One of life’s great shared injustices is the yearbook photo. We all had to get them. And — unless they’ve somehow magically found a cure for awkwardness, geekiness and general dorkitude since I was a teenager — most of us dreaded them. For whatever reason, be it bad skin, bad clothes or the steadfast yet ultimately misguided belief in the transformative properties of big bangs, many of us look back at our school pictures and cringe. Or, at the very least, giggle. But you know what? Celebrities had to get them too, just like us mere mortals. Now that is what I call justice.

So, let’s play a little game called Name That Teenager. It’ll be fun; like being back in high school, but already knowing what everyone will look like at the class reunion. Let the games begin:

Among them you have a Rock star, an Alien hunter, an alphaBette and the possible next president of the United States of America.

Give up? … continue reading

Annie Leibovitz could photograph a rock or, more challenging still, The Rock and make it look fascinating. So watching her turn famous faces into iconic Disney characters for the theme park’s Year of a Million Dreams campaign has been a real treat. Now that I’ve seen the third round of images, I’ve upgraded the experience from treat to gourmet meal. On the menu are Tina Fey, Gisele Bundchen, Jessica Biel, Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Lopez. Seriously, who has a fork?

The Peter Pan scene features Gisele as Wendy Darling with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan and Tina flitting about as Tinker Bell. Tina as Tink? I’ve just died and gone to Neverland.

Jessica Biel gets in touch with nature in her shot as Pocahontas. Hmm, while Jessica looks great in her buckskin togs, I’m not really feeling her as the Native American princess. Somehow, when I look at her, I just don’t think about the rich culture of the Powhatan Indians. … continue reading

The results are in. Thanks to E-Poll Market Research, we now know which celebrities the American public finds the most “appealing, confident, glamorous, interesting and over-exposed, among other qualities.” (This was voted on by approximately 1,100 people ages 13 and up, so rest assured it's based on a completely accurate demographical slice of the American pie.)

Here's who topped the list of Most Popular Celebrities:

I have to admit, I was a little surprised by this. I know Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for Walk the Line and all, but she knocked out a couple of tabloid heavyweights at numbers two and three:

I guess Witherspoon has been giving Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie a run in the competition for Most Likely to Show Up on a Tabloid Cover, what with the divorce from Ryan Phillippe and the reported fling with Jake Gyllenhaal. Looking at who rounds out the top of the list, I suspect tabloid presence was the primary qualification. … continue reading

Think you're underpaid? Think the guy three cubicles down from you is overpaid? Well, take heart. Your pay scale cannot be as wonky and egregious as that of the Hollywood elite. Forbes magazine did some complex calculations based on some superstars' last three films (don't ask me to explain the equation; I'm a writer and therefore allergic to math). They found that some were paid appropriately based on their rate of return, and others were vastly overpaid. Now, I may not be good at math, but duh.

The high and low ends of the scale belonged to male stars. Matt Damon had the best pay-to-profit ratio; for every $1 he earned, his films grossed $29. The worst? Russell Crowe — for each $1 he made, his films made $5. Talk about your fuzzy math. Of course, I'm most interested to see how the female A-listers fared. … continue reading

Some things just naturally go together. Chocolate and peanut butter. Ebony and ivory. Laurel and Hardy. Other stuff, well, it needs a little more explanation. Like, I’ve always been a little confused by the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. It’s not that I think the winners of the Peace Prize don't deserve a good show. Quite the contrary. But I’ve been somewhat intrigued by the lineups in the past. What, exactly, do pop megasuperstars have to do with world peace?

Since it began in 1994, some of the hottest international performers have played the concert to honor the winners of one most respected international awards. This year the lineup includes Melissa Etheridge, Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox and KT Tunstall. The show was hosted by Uma Thurman and Kevin Spacey. Great lineup. Cool hosts. But I’m still perplexed. Should we now change it to "all we are saying is give Uma a chance"? … continue reading

Friday is always a good day to take stock and reflect. As I reflect on my week, I realize that things could have been a whole lot worse. I mean, I could have worn any of this stuff. Shudder.

Jennifer Lopez: This reminds me of a candle I had in college. It was shaped like a mushroom and covered in a hippie motif. But when I lit it, it stunk, so I threw it out. The moral of this story is this: Stinky candles make stinky outfits. The end.

Suze Ormond: She looks like a deconstructed Chester Cheetah. Spots here, orange there. It’s not easy being cheesy. … continue reading

My friends John Polly and Colin Schoenberger over at the Logo pop culture blog NewNowNext.com have started doing their own weekly video blog called NewNowNext Noise, in which they discuss the latest music news and releases, and some general pop culture stuff from a gay angle.

In this episode, they were joined by friends Robin and Francine to discuss Jennifer Lopez, Melissa Etheridge's new album, and the train wreck that will be the Tila Tequila show (Francine's a fan, Robin not so much).

Funny banter, debate over which J.Lo song is the best/worst, and cute queer women? More please!

Watch it here now: … continue reading

Actors Angela Bassett and Jennifer Lopez will be two of the judges of the upcoming LMN Student Filmmaker Competition, a nationwide contest (co-produced by Lifetime Movie Network, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Women in Film & Television, WMA and Women in Film) honoring the best short films by female film students in the U.S.

The contest is open to all female film students (including executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors) and is designed to "encourage and discover the next generation of female filmmakers." Also judging the contest are producers Lauren Shuler Donner (the X-Men movies) and Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator 3, Æon Flux), and, director Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker, Pay It Forward). … continue reading