Our brother site AfterElton.com has a new weekly video blog that focuses on the world of out gay musicians, and in their first episode, Alex and Lee delve into the world of out singer Deepa Soul.

The woman behind the hit dance singles like "Nowhere Love" and "As I Am" discusses her journey from not-so-humble beginnings as a go-go dancer in San Francisco to her epic collaborations with Junior Vasquez. She even performs a track from her upcoming 3-disc release for the boys.

For more about Deepa Soul, go to her official website.

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

Last spring, scribegrrrl blogged about the 2008 inductees to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and noted that Angela Bassett — owner of one of the best sets of biceps in Hollywood — was slated to be among them.

Well, yesterday was her big day.

Wearing a dress that lay bare her biceps, Angela Bassett tearfully acknowledged the honor.

"Who would have thought that a little girl in pigtails from St. Petersburg, Florida, would grow up to find herself gazing at a star with her name on it, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? This day is so, so special to me."

Although it's hard to take the Hollywood Walk of Fame too seriously, especially given the ambiguous criteria for selection, I don't find it difficult to appreciate anything that makes Angela Bassett happy. Because the Yale grad is brilliant, and very lovely. And it makes me happy to take any excuse to look at pictures of Angela Bassett. … continue reading

Lately I've been thinking about lover Cindi on The L Word. Well, not Cindi herself, but the "lover" thing. It's hilarious every time Dawn Denbo says it, mostly because the word lover has gone out of favor. It used to be a common term in the gay community — or anywhere, really. Especially in the '70s.

But now lover has the connotation of "f--- buddy," while partner or girlfriend is generally the preferred term for the people you want to keep around for more than just sex. Or at least that's how it seems to me.

So what makes a partner, and what makes a lover? Armed with my trusty (and dusty) DVD collection, I have conducted a sort of survey. I don't suppose it's educational in any way, but it was fun.

1. Cay and Vivian (Patricia Charbonneau and Helen Shaver), Desert Hearts

I just had to begin with a tricky one, didn't I? Cay and Vivian definitely start out as lovers, but if Vivian had stayed, they might have become partners. Still, when I think of them, I don't think of fun times or tender touches or home improvement. I think of steamy sex and mind-bogglingly deep kisses.

Verdict: Lovers (they have to remind themselves to stop long enough to get some food!)

2. Claude and Lucy (Alison Folland and Leisha Hailey), All Over Me

These two are so cute, I don't care what you call them. But when they walk along with their ice cream and Leisha grins like that, it seems like a love that's built to last.

Verdict: Partners (in a happily ever after sense)

3. Corky and Violet (Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly), Bound

Hmm. These two are carnal and star-crossed, but they also seem destined to be together. And the sizzle is accompanied by a sense that they're on the same wavelength — they have a meeting of bodies and minds. I think I have my first tie.

Verdict: Partner-lovers (lesbian bed death will never strike!)

4. Agnes and Elin (Rebecka Liljeberg and Alexandra Dahlström), Show Me Love / F---ing Amal … continue reading

This week brings several new shows to the small screen for your viewing pleasure. Most heralded is the Ashton Kutcher comedy Miss Guided, starring Judy Greer.

Greer plays ex-nerd Becky Freeley, a guidance counselor at the high school she attended. Although I expected to see something fresh with Kutcher at the helm, Miss Guided looks like just one more show about how a former high school misfit overcomes the past to find success. The show even has Becky's one-time nemesis, former homecoming queen Lisa Germain (Brooke Burns) who now teaches English, to complicate life just like the old days. And, guess what? Becky and Lisa both have the hots for the Spanish teacher! Comedy gold.

Reviews of the premier episode have been mixed (the Boston Herald review bears the headline, "Flunk'd," while courant.com calls the show "delightful"), but the cast gets good marks for making the most of a mediocre pilot, so we have reason to hope the show will improve. Miss Guided premieres Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. ET on ABC, then will move into its regular time slot of 8 p.m. Thursday.

Thursday at 8:30 p.m., a new reality show comes to HGTV, starring the winner of the network's Design Star, Kim Myles.

  … continue reading

NewNowNext bloggers Colin and John recently interviewed the Brooklyn-based lesbian hip-hop/pop band OMG Michelle.

Their producer, DJ Kingdom, is also along for the ride.

For more info about OMG Michelle, visit their MySpace page.

Filming commenced this month, the first images are out, and here's the proof; Beyoncé really is playing Etta James in the upcoming Cadillac Records. This film is not a biopic of James (though that's not a bad idea), but a chronicle of the fortunes of Chicago record label Chess Records and its musicians. The cast includes Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters.

So here's a look at Beyoncé and the original.

And here's the first image off the set.

Even though this is not a biopic, the casting, you can imagine, is a topic for fairly ugly debate (even NPR had a blogger roundtable partially devoted to it). I do wonder about the wisdom of the role as a career move, at least for the negative press it's generating, including the inevitable references to the supposed Beyoncé/Jennifer Hudson rivalry following Hudson's Oscar win for Dreamgirls. And much (annoying) speculation about whether Beyoncé will be gaining weight or wearing prosthetics to look more like James. Can I take this moment to say that the young Etta James was no Twiggy, but she was certainly not fat? … continue reading

Although Janet Jackson is suffering from the flu this week (get well soon, Janet!), she has to feel pretty dang good about her rise back to the top of the pop class. Yep, Janet Jackson is No. 1 again! Jackson's new album, Discipline, hit the shelves late last month and debuted at Billboard's top spot. Will it stay there? Who knows, maybe not, but what a nice turn of events for Jackson.

Though the reviews have been rather mixed, there is no question, based on the record sales alone, that the album holds some quality tracks, and the ones that have gotten airplay so far have been well received. Obviously, she has very loyal fans, as well, but she's always had those fans, and that fact alone didn't drive her last two releases to the top of the charts. Those two, Damita Jo and 20 Y.O., debuted at Billboard No. 2 but slid very quickly in the following weeks. This time around, the label pre-released several tracks. So, I'm going to give the album tracks some credit here.

Several of the more positive critical reviews have compared the feel of the CD to such Jackson classics as Control and The Velvet Rope, though I've read no review that suggest that this CD is as good as either of those. But, hey, the comparison is nice anyway, right? I've been rolling around listening to the CD on the Harman/Kardon, and I have found the album to be sexy, with the right blend of pop rhythms on some tracks, trance/dance rhythms on other tracks, fun lyrics when the music calls for it, and some lyrics much too sexual to blast from open car windows while sitting at a red light next to a car of church-going ladies. Oops ...

What's interesting is that this isn't simply an innocent little pop album. There are a few very provocative tracks on the album. Having said that, there are also several tracks that stand out as being what I enjoy most about pop music in general (the simplicity with nice beats) and Janet Jackson in particular (sexy with her blend of naughty and sweet). … continue reading

Tonight on the CW, Cycle 10 of America's Next Top Model begins, with new judge Paulina Porizkova. The promo photos certainly are dazzling. Tyra scares me — in a totally good way, of course!

If that's not enough fashion for you, tune in for the first part of Project Runway's two-part season finale on Bravo. Count me among the Christian fans, even though I found him annoying at first. But I already miss Sweet P.

Later, on VHI, the Rags to Riches series profiles Macy Gray. (Check out the great Q&A with Gray on the VH1 site.)

And, of course, it's ladies' night on American Idol. Will Paula Abdul be coherent (like last night) or orbiting a distant planet (like last week)?

I'll admit that I didn't pay close attention to the Oscars telecast this year. I just wasn't that excited about the nominees, and there wasn't even much star-gazing to do — where was Jodie Foster, anyway?

So I didn't even see the montage of the hosts of Oscars past. And that means I didn't notice that Whoopi Goldberg was completely left out of said montage.

Whoopi wasn't the only one who slipped Oscar's mind — Steve Martin was also left out of the host montage, and Brad Renfro and Roy Scheider were not included in the "In Memoriam" segment.

There was some footage (in a different montage) of Whoopi's 1990 win for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost. But there wasn't a second of praise for her four hosting gigs (yes, four! 1993, 1995, 1998, 2001). The slight did not please the ladies of The View. Whoopi even got a little teary-eyed — here's the clip: … continue reading

Last Friday, the full-length Sex and the City movie trailer was leaked online.

I’ll admit it: I’m excited about this movie. And I say that as someone who took quite a long time to become a fan of the show. When it first premiered in 1998, the glossy-looking previews got me to tune in, expecting a New York–based comedy along the lines of Friends. What I got seemed a lot more along the lines of soft porn to me — plus a seemingly endless run of terrible puns and vacuous-sounding questions from sex columnist Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) — and I just as quickly tuned out. When friends talked about the show to me, I told them in no uncertain terms that I couldn’t stand it.

Yet somehow, around the time of the fifth or sixth season, I found myself taking another look. And whether it was just because I had gotten older, or because the show had gotten a lot better, I unexpectedly found myself being drawn into it. Carrie seemed less brittle, self-obsessed and neurotic to me, and I found myself noticing what a good friend she was. Prissy Charlotte (Kristin Davis) had met her perfect match in the short, bald, fat Harry (Evan Handler) and had loosened up a bit. Slutty Samantha (Kim Cattrall) was no longer shagging everything that moved, but seemed on the verge of settling into an actually rather touching relationship with Smith (Jason Lewis) — plus I admired the tough, steely way she was handling breast cancer.

And then there was Miranda. … continue reading

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!

I have an Academy Awards fantasy. This Sunday, when the presenter opens the envelope for Best Achievement in Directing, I envision audible gasps, then stunned silence and, finally, thunderous applause when un-nominated Kasi Lemmons benefits from a secret write-in campaign and wins for Talk to Me.

And then, for the hell of it, Sarah Polley wins an Honorable Mention for Away From Her.

I suspect, however, that one of the actual nominees will win. (I'm pulling for Jason Reitman — Juno.) But this does not change the sad truth that sometimes the best movies and performers do not get nominated, and sometimes the absolutely wrong performers and movies win.

It can be pretty tough to figure out the logic. For example, my brother noted that the longest — read poorly edited — movies often win Best Editing. (As he elaborated, “All 28 hours of The English Patient beat Fargo in 1997.) And the acting nominees sometimes reflect the most offensive scenery-chewing.

Of course, my brother and I are not the only ones to spew righteous indignation about the state of Academy Awards affairs. I recently read a pretty good list of the Worst Oscars Ever, some of which I agreed with and some of which I disagreed with. And this led me to compile my own list of Academy Awards Travesties — the performers and movies that stole the awards that should have rightfully gone to more deserving others. … continue reading