There are no new ideas. OK, fine — maybe there are one or two left floating around un-thought. But for the most part, your great idea has probably been thought up by someone else and theirs was probably greater. True in everyday life, incredibly true in Hollywood. So imagine my deja vu when looking thought new posters recently. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure I detect a theme.

First, there was the poster for the new Alan Ball-helmed vampire series True Blood. It's about vampires. The vampires are sexy. They drink human blood. You get the picture.

Then, I came across the poster for the new Diablo Cody-penned horror flick Jennifer's Body. It's about a demonic cheerleader. The cheerleader is sexy. She feeds off her classmates. You get the picture. … continue reading

In an interview with The Onion's A.V. Club this week, Maggie Gyllenhaal said she had refused the part of Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight because she had no interest in playing a woman "in peril."

The truth is, what I didn't want to be was just the sort of empty lady who gets thrown around by different guys and doesn't have anything to do but look scared. I just wanted her to be a real person.

It's understandable, then, that her male co-stars in the film have given quotes to the media about Gyllenhaal's steadfastness in not being a damsel in distress after she did eventually take on the role. Even when her character is being threatened by The Joker at knifepoint, Gyllenhaal does not flinch (something tells me the original Rachel, Kate Holmes, would have started to cry at this point.)

Gyllenhaal has a strong sense of the roles she wants to play, and her instincts haven't seemed to fail her yet. Even in her smallish role as Rachel, she is convincing (and stunning, of course) as a lawyer who knows Bruce Wayne's secret vigilante identity. Though the male stars of the film have been getting most of the attention, Gyllenhaal graces this month's cover of Marie Claire. In the story, her co-star Aaron Eckhart is quoted as having said, "Maggie's got a lot of sass. She has very strong opinions on acting and things outside moviemaking. She's not afraid to speak her mind." … continue reading

If you're going to make a comic book film that will echo in the minds and hearts of moviegoers, you've got to have a villain that's as super as the hero. Heath Ledger will get an Oscar nomination for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight, and he should — not because of Ledger's untimely death, but because his portrayal of the clown prince of darkness is what nightmares are made of. It doesn't take terror to make a good villain, though; some of the best comic book bad guys have been more clever than they are evil. Thing is: most of them have been men. So, here's my casting advice for the next set of superhero movie villains. And by "villain" you know I mean "villainess."

Talia al Ghul, Aishwarya Rai

Liam Neeson played Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins. As imposing as his portrayal was, Neeson didn't really fit the build of the original comic book character. Aishwarya Rai, though? She would be the perfect actress to play al Ghul's daughter, Talia. In the comics, she is in constant turmoil between her devotion to her psychotic dad and and her moral compass, which seems to point in the same direction as Batman's. The actress who plays Talia as Ghul has to be, above all, a seductress. Here's a litmus test: Could Aishwarya Rai seduce you? Yeah, that's what I thought. Sign her up.

Catwoman, Selma Blair

I'm talking about something better than Michelle Pfeiffer's secretary-scorned Catwoman in Batman Returns. I'm talking about a villainess who won't play second-fiddle to Batman. I'm talking about a gorgeous feminist who has a social conscious, but just plain old like to rob things. Selma Blair would own that Catwoman. I've already developed the movie's tagline: Mrowr! … continue reading

Please, what ever you do, do not ask me why I have now blogged on this topic twice. I really don’t have a suitable answer (even for me), yet here is a second blog on Greta, the film starring Hilary Duff and Ellen Burstyn. The filmmakers have launched their new website promoting the movie.

The site pretty much gives away the entire plot. The blurb (as they call it) is too big for me to publish here, but here's a small section:

Duff plays the title role of a waitress who falls for a charismatic, young short-order cook (Ross), only to find out he’s been in and out of a juvenile correctional facility for stealing cars. Now he’s determined to do something with his life, but as their romance heats up, Greta has to overcome the concerns of her grandparents (Burstyn, Murphy) about her new friend’s criminal past.

I will say that the entire premise of the movie screams cliché and belts out, "Warning! Possible stereotype train wreck ahead!" (Yet I feel some compulsion to write about it? I think I need medication.)

Oh, wait, I guess I do sort of know why I’m interested in the movie. … continue reading

Cannes, Toronto, and Tribeca are all home to famous film festivals. Thanks to Tilda Swinton, we can now add her hometown of Nairn to that list. You know Nairn — the adorable seaside town in northeast Scotland? Not ringing any bells? Well now you may know it as the new home of the Swinton’s film festival: The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams. The festival is her attempt to “re-inject some romance into the film festival circuit."

Swinton’s style of festival is very simple and much different than all the other festivals out there: no red carpets, no hordes of paparazzi, and no blockbuster movie premieres.

Tickets to attend the festival (which runs August 15-23) will cost a moviegoer three pounds ($6) OR a tray of baked goods. That’s right: in place of currency Tilda will take your cupcakes. And she wants it homemade folks, no Entenmann’s or Little Debbie’s will be garner you admittance. Tilda wants your baking sweat and tears in exchange for cinema. Try showing up with a Duncan Hines to Robert Dinero’s Tribeca Film Festival and you may get more than just, "Are you looking at me with that strudel?" (I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.)

To add to this casual theme, movie viewings in the ballroom will take place on (are you ready for this?) cushy beanbags! Tilda has eliminated the need to worry about someone stealing your armrest or your beverage holder. Have I died and gone to movie theater heaven? I hope the Lowes theater people are taking notes. … continue reading

To further stoke fan speculation about what's going to happen in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which opens July 25 — and to reintroduce the series to those who may not have been X-philes when it was on the air — a "new" X-Files DVD is being released today. The compilation of eight episodes is called "Revelations," and as the cover itself proclaims, this is the "Essential Guide to the X-Files movie," with "8 critical episodes handpicked by the series creator."

Does it deliver? Yes and no.

The DVD's eight episodes span the first six seasons of the television series, skipping (wisely) the last three seasons entirely. At first this seemed a little odd, because if this DVD is supposed to be the essential guide to the movie, and the movie takes place after Season 9, don't we need to know what happens in those last three seasons? A short "series trailer" included on the first disc does give a rundown of the entire nine seasons, but I'm going to guess that what happened in the last three seasons just isn't that important. (Sorry, Annabeth Gish fans, but I never could get into the character of Agent Reyes.)

Each episode is certainly a classic — "Pilot," "Beyond the Sea," "The Host," "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," "Memento Mori," "Post-Modern Prometheus," "Bad Blood" and "Milagro" — and each one is introduced by series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz. Their commentary, though, is limited to a couple of minutes each time, so they don't provide a lot of new information.

It is amusing to see Gillian Anderson stick her head over Chris Carter's shoulder in the commentary before "Milagro," and she is wearing the tan trench coat you've seen in preview photos for the X-Files movie, but very little is revealed about what's going to happen in the film. It does seem that Carter is shooting these intros on the set of the movie, though, because at one point a man in full surgical scrubs (an actor, I'm guessing) walks right behind him. I can't believe that wasn't entirely orchestrated, so, uh, spoiler alert? Man in scrubs will be in movie! … continue reading

We all know the best way to get couch potatoes to turn off their television sets and head out to a movie theatre is by putting their favorite TV shows up on the big screen. How else can you explain a summer of Get Smart, Sex and The City and The X-Files all in feature length?

Well, for a long time now there have been rumors of a Friends flick. Ever since the super successful NBC show ended in 2004, Hollywood hotshots have been trying to figure out a way to get its stars to reunite. The whispers of a movie have come and gone every year, until finally last weekend the internet was abuzz with the news that all six cast members had signed on and the movie was a go. Fans rejoiced! Everything was right in the world! Until Warner Bros., the studio that owns the rights to Friends, issued a statement saying only idiots believe what they read on the internet (I’m paraphrasing) and no Friends movie was in the works.

Well, I can’t take it anymore so I’ve scheduled a meeting with Warner Bros. brass to get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna blow it. I’m just gonna ask them: why? If Hollywood can make a movie out of a crummy show like The Dukes Of Hazzard, why can’t we get those Friends kids together? For god’s sake, the Disney people turned one of their freakin’ rides into a blockbuster franchise. (See: Pirates of the Caribbean).

How hard can this be? It’s not like the cast — except for maybe Jennifer Aniston — is busy. Sure, a few of the friends have since starred in their own television shows, but none of those shows made it past a second season (Joey, Dirt, The Comeback). (To be fair, I thought Lisa Kudrow’s brilliant Comeback was only guilty of being too nuanced for TV. It was HBO — maybe she should have whacked someone?)

Only Aniston seems to motivate people to buy tickets to her movies (The Break-Up, Rumor Has It), but she gets more attention for the string of guys she’s gone through since her divorce from the Man Whose Name Is Not Spoken By Friends. She isn’t exactly wowing the critics, either, although her work in the upcoming He’s Just Not That Into You might change this. I’ve seen the previews and, gee, the movie looks like it will be great — for 11-year-old girls. (Seriously, when I saw the cast of this movie, which includes Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson and Ginnifer Goodwin, I thought, “Do all of these women owe their agents a favor?”) … continue reading

When the Swedish quartet ABBA was performing pop songs like "Dancing Queen," I wonder if they visualized the phenomenon it would become. From their dance hits came a Broadway musical, Mamma Mia!, and now a film of the same name, starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried.

The film had its world premiere in Berlin on Wednesday night, and the cast (which also includes Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, and Pierce Brosnon among others) was in attendance for the showing and the after party. If you have yet to see the trailer, it will give you a good idea what we can expect when it opens here on July 18:

Yes, that is Meryl Streep singing, and she seems to have some pipes. But we are all aware how frighteningly amazing Ms. Meryl is; it's Amanda Seyfried that is the breakthrough star of Mamma Mia. Up until now, she has served as part of ensemble casts on Big Love and in films such as Mean Girls and Alpha Dogs. As 18-year-old Sophie Sheridan, Seyfried seems like a shoo-in for good reviews, no matter what the outcome is for the film in its entirety. … continue reading

Neo-soul artist India.Arie is the latest in a long line of talented R&B singers bit by the acting bug. Arie, 32, is set to star in a Broadway revival of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. The play, based on the book of poems by Ntozake Shange, was nominated for a Tony award in 1977. The book, a women’s studies classic, presents several women of color discussing their experiences at a certain time in the United States.

It’s a bold step for Arie, but she’s in good company. In fact, I’m having a tough time thinking of an R&B artist who hasn’t tried her hand at acting on stage or screen. Some of them gave such good performances, they got in the running for Hollywood’s biggest honor, the Academy Award.

One of them actually won it. Of course, I'm talking about American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson, who brought home the Best Supporting Actress award for Dreamgirls. Hudson is the biggest success story on our list, although her castmate Beyonce, (Carmen: A Hip Hopera, Austin Powers: Goldmember) isn’t exactly hurting for parts. Alicia Keys (The Nanny Diaries, Smokin’ Aces) seems to record an album and film a new movie every other year. Keys just finished shooting another: The Secret Life of Bees.

Let’s not forget those ladies we don’t hear on the radio every day: Erykah Badu appeared in The Cider House Rules way back in 1999 and later, House of D; Macy Gray guest starred on Spin City and Gilmore Girls; Angie Stone appeared on an episode of Roswell. … continue reading

You may disagree to the point of taking me out back and giving me a lashing, but Ellen DeGeneres's best ever performance is Dory in Pixar's Finding Nemo. The soulful story of the tiny, orange clownfish is Pixar's highest-grossing film, and Ellen's role as the brain-addled Dory is the best performance in Pixar's exceptional canon. Last weekend Pixar's latest offering, Wall-E, made toast of the other summer movies at the box office. (My 10 bucks helped that number. I was at the opening show.)

Pixar even thrust Ellen back into the limelight with Finding Nemo in 2003, and every movie they have released has captured my heart.

Today I'm counting down all nine of Pixar's films from good to better to best.

9) A Bug's Life

The parable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" has never been so funny. And who knew bugs could be circus performers? … continue reading

Have you ever walked out of a movie and thought, “Damn, I can sum that whole thing up in three lines or less”? Well, so did those clever bookish types at McSwenney’s. They recently summed up famous films in three lines of dialogue or less. The results for classics like Citizen Kane, The Philadelphia Story and The Godfather was inspired. That, of course, got me thinking about all the terrible great lesbian films out there.

So, without further ado, here is a sampling of lesbian movies in three lines or less:

Lost and Delirious

Paulie: But I love you.
Tori: But I can’t be gay.
Paulie: Why do I suddenly feel like singing “I Believe I Can Fly?”

But I’m a Cheerleader
… continue reading

Megan: 2-4-6-8! Being straight is really great!
Graham: Gimme a G! Gimme an A! Gimme a Y! What’s that spell? Gay! Gay! Gay!
Megan: I like your cheer better. Let’s make out.

We're halfway through summer movie season, and it is time once again to employ Lesbian Scientistics to determine which summer blockbuster star is the most kissable, and what exactly goes into lip appeal. (CAUTION: The findings below are fraught with SPOILERS.)

Step 1) Ask a question. Does a woman's bad-assness effect her kissability?

Step 2) Observe. I will profile each woman to garner an accurate portrait of her bad-assness, paying special attention to whose ass she kicks, what she kicks ass with, and what she wears to hand out said ass kickin'.

Anna Popplewell/Susan Pevensie, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Enemies: Telemarines, the misogyny of C.S. Lewis.

Allies: 2 Sons of Adam, 1 Daughter of Eve.

Uniform: Chainmail, leather corset.

Weapons: See pie chart.

Sarah Jessica Parker/Carrie Bradshaw, The Sex and the City Movie

Enemies: Big, Mr.

Allies: Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte.

Uniform: Fraggle-fur shawl.

Weapons: See pie chart. … continue reading

Women in Film, an organization that honors people who advance female involvement in filmmaking, hosted their annual Crystal + Lucy Awards on Tuesday night in Beverly Hills. Among the winners were Ginnifer Goodwin, who won the MaxMara "Face of the Future" award; Salma Hayek who took home the Lucy Award for her work as the producer of Ugly Betty; and Diane English with the ensemble cast of The Women, who won the Crystal Award.

Annette Benning and Meg Ryan

Of the women surrounding her (other attendees include Cameron Diaz and Eva Mendes) at the awards ceremony, Goodwin told the press, "To be in their company is confusing for me. I'm so humbled."

I get that. If I had somehow managed to get gussied up and teleport to the red carpet on Tuesday night, I'm sure I would have been befuddled by all the talent and diverse beauty, too. You might even say I would have gone so far as to make an ass out of myself during the jovial acceptance speeches. … continue reading

Gabrielle Union seems like a very talented, promising, affable young actress. So this, well – this is just wrong.

Yes, that is Gabrielle sticking out of an enormous, 15-foot replica of Eddie Murphy’s head to promote their upcoming film Meet Dave. At some point during the day, she had to look at her situation and have a horrifying David Byrne-like epiphany: “How did I get here? My God! What have I done?!”

Meet Dave is about a bunch of quarter-inch tall aliens who navigate “Dave,” their giant Eddie-shaped spacecraft, through the streets of New York City. Gabrielle plays one of the little people. Further exacerbating her humiliation is the fact that in an Entertainment Tonight interview, the correspondent called her a “booger” because of a scene where she comes out of Eddie’s nose. Yeah, that’s her on the right. … continue reading

I was never one of the kids who went away to a traditional summer camp, so I had to live vicariously through the kids on my TV screen. Summer camp movies are a fun genre that have several staples: water sports, boy/girl awkwardness, and camp fires. I'm not sure why this resonates within so many of us (especially with that whole "boy awkwardness" bit) but it seems to be a popular theme for several summertime films.

While so many of the camp films are of the horror variety (Sleepaway Camp, Summer Camp Nightmare, Friday the 13th), there are also the funny ones that tug at the heart strings. Summer camp means friendship and crushes, at least that's what I've learned from my favorites:

Camp

If you're looking for an all-out gay summer experience, musical theater camp is surely the place for you. Unfortunately, the guys have most of the fun in Camp. But Ellen Lucas (Joanna Chilcoat) at least gets to make out with camp hottie Vlad before he hooks up with everyone else, and she also does a great performance of "And I'm Telling You" in a production of Dreamgirls. Though the cast of this 2003 film was largely unknown, it was endearingly sweet and fun to watch, like a queer singalong.

Camp Nowhere

When you're young, movies where kids take matters into their own hands are always a hit. Creating your own summer camp with your parents' money? Far-fetched, yes; ideal, totally. A young Jessica Alba has a cameo in this ensemble film that starred Jonathan Jackson and Andrew Keegan. But the real prize of the film: bikini-clad Marnette Patterson, brilliantly named Trish. … continue reading