On Thursday night, Queer Black Cinema presents a screening of Don't Go, a new TV series from writer-director Amber Sharp. The series captures the lives of several people in a Los Angeles apartment complex. The diverse cast includes familiar names such as Skyler Cooper, Guinevere Turner (The L Word, Go Fish), Melange Lavonne and Nisha Ganatra (Chutney Popcorn).

Here's the trailer: … continue reading

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is having a big year.

U.K. audiences may know her best from Celebrity Big Brother; audiences elsewhere might also remember her from that, what with complaints about racist comments directed toward her in the Big Brother house. Shetty went on to win the series. Here's that moment: … continue reading

Yeah, I can't believe it's headline news either. But TMZ.com busted Michelle Rodriguez earlier this week — exiting a bookstore and sauntering down the street without causing any sort of ruckus. Also, she was walking with a "gal pal," aka another woman in close proximity. Believe it or not, the clip is posted all over celeb websites (watch it here).

So. What did we learn from this?

Um. Maybe, Michelle Rodriguez knows how to read. Wait. Why is this surprising? Because some people expect girls, especially pretty girls, particularly hot young stars, to be illiterate? Or because Rodriguez likes to have a good time and sit down with the occasional book? Surely a mix of the above qualities in one woman isn't that astounding. Just ask Missy Elliott, Aishwarya Rai, or Julia Stiles.

… continue reading

After the heads up in Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. I was all set to cheer on my primary rooting interest, Sandee Birdsong, on Bravo's competitive reality TV show Top Chef. I was prepared to “take one for the team,” so to speak, and do something I have relatively little interest in doing, and that's watching someone cook. Generally speaking, watching someone cook is almost equivalent, not quite but almost, to watching someone iron shirts or wash and fold clothes. It all seems very labor-intensive, and labor is tough for me, especially if I think someone is going to ask me to help them. But this being TV, I knew I was safe from that possibility. So I got over my fears and was excited to cheer Sandee on to victory! But Sandee was unfairly, unjustly, un-everythingly sent home in the second week! (I don't care if it wasn't BBQ. None of those people BBQed, they grilled!)

So why am I still watching this show?

Her name is Padma Lakshmi.

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Yesterday, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I counted down the top five queer Asian-American women in media and entertainment; today I'm revisiting some of AfterEllen.com's coverage of queer Asian women in general. Despite the general paucity of Asian Americans on television and in film, there is a solid group of work out there about lesbian and bisexual Asian Americans, and I have to admit one of my favorites is the 2004 film Saving Face:

In this quirky romantic comedy, young doctor Wil (Michelle Krusiec) struggles with her relationship with her mother, played by Joan Chen (who is unexpectedly and scandalously pregnant), while she falls in love with Vivian (Lynn Chen). Yeah, parts of it are cheesy, but hey, it's set in New York, they eat a lot of Chinese food, and everybody's happy in the end. I loved it! … continue reading

Saving Face isn't, interestingly enough, the only film about a Chinese-American lesbian; in 2005, Georgia Lee's debut feature Red Doors was released (read about the making of the movie here).