If you're still squinting after watching all those recent Star Trek films, then you'll be happy to know that director J.J. Abrams admits he's to be blamed and that he's also really sorry about it.

The director recently came clean about the problem during an interview with Crave Online:
I know I get a lot of grief for that. But I'll tell you, there are times when I'm working on a shot, I think, 'Oh this would be really cool… with a lens flare.' But I know it's too much, and I apologize. I'm so aware of it now. I was showing my wife an early cut of Star Trek Into Darkness and there was this one scene where she was literally like, "I just can't see what's going on. I don't understand what that is." I was like, "Yeah, I went too nuts on this."

This is how stupid it was — I actually had to use ILM [Industrial Light & Magic] to remove lens flare in a couple of shots, which is, I know, moronic. But I think admitting you're an addict is the first step towards recovery.
He's hoping he keeps to his word and doesn't decide to overboard while filming Star Wars: Episode VII.