It’s that time of year again. Now celebrating its 22nd birthday, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival will screen at the British Film Institute on London’s South Bank from March 27 to April 10, offering queer-themed shorts, documentaries, and feature films from around the world.

The Chinese Botanist's Daughter

You can view a complete list of the films on offer here. Among the ones reviewed or mentioned by AfterEllen.com are the romantic tragedy The Chinese Botanist’s Daughter (pictured above), the American TV pilot Don’t Go featuring Guinevere Turner, and the Oscar-winning short documentary Freeheld, about the fight of dying lesbian policewoman Laurel Hester to see her pension go to her partner Stacie Andree.

There’s also the Taiwanese romance Spider Lilies, the German drama Vivere, the French coming-of-age film Water Lilies, and the South African period romance The World Unseen.

The World Unseen

There’s the 1996 American documentary It’s Elementary — Talking About Gay Issues in School, and its 2007 follow-up, It’s STILL Elementary — The Movie and the Movement. And there’s the HBO film Life Support, starring Queen Latifah as an HIV-positive charity worker (although unfortunately her character isn’t a lesbian).

A program titled "The Face of Another: Imagining Lesbian Desire" offers a chance to see Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring fall in love in Mulholland Dr. It also includes films that explore female relationships but are not so overtly lesbian-themed, like Ingmar Bergman’s Persona and the Madonna–Rosanna Arquette flick Desperately Seeking Susan. … continue reading

Like that pink bunny, franchises keep going, and going, and going. But before we even have a chance to gauge Maria Bello's success in taking over the role of Evie in the Mummy movies, Bello revealed in an interview with MTV movie news that she's committed to another trilogy in the franchise.

Not that I'm complaining too much. I was a fan of the first movie in the Mummy franchise (though not so much that my ex-girlfriend spent fifty bucks to get a Brendan Fraser haircut after seeing it). If The Mummy's tongue-in-cheekiness wasn't enough to win me over, it was also my introduction to Rachel Weisz.

As I've lamented previously, I'll be missing Weisz in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, even though one could do worse for a pinch hitter than Bello. I do like the looks of her in the production stills. … continue reading

They may not be well-known in the States, but British girl group the Sugababes have been one of my favorite musical acts for about seven years now. Indeed, they’re a big hit in the U.K. generally, having notched up six No. 1 singles as well as a Brit award (our equivalent of the Grammys). This despite persistent rumors of infighting, and multiple lineup changes that perhaps make them the U.K. equivalent of Destiny’s Child.

They burst on the scene in their first incarnation in 2000:

Baby-faced Keisha Buchanan (left) and feisty Mutya Buena (right) were already friends from school, while the enigmatic-looking redhead Siobhan Donaghy (center) was added by Buena’s manager. Their first big hit single, when they were still in their mid-teens, was "Overload." It made use of the girls’ sweet, throaty, pop-soul harmonies (reminiscent of the group En Vogue) and their barbed-wire attitude, as well as their multiracial look (Buchanan’s background is Jamaican; Buena’s is Filipina, Irish, Spanish and Chinese; and Donaghy’s is Irish):
… continue reading

Lately I've been watching billiards every time I happen to catch a broadcast on ESPN. Over the holidays, I watched Allison Fisher win the Women's Professional Billiards Association Championship, and shortly after that I watched Karen Corr win the WPBA Midwest Classic. (Fisher is English and Corr is Irish — they were both raised on snooker, I'm guessing?)

And this past weekend, I caught some of the World Cup of Trick Shots, featuring Jeanette Lee and Ewa Laurance. Ewa is fascinating — not only is she stunning and skilled, but when she serves as an announcer for the tournaments, she's smart and funny. No wonder they call her the Striking Viking.

Here's Jeanette Lee in action — they call her the Black Widow: … continue reading

One night last week, Gladiator was showing on TV. I used to love that movie — in fact, I think I owned it at one point — but I realized something this time around. I didn't want to see the ending, Connie Nielsen notwithstanding.

(Speaking of whom, watching Gladiator did make me wonder what she's been up to, aside from guesting on Law and Order: SVU a while back. Turns out, she appears in Battle in Seattle with Michelle Rodriguez and Charlize Theron. Yet another reason to try to see that movie.)

Then, over the weekend, my girlfriend rented a few movies. One of them I haven't exactly avoided, but haven't been dying to see: 300. I know, I know, Lena Headey. Period costume works for her, but somehow I just couldn't get worked up about a movie that could realistically be called More Than 300 Really Horrible, Bloody Awful Ways to Die.

So what did this make me realize? (Besides that my girlfriend really, really loves sword-and-sandal movies? To the point where we wrestled over the remote?) It's not the violence (although I admit the over-the-top spraying blood of BloodRayne made me queasy. Possibly that was the acting). No, it's the fact that sometimes if I know the ending to a movie up front, I don't see the point in sitting through it. … continue reading

I can’t say that I really consider myself to be a trend-follower. Despite this, however, I’ve got my finger firmly on the pulse of everything that’s cool, hip and happening! I know all about what the kids are into these days, whether it’s invisible cola, pet rocks, or even the macarena. Because I care, I’d like to impart a bit of insight into the latest fad sweeping the globe: Replacing amputated limbs with firearms!

It all began during that magical era known as “last spring” when Rose McGowan ... ahem ... blasted her way onto the screen in Planet Terror, the Robert Rodriguez–helmed half of Grindhouse. As go-go dancer Cherry Darling, McGowan proved that there’s something oddly alluring about a gal blasting away at zombies with a machine gun that’s been crammed into her thigh. Who knew?

Upping the ante in machine-gun chic is the forthcoming Japanese flick The Machine Girl (Kataude mashin garu), a film that concerns a schoolgirl out for revenge when her family is killed (and her arm is amputated) by the Yakuza. … continue reading

I have a really long to-do list in a notebook somewhere. I call it my things-to-do-before-I-croak list. It includes stuff like places I want to see, books I want to read and things I'd like to accomplish. Thanks to AfterEllen.com, I can sort of cross off one of those items. No. 67: Get published. Sure, the Internet wasn't what I had in mind when I added that particular item to my list, but it counts in my world.

Another thing on my to-do list is attend the Sundance Film Festival. If I could manage to squeeze in the time off and barter my way to Utah, I'd make 2008 the year to get that one crossed off the list. The complete list of films screening at next year's festival was released over the course of the past couple of weeks. Not only do some of the films sound intriguing, but the list of who's in those films should make the red carpet a true treat. In last week's Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. we told you about one reason to head for the Utah mountains, a reason named Saffron Burrows. Here are a few more reasons to make the trek.

One of the people I would expect to see strutting about town is Lena Headey. Not only would I love to drool over her in person, but I'd also like to see the movie she's in that's screening at Park City at Midnight. It's called The Broken and tells the tale of a woman who sees herself drive by in her own car while on a busy London street. She follows the mystery double into "a living nightmare." Lena Headey in what sounds like an eerie psychological thriller? Count me in. … continue reading

I may finally be too old for a stocking, but there’s one holiday tradition I continue to love, and that’s the airing of classic musicals on television. For a long time now, I’ve been of the opinion that lesbians need to reclaim musicals from gay men — not least because there is such a plethora of gorgeous, talented women in film musical history.

While a list of all my favorite female performances would probably take all day, here in chronological order are ten that I’m hoping to see over the vacation:

1. Ginger Rogers in Shall We Dance (1937)

I love all the Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire collaborations, so it’s hard to select just one.

But Shall We Dance has one of my favorite Ginger Rogers moments, as the camera dwells in close-up on her listening face as Fred Astaire sings "They Can’t Take That Away From Me." While the song is beautiful, it’s Ginger’s subtly despairing response that really strikes at the heart. (She would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actress, for the non-musical film Kitty Foyle, in 1940).

2. Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas (1954)

This very, very silly seasonal musical is mostly notable for the gay undertones brought by Danny Kaye’s performance (no, really — watch it again). … continue reading

We knew this year was going to be tough for the lovely Dr. Cristina Yang.

Her fiancé, Dr. Burke, skipped town at the end of last season's Grey's Anatomy, and we learned this season that he's gone for good. Recently, a new complication in Cristina's career has appeared in the form of Dr. Burke's replacement, Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith). Not that we object. … continue reading

Although AfterEllen.com was the first to notice that network TV has more Asian-American actors in recurring roles than ever before, the rest of the blogosphere may be catching up. Last week, cinematical posted a list of seven Asian-American actors who made an impression this year, on film as well as on television.

Those who made the list are not necessarily new to the business, but had standout performances and, in cinematical's opinion, are on the verge of stardom. In the spirit of gender equality (cough), let's look at the men first: Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Ken Leung and Daniel Wu. Any questions? Good. I suppose we should just be glad that three of the seven are women.

Of course, three women are always more interesting than four men. And equally interesting, though unsurprising, is that none of these three women are new to those of us who naturally notice talented, beautiful women. … continue reading

I’ve always thought of myself as someone who loves musicals. But what I mean by that may not be what you think I mean. Loving musicals, for me, hasn’t usually meant lining up outside a theater on Broadway or the West End to see the latest show, and then treasuring my program and my original cast recording afterwards. It’s been more likely to mean ordering one of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire’s old movies from Amazon, and then watching it again and again and again. The composers I like are Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. I never thought I had much time for Andrew Lloyd Webber, or Boublil and Schönberg.

Which is why, when a friend got hold of the tenth anniversary concert video of Les Misérables a few years ago, I didn’t think I wanted to watch it. In fact, I think I scoffed, and went upstairs to do something else. It was only when my friend was about halfway through watching the tape, that I happened to wander in and catch my first glimpse of Lea Salonga.

Had I but known it, that wasn’t actually my first chance to have seen Salonga in performance. A child star in her native Philippines, her international career began in 1989, when at the age of 18 she was picked by Cameron Mackintosh to star as Kim in the original West End production of Miss Saigon. An Olivier award for Best Actress in a Musical soon followed — as would a Tony when she continued the same role on Broadway in 1991. … continue reading

Believe it or not, 2007 is quickly winding down. The new year will be upon us before you know it. As a result, I am currently trying to decide which new calendar will adorn my sparsely decorated cubicle in the coming year. Really, the idea of shopping around for a new calendar is the fault of Sporty, Posh and the rest of the Spice Girls. They will not be adorning my walls, but news of their new 2008 calendar is what prompted my train of thought.

Sure, they're not horrible to look at or anything, but the two-month reunion tour will be more than enough Spice Girls for me. A full 12 months would just be overkill in my world. Paris Hilton has a 2008 calendar too, but any time spent with her would be too much for me.

Instead, I'm thinking something more along the lines of Battlestar Galactica or The L Word. The only problem is, while my cubicle is sparsely decorated, I have room for only one 2008 calendar. And frankly, the options are almost endless. So, instead of shelling out my hard-earned cash for something published by someone else, I decided to create my own calendar for 2008. And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share my latest brainstorm with all of you? (A non-working one, that's what kind.) So, for your perusal and enjoyment, here is Siege's 2008 wall calendar.

January — Melissa Etheridge

Her voice alone would keep me warm on a cold January night in the Midwest, and frankly, it has. Oh, to be the lucky farm girl who gets to curl up next to this every night. … continue reading