission explode into a raging phaser fight. No longer are their signature Trek weapons boxy plastic toys, but sleek silver gizmos with spring-triggered barrels that revolve and glow in the transition from ”stun” to ”kill.” Problem is, every time Kirk raises his newfangled ray gun, the barrel revolves too early. Or too late. Or not at all. Giggles and unprintable curses fly. Someone lightens the mood with a quip: ”Most illogical, captain.” For cast and crew, it’s a fleeting and fixable frustration. But a busted phaser is the least of the challenges Abrams faces as he attempts to reenergize a franchise that has clearly lost its zap … After a succession of contrived TV spin-offs (the last, UPN’s Star Trek: Enterprise, mustered only a feeble 2 million viewers in its final season) and mediocre features based on the best of the bunch (Star Trek: The Next Generation), even people who’d built their entire careers around Trek could see the writing on the wall. ”Star Trek,” says Leonard Nimoy, ”had run its course” … Transforming a defunct old property into a cool 21st-century event flick may seem like business as usual for Hollywood (e.g., Superman Returns, Batman Begins), but Trek presented Paramount and Abrams with a much heftier challenge: how to make this hunk of retro sci-fi cheese meaningful as mainstream entertainment, as relevant pop, as big business. ”Every studio in town is searching for these kinds of franchises, so it was important for us to reboot,” says Brad Weston, Paramount’s president of production. ”But we needed a clean, fresh take on this thing.”

The very well-written coverstory (which you can read in its entirety HERE) goes on to talk about Abrams‘s vision for the future of Trek (hinting that he may want to make it more Star Wars-y rather than traditionally Trek-y) and offers a pretty substantial movie plot spoiler that may want to be skipped by fans (like me) who wish to remain unspoiled. So … let’s look at some of the new Trek photos. After the jump, check out some new pics of the “old” crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as well as our first look at Romulan bad guy Nero played by Eric Bana …

Woot! We are well into Day 2 of the Pink is the new Blog relaunch and things have been coming along so smoothly I can barely believe it. I am so happy with the way the site looks and has been functioning. Thanks to a few comments from readers, little tweaks and changes have already been implemented. I still have a bit of a learning curve to get over as I work with Word Press but I’m sure I’ll get into the swing of things in no time. David has been amazing about helping me with every little question I have. I thank the Gods that he’s been here with me this week.

So, Jamalia David, who goes by and will henceforth be referred to as Jazzy, was the lucky winner in the Pink is the new Blog Relaunch Party contest (sponsored by Nestea and Nikon COOLPIX) … she took a bunch of great pics on her new Nikon COOLPIX camera and has already blogged about her experience here in LA and at my party Wednesday night. Head on over to PinkVIPblogger.com to check out the page where her blogpost will be uploaded some time today. Here are a few of Jazzy‘s fun party pics:

Additionally … I have a couple pics of some of the Pink readers who came out to my party as well as a bunch of kickass professional photos (courtesy of Wireimage) from the party …

While a few celebs partook of the 2008 LA Pride festivities in West Hollywood, CA and a bunch of others made their way out to Santa Monica, CA for The 6th Annual TV Land Awards … others still made their way out to the Wadsworth Theatre Grounds in Los Angeles, CA yesterday to participate at the annual A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival (which benefits the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation). Here are a bunch of pics of some of the folks who came out for the carnival yesterday:

Photo credit: WireimageAwww … it looks like Nic/Joel, Speidi and Lance Bass all made friends with Barney the dinosaur — which is really funny because my friend Darion ran into Lance later on yesterday night at a private Pride pool party and had little encounter with him. I wonder if Lance grabbed Barney‘s butt, too? Anyways, I love that Heroes star Zachary Quinto, Buffy alum Seth Green and ex-Young and the Restless star Lauralee Bell all came out to support the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. It is very heartening that Young Hollywood is so willing to lend their support to such an amazing charity. It’s events like this that give me hope that Hollywood isn’t really filled with vapid, self-serving folks and that people actually care. Wee! [Source]