Angie Harmon is so modest that she won't get pictures developed of her and her husband skinny-dipping – she doesn't want the photo lab folks to see them.

Yet, Harmon is one of five gorgeous women who posed nude for the May issue of Allure, due to hit the stands this week. I, for one, find no reason to object to such inconsistency of thought.

The annual “Look Better Naked” issue of Allure celebrates the various shapes and sizes of the female body. (Why can't we get a national holiday for that?) And the magazine actually seems to get the concept right. Harmon certainly is not chunky, but she's not anorexic, either. The same is true of Wilhelmina's sister, Gabrielle Union. … continue reading

The nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards were announced yesterday. As you've probably heard, the leaders of the pack are Kanye West (eight nominations) and Amy Winehouse (six nominations). Rihanna was nominated for four awards, as was Feist.

But I don't care about the numbers. I'm focusing on Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Both of those categories pit two of my favorites of 2007 (and probably of a lifetime) against each other: Winehouse and Feist.

I really don't know who to root for. In fact, I have never felt more conflicted in my life (well, I guess I should say I have never felt more conflicted about something that ultimately means so little to me). … continue reading

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? — the film adaptation of Perry's stage play of the same name — opens in theaters today. And for the first time ever, I plan to actually pay money to see a Tyler Perry film.

Janet Jackson costars in the movie with the tricky little title. And by "tricky," I mean that one has to be careful when reading the title out loud and answering it out loud within earshot of one's life partner, or it may become the inspiration for a sequel titled Tyler Perry's How Did Your Ass End Up Sleeping on the Couch for a Week?!

Having Janet Jackson as part of the ensemble cast gives the film version an immediate crossover (from exclusively black to a more general audience) appeal and a publicity push.

My interest in the film is not solely because Jackson is part of the ensemble (that's a large part though). The film also costars Jill Scott, who is a favorite poet, songwriter, singer of mine. Wow. Janet Jackson and Jill Scott in the same film? That's a must-see for me. Yes, I know that without a doubt I'd prefer to listen to them both on an album collaboration together, rather than acting on screen together in a Tyler Perry film, but still. I must. When I pay the $50,000 for my movie ticket (that's what a movie ticket cost these days, right?) I'm doing it primarily for the sistahs. … continue reading

We've been having a lot of fun with music here on the AfterEllen.com Blog lately, and I thought to myself: How can it be even better? If only we could make mixtapes and stream them online!

So I Googled it, and lo-and-behold: SpotDJ. Once I had the technology, the question was what sort of theme should this mixtape be about? Handily enough, I've recently learned that neosoul divas Angie Stone and Jill Scott are both releasing new albums in the near future. Ms. Stone's upcoming album, The Art of Love and War, will be released on Oct. 16 on the reactivated Stax Records label, and Jill Scott's The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, comes out Sept. 25.

I love, love, love Angie Stone and Jill Scott. There's just something about the no-nonsense yet down-and-deep quality of their lyrics and vocals that make me feel like this world is capable of creating wonderful things. Plus, they make sexy sound smart, and that's just all good.

Sadly, Sept. 25 and Oct. 16 are really far away, so I thought I'd make a mixtape of songs inspired by Jill and Angie. I even made the audio player look like a retro cassette tape (remember when you used to spend hours actually recording things onto a cassette for that person you had a crush on?). The mix starts right after the jump (just hit play), and below that is the track listing with more info (and links to iTunes in case you want to snag the songs for yourself). … continue reading

Anika Noni Rose, probably best known as Lorrell in Dreamgirls, has signed on to costar with Jill Scott in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alexander McCall Smith. Jill Scott will play Precious Ramotswe, the owner of an all-female detective agency in Botswana. Rose will play Grace Matsuki, Precious' assistant. Uh, Precious and Grace? Hmm. Those aren't exactly kick-ass detective names. If you've read the book, fill me in — is this going to be any good?

The Hollywood Reporter says it's likely that a TV series will follow the movie. I can't help but get excited about the prospect of Rose and Scott playing detectives on TV. Sounds a lot better than the Nancy Drew movie, unless we're talking about bad machine's version. … continue reading