It's an award-a-rific weekend. Along with the Oscars on Sunday, you can catch the BET Honors (tonight at 8/7c on, uh, BET) and the Independent Spirit Awards (Saturday at 5 p.m. EST on IFC). Both of them look considerably more interesting than There Will Be Boredom and No Country for Any Women.

Scheduled to appear on the BET Honors are Alicia Keys, Tyra Banks, Vivica A. Fox, Kerry Washington, Keyshia Cole and more. This picture of Kerry Washington and Zoe Saldana has nothing to do with the BET Honors, but it sure is pretty. (I found it on the website for the UNDP/UNEP Poverty and Environment Initiative. Activism is sexy!)

On Sunday before the Oscars, Barbara Walters talks to Miley Ray Cyrus, Vanessa Williams, Harrison Ford and the awesome-but-slightly-overexposed Ellen Page.

Sheesh, so much to watch — and my DVR is full, too. Gone are those lazy, book-reading days of the writers' strike!

Last year, globalgrrl called the perfection that is casting Zoë Saldana as Uhura in the new Star Trek movie.

This year, Saldana spoke with blackfilm.com about the role, as well as her indie film, Blackout, which is released on DVD today. I'd heard a little bit about that project, and the IMDb.com synopsis promises as much drama and tragedy as the day the lights went out in Brooklyn back in 2003: “It examines the nature of man to take advantage of his own fellow man outside of normal conditions, in times of weakness and vulnerability.” You can catch clips from the film here, but here's a taste.

I'm only a casual fan of the Star Trek beast, but I found it interesting to hear from Saldana about stepping into a role practically trademarked by another actor, and her career to come. … continue reading

I know, everyone who writes about this will use that line, but now it's out of my system and I can focus on the news: Winona Ryder is the latest addition to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie.

Ryder will play Amanda Grayson, Spock's mother. Although Ryder would make a gorgeous Vulcan, her character is human — the one responsible for Spock's seldom-seen emotional side. Jane Wyatt had the role in the original series and in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. … continue reading

If you’re ever at a Star Trek convention and things get a little boring, here are six words guaranteed to stir the pot. “Best Star Trek captain ever. Discuss.” Entire websites are devoted to the Kirk vs. Picard debate, and it’s not a subject that Trekkies take lightly. Here at AfterEllen.com, however, no discussion is necessary. The best Star Trek captain is obvious.

News of Star Trek XI, directed by J.J. Abrams, has fueled new debate, since the movie’s storyline is a prequel to the original series and requires casting younger versions of Kirk & crew. Our own globalgrrl had a Psychic Friends moment when she correctly put Zoë Saldana in the role of Uhura.

That got me thinking: If an AfterEllen.com woman can cast a part so perfectly, imagine the lineup if AfterEllen.com cast an entire Star Trek film. Especially if the film had an all-female cast. Now we’re talking. I can almost see the marquee. “AfterEllen.com presents: Star Trek L: Revenge of the Manatees.” … continue reading

With so many interesting new fall TV shows debuting now, Lori and I decided to structure our vlog a little differently moving forward. Rather than a lengthy review of each show, we're just going to hit the highlights of the week in TV and film, organized into the following categories:

Rapid-fire Reviews (kinda like The McLaughlin Report, but gay)
Gaying up Primetime (the best lesbian moment that wasn't)
Who thought that was a good idea? (the rant)
The Casting Couch (cool new film or TV casting news)
AfterEllen.com Soundbites (funny comments on the site about TV and film)
What to Watch (our pick of what's coming up on TV and at the theaters)

Among the TV topics we cover this week are the premieres of Top Model, K-Ville, and Survivor: China; our love of Bones; the revamped Bionic Woman pilot; and Gossip Girl's lesbian moment that wasn't.

We also discuss Zoe Saldana in the new Star Trek movie, what's wrong with the trailer for the upcoming movie The Kingdom, and why Lori plans to see Resident Evil: Extinction (opening this weekend).

… continue reading

Plus, a special appearance by Sydney Bristow, and Lori gets in trouble for revealing how much I like the cheesy ballet movie Center Stage (2000).

Or is that after? However the time sequence works for prequels, Miss Cleo's got some sudden competition in the lesbian psychic department. Last month, Zoë Saldana was my first pick to play young Lieutenant Uhura in the upcoming Star Trek Jr., and now Variety reports that Saldana has actually signed on to the J.J. Abrams production in the very role originated by Nichelle Nichols. Cheers!

If only my predictions that young Uhura's "tomboy-ish" qualities are actually lesbian-ish would turn out to be as accurate — but I suppose Miss Cleo would say that there's a difference between foretelling and flat-out dreaming.

Fantasies of intergalactic gal pals aside, I'm excited about this news. Saldana is fun to watch; it was for her (okay, and a little for Bernie Mac) that I tolerated Ashton Kutcher in Guess Who. Here's hoping that the new Star Trek will be less, well, predictable. Between her part as a Trekkie in The Terminal and her role in James Cameron's upcoming genre film Avatar, Saldana should be prepared; TrekMovie.com already did a work-up of her in a Star Fleet uniform, and it looks like it'll work quite well. … continue reading

Until quite recently, I didn't give a toss about the upcoming J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek — not for any lack of geekiness, but because ever since Generations let me down, I've relied on my sister to stay remotely in the loop. Then along came a casting sheet, courtesy of Ain't It Cool News:

"[UHURA] 25ish -African American. Brilliant, beautiful, heroic and FUN!, Uhura is almost tom-boyish - as if she grew up in a houseful of brothers."

Brilliant, beautiful and "tom-boyish"? That certainly got my attention (and not just because of the bizarre punctuation and sentence structure). Sure, the call sounds a bit corny and oversimplified, and the first Lieutenant Uhura isn't much of a tomboy, but she is by far my favorite character in the original series. As the Sci Fi channel says, "She's the intergalactic switchboard operator we'd all like to be put through to."

Whoever plays the young Uhura has some big shoes to fill. Nichelle Nichols' groundbreaking role inspired legions of fans, from future NASA astronaut Mae Jemison (who grew up to be the first African-American woman in space) to Whoopi Goldberg (who grew up to host The View).

Uhura's part may have been small, but she was smart and gorgeous — and could kick serious, sexy ass when required. Watch her show parallel-universe Sulu who's in command: … continue reading

The last time James Cameron sat in the director's chair, he brought us large chunks of ice and a sinking ship. From The Abyss and Aliens to Terminator and Titanic, nothing he does is small or cheap. So naturally we expect big things from his newest directorial project, a 3D sci-fi epic called Avatar, not to be confused with M. Night Shyamalan's live action version of Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cameron's film is said to combine live action with virtual characters, including the big, blue avatar occupied by the movie's hero for much of the film. With a budget of just under 200 million dollars, it would actually be cheaper than such recent offerings as X-Men 3 and Superman Returns. Of course, with Cameron at the helm, one would expect that budget to swell significantly.

I'm one of those people who love a good action epic, especially a good sci-fi action epic, but I'm not willing to give Cameron glowing recommendations. I love his movies, but he's a little too egocentric for my tastes. But I have a great deal of fondness for some of the female characters he has helped bring to life, including Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss, Sarah Connor in Terminator, and Rose Dawson in Titanic.

So I'm looking forward to seeing what Mr. Cameron does with the female characters in his newest venture. Among the women previously cast in the film are CCH Pounder, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver. I wonder how Weaver feels about being in yet another war with aliens? Do you think she wonders if maybe Cameron has it in for her?

The newest addition to this group is feisty Michelle Rodriguez. … continue reading