Holiday movies

I rarely go to see a movie in the theaters, but this holiday season I am really committed to seeing two: Rocky Balboa, which I have already blogged about, and Dreamgirls.

There has been great buzz about Dreamgirls for months now, and it is finally time for the movie to hit the theaters. For those who don't know, it stars Beyonce Knowles as the Diana Ross-like leader of a Supremes-like singing group, and also stars Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. The Eddie Murphy addition is a great one, because it means Gobo, who never says no to a movie with Eddie Murphy, will come with me to the theaters.

The reason I'm so excited about the film? American Idol's Jennifer Hudson. I was never the biggest fan of Hudson while on Idol, mainly because the make-up artists would elongate her eyes with eyeliner and it looked very strange and more than a little scary. I was always more of a LaToya London fan. But I did think she was robbed when she didn't make it past the final six contestants, and the reviews of her work in this movie have been uniformly excellent.

More intriguing, however, is what's going on behind-the-scenes. Reports have been emerging that Beyonce was very difficult to work with, and that she is now jealous of the great press Hudson is receiving. In an effort to quell these rumors, Beyonce spoke with reporters this weekend, telling them that there was no rivalry between her and Hudson, and saying that she knew when she took the part that her character wasn't as intense as Hudson's.

But not only is her role not as meaty as Hudson's, her body isn't either: "I mean, I wish I could've gained 20 points and played Effie [Hudson's character]."

She does go on to commend Hudson for her great work in the role, but...well...that doesn't sound very nice, does it? And then Perez Hilton ran this photo of Hudson, Knowles and their co-star Anika Noni. And really, Beyonce looks a little left out, doesn't she?