Beyonce Knowles stole the robe from her hair salon (seriously, doesn't it look like that?) and ran out to lunch with her man Jay-Z at Bar Pitti in NYC yesterday. Typically, they left the restaurant separately so as not to be photographed together. Perhaps their little lunch date was to celebrate Beyonce's next big job. Not only has she officially signed on to play the part of Etta James in the biopic Cadillac Records, but she's taking on the role of executive producer too. Etta herself weighed in on Beyonce taking the roll. She said, "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 . . . Oh my god, she's going to have a hill to climb, because Etta James ain't been no angel!" The vast majority of you had your doubts about Beyonce's ability to play a historic figure like James, but I guess now we'll just have to sit tight and see how it turns out.

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George Clooney is touted as "The Last Movie Star" on the cover of this week's Time magazine, complete with a photospread showing off his silly and handsome sides. In the article, George comes over to the writer's house for dinner and comes off as a man who knows how to be an enthusiastic guest. Between talking about his life philosophies and showing off impressions, he spent part of the night trying to disarm a mysterious alarm going off in the house — watch the video, it's hilarious. This weekend we'll see him all dressed to the nines once again walking the red carpet as an Oscar nominee, but it's always nice to have a reminder that he's just as awesome as he seems. Here are a few highlights from the interview:

• "From the moment I was born, I was watched by other people. I was taught to use the right fork. I was groomed for that in a weird way," Clooney says. "You give enough. You play completely. You don't say, I don't talk about my personal life. People say they won't talk about their personal life. And then they do. And even when the tabloids say really crappy things and it pisses you off and you know it's not true, you have to at least publicly have a sense of humor about it."
• "Before they could kill me on Batman & Robin, I said, 'It's a bad film, and I'm the worst thing in it.' You try to defend an indefensible position, you'll look like a schmuck. The guys I dig don't do that. Look at Winston Churchill. He said, 'These are our shortcomings. Now let's get past it,'" Clooney says. He thinks that's all Cruise needs to do. "I talked to him the other day, and he's a good egg. There's nothing self-serving about what he's saying. He has to turn it into a way to make fun of himself."

I love the mental image of Clooney calling up Tom Cruise just to give him some solid advice — the sense of humor is a big part of what makes George so attractive. He may be the last of a throwback sort of Movie Star, but really he seems to be in a league all of his own.

• ICYMI, Kylie, Kanye and Paul McCartney were some of the stars who walked away with Brit Awards in London last night. From the hot red carpet fashions to performances by Amy Winehouse and Rihanna, the show didn't disappoint. — PopSugar UK
• Jessica Simpson has a number one movie on her hands, at least in Ukraine. Blonde Ambition was the highest-grossing film in the Eastern European nation last weekend. Guess the US flop translated well. — People
• Minnie Driver has yet to confirm she's pregnant, but rumor has it the actress knows the sex of the baby. She was spotted picking out little girl clothes and complaining of morning sickness at the J. Crew children's store in New York. A mini-Minnie, how sweet! — Page Six
• Paula Abdul's big comeback isn't going as well as she had planned. She's reportedly unhappy with her new video and wants to pretend the whole thing never happened. Don't be sad Paula, we didn't even think it was so bad! — The Scoop
• Elizabeth Hurley and her multimillionaire husband have offered their former maid a five-figure settlement after allegations that they paid the housekeeper what works out to as little as $2.33 an hour in rupees. After watching their wedding extravaganza, they can probably afford to pay better wages than that. — Page Six

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Brad and Angelina left their pint-sized entourage at home last night to have a double date with Clint Eastwood and his wife Dina Ruiz at Divino in Brentwood. Usually this is the part where we make a comment about Angelina covering up her bump, but this time we'll leave the speculation to her dining-room etiquette — supposedly she stayed away from the red wine and hardly touched her food. Angelina gushed about Clint after working with him on The Changeling, and now apparently these four hang out like old friends who even all share their chocolate souffle desert. The night ended with Brad giving Angie kisses as they walked out the door.

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