Desperate Housewives‘ writer/producer Alexandra Cunningham just inked a seven figure deal with NBC to develop new original programming.

Newly discovered letters have revealed the man who inspired the film The English Patient was gay in real life, and in fact in love with a Nazi.

Feministing asks ‘Can we stop pretending beautiful women aren’t beautiful’?, in reference to the trend in television where beautiful actresses play “ugly” characters.

Apparently D.C. has an all male production of Grease currently running, production courtesy of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C.

Shana Feste, writer and director of new Susan Sarandon/Pierce Brosnan film The Greatest talks about the challenges of getting a film made as a female director.

Matt Dillon says in Italian Vanity Fair that he’d love to play gay, stating that there’s already too many limits on him, he doesn’t put any on himself.

The New York Times has an interesting map that shows the best places in Manhattan to catch a cab.  It varies depending on time of day.

Donna Langley, actresses Courteney Cox and Zoe Saldana and director of photography Cynthia Pusheck to be honored at Women in Film awards.

KRS-ONE says hip-hop needs more women. I’m not sure what happened to female rappers. We used to have Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim, MC Lyte, where’d everyone go?

In its first weekend, the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It grossed over $100 million dollars across the globe, with 21.3% of it coming from the U.S.

A gay man in Karachi, Pakistan was beaten to death after being caught with another man in his home by an angry mob.

Oprah says audiences may not “enjoy” the gritty Lee Daniels film Precious but she says people will appreciate the experience.  The film opens on November 6.

West Hollywood, a gay hotspot in California, is trying really hard to reach out to gay and lesbian tourists in order to boost revenue for the city.

Black comedian Wanda Sykes is being criticized for using white sperm to impregnate her white wife–the couple now have two white babies.

Are the Bonobo apes riot grrls? An article about whether the primates known for living in an unusually matriarchal structure are feminist friendly.

Halle Berry is reportedly in advanced talks to star in the film Dark Tide, an action-thriller being produced by the people that brought us Twilight.

Variety says:

[Dark Tide] concerns a diving instructor who returns to the deep after a near-fatal incident with a Great White shark. “Dark” is set to lense in South Africa later this year.

Social Capital Films is arranging financing for the $15 million-$20 million pic. Company’s Martin Shore and Christopher Tuffin produce along with Tax Credit Finance’s Matthew Chausse and Plum Pictures’ Celine Rattray.

I’m always excited to see more action/thriller type movies starring women, though for some reason they rarely seem to do well.  I’m having a hard time remember the last one that actually did.  I could say Wanted, though Angelina was a supporting role.  Last one I remember after that is maybe Red Eye starring Rachel McAdams, but someone feel free to correct me.  This film is also written by a woman named Amy Sorlie, who as far as I can tell is a first-time screenwriter.

It bugs me that people bash “chick flicks” and say they’re the reason women’s films do so poorly at the box-office then when films are made that don’t fall into the stereotypical chick flick category like Invasion or The Brave One or North Country, no one goes to see them.  Speaking of The Brave One–Flightplan was in 2006 and that film did quite well.  We miss you, Jodie!

All of that said, Halle Berry’s never been a huge box-office draw, her highest grossing films are not films where she was given top-billing, and quality-wise her movies tend to be hit and miss.  I took a chance on Perfect Stranger and it was one of the worst films of that year.  Conversely, Things We Lost In The Fire was amazing and it was certainly her best performance to date.

It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out.  The budget is going to be between 15-20 million dollars, so there’s a lot of room for profit.

Drew Barrymore’s making her directorial debut in a film called Whip It which is about a girl whose parents want her to do pageants but she secretly discovers Roller Derby.  Barrymore’s also in the film along with Ellen Page, Juliette Lewis, Zoe Bell (that bad ass chick in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof) and Marcia Gay Harden.  She talks to Time Out New York about the film:

Your upcoming directorial debut, Whip It, is about roller derby. Why?
I relate to a theme of it: women who have not only an alter ego but a capability. I love these women who totally have day jobs—they’re nurses and librarians and waitresses.

And then they get the shit beaten out of them at night.
Yeah—what I love about the sport is that it’s real and high stakes. And by the way, it’s scary as shit to do. I wouldn’t have guessed that the first film I directed would have a sports element, but then again it doesn’t surprise me, because I love girls getting to do what boys do.

And you totally love having bloody snot hanging out of your nose, don’t you?
I do, I do, I love it! And I love when [women] get to be women and not feel like they have to become a man in order to play in a man’s world.

The movie comes out October 2 and unlike most movies I will be seeing it the first weekend it gets released. I’m not the biggest fan of Drew Barrymore as an actress (though I adore Boys On The Side) but maybe she’ll turn out to be quite the director.

Here’s the trailer

FOXSexpert Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright debunks 8 sex myths about women, including my favorite “she always needs an emotional connection for sex”.

The infamous pastor Steve Anderson (who admittedly is kind of cute) thinks America is controlled by homosexuals.  He also claims that all homosexuals are pedophiles including Barney Frank.

Desperate Housewives star Dana Delany became co-president of the Creative Coalition.  It’s important to get as many woman as possible in positions dealing with funding for arts and entertainment.

Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz has a guy who’s job is specifically to pull up his pants during his shows.  I’m sure there’s plenty of men (and women) who’d do that job for free.

Dan Savage, whom you might know from his famous blog or from his appearances on Real Time With Bill Maher, is taping his own pilot for HBO called “Savage Love”

During a recent sit down with Donald Trump, late night talk show host David Letterman said “anybody who wants to get married ought to be able to get married.”

Conservative organization Focus on the Family has laid off a number of workers again, after already having done so twice earlier this year.

Amy Poehler was interviewed by the Advocate for their A-list feature, which used to be called “Big Gay Following” but for some reason they decided to rename it.  Anyway, Amy’s promoting her new comedy on NBC called Parks and Recreation, and had some interesting things to say.

Who’s the most important gay person in your life now?
Shane from The L Word. She just can’t get her shit together. She’s a broken bird, and she needs someone to fix her. Just when you think she’s ready for love, she sabotages it. And the woman gives a rock ’n’ roll haircut. [Laughs] There are a lot of amazing, really talented gay writers at SNL who I’m proud to call my friends, and our times together have meant a lot to me. There are tons of gay people who work in all departments of that show.

Then why haven’t there been more openly gay SNL cast members?
That’s a really good question, but I don’t know. Someone should pick that up as a thesis at Hampshire College.

Of course, no one knows if any of the current or past SNL cast members are gay or not for sure, but none of them have come out of the closet.  Which is funny considering, especially as of late, the show loves using homosexuality as a punch line.  Like in the Kissing Family skit or the recent Fast and the Bicurious.

Say something nice about your gay fan base.
That’s the ultimate stamp of approval. It’s a very loyal, discerning audience, and one that cares very much about its comedy. There are a lot of times in comedy when you have to be OK with looking the fool, and the gay audience rewards you for taking big swings. Not only do they appreciate the vulnerability of broken-down characters, they also enjoy the wigs.

Spring Breakdown sounds pretty gay-friendly.
Please, that movie is made for the gays! If we can’t get the gays to go see that movie, then I don’t know what they want. It’s this fun, silly romp about three ladies in their 30s who do spring break one last time, and it stars Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch, and me. Our very gay director, Ryan Shiraki, calls it a “gay acid trip.” I’m lucky enough to work with and be surrounded by gay men who love women.

In the film Rachel’s character is engaged to a guy played by Seth Meyers who’s obviously gay. Have you ever unwittingly fallen for a gay man?
Not yet. In fact, I’ve always been confused by women who don’t see that. But as I get older, I get a lot less judgmental about why people are together

I’ve seen the trailer for the film, and it doesn’t exactly look like my cup of tea, but then, neither are any of those dumb Owen Wilson/Will Ferrell/Ben Stiller frat humor movies.  I was really excited to see such a film was even being made to begin with, seeing as how there are so few mainstream adult comedies starring an ensemble of women.  Then I see that it’s been released straight to DVD.  Womp womp.  Gotta love misogyny in 2009!

I also think Amy makes a good point about looking the fool.  It reminds me of a Marie Claire article on female comedians, and most of them talked about how they largely survived because of their gay male fanbase.

ESSMAN: Gay guys traditionally like strong women, whether it’s Judy Garland or Barbra Streisand or Bette Midler. They like a ballsy woman. They’re not as intimidated.

GRIFFIN: Gay men look at Rosie O’Donnell, and they think funny. They don’t see overweight lesbian.

They’re a demographic that wasn’t judging them based solely on their looks and whose egos weren’t threatened by a female who could tell a good joke.  I think gay men appreciate a funny woman better than straight men.

I’m apprehensive about most comedies these days, I tend to prefer the more modern format of a mix of drama and comedy a la Desperate Housewives or Weeds, but it’s Amy Poehler so I’ll give Parks & Recreation a try.