Early Buzz: 'Hobbit,' Sandy relief concert and more

If you're planning to go see that little Hobbit on a very big screen next month, don't show up late: The first nine minutes of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness will be shown in front of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at select IMAX 3D screenings beginning Dec. 14.

It's the same trick Christopher Nolan used on his last two Batman movies, and, well, it certainly helped build buzz — or, in the case of The Dark Knight Rises, raised enough red flags about Bane's voice that Nolan seemingly cleaned it up for the eventual release.

Now if only these early screenings will serve to alert Abrams to the punctuation missing from the Star Trek sequel's title.

So what else is up today? Here are some more headlines:

Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, The Who, Kanye West, Roger Waters, Billy Joel and Alicia Keys will play the just announced 12.12.12: The Concert for Sandy Relief on, you guessed it, Dec. 12 at Madison Square Garden.

Disney already has proven it can turn a theme park into a hit Johnny Depp-starring film franchise, so now the Mouse is turning its attention to Big Thunder Mountain, which is being eyed for development as a TV series. What's next, a Star Tours movie? Oh, wait.

Leave it to a pet food company to create "The Friskies," the inaugural awards ceremony for the Internet's best cat videos.

R. Kelly talks about the return next week of Trapped in the Closet and his next studio album, Black Panties. Stay classy, R.

If you're having trouble growing out that lip fur this November, mustache pro Nick Offerman is here to reassure you that, yes, "It gets fuller."

Check out Elvis Costello singing That's Me from the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the so-called "southern Gothic supernatural musical" from Stephen King and John Mellencamp. One can only hope the plot involves Jack and Diane meeting some kind of gruesome end. Ideally in a pink house.

Is this the best soccer goal ever? Twitter seems to think so.

Rumor has it that demand for that massive new Beatles vinyl box set that came out this week is delaying the pressing of records by other, less-fab bands.

Shuggie Otis' 1974 psychedelic soul classic Inspiration Information is getting another reissue, but this time it'll be packaged with a bonus, 14-track "lost album."

Man, The New York Times really did not like Guy Fieri's new Times Square restaurant ("When we hear the words Donkey Sauce, which part of the donkey are we supposed to think about?")

The AV Club points to 10 episodes of Leave It to Beaver that show off the classic series' "quiet innovation."

Here's a great oral history of Bikini Kill's classic debut EP, which landed 20 years ago this month.

And, finally, watch this 30-minute live performance by The Antlers, whose album Burst Apart was one of 2011's finest.

Follow Matt Sebastian at slicingupeyeballs.com or @slicingyeyeballs