Two “Boleyn” girls are better than one

In case you haven’t heard, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are in a movie together. I’ve seen so many promos and articles and trailers and interviews related to The Other Boleyn Girl, I’m a little weary and don’t know if I’ll even see the film, which opens today.

But the Los Angeles Times’ recent “Scarlett versus Natalie” photo gallery gave the hype machine a different twist. Each photo is accompanied by facts on a particular topic (like horses, muses or education), and then a winner is declared in that area — like this:

Muses

George Lucas turned Portman into a full-fledged international star when he cast her as Padme Amidala, the woman who would become the mother of Luke and Leia, in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy.

Woody Allen has fallen under the spell of Johansson, casting her in “Match Point,” “Scoop” and the upcoming “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” in which she reportedly has a steamy sex scene with Penelope Cruz.

“Scarlett is just a naturally great actress,” Allen has stated. “She can do no wrong and is incapable of a bad moment. She’s very sexy, very pretty. She was just touched by God.”

Winner: Johansson. Although “Star Wars” made Portman a household name, Allen is a far better director than Lucas, who seems ill at ease directing humans.

Well, fine, but Allen puts me ill at ease with his daughter-marrying ways, so I’m not sure ScarJo really wins on this point.

View the whole gallery here. One thing the Times doesn’t mention is that both Scarlett and Natalie think same-sex marriage is A-OK. In a recent interview with W magazine, they spoke up on the subject:

“I’m into monogamy,” says Portman. “But I’m not really into marriage right now. I sort of hate the legal aspect of it. What does the state have to do with it? Why are they making rules that say my lover can stay in the United States if they’re foreign or share my health care benefits because I’m straight” – here her eyes flash with horror – “but if you’re gay, you can’t have that?”

“It’s so archaic,” Johansson agrees. “It’s just, like, bizarre to me. I feel like in 10 or 15 years’ time our children are going to look back and say, ‘What? You were around when gay people weren’t allowed to get married?'”

It seems to me this is a win-win situation!

Here’s a Boleyn trailer if you still haven’t seen one. The film is now showing at a theater near you.