The opening three minutes of "Watchmen"? Perhaps ...

Actually, what first struck my eye this morning was some disturbing but not too terribly surprising news about Terry Gilliam's next - and Heath Ledger's last - flick, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

I just assumed that the presence of Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell - who all stepped in to finish the work started by the late Mr. Ledger - would be enough to win this sure-to-be-odd tale U.S. distribution wide enough to reach my little corner of the world, but once again (yes, it does happen from time to time) it seems I'm wrong. In fact, the flick has yet to garner any U.S. distributor at all - with both Lionsgate and Overture expressing interest but ultimately passing - and its American fate will be decided in the next few weeks.

Here's hoping someone bites on what should be a fascinating little (well, at $20 million, not so little, I guess) flick. But as promised, here today it is about an extended glimpse of Rohrschach in what just might be the opening scene of "Watchmen," but if you'll indulge me there are just a few other things that have caught my eye today.

Yes, Woody Allen can sign any beautiful woman he wants to

Seeing the way that Freida Pinto's smile lit up the screen as the full-grown Latika in newly crowned Oscar champ "Slumdog Millionaire," you had to know she would be a big star someday soon. And I guess it shouldn't be all that surprising that Woody Allen is the first to jump on her potential.

After "Whatever Works," set to star fellow grumpy old man Larry David and hopefully play extremely wide when it opens this summer (I think), the ageless Mr. Allen has now signed Pinto and Naomi Watts to join Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins in his next, as-yet-untitled flick. Geez, it sure must be nice to scan the entire world and just pick whoever you want to be your next muse.

And, to put this as superficially as possible, Freida Pinto is the second most beautiful Indian woman I've ever seen on the big screen, bested only by the simply stunning Sarita Choudhury, who starred with Denzel Washington way back when in director Mira Nair's "Mississippi Masala" (well worth a rental if you can find it.)

Chiwetel Ejiofor set for spy games

With easily one of my favorite directors attached in Phillip Noyce, I was already intrigued by Columbia Pictures' upcoming spy thriller "Salt," but now with Chiwetel Ejiofor on board too you can count me as thoroughly psyched.

In the flick, Angelina Jolie will play the titular American spy Evelyn Salt, who came under suspicion as a sleeper agent for the Russkies. Liev Schreiber has signed on to play her American mentor, and now Ejiofor will play Peabody, a young CIA agent who's hot to expose her alleged double dealings as she works to clear her name.

That all sounds great to me, especially since - the disappointing "Redbelt" notwithstanding - Ejiofor is someone I just always like to see on the big screen. The flick begins shooting next month in NYC.

DVD pick of the week:

It's truly slim pickings when it comes to the theatrical releases (though I must confess I just might pick up "Sex Drive" from my Netflix for a good laugh), so thankfully there's another "Futurama" flick stepping into the breach this week.

In "Into the Wild Green Yonder (which I think is the fourth straight-to-DVD "Futurama" flick), according to the IMDB, "mankind stands on the brink of a wondrous new Green Age. But ancient forces of darkness, three years older than time itself, have returned to wreak destruction. Even more shocking: Bender's in love with a married fembot, and Leela's on the run from the law - Zapp Brannigan's law! Fry is the last hope of the universe ... so if you're in the universe, you might want to think about going somewhere else. Could this be the end of the Planet Express crew forever? Say it ain't so, meatbag! Off we go, Into the Wild Green Yonder!"

That all sounds great to me, so add that to the Netflix queue too. And Phillip J. Fry himself, Billy West, mentioned at a recent geek gathering (perhaps the New York Comicon, but I'm not really sure) that Fox has recently expressed interest in bring the show back for a sixth new season - given its popularity in reruns on Comedy Central - so we should just keep hope alive!

And finally, Rohrshach

As I said above, judging from the graphic novel, I think this clip introduced by "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder just might be the opening three minutes or so of the flick (or very close to it), since it's clearly Rorschach investigating the death of the Comedian. Either way, it's nothing but cool, even if Jackie Earle Haley is pouring it on a bit with that voice. Only 10 days to go! Enjoy the clip, and have a pleasant enough Tuesday. Peace out.