Archive

Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (May 25, 2007)

(Karman is filling in for Sarah while she’s on vacation this week.)

RACHEL HUNTER NEEDS A SOUP CHEF

Rachel Hunter plays a lesbian! Leisha Hailey plays a heterosexual! Has the world gone mad? Former rock wife (of Rod Stewart) and supermodel Rachel Hunter will star in La Cucina (The Kitchen) as Jude, a sage lesbian who whips up a fancy meal for her lover, Celia, (Clare Carey of Jericho) while offering advice to her lovelorn heterosexual neighbor Shelly (The L Word‘s Leisha Hailey).

Here’s a recent photo of Hunter:

and one of Carey:

You already know what Leisha Hailey looks like. And if you don’t, well, you should.

Unfortunately, the Jude/Shelly/Celia storyline is not the centerpiece of the film, but one of several intertwining plots. While it’s great to know that there’s a movie with a couple of lesbian characters on the typically bleak cinematic horizon, and that Hailey is getting work that doesn’t involve hawking dairy products, it’s not clear if the lesbian couple is going to have a happy ending. According to the film’s synopsis, “Shelly finds Jude lost in her passion, preparing an elaborate Italian meal for her and long-time lover Celia who is destined not to make it home for dinner.”

Is Celia working late at the office? Working late with on an office mate? Fated to suffer a tragic end? We’ll have to wait to find out.

DESPERATE SOUND BITE

You might have seen the lame attempt that was made this week to incorporate some lesbian innuendo into Desperate Housewives.

Someone should tell Eva Longoria not to tease (or feed) the lesbians. While this bit was scripted for her, Longoria herself allegedly talks about lesbianism a lot. She told GQ that she had a crush on her friend Eva Mendes (though in that case, can you blame her?), announced that she regretted not having a “full-on gay experience” before settling down with boyfriend Tony Parker, and pushed for DH to develop a lesbian romance between her character, Gabrielle, and neighbor Bree (Marcia Cross).

We get it Eva – you dig us, and we’re flattered. But we’re just not that into you.

(OK, all of you Eva Longoria fans, let me have it!)

FEAR AND OVUM IN LAS VEGAS

Yet another former rock wife is playing gay — Baywatch veteran Donna D’Errico (once wed to Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe). D’Errico has signed on to play a lesbian undergoing in vitro fertilization in ART in Las Vegas, a new film written and directed by Mary McGuckian (This Is the Sea).

No, it’s not about seeing a Picasso at the Bellagio (not that there’s anything wrong with that). “ART” stands for “assisted reproductive technology,” and the summary on IMDb.com describes the film as “an explosive investigation of the fastest growing sectors of medical and pharmaceutical industries; ART in Las Vegas asks ‘what if’ when something entirely ‘inconceivable’ comes to pass.”

The film also stars lesbian icon Jennifer Tilly (Bound), Andie McDowell (Bad Girls) and Greta Scacchi (Flightplan). While I’m hoping that the “inconceivable” refers to some sort of D’Errico/Tilly miracle offspring, I have a feeling it will be something just a tad more sinister. Like that the fertility clinic is secretly run by David Hasselhoff, who uses the profits to finance his beer and hair mousse habits.

Maybe if we’re lucky, Marg Helgenberger will arrive on the scene wearing a pair of latex gloves to investigate.

CYNTHIA NIXON DOES THE OBIES, ISAIAH WASHINGTON DOES DAMAGE CONTROL

Award-winning out actress Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) co-hosted the 52nd Annual Obie Awards this week with fellow out actor T.R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy). The prestigious Obies are awarded to off-Broadway (and off-off-Broadway) performers each year by The Village Voice.

I’m wondering if the backstage chit chat between the two actors might have included any reference to Isaiah Washington’s PSA which aired last night during a Grey’s Anatomy rerun. Last year, Washington made headlines for calling Knight a “faggot” on the set of their hit show.

The announcement was filmed after Washington met with GLAAD and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and apologized for having made the slur. Curious? See the clip of Washington’s PSA below:

I’m glad the PSA was made, but am I just a bitter cynic if I don’t quite buy it? I know how sincere I was when my parents forced me to apologize for something that I didn’t really feel that bad about (such as kicking my little brother’s butt). Not very.

Now if only Anne Heche would apologize for perpetuating the “crazy bisexual” stereotype.

TYKE TO WATCH OUT FOR

Mary Cheney (daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney) and her partner Heather Poe announced the birth of their son on Wednesday. Initial photos indicated that little Samuel David Cheney was the spitting image of his grandfather.

OK, here’s a real and widely circulated photo of him posed with the vice president and his wife, Lynne. (Though I still prefer bad machine’s version above.)

Strangely, I’ve yet to find any pics of the little fellow with his two mommies. Maybe Mary and Heather are still being debriefed.

REMEMBERING TERRY RYAN

Out author Terry Ryan, who wrote The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less, died of cancer this week at the age of 60. Prize Winner, Ryan’s memoir about the efforts of her jingle-writing mother to support her family, was adapted for film in 2005. It starred Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson and was directed by out filmmaker Jane Anderson (If These Walls Could Talk 2).

In addition to being a memoirist, Ryan was a book editor, poet and co-creator of the cartoon T.O. Sylvester, published from 1983 to 1999 in the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Sunday Book Review.

Ryan is survived by her partner of 24 years, Pat Holt.

In other news, the Commercial Closet Association (a nonprofit organization that educates advertisers about LGBT issues), announced the nominees for its third annual Images in Advertising Awards. The Images award recognizes companies that “best demonstrate inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) individuals in mainstream advertising campaigns that appeared in 2006.”

Below are some of the lesbian-centric nominated ads from Time, Moet & Chandon, and BCBG:

CCA also gave “Clean-Up-Your-Act Notices” to those advertisers who still don’t get it, including Holiday Inn, the Hershey Company and SABMiller.

A full list of nominees can be found on CCA’s official website. Winners will be announced on June 11 at the Time Warner Center in New York City in a ceremony emceed by out comic Judy Gold.

COME OUT? CANNES DO!

French writer/director Céline Sciamma (second from the left in the picture below), whose first film, Water Lilies (Naissance Des Pieuvres), premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival to strong reviews last week, recently came out in an interview with The Advocate.

Water Lilies follows a group of 15-year-old girls as they come into their sexuality, and as one of the girls falls in love with another. Sciamma observed, “I wanted to contribute. There’s really a lack of homosexual representation [in the movies], and I’ve suffered from this. Stories can really fulfill the lack of love or experience you can have when you’re young.”

I concur. I had a lot of deprogramming to do after years of relying exclusively on Charlie’s Angels and Laverne & Shirley for information about same-sex love.

AS NASTY AS THEY WANT TO BE

Yo Majesty, an openly lesbian rap group out of Tampa, Fla., is quickly gaining national and international recognition for their bawdy Miami bass sound. A mention in a recent issue of The New Yorker even included a (favorable) comparison to the infamous 2 Live Crew. Yo Majesty, featuring Shunda-K, Jwl. B and Shon-B, is currently touring the U.S. and Canada.

Check out their MySpace page for music, videos and a video interview with the band by Beth Ditto of The Gossip.

Have a problem with Yo Majesty’s profanity? Talk to the hand — which they’ve conveniently provided for you in the picture above.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Exorcist director William Friedkin’s new thriller/horror film, Bug, starring Ashley Judd, opens today. In the film, Judd plays Agnes, a down-and-out waitress who falls in love with paranoid Gulf War veteran Peter, who sees bugs everywhere and eventually drags her into his nightmare. The matchmaker for the young lovers? Agnes’ best friend, R.C. (I hope her last name isn’t “Cola”), who just happens to be a lesbian.

Bisexual actor Anne Heche is embroiled in a bitter divorce/custody battle with estranged husband Coley Laffoon.

The annual Cinema Against AIDS charity auction was held at the Cannes Film Festival this week, raising a record-breaking $7.5 million – in part due to former Lost star Michelle Rodriguez’s offer to kiss host Sharon Stone if attendees dug just a little deeper into their wallets.

Monday is Memorial Day, and we’ll be taking the day off, so check back next Tuesday for new stuff on AfterEllen.com. Have a great weekend!

That’s it for this week! Check back next Friday for your regularly scheduled Sarah Warn edition of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button