When Variety first reported on Halle Berry’s latest project, we had a WTF moment, but chose to reserve judgement. This is, after all, Halle Berry. Still, the premise behind Frankie and Anne stinks.

Berry, who produces as well, plays a schizophrenic woman battling between “who she is and a racist Caucasian personality that preys upon her mind.” Production had not yet started when the project was first announced back in April, but the production pic sent in by Sergio brings us back full circle.

WTF, Halle??

Chris Rock is angling for a playdate. Not the Laugh Factory kind, but a playdate for his daughters — with the Obama girls.

Rock told People magazine that his cuties, ages six and four, have seen Malia and Sasha Obama and want a piece of the White House action.

“They look at the youngest,” said Rock, “and they’re like, ‘We can play with her, Daddy.’” No doubt, an invitation will be forthcoming.

Way to work the social network, girls.

We had the same question as the Gawker team in terms of how easy it was for that Iraqi reporter to take aim at George Bush during a press conference in Baghdad. We refer not to questions, but to the reporter’s damn good aim with not one, but both of his shoes, while yelling “Here is a good-bye present from the people of Iraq, you dog!”

It took forever for the Secret Service guy in the front row to jump up (whatever happened to taking a bullet for the prez?) or for the rest of Bush’s security detail to appear from the back room — where they were, no doubt, snacking on coffee and quiz.

Short term, this raises alarming questions about the safety of our incoming POTUS, but, more pointedly speaks to the general decline in quality we’re experiencing as a nation — American made cars nobody wants to buy; made-in-China imports — now with melamine!; a credit status our own banks won’t touch; security that waits ’til the coast is clear.

Graft and corruption? Small potatoes. This is where certain Chicago connections are sorely needed.

Looks like the economy is hitting everybody hard. Today comes word that singer Harry Belafonte is auctioning off several documents related to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Belafonte, a close friend of the King family, has in his possession the outline of King’s speech against the war in Vietnam, hand-written notes from an undelivered speech found in Dr. King’s suit pocket at the time of his assassination, and a letter of condolence from Lyndon Johnson, given to him by Coretta Scott King.

The Sotheby’s auction house estimates the documents will sell for between $100,000 and $800,000.

 While the media biz is reduced to smoldering rubble, fourth-grader Alec Grevens is on his way to Hollywood. Seems after little Alex finished his math homework, he penned a self-help manual called, “How To Talk To Girls.” The Hollywood Reporter today announced a “low-to-mid six figure” deal with Fox for the movie rights.If you learned everything you need to know in kindergarten, Alec’s 46-page tome should be a refresher. His advice includes: “Comb your hair and don’t wear sweats,” and a cautionary “it’s easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewelry, but are like cars that need a lot of oil.”Grevens hasn’t announced a follow-up title, yet, but it’s sure to be something along the lines of “If You’re Sucking Up With An Apple Make Sure It’s Organic: Winning in the Workplace.”�

A Page Six update on Knicks guard Stephon Marbury indicates the jumper is still anticipating delivery of his $40 million private jet. On the face of it, you could conclude that Marbury is just flossing baller style. But the fact that the Knicks want — badly — to trade the guy and get rid of his $21 million salary, suggests that Marbury’s extravagant toy is a big fat finger salute to Knicks’ management, a.k.a, The Man.

Teammate Antonio Pierce has agreed to testify about what happened the night Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with a 40-caliber Glock at a New York club. It was Pierce who drove Burress to the hospital, then drove home with the gun in his glove compartment. His testimony will all but insure the prosecution of Burress for felony possession of an illegal weapon.Burress’ wife, a lawyer licensed to practice in New York, reportedly retrieved the gun from Pierce the following morning, taking it back to the couple’s home.Let’s review: A possible career-ending injury, a winning season terminated, implication of your teammate in a crime, possible jail time and a felony rap. Nicely done, bro.�

The Grammy committee took L’il Wayne’s “Lollipop” to heart — the diminutive rapper walked away with a finger-lickin’ eight nominations, including Album of the Year for his CD, “Tha Carter III.” Album of the Year nod is normally given to a critical favorite, which Wayne’s project was not. But it was the only CD to sell a million copies in it’s first week of release. Ya can’t argue with that.Coldplay came in second with seven noms, newcomer Jazmin Sullivan received an impressive five, while veterans Jay-Z and Kanye West each received six.This year, rather than the traditional early morning press conference to announce the nominees, the Grammy committee decided on a prime-time concert format, hosted by LL Cool Jay and Taylor Swift. And leave it to Mrs. Nick Cannon to kick it up a notch. Carey started the show singing a song from her classic Christmas album — in a tight red mini-dress. T’is the season.Check out the full list here.�

Barack Obama announced his National Security Team today, which included Eric Holder as AG, Susan Rice as UN Ambassador, and his most high profile selection, Hillary Clinton at Secretary of State. Obama has famously said he wants a “team of rivals” to serve on his cabinet, and he and Clinton walked off stage looking chummy, but check this photo: looks like they are arm wrestling, not shaking hands. A portend of things to come?

Better hit the gym, Barack. 

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Surely self-made movie mogul Tyler Perry was not trying to skirt fair compensation issues in his tiff with the Writers Guild of America West. Variety ran a story today announcing Perry’s settlement with the guild over unionization and writers’ residual payments for reruns of “House of Payne” and his upcoming series, “Meet the Browns.”

The guild lodged a complaint against Perry and his newly launched studio on behalf of four writers fired from the “House of Payne” staff, they said, because they were actively trying to unionize the writers. Perry stated the writers (three of whom were already guild members) were fired because he was not happy with their work. The five-month standoff included WGA West members picketing the opening of Perry’s Atlanta-based studio, and the NAACP had to step in before an agreement could be reached.

Ultimately, an agreement was struck and Perry, one of the few truly independent (he owns and finances both “Payne” and “Meet the Browns”) producers out there and the guild made sure the tale had a happy ending…Except for the four writers who started it all – they’re still unemployed.