JJ Abrams

In our Star Trek fan memorabilia wish list, we already have a Mr. Potato Head, an engagement ring, and a Spock oven mitt, but we'll gladly forget those if it means getting our hands on an official Star Trek Into Darkness surfboard.

In the midst of their world tour before the May 17 release date, stars Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, and Karl Urban looked stoked to pose with director J.J. Abrams and real-life Australian lifeguard(!) Dean Gladstone alongside their new boards at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. We see some epic barrels in the Enterprise's future.

J.J. Abrams is top of mind right now for geeks, as it was revealed Thursday he was in final talks to direct Star Wars Episode VII. While everyone seemed to have an opinion on the news, it reminded us of the sci-fi credentials already on his résumé. There are plenty of examples from his career — from bringing Star Trek back to the big screen to the story of a small town under alien attack in Super 8 — to ease a geek's mind concerning this uneasy Tatooine transition.

But where does the man who never seems to creatively rest get all this inspiration? Watch J.J. talk about his adoration of the design of Apple computers and even show off some Star Wars trivia in his TED Talk from 2007.

I dare you to say that you're not curious about Super 8, J.J. Abrams's 1979-set film about a group of kids who witness a spectacular train crash. The film has generated a lot of hype for what it doesn't show in trailers and promos, and it's the mystery that's the big draw. The previews do reveal that something escapes the crash and then stalks and terrorizes a small Midwestern town, which Abrams uses as a premise for a sentimental, nostalgia-filled portrait of a group of boys making a movie.

Joel Courtney leads the charge as Joe, a sensitive boy who has just lost his mother in an accident. He and his newly widowed father (Kyle Chandler) are figuring out how to get along with each other without the woman of the house while dealing with their grief. Joe's group of buds help distract him from his home life, as they fill their Summer vacation by making a movie for an amateur film festival. When they're filming a climactic scene near the train tracks, they watch — and film — an intense accident that has some pretty distressing repercussions. With Steven Spielberg on hand as producer, Super 8 often feels like one of his classic sci-fi standbys, but it's just not quite as memorable. However, it's still a fun, heart-pumping ride (the train crash is one of the best action sequences I've seen in a long time). To find out what else I thought, just read more

Not to be confused with other vintage video camera apps with similar names, Super 8 (free) comes courtesy of J.J. Abrams's new film Super 8, and doesn't just turn your videos into retro styled masterpieces — it's also stocked with a bunch of hints about the upcoming movie.

Besides the standard filter, lens, and effects that you get in other retro camera apps, Super 8 also comes with movie editing capabilities so you can cut scenes together and add your own credits. The app can upload your movie to your movie folders, or you can export to your computer and email to friends. Supposedly, the movie tie-ins are subtle and won't take away from the app itself, which is great since I'll probably want to use Super 8 long after the movie has been released.