Perfect timing. Just as we're still mourning the loss of the iconic movie star Elizabeth Taylor and, like me, poring over photos of her many faces and roles (one of them being the infamous Cleopatra,) another movie star, albeit a new movie star, is set to star as the Queen of the Nile.

After much speculation and talks, Angelina Jolie has finally signed on to play Cleopatra.

People reports on the news and wonders who should play Marc Antony:

"It's official: Angelina Jolie has signed to star as Egypt's beloved Queen Cleopatra. So, the question is: Who will be her Marc Antony?

"Keep in mind that unlike the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor version, the forthcoming Scott Rudin production will focus less on Cleopatra's seductive powers in the bedroom and more on her shrewd appetite for business and politics.

"So who should fill Marc Antony's gladiator sandals? We've got a few good men in mind.

"For starters, there's Brad Pitt. The Troy actor and Jolie's real-life love is no stranger to period pieces or playing tough – think The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Inglourious Basterds and yes, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Plus, we already know Pitt looks great in a toga. And director David Fincher will never have to worry about a lack of chemistry on set.

"Then there's George Clooney, Jolie's off-screen friend and fellow humanitarian, who, through roles such as Thin Red Line, Three Kings and the brave captain of the "Andrea Gail" in The Perfect Storm, has won audiences' trust as a smart, reliable and calm-headed leader."
 

The "Black Swan" dance saga continues -- not the movie (though it comes out today on DVD) -- the controversy around the dancing.

For those who've been following the situation like it's Watergate, I've reported on it here more than once, which has then caused me to follow the thing like it's Watergate.

I don't think much else can be said about how just much dancing Portman performed on screen, unless we really break it down scene by scene (as Aronofsky has done). And I also don't think it much matters since she's, you know, acting. If she and the studio exaggerated how much dancing she really did, well, that's the movies folks. I do realize it upsets her dance double, but it certainly doesn't take away from Portman's powerful performance. The fact that she looks so impressive dancing, even when she's not a prima ballerina, is just more of a testament to her acting skills.

But her co-star Mila Kunis has weighed in, giving her two cents about dancer/double Sarah Lane's claims that Natalie did barely anything and that she (Lane) performed the bulk of the steps.

Here, from EW:

"'Black Swan' co-star Mila Kunis is speaking out in support of her friend and cast mate Natalie Portman amid accusations that the bulk of the dancing in Portman’s Oscar-winning role was actually performed by her dancing double, American Ballet Theatre soloist Sarah Lane.

“'Natalie danced her a– off,' says Kunis. 'I think it’s unfortunate that this is coming out and taking attention away from [the praise] Natalie deserved and got.'

"Kunis also says Portman has been honest about how much of the demanding footwork she was — and wasn’t — able to do. 'She’ll tell you [that], no, she was not on pointe when she did a fouetté [turn]. No one’s going to deny that. But she did do every ounce of every one of her dances,' she says. '[Lane] wasn’t used for everything. It was more like a safety net. If Nat wasn’t able to do something, you’d have a safety net. The same thing that I had — I had a double as a safety net. We all did. No one ever denied it.'"

 

Slow-motion "Matrix" style derry-doing? Heat seeking missile-like fireballs? A floating ship (or whatever the heck that is)?  This is some pretty high octane "Three Musketeers" business.

This trailer doesn't make me feel like my mother, but my great, great grandmother: "What the? Why are these actors talking? Where's Douglas Fairbanks? Not Junior, Senior?!"

Well, it had to happen. Whenever a classic has a three in its title, and especially an action packed Alexander Dumas classic, you can bet on the 3-D cinematic experience. Next! Edward Albee's "Three Tall Women" in eye popping 3-D! Watch three women talk and ... throw things at the camera!

O.K., enough.

This one, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, boasts a great cast: Orlando Bloom, Logan Lerman, Chritoph Waltz and Milla Jovovich. And a better interpretation of Dumas' lyricism regarding stuff that flies in your face. Well, that's what the movie thinks anyway.

 

Here comes the Irwin Allen of Super-Hero movies -- "The Justice League."

Chock full of not, iconic stars (like Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons and Ernest Borgnine of Irwin Allen-dom) but iconic characters, it looks like Warner Bros. is going to throw more DC Comic heroes at us --  in one movie.

At this point, I'm not exactly surprised or excited. I mean, it could be three things: Great, so-so or awful.

Now if Red Buttons and Shelley Winters were making an appearance, I'd be stoked ...

Here's more from The Huffington Post:

"This year, Green Lantern (starring Ryan Reynolds) is hitting the big screen. In 2012, both Batman and Superman will get their own feature films in which to play hero. A year later, they may all team up.

"In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Jeff Robinov, the new Warner Bros. motion picture group president, revealed that a big part of his strategy for the studio going forward is movies based on DC Comics heroes. So it only makes sense that he plans on putting them all together in one film, a big screen adaptation of The Justice League.

"Comprised of major heroes such as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Wonder Woman, the Justice League is the ultimate crime fighting force, though Marvel's Avengers, which is already getting its own big screen adaptation, have a very legitimate case for disagreement.

 

Coming Soon has some news on a movie I've been greatly anticipating -- "The Rum Diary," starring Johnny Depp, adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's novel, which is largely autobiographic.

If you remember, and you should, Depp played Thompson in Terry Gilliam's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." He also became great friends with the infamous writer and will hopefully, do this material proud.

As of now, we've got a release date. Finally. Let's see if it sticks.

Here's more from Coming Soon.

"While attending the CinemaCon opening night party last night, our good friend and colleague Kino Katey from CinemaBlend noticed a still from Bruce Robinson's 'The Rum Diary' flashing on the screen with a release date of October 28, 2011.

"This long-in-development movie returns Johnny Depp to the crazy world of Hunter S. Thompson, a character he played in Terry Gilliam's 1998 movie 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,' but this time it's based on one of Thompson's works of 'fiction' in which Depp will play journalist Paul Kemp who gets frustrated with New York and moves to Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper.

 

I have no idea how the "The Hangover Part II" will hold up, but I do like this poster.

It's actually scary. If you weren't aware of the first picture, you might mistake it for a horror movie.
 

From the Nicolas Ray noir, "They Live By Night," to two of Alfred Hitchcock's finest, "Rope" and "Strangers on a Train," actor Farley Granger left quite a career behind him.

The actor passed away Sunday from natural causes in Manhattan. He was 85 years old.

The AP wrote:

"Granger was a overnight Hollywood success story: He was a 16-year-old student at North Hollywood High School when he got the notion that he wanted to act and joined a little theater group.

"Talent scouts for movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn saw the handsome youngster and signed him to a contract. His first movie was 'The North Star' in 1943.

"'It was one of those miracle careers,' he said. 'I had no talent and no training whatsoever and suddenly I was thrown ... (in) with Walter Huston, Erich von Stroheim, Anne Baxter, Ann Harding and Walter Brennan.'

"A decade later, at the height of his Hollywood stardom, he walked away from it — to really learn his craft. He spent the rest of his career in a mix of movies, television and stage work."

 

Oh, brother.

My mother is not going to like this news. As a voracious Agatha Christie reader, Jennifer Garner is not her Miss Marple. In fact, she's likely not the Miss Marple any fan of Christie wants to see.

But alas, we can't have an old spinster playing the part, now can we? Well, we can, and anyone from Helen Mirren to Judi Dench would do a bang-up job with the iconic sleuth.

Here's more from the Huffington Post:

"This beloved classic is getting a facelift. Quite literally.

"Disney has closed a deal for a big screen reboot of Agatha Christie's 'Miss Marple' mystery novel series, and the House of Mouse is making substantial changes to the story. Deadline reports that, instead of the British grandma Jane Marple portrayed in the books and in previous big screen incarnations, the film series will instead feature a young, far more svelte amateur sleuth, to be played by Jennifer Garner.

"Garner, of course, has plenty of screen experience when it comes to solving mysteries, starring in the longrunning TV spy show, 'Alias.' This will be a bit different; the novels, 12 in all, were written from the 1930-70's. Whether the films will stay in that considerable span of time, or be brought up to date has yet to be announced.

"Marple has been played by a number of notable actors, both on TV and the big screen. The first films starred Margaret Rutherford, while Angela Landsbury took on the role in the star-studded 'The Mirror Crack'd,' which included Tony Curtis and Elizabeth Taylor."