It’s not definite yet, but it looks like Oscar-nominated actor/director Kenneth Branagh will be taking the helm of Marvel Studios’ comic book adaptation Thor. Most young moviegoers know Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart (from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), but he’s otherwise better known for primarily directing films of Shakespeare’s works. He also tends to cast mostly trained Shakespearean actors, although he has been known to include an Alicia Silverstone or a Matthew Lillard in his ensembles. Additionally, he’s been known for odd casting choices, such as Robert De Niro for the Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Who will he cast this time in the Asgardian ensemble that will make up the film? It might not actually be totally up to him, but if it is, it might look a little like this:

Kenneth Branagh as Thor/Donald Blake

I know what you’re thinking. He’s old. But he’s only five years older than Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. and only 3 years older than Brad Pitt, who recently was rumored to be at the top of Marvel’s wish list for the role. Anyway, he’s cast himself as Hamlet, Dr. Frankenstein and Henry V. So, it would be fitting if he cast himself in the lead here, too. The only issue, of course, is that the script now apparently features Thor’s alter ego, Donald Blake, and he’s reportedly written as a med student, not a full-on doctor. Oh, and for Thor, Branagh will have to beef up tremendously. Or not. If he actually got away with playing the character, he could probably also get away with not giving in to the whole height and muscle problem.

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Last Friday, before conspiracy theorists were questioning who actually birthed newborn Trig Palin, and long before it was announced that Bristol Palin is a (first time?) teen mom-to-be, I was innocently thinking of the more simple Sarah Palin movie. The one that goes sorta like The Contender, except that in this case the nude photos, which may or may not be of the female VP candidate, are pageant-related rather than a remnant of sorority hazing.

Now, of course, despite the gossip blogs’ wet dream that there are indeed scandalous photos out there of the former Miss Alaska runner-up, the movie goes a little more like Juno — or, as many a site has effortlessly pictured it, Juneau. Either way, both The Contender’s Joan Allen and Juno mom Allison Janney could easily pull off the role of Sarah Palin, but I’ve got my heart set on someone else for the part (see above). And I’ve gone ahead and cast the rest of the movie, too (see below). But feel free to comment below with your own choices for each of the cast.

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Fox Searchlight is in the process of casting Notorious, a drama about the life and death of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. (AKA Biggie Smalls, AKA Christopher Wallace), a project which Biggie’s mother and former managers have been trying to get made for seven years. Having apparently exhausted Hollywood’s supply of obese African-American actors (”His looks, his stature, what he represented, the swagger, the sensibility of the man — all those elements are very difficult to find, no matter where you go,” says producer Wayne Barrow), they still can’t find a leading man. So starting this Sunday, the production will begin accepting audition tapes from the general public via BiggieCasting.com.

Two years ago, when the film was still set to be directed by Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua (it’s now in the hands of Soul Food’s George Tillman), Barrow said the producers were considering a number of known actors, including Anthony Anderson. But I guess he forgot about that, because by way of justifying the open call, Barrow told USA Today that “no one came to mind outside of Forest Whitaker who could capture that essence genuinely” — and, at 46, the Oscar-winning Whittaker is about 20 years too old for the role.

I think this is a tricky proposition. On the one hand, I see how it makes sense–there certainly couldn’t be a more cost-effective way to hold open auditions. But in the same USA Today story, Biggie’s mom, Violetta Wallace, makes it clear that they’re not looking for a Biggie “impersonation,” and in the current spoof-obsessed web climate, you have to assume that that’s exactly what they’re going to get. Can you imagine how many skinny white college dudes are going to read about this and take it as an open invitation to corrall a bunch of coeds into a hot tub for borderline-racist (and definitely sexist) “Big Poppa“-inspired video antics?

The real Biggie formed his persona at a cultural crossroads: born into a relatively stable home set amidst the crack-infested streets of Bed Stuy, he made a conscious decision to drift away from his private school life and immerse himself into what we on the West Coast would have called “thug life” (okay, not me–I was white, suburban and 12–but that’s what I learned from watching the MTV). If the producers are really looking for someone who gets the character and his background, who will give a deeply felt performance instead of an actorly-one, I doubt they’re going to find it by appealing to the YouTube generation. But I’m sure the audition tapes will be good for a laugh.