OK, I'll admit it: I gave up on The Sarah Connor Chronicles after the third episode. For me, Lena Headey's hotness just couldn't make up for the convoluted story lines and John's terrible acting. But I know I'm in the minority, and plenty of people love the show.

Tonight's two-hour season finale has a very tantalizing description: "Sarah enters into a business deal with a mysterious partner." If only Piper Perabo were playing the partner.

Meanwhile, if real-life showdowns are more your style, there's another finale tonight: the women's college basketball Big East regular-season title game. UConn takes on Rutgers at 7/6c on ESPN2.

And there's one more face-off tonight — probably the most dramatic one. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett give female bonding a new meaning in Notes on a Scandal at midnight/11c on HBO2. The film polarized lesbian audiences (at least here on AfterEllen.com — see my take and Malinda's for examples), but no matter how you feel about it, you'll probably be fascinated.

Covers of The Advocate are a tricky business. When I first came out in the late 1980s, the covers always featured men in kind of porn-y poses. The Advocate began featuring women sporadically in the early '90s and eventually moved to a sort of equal balance in recent years. Still, with the exception of 2005, most women featured on the cover of The Advocate are straight — or at least ostensibly straight. (This year, there hasn't been an out lesbian on the cover since February.)

When I got my most recent Advocate in the mail, however, I was not unhappy with the straight woman featured on the cover.

It seems that The Advocate has declared Cate Blanchett (also known as No. 48 on the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 list) the Coolest Straight [Person] of 2007. And I'm not going to argue with that. (AfterElton.com gave a sneak peak of this cover a while back.)

Except for Todd Haynes' gushing (“She's just so cool she calls 'straight' completely into question ... and you can quote me on that.”) about Blanchett's gender-bending turn in I'm Not There, it's not really clear why she warrants specific consideration by The Advocate. … continue reading

The other day I was perusing new movie posters when I came across the first one-sheet for the upcoming Katherine Heigl film 27 Dresses. Writing in lieu of her body; that’s kind of clever. But then I thought, hey, haven’t I seen that somewhere else recently? And voila: the new poster for The Women.

Since everything old is new again, I thought I’d dig a little deeper. And voila, again. Take a look at the German poster for the 1955 Marilyn Monroe classic The Seven Year Itch. Gee, if I someone had only told me that words made such good clothing, I could have stopped going to the mall years ago.

Here's a look at some other poster-alikes by category. … continue reading

We already know Helen Mirren is The Queen. Actually, she’s been a few queens, most of them named Elizabeth. But now she can add Queen of the Mashups to her long list of distinguished roles.

The U.K. paper The Times reports that some 400 Mirren mashups have been posted on various video sites this year. That makes the real-life dame a more popular tribute subject than perennial tabloid princesses Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. According to the article, only Star Trek and Harry Potter rival her mashup dominance. I believe this proves my theory that once you rule the geeks, you rule the Internet. … continue reading

Yesterday's New York Times mentioned a new Judi Dench gem: The Judi Dench Collection, a DVD set of performances that aired on the BBC between 1961 and 1991 (plus interviews and radio plays). Over 20 hours of Dench deliciousness? I'm in.

The article asks, "What makes this short, gently-rounded, pixie-faced woman so compelling?" It's a reasonable question. For me, I think it comes down to intensity — what's more arresting than a Dench stare?

Plus there's the intelligence, which seems to come through in every role. It's apparent in interviews, too, as the article notes: … continue reading

Many happy returns of the day to you, Cate Blanchett. You're 38 today, and not a day over perfect.

From Elizabeth to Notes on a Scandal and all those films in between, you elevate everything you touch. It's not just that you're beautiful — it's that you seem so damn smart. And irreverent. And unbelievably talented. And funny. Did I mention smart and beautiful? … continue reading

Notes on a Scandal was released on DVD this week. I'm not sure I'll actually buy the disc, but I did love the movie. There. I've said it.

… continue reading

Much has been written, here on AfterEllen and elsewhere, about the "negative lesbian image" of scheming schoolmarm Barbara Covett (Judi Dench). I agree that she's not doing us any favors as far as media representations go.