Oprah: 1, Wolverine: 0

Imagine being Darren Aronofsky today?  His terrific new film Black Swan just had another great weekend at the box office and got a whole bunch of Golden Globe nominations today, and should be coasting right into Oscar season...and then he finds out the star of his next film The Wolverine went and did this while taping a segment for Oprah Winfrey's show in Australia:

Thankfully, outside of a fairly impressive shiner, a few stitches, and a YouTube moment that will likely follow him around for a good long time, he's fine.  But Jesus, Hugh...next time use the door like a normal person! 

Jon Favreau Exits the House of Ideas - Won't Direct Iron Man 3

Walking out of Iron Man 2 this past May, I wasn't primed to see a third installment or The Avengers. The latter which Marvel, in no subtle fashion, shoved down our throats with zero regard for the narrative of the second Shellhead movie.

We've all since heard rumblings Jon Favreau himself wasn't pleased with it either. Mix that together with his not being hired for The Avengers, which he reportedly very much wanted, and the fact that Disney/Marvel went ahead and set a May 3, 2013 release on Iron Man 3 without comment on its director status (and remember how it practically took the studio all summer long back in 2008 to commit to a deal for him to direct Iron Man 2?) and this result isn't surprise in the slightest.

Jon Favreau will not direct Iron Man 3, courtesy of Vulture.

As of last night, Marvel has begun searching for their new helmer. But there are some hurdles to overcome. No script is on the table (as of this publishing, no screenwriter has been commissioned), they have the afore-mentioned May 2013 release hovering over them, no start-date penciled in, and the big jalapeño here, Robert Downey Junior's deal ensures he gets director approval.

May I go ahead and make my Iron Man 3 director suggestion? Why not get that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang reunion and apprehend Shane Black?

All the while, Favs is finishing up on Cowboys & Aliens (which I think will be one of the surprise hits of 2011) and starts work on his next feature The Magic Kingdom for Disney.

Movie Moan TV - 'Election' (1999)

Apologies once again for the delay in the latest 'moan of the week'.Hopefully the wait has been worth it for this week we take a look at one of Phil Gee's top ten favorite films, 'Election'.

Also joining Phil are Jamie Williams and Queen Kristina.

By the way, I only just noticed when putting together this video the whole Coke/Pepsi thing.  Tracy compares her ambition and drive to Coca-Cola and, weirdly enough, the only cola we see McCallister drink is Pepsi (when he tosses the empty bottle from his car into the trash along with Tracy's signatures and when he hurls the soda at the limo).  That is not a coincidence  God I love this film.

Fast Five Trailer!

You know the drill by now, clunky dialogue, lots of testosterone and big car stunts, this trailer delivers on all fronts and then some.

I liked the first 'Fast and Furious' movie but never got around to seeing the fourth one, however this one looks by far the biggest on the action scale with some truly outlandish and cool looking sequences. The tone also comes across as more of a crime thriller than the other car racing heavy films.

Fans of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson will be glad to see him in another action role as he chases series leaders Vin Diesel and Paul Walker around Rio.

'Fast Five' Opens on April 29th, 2011 and you can check the trailer out below.

Three Stooges For Hire!

What'll end up happening is some classically-trained, brilliant but unknown actor will get cast, and will forever be associated as a physically-violent, dim-wit.

With the all-star cast of Jim Carrey, Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn off, the Farrelly brothers are going for no-names to fill in the iconically-stupid roles of Larry, Curly and Moe for The Three Stooges.

Production is aiming for a Spring start and auditions commence next month, and the good folks at What's Playing have the casting breakdowns:

"MOE
The unquestioned leader of the Three Stooges, Moe is a numbskull who barks orders and expects unquestioned obedience from his two hapless companions, Larry and Curly. STRONG VERBAL AND PHYSICAL COMEDY SKILLS REQUIRED - Age range early 30’s to early 40’s.

LARRY
An imbecile with an eccentric fringe of pullable frizzy hair, Larry is the bird-brained member of The Three Stooges, a victim of Moe’s bullying and Curly’s effervescent insanity. STRONG VERBAL AND PHYSICAL COMEDY SKILLS REQUIRED - Age range early 30’s to early 40’s.

CURLY
A chubby, bullet-headed idiot whose hair never grows more than an eighth of an inch, Curly is irrepressible, outgoing, unpredictable, and utterly chaotic. STRONG VERBAL AND PHYSICAL COMEDY SKILLS REQUIRED - Age range early 30’s to early 40s."

So if you look stupid enough for their type, go for it.

Obligatory Golden Globe Announcements & "How Pointless They Are!" Rant

Every year we get up extra early, and every year we complain about the Golden Globes nominations. 2010 didn't disappoint as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association proves once again with their picks how it's about what celebrities eat their ass the best. It's the cliché response to say they should just come right out and make a "Best Blowjob" category. But you know what? Clichés, stereotypes, etc. come from somewhere.

But I digress.

Here are this year's nominations and marvel at how crap like Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist (aka Johnny Depp's not-so-hot year for quality flicks) get nods. The King's Speech led the pack with seven nods with The Fighter and The Social Network tied for second with six a pop.

You can easily guess who'll win on January 16, but at least Ricky Gervais is hosting. He's...amusing.

Best Picture - Drama:

Black Swan

Inception

The Fighter

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Best Picture - Musical or Comedy:

Alice in Wonderland

Burlesque

Red

The Kids are Alright

The Tourist 

Best Director:

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

David Fincher - The Social Network

Tom Hooper - The King's Speech

Christopher Nolan - Inception

David O. Russell - The Fighter

Best Actor - Drama:

Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network

Colin Firth - The King's Speech

James Franco - 127 Hours

Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine

Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter

Best Actress - Drama:

Halle Berry - Frankie and Alice

Nicole Kidman - The Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy:

Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland

Johnny Depp - The Tourist

Paul Giamatti - Barney's Version

Jake Gyllenhaal - Love and Other Drugs

Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy:

Anette Benning - The Kids Are Alright

Anne Hathaway - Love and Other Drugs

Angelina Jolie - The Tourist

Julianne Moore - The Kids Are Alright

Emma Stone - Easy A

Best Supporting Actor:

Christian Bale - The Fighter

Michael Douglas - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Andrew Garfield - The Social Network

Jeremy Renner - The Town

Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech

Mila Kunis - Black Swan

Melissa Leo - The Fighter

Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Best Screenplay:

Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy - 127 Hours

Lisa Cholodenko - The Kids are Alright

Christopher Nolan - Inception

David Sieber - The King's Speech

Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Best Animated Feature:

Despicable Me

Dragon

Tangled

The Illusionist

Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Language Film:

Biutiful

I Am Love

In a Better World

The Concert

The Edge

Best Original Song:

"Bound to You" - Burlesque

"Coming Home" - Country Song

"I See the Light" - Tangled

"There's a Place For Us" – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" - Burlesque

Best Original Score:

Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech

Danny Elfman - Alice in Wonderland

AR Rahman - 127 Hours

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network

Hans Zimmer - Inception

Los Angeles Film Critics Announce 2010 Award Winners

“The Social Network” was voted Best Picture of the Year, it was announced today by Brent Simon, President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA).  The runner up was “Carlos”.

The 36^th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards ceremony will be held Saturday, January 15 at the InterContinental, Los Angeles. As previously announced, Paul Mazursky will receive the 2010 Career Achievement Award.

Award winners are:

PICTURE: "The Social Network"

Runner-up: "Carlos"

DIRECTOR: Olivier Assayas, "Carlos," and David Fincher, "The Social Network" (tie)

ACTOR: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"

Runner-up: Edgar Ramirez, "Carlos"

ACTRESS: Kim Hye-ja, "Mother"

Runner-up:  Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Niels Arestrup, "A Prophet"

Runner-up: Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"

Runner-up: Olivia Williams, "The Ghost Writer"

SCREENPLAY: Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"

Runner-up: David Seidler, "The King's Speech"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Carlos"

Runner-up: "Mother"

ANIMATION: "Toy Story 3"

Runner-up: "The Illusionist"

DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM: "Last Train Home"

Runner-up: "Exit Through the Gift Shop"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Matthew Libatique, "Black Swan"

Runner-up: Roger Deakins, "True Grit"

MUSIC/SCORE: Alexandre Desplat, "The Ghost Writer," and  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, "The Social Network" (tie)

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Guy Hendrix Dyas, "Inception"

Runner-up: Eve Stewart, "The King's Speech"

NEW GENERATION: Lena Dunham, "Tiny Furniture"

DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: "Film Socialism"

LEGACY OF CINEMA AWARDS: Serge Bromberg, "Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno," and the F.W. Murnau Foundation and Fernando Pena for the restoration of "Metropolis"

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Paul Mazursky

Tune-In For "Tron" Week On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Tune-in each night this week to see the stars of TRON: Legacy visit “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for separate sit down interviews with the late-night talk show host.

TRON: Legacy recently had its blue carpet premiere on Saturday, December 12 at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, where Jimmy Kimmel tapes his nightly talk show. Don’t miss the cast of TRON all this week!

• Garrett Hedlund – Monday, December 13
• Olivia Wilde – Tuesday, December 14
• Beau Garrett – Wednesday, December 15
• Jeff Bridges – Thursday, December 16

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Trailer

We were just discussing a number of past-their-prime franchises with sequels, prequels and reboots hitting in the next few years on Movie Moan yesterday. With Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, I don't see what else this series has to offer after those last two fucking atrocious follow-ups from 2006 and 2007.

From the looks of the newly released trailer for the fourth installment courtesy of Yahoo! Movies (this time under the direction of Rob Marshall, and in Disney 3D, of course!), it looks like more of the same. Correction: there are mermaids and zombie pirates. That's totally different!

A big fat "Fuck no!" for me, and I'd like to think audiences have wised up too.

Yogi Bear "Alternate Ending"

Alas if you're dragged by your five-year-old to see Yogi Bear this Friday, don't expect to see this ending. But damn don't you wish this was really in the finished film and furthermore genuinely real?

I'll shut up while you enjoy this clip. Well, at least while it's still available.