It's hard for me not to get excited when Salma Hayek's name gets connected to a project. The reasons are too numerous to count, but like many AfterEllen.com readers, I can resist neither her business savvy (lately earning Ugly Betty a new batch of nominations) nor her stunning presence (lately earning us photos like the one below).

For these reasons, I'm trying to imagine how this casting news will turn out to be good casting news: Hayek is set to play a bearded lady alongside vampire John C. Reilly in Cirque du Freak, a movie adaptation of the children's book series by Darren Shan. Paul Weitz will direct, which indicates it could go in the direction of American Pie (yikes!) or About a Boy (cheers!). That said, I don't know how Cirque's plot — centered on a battle between bloodsuckers and their rivals, the "Vampanese" — will fit the model of understated humor set by the latter Weitz picture.

It's no secret around here that recycled ideas are often, well, garbage. Many of us suffered through Bionic Woman (which even Katee Sackhoff couldn't rescue), I'd guess that very few of us bothered to suffer through Catherine Zeta-Jones in the unnecessary No Reservations, and scribegrrrl and Malinda have already expressed apprehension about plans for a new Barbarella. So Moviefone's recent "25 Worst Movie Remakes of All Time" is a little bit like shooting (already dead) fish in a barrel — fun, perhaps, but also depressing, kind of like 101 Dalmatians, which made No. 11 on the list.

Fun due to the presence of Glenn Close, with some of the best movie hair around; depressing due to the presence of Glenn Close, who may be the perfect Cruella but who really can do oh-so-much-better. Give me boiled bunnies over yappy puppies any day, Glenn. Better yet, give me power suits and power trips of the non-puppy sort.

Sadly, there are numerous great actors stuck on Moviefone's list. Checking in at No. 20 is The Planet of the Apes, with a furred Helena Bonham Carter missing the quirky target and hitting the just-plain-wrong bull's eye.

As a bestseller about "the divine power of women and the transforming power of love," it was only a matter of time before Sue Monk Kidd's debut novel The Secret Life of Bees made its way to the big screen. But, still smarting from too many adaptation debacles to count (The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood comes to mind), I wouldn't have very much cared — until yesterday's Variety report about casting. With Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Sophie Okonedo signed and Alicia Keys in talks, I'm setting aside my $11 now.

Dakota Fanning is due to star as teenaged protagonist Lily, but that doesn't interest me so much (apparently nobody has yet followed Sarah's advice and convinced her that she need not portray every precocious young girl). Nope, I'm all about this somewhat random but potentially quite satisfying group of non-adolescent stars: Hudson as Lily's nanny and friend Rosaleen, and Latifah, Keys and Okonedo as the Boatwright sisters. I'm also all about the fact that Gina Prince-Bythewood will be at the helm, using her own based-on-the-book script. Since the Love and Basketball writer-director is responsible for one of the greatest moments in female sports movies but has only done a modest amount of work since, much of it on TV, I'm eager to see her in charge of a major release.

Earlier this week, Film Independent announced their nominations for the 2008 Spirit Awards. I'm still puzzled by last year's decision to curtail the name (originally the Independent Spirit Awards), and I always have trouble fathoming the cost of film (these particular budgets have to be under $20 million, which seems simultaneously huge and meager), but I appreciate that the nominations provide a relatively reliable guide to indie work worthy of recognition.

This year's most-nominated films are I'm Not There, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Juno, but it's an altogether strong crowd, including some films popular with AfterEllen.com readers.

Along with Julie Delpy's Best First Feature nod for 2 Days in Paris and the heartbreaking and well-deserved acknowledgment for Adrienne Shelly's Waitress screenplay, there are such usual suspects as cool-straight Cate Blanchett for her turn as Bob Dylan, wacky-straight Parker Posey (Broken English), and reportedly now-straight Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart).

As the writers strike proceeds through its second week, I'm faced with the sad prospect of a finite number of entertaining Thursday nights (or Saturday afternoons, really, since I watch TV on my computer, thus contributing nothing to the writers' paychecks — so very wrong). No new scripts means no more Wilhelmina! No more Cristina! No more Meredith! Wait a minute ... no more Meredith? Maybe the strike is just a tiny bit OK. It's also providing all sorts of photos of stars supporting the cause.

No, I know — great pics and lack of Meredith aside, it's really not OK, and for reasons obviously far larger than my need for Saturday entertainment. I truly hope it is resolved soon, and in a way that will allow me to watch online TV without feeling complicit in some larger trend of failing to give credit (and cash) where due.

Until then, I'm inspired by a recent post at Give Me My Remote to give TV the desert island treatment. That's right, for absolute torture pure fun, consider: You're off to a desert island for, say, a year. Conveniently, the island has a TV (don't they all?), but you can only bring along one TV episode to watch during your year — not a series or a several-hour DVD, just one, lonely episode. What do you choose?

How do I choose is my question? The recent "Favorite Lesbian TV Moments" episode of She Made Me Watch This! is a good place to start, but I haven't seen a few of Sarah and Lori's picks, and while I too adored the hand-holding on The O.C., would I really want to watch it for a year running? No offense to Mischa Barton and Olivia Wilde, but not so much.

Or at least on Sunday evenings, in the States, for viewers with PBS. But I'll take it! Come January, that revered, pre-A&E bastion of British drama in the U.S., Masterpiece Theatre, is hosting a four-month Austen marathon, replete with adaptations of all six major novels and a new biographical drama, Miss Austen Regrets. Dorothy Snarker wasn't kidding when she said it's Jane's world now.

First, the good news: Olivia Williams, aka Miss Cross in the only Wes Anderson film I enjoy, stars as "Miss Austen" herself.

Already so much better than Anne Hathaway (against whom I have nothing, but as Austen? I didn't get it). Greta Scacchi plays Austen's sister Cassandra, and since it took an embarrassing moment for me to realize that Williams and Scacchi are not in fact the same person, I can easily buy them as sisters. I'm also amused by the idea of a scene in which Austen "tipples most liberally" at a party.

Earlier this week, the linster blogged about the Mad Money of Katie Holmes, and now fellow Dawson's Creek alum Michelle Williams is getting her own headlines. Williams will star in Mammoth, the first English-language feature by Lukas Moodysson (Show Me Love, Together).

The Swedish director describes Williams as relaying "intelligence, poise and presence in every character she plays," and I wholeheartedly agree. I'm happy to see her making news for something besides her recent split with Heath Ledger, and not only because it gives me a chance to post pictures of her looking ridiculously adorable — though that is a decided bonus.

No, the main reason I'm happy about this news is that I admire both director and star. I've been watching Williams' career ever since Dick, If These Walls Could Talk 2 and Me Without You proved that she was headed for life after Capeside (I was a devoted if slightly embarrassed Creek fan, but really, not for the acting chops).

"Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" Mary J. Blige may have six Grammy awards, as many No. 1 hits on the hip-hop charts, and recent duets with Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin (not to mention a coveted spot on Malinda's Funk/Soul mixtape), but she's not perfect — or so she would have us believe, according to a new interview with MTV about her forthcoming album.

"We're all a work in progress," she says, and describes Growing Pains as an effort to keep moving forward after her Breakthrough. Down-to-earth and open as always, Blige is one work in progress I'm happy to witness.

My latest opportunity to see Blige came along last week, with the premiere of her video for the first Growing Pains single. In true MJB fashion, "Just Fine" has hints of the confessional, but really it's a fun, up-tempo track that gives her a chance to move — and move she does, through electronic backdrops and too many costume changes to bother counting right into a serious set of heels and a just-as-serious tie.

I adore a woman who speaks her mind, so between a willingness to be unabashedly opinionated and superb acting talents, Vanessa Redgrave holds a spot high on my list of favorites. Last week she reached the top of a rather more important list when she received a career achievement award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and during her appearance she assured the audience that her gift for opinion has lasted just as well as her artistic gift.

Apparently Redgrave didn't wax political for the entire hour-long, onstage conversation with Alec Baldwin, but nonetheless touched upon the prison-industrial complex and the failure of modern leadership, suggesting that "if every politician devoted their entire attention to the well-being of children, they'd change everything in ten years." Mild words, really, coming from the Year of Magical Thinking star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador who doesn't mind that openly leftist leanings have cost her roles in the past. "It's always worth it to stand by some basic principles," she explained in a recent CBS interview. Her rabble-rousing certainly hasn't cost her any beauty — she looked as stunning as ever during the event last week.

When Steven Spielberg's concept for a dark comedy about a woman with dissociative identity disorder originally got press, Showtime exec Robert Greenblatt expressed confidence that The United States of Tara would attract "an extraordinary actress looking for a real tour de force opportunity." Turns out he was spot on; news just came out that the indeed extraordinary Toni Collette is set to star as the mum of two whose multiple personalities emerge under stress.

My first response to the news was to cheer; I adore Collette and can think of few women whom I'd rather see on a regular basis. Once I stopped grinning, though, I had to be surprised — both because Collette has been so very film-centric and because I think of her as a dramatic actor more than a comedian. But the film focus hasn't stopped Holly Hunter, Glenn Close or Mary-Louise Parker, so why shouldn't Collette join in this "golden age" for women on cable? And as for the comic aspect, I needed only think of my introduction to Collette, Muriel's Wedding, and I became as convinced as Greenblatt that "when you're casting a show that requires an actress to not only play one complex character, but in this case several, the road begins and ends with Toni Collette."

I recently ran across a Guardian blog about how wonderful and how at-risk independent cinemas are. It opens with a mention of New York City's new fake drive-in, and while that does sound fun, I'm even more a fan of the gimmick-free movie house that's all about good film rather than about the fanciest sound system or fanciest coffee or fanciest stadium seating. (I also love my Harry Potter in IMAX, so feel free to take all I say with a grain of floo powder).

Even though independent films often screen at mainstream chains these days, there's nothing quite like squeezing into a tiny theatre fashioned out of an old fire station, or buying a ticket from someone who's also owner and popcorn vendor, or entering beneath a marquee that hasn't changed since admission cost a quarter.

I started thinking about my own favorite movie houses, and while the Castro is one of the more famous independents, has done a lot for queer film, and was the happy site of my introduction to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg a few years ago, it's not truly close to my heart. (Yet — my trip to the Sound of Music sing-along next month may well tip the scales.)

As if I didn't already spend too much time following links on IMDb, the site recently introduced character pages, which (as one might guess) track the appearance of characters in and across different movies, television shows and video games (thanks to Pop Candy for the heads up). I've been wanting this feature for about as long as I've been using the site — and not simply for yet another excuse to browse (and browse, and browse). It certainly would have come in handy back when I blogged about Young Victoria; instead of racking my own wee brain for other flicks about the Queen, I could have racked the hive mind.

The character page for Mrs. Brown is impressive, but her 26 appearances seem meager when compared to Queen Elizabeth's 57. Since the pages include photos, you can get all of your Virgin-Queen-in-armor needs fulfilled in one convenient place.

Or not. Character pages, including photos and "bios," are compiled by IMDb users, so they're only as thorough or as organized as the fans. As of now, the Golden Age stills (beautiful though they may be) are the only Queen Elizabeth pictures, and she has no biography at all. The user-driven format also means that it's a bit of a popularity contest yet — [warning: link contains spoilers] Starbuck has an incredibly lengthy bio and a handful of quotes, while everyone's favorite wing governor doesn't have a page at all, let alone a record of her many wonderful Helen-isms.

As you may have noticed, I love a good controversy, and I certainly got one last Thursday when the Swedish Academy honored prose writer Doris Lessing with the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.

But before the complications, the good part: Lessing, at nearly 88, is the oldest winner (not entirely surprising, since the prize can't be given posthumously) and only the 11th woman out of 106 (not entirely surprising, since, as we well know, female-friendliness isn't a typical "Academy" quality).

The other good part? Lessing's initial response to reporters asking about the win was to say, "Oh, Christ! I couldn't care less." Also, "I've won all the prizes in Europe, every bloody one, so I'm delighted to win them all, the whole lot, OK?" And finally, "Now I'm going to go in to answer my telephone. I swear I'm going upstairs to find some suitable sentences, which I will be using from now on."

Next Friday, Oct. 19, marks the opening of Halle Berry's newest film, Things We Lost in the Fire. Besides the general goodness of seeing the beyond fabulous AfterEllen.com Hottie No. 19 on the big screen, we get a bonus: This time there are no pleather costumes, no mutants. Indeed, there's not much action at all — just Berry and her talents (and a few other folks, I suppose, in particular costar Benicio Del Toro). [Warning: Minor spoilers.]

The drama, Danish director Susanne Bier's U.S. debut, does start out with a violent death. But Things We Lost isn't a ghost story or even a revenge fantasy. Instead, the story follows Berry's character Audrey Burke as she mourns the murdered Brian (David Duchovny) while caring for their two children and building a friendship with his troubled best friend Jerry (Del Toro).

It's been far too long since Berry was able to dig deep into a role like this. Although her performance as Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God was beautiful, the made-for-TV adaptation was an overall disappointment, and Monster's Ball was way back in 2001. 2001! Rather than spend my time wondering how it could've taken so long to get her back into a dramatic picture, I'm just going to enjoy this moment and all the Berry-time that it brings.

File this one under "Please don't let it be true": According to Nikki Finke of online rag Deadline Hollywood Daily, Warner Brothers president of production Jeff Robinov has made a new decree stating that the studio will no longer make movies with women in lead roles. After that, he successfully negotiated to trade his Ecto Cooler for a Capri Sun and received the Academy's golden hall pass for a trip to the little boys' room.

Oh, wait. I shouldn't insult second graders like that. After all, Jeffy isn't still growing, he's a man — and must've gotten tired of being mistaken for a man with a clue. Don't worry, Robinov, we know Hollywood's still an old boys' network; no need to post the sign.

According to Finke's sources (which she interprets as reliable), the decision is in response to the box office failure of The Brave One and Invasion. Apparently Jodie Foster and Nicole Kidman are everything that's wrong with movies these days.