Girlfriends and wives usually get the short shrift in music biopics. In most cases, they end up as background (with maybe the exception being Walk the Line). Hopefully, this will not be the case for Gabrielle Union's latest role. BlackFilm reports that Union has signed to star in Darnell Martin's music biopic Cadillac Records as Geneva Wade. Wade was blues legend Muddy Waters' long-time girlfriend and was the inspiration for the classic song, Little Geneva.

Cadillac is the story of Chess Records, founded by Leonard Chess. The famed label was responsible for launching the careers of some of the greatest names in R&B. Casting has been the order of the day since news first hit that Adrien Brody would be playing Chess. Since then, it's been a flood of news, with the debate over Beyonce being cast as jazz legend Etta James at the top of the list. It should probably not come as a shock that other casting news has garnered fewer headlines. So just to bring you up to speed: Jeffrey Wright signed to play the great Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer will appear as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, and Columbus Short as Little Walter. There is also my favorite piece of casting -- Mos Def as Chuck Berry. Because, frankly, Def is just 'eccentric' enough to pull it off.

Due to my appreciation of Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright, I've really been trying to get behind the idea of Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, so that I can fully appreciate everything Cadillac Records can offer. So far, it's not happening, and with the first look at Beyonce's Etta, courtesy of Just Jared, I'm really not convinced. You can check out the full picture, plus a peek at a blue-suited Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess over at the site, and above I have given you a side-by-side comparison.

Putting a blonde wig on Beyonce doesn't make her Etta. It makes her look like she's getting ready for Halloween. They just don't look alike. They look different. They have different body types. And they certainly don't sound alike. It just looks like a caricature, which is really a shame, considering the solid cast along for the ride. And heck, as JJ pointed out, Etta doesn't think so either, although she's remaining positive: "It's a privilege and an honor to have somebody like that girl. I don't think she looks like me, but that's all right. They can fix that up."

Etta is going to work with Beyonce on both the acting and singing, so hopefully the pointers can make this all come together.

Since she won't be struggling with her alternate side in a world of Heroes any time soon, Ali Larter is getting Obsessed. Variety reports that she's going to star in Screen Gems' upcoming thriller, along with Beyonce Knowles and Idris Elba. Television director Steve Shill will helm the project, from a script by David Loughery. The latter has penned the likes of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and The Three Musketeers, had a 13-year break after Tom and Huck, and is now back with this and the upcoming Lakeview Terrace.

In the hand that rocks the professional cradle, Elba plays "an asset manager who has a knockout wife (Knowles) and thriving career until a temp office worker (Larter) begins stalking him." What better validation can an actor get? One gets stalked by an attractive woman, and the other gets to be a "knockout." Acting can be so rough!

Screen Gems head Clint Culpepper is said to be "working with Knowles' and Larter's reps to iron out scheduling kinks," but the company is planning to get the film into production this summer.

Would you ever believe that Eva Longoria dated Jason Biggs? Well, Hollywood is asking us to suspend our disbelief, because the two are starring in a comedy in which they play former flames. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sexy "desperate housewife" and the doofy "pie f**cker" have been cast alongside Rob Corddry in Lower Learning, the debut feature from writer-director Mark Lafferty, who was responsible for the gay-centric Sixth Sense spoof, The Seventh Sense ("I see gay people"). In Lower, Corddry will play a shady elementary school principal under investigation by Longoria's inspector with help from her ex, a former cop who is now a vice principal. The cast will also include Corddry's old Daily Show co-worker Ed Helms, Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and Saw's Monica Potter. I don't know about you, but I expect this to be another movie in which the adults are less mature than the children.

I hope there aren't too many disappointed men out there, but Jason Biggs isn't much of a substitute for Beyoncé Knowles. Remember last year, Longoria was said to be doing a lesbian film with Knowles, but the rumor was quickly and unfortunately shot down. Well, let's just hope Longoria's character doesn't end up getting back together with Biggs' character, so we don't have to suffer through their reunion kiss -- though I've already suffered from imagining it. I'm rather hoping this movie focuses more on Corddry, who is a lot more enjoyable to watch. However, I might be in a minority here, considering audiences weren't too receptive to his recent sitcom The Winner, nor were they interested in his starring role in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story nor as support in The Heartbreak Kid. Personally, I think he needs another shot at carrying a movie -- his next few roles are fairly small, playing second fiddle to Justin Long, Will Ferrell, Harold & Kumar and Ashton Kutcher. Like Longoria, he could definitely do better.

Yes, I'm a Sopranos fan like you and I think the same thing every time I hear this particular musical mentioned. Anyway, Jim Hill, who has a lot of knowledge of goings-on at Disney, is reporting that the Mousehouse is pushing forward with plans to take the Tony-winning Broadway musical (adapted from the Verdi opera of the same name) to the big screen. For those who haven't seen Aida, it's a tale set in ancient Egypt, revolving around a love story between an Egyptian Army captain named Radames and one of his female Nubian captives, Aida. The play is completely unseen by me, but I've heard once or twice from people who've seen it that it's very cinematic.

Jim Hill says the Disney movie offices are "abuzz lately with the news that Walt Disney Studios is seriously thinking about turning DT's earlier production, Aida, into a big budget movie musical. And just who would play the title role in the film version of this Elton John musical, you ask? Would you believe Beyonce? The Mouse is reportedly in talks with this pop diva, trying to convince Ms. Knowles to make Aida her follow-up project to Dreamgirls." Hill also reminds us that Disney bought the rights to a storybook version of the Verdi opera way back in 1990 for the sole purpose of using some of its ideas as grist for a feature film. This all makes sense to me -- I'd expect to hear about a firm deal sooner rather than later, especially considering how well Dreamgirls was received by the public.

I haven't seen Dreamgirls since its release last Christmas, but after sitting down to watch the DVD, which is arriving in stores tomorrow, I pretty much stand by my original opinion -- that the film is a solid B+ as a musical, but didn't exactly have the dramatic heft or originality to be in consideration for the Oscar. Looks like the Academy agreed with me. For those who still haven't seen it, Dreamgirls follows a trio of 60s singers, modeled on The Supremes, as they climb to the top, then fracture over love, money and fame, and then attempt to find success on their own. There are memorable songs, including Jennifer Hudson's signature "I Am Telling You I Am Not Going," and Beyonce Knowles' "Listen" towards the end of the film, and the film finds an interesting way to blend musical numbers together with the traditional style of movie musicals. If you are swept up in the story, you might not even notice the moment when that wall is broken and the actors start communicating to each other through songs instead of words.

Fans will be happy to know that the DVD is no slouch -- it's two discs, packed with a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes, a whole slate of extended and alternate scenes and some more interesting things that you rarely see. My favorite one a series of 'pre-visualization sequences' which means enhanced storyboards that are played in a slide-show sequence along with what I think is an early reading of the script pages. It serves as sort of an animated forerunner to the eventual scene that will be shot, and was probably extremely helpful to the director in setting up some of the musical sequences. In addition to the storyboard-style presentations -- and htere are several of them -- there are also dress rehearsals included, with stand-ins doing the singing and dancing. Some of these sequences even combine the rehearsal with the storyboard sequence, like the one for the "Cadillac Car" number. After watching that one, it seems like most of the hard work of this film was done before the actors even stepped on stage.

Another year, another Oscar disqualification controversy. It would probably help the Academy to sit down and really go through its eligibility rules, compare their fairness between categories and come up with something reasonably concrete and consistent. Still, in fairness to the Academy, this latest controversy may not be that big a deal. So Beyoncé Knowles is not being listed as one of the writers of the Dreamgirls song "Listen," which she allegedly co-wrote with potential nominees Henry Krieger, Anne Preven and Scott Cutler. Some people don't think she really contributed an equal share of the work anyway. And she agrees with those people.

The singer-actress should just ignore the Oscars and consider the recognition she has received. I mean, the woman has been nominated for more important things, such as "Favorite Female Butt Kicker" (Kid's Choice Awards, for Austin Powers in Goldmember) and "Sexiest Performance" (MTV Movie Awards, for The Pink Panther). Plus she got the songwriting credit and nomination, as well as an acting nomination, from both the Golden Globes and the Satellites. Can she really take the Academy seriously after they already failed to nominate her for "Independent Women", part I (too bad 2000 was one of those rare good years for the original song category)? Perhaps being upstaged by and underappreciated because of a certain former American Idol contestant puts one's self-worth into question?

Regardless of Beyoncé's problems, though, the Academy's rule of recognizing only three contributors is ridiculous. What happens if a four-piece band -- one that shares writing credits -- writes a song for a movie? I'm not sure why the rule was added, and I agree that seven songwriters was a lot to include for Shrek 2's "Accidentally in Love," but it may need another rewrite.

It's that festive holiday time of year, and somehow this makes it difficult for me to focus on the usual types of gossip tidbits as much as I normally might. And you know I am not all that focused to begin with. I stare at a photo of Mel Gibson with food on his shirt, and wonder, "Why should I care about this?" as my mind wanders off to thoughts about whether I need to buy more gift wrap. Besides, I am sometimes a messy eater too, so I can't really pick on Mr. Gibson. And I can't think of anything the least bit cutting to say about director Gus Van Sant being arrested on a DUI charge; I just feel a bit sad. Meanwhile, the gossip world rolls on, at all times of the year, so this week's roundup includes marriage, birth, paternity tests, birthday gifts, and celebrity tattoos.

• It's been a big news week for Britney Spears. Not only did she get a hand tattoo, but was also voted World's Worst Celebrity Dog Owner in an online poll. At least it looks like Santa has brought me my special Christmas present of not ever having to see certain bits of Spears again.
  
• In case you're interested, Defamer provides us with a glimpse of Jake Gyllenhaal's birthday gifts. Or were they gifts for Hanukkah? It's so hard to tell with socks.

Dreamgirls is already rolling in the dough. DreamWorks and Paramount tested the film out in a "roadshow" format this past weekend -- meaning they selected specific cities; Gotham, Los Angeles and San Francisco to screen the film for higher than average ticket prices. These road shows aren't necessarily meant to draw in the bucks to contribute to box office sales -- although this one carried in $360,000 -- but instead are used to encourage the word of mouth for films. Living in Los Angeles, I forget that not every city in the United States is fully aware of what films are hitting the big screen before they've even started production. The actors alone in Dreamgirls seem big enough to draw a crowd: Some say Eddie Murphy 's performance is worthy of an Oscar, then you have Beyoncé Knowles, Jamie Foxx and the American Idol superstar-turned Oscar shoe-in Jennifer Hudson.

Despite these big-name actors and the success of the roadshow, Paramount and Sony are still concerned about Dreamgirls' success during wide release. Their concern isn't completely invalid. Other films that used road shows as a way to spread the word had a great start, but once they hit theatres they had disappointing box office sales. Memoirs of a Geisha is one of those films -- I can see why, my personal opinion is it was beautiful visually but lacked much else. But Dreamgirls is such a different film altogether. Memoirs of a Geisha is based on a book -- some people already have an aversion to seeing films from books because it's never how they imagined it -- and Dreamgirls' story is loosely based on the Supremes; it also contains a completely different soul and is a guarantee for vivacious music. The film simply seems lively and fun; already something a holiday audience would like to see.

So will Dreamgirls hit it big in theatres worldwide? We'll find out Monday for sure, but I have a feeling with the star power the film possesses, it might do okay.

I don't really know Dreamgirls the way I know, say, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or Anything Goes or Brigadoon. I could hum you "One Night Only" -- or, at the least, its unrelenting chorus -- but that was about it. I was surprised, then, not only by the verve and dazzle Bill Condon brought to his big-screen version of the 1981 Broadway musical, but also by the strength in the original material -- the songs, the script, the underlying micro-to-macro swoop of the story as it looked at years of history in America through a pop group and a family's journey. Dreamgirls is the sizzle and the steak, the glam and the grit, in one rousing piece of moviemaking.

As terms of art go, "Movie Musical" is like "Fresh-Frozen," a self-contained contrary idea. The musical is theater; it's live. There are no cuts; there are no shots; your point-of-view is determined by your ticket. And the musical gives us something -- life -- that the movies do not. It's why they're so damned sentimental, and one of the reasons they live for us. And even as an art form in decline -- and living in the tryout market for a musical based on Legally Blonde will make you think that the musical theater is in decline, or at least it does for me -- I'd wager that while more people in America have seen movies than live musicals, more people have been in live musicals than movies, those clumsy high-school productions and university revues, or standing as a baritone shepherd in a Nativity chorale.