"Tara's a fag-hag?" Amber Benson's new movie might be gay, but is it good?

Amber Benson, who captured our hearts as lesbian witch Tara Maclay in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, is once more in the limelight as her new movie has just been released stateside.

In Race You To The Bottom, Benson co-stars as Maggie (the role for which she won best actress honors at L.A.'s Outfest film festival), the best friend of bisexual journalist Nathan(played by Cole Williams).

Despite both being in relationships with other men, the depths of their relationship are explored, and the boundaries of their friendship tested, when Nathan is assigned to write a travel article on romantic hotspots in Napa Valley, and the film studies how their increasingly complex feelings develop.

Ms Benson seems to be carving a niche for herself in playing the straight best friend character in queer romantic comedies, such as Latter Days and the upcoming Kiss The Bride, in which she co-stars with little rich girl extraordinaire, Tori Spelling,and while it's nice to see Amber enjoy continuing success, especially in queer-themed and gay-friendly films, the word is going round that she's the best thing about Race You To The Bottom.

The New York Times bemoans the poor casting, saying that while "Ms. Benson is a lovely actress with a vulnerability that can be extremely touching...she enjoyed more chemistry with Alyson Hannigan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer than she does with Mr. [Cole] Williams."

But hey, when Amber's looking this good, who cares who's in the rest of the movie?

Music & Lyrics

Honourable Mentions: Buffy and Angel Fanfic Recs

This is the place for me to shamelessly plug the Buffy fic that I love, and boy is there a lot of it! Later I may adapt this to make it easier to navigate, but as it is a work-in-progess I am afraid that may be a while...

As always, you're more than welcome to make comments about whether you think these recs are good, bad, or just plain ugly.Or reccommend your own favourite fics, either via the comments feature or by emailing me at allthatsbestofdarkandbrightblog@yahoo.co.uk.

Most of this is slash, and more than a bit of it is PWP, but hey, I like the sexy...

Lindsey/Riley

An unlikely couple, and normally I hate Riley-fics, but Indiscretions is so hot and so well-written that it doesn't matter.

In the summer before basic training a future Marine has an encounter with a law student, and Riley's mixture of awkwardness and need is so palpable that-well, you'll have to read it for yourself.

Not completely PWP, as there is some interesting character study and some rather nice foreshadowing of the men they will go on to become.

Quote: "Riley knew he was leaning against the door, even without visual confirmation because that’s what he was supposed to do. Just like Riley’s role in the scenario was to nervously perch on the edge of the bed like the anxious virgin that he was"

Spike/Lindsey

Looking At You is my favourite of an uconventional pairing.

Cover Art By Laura Shapiro (used with kind permission)

Lindsey goes to Sunnydale looking for Darla and finds a different blonde vampire.Ooh yeah, evil, sexy, bad-ass lawyer meets evil, sexy, bad-ass punk rock vampire.They fuck, they fight, and they bitch about Angel. Again, some nice character study and a look at Lindsey's twisted relationship with Angel.I also love the little twist in the ending that reminds that even though Spike can be hurt just like the rest of us, he's still baaaad, baby.

Quote: "Christ, just like Angelus. First he buggers you, then he hits you." I froze. "What did you say?"

Spike/Andrew

Tucker's Brother

Okay, I know right now someone wants to hit me for reccing an Andrew/Spike fic,but Tucker's Brother is so good that it breaks my little heart every fucking time.

It's not set in Season Seven on their little roadtrip as you might expect, its set way back in Season Six when Spike is still messed-up over Buffy and Andrew is just messed-up over his life.

The pressure of never living up to his sibling, of being a nobody, just "Tucker's Brother", all comes pouring out onto the page.

PWP this is not.The feelings of hopelessness and self-loathing and, yes, godammit, wanting to be wanted are just so raw and sincere.Beautiful.

Bonus points for the ending that makes me want to cry.

Quote: "It makes me feel like I'm... I don't know... part of something. Like it matters if I'm around." Andrew speaks fast, the words rushing over his tongue.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm not even here. Like- like I have to make people see me or I'll just disappear."

"I get that," Spike says reflectively.

"No, you don't," Andrew snaps. "You don't know what it's like to be me."

Spike chuckles. "I *was* you."

SHINY NEW FANFICTION! The Ultimate Buffy Fanfiction Pairing List-UPDATES

A new Buffy/Lindsey site has been added A Life Less Ordinary

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Okay, after many hours, I have recoded every single link in the list, as I've finally worked out the (very simple) HTML.This means that now all links look much more professional, and the list is a bit easier to navigate.If you do find any broken links, please contact me as jezebelle@postmaster.co.uk so I fix them and keep bringing you Buffy and Angel goodness!

Today there has also been a new Lindsey/Lilah site added, Tainted Love and also two new Spangel sites Eternal Nightcap and The Clockwork Vampire

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There's been a whole raft of new additions to The Ultimate Buffy Fanfiction Pairing List due to my realisation that Lindsey Macdonald slashes perfectly.Angel, Spike, Wesley, Riley, you name it, and it works like a charm.

And for those Lost fans out there, I've even found a delicious bit of Lindsey and Sawyer! You can find it in the Lindsey section, as you can all the new updates, and as usual they're listed under both halves of the pairing, so you can check out the list below too.

Angel/Angelus
Buffy
Darla
Faith
Gunn
Lilah
Oz
Riley
Spike
Wesley
Xander

Bratz Dolls

Look at the horror. This was part of an article on MSN news about ten women in the world who make you want to cringe. Paris Hilton, Caitlin Flanagan, Marabel Morgan and Phyllis Schlafly were among the others. This however seemed to be the most poignant when giving a view point on corruptive and de-modernising female role models.

Bratz Dollz
Many mothers worry when their daughters start to play with Barbie. The moms fear that their daughters could develop a skewed sense of body image thanks to Barbie’s unnatural proportions
But for parents worried about that, Barbie’s got nothing on the Bratz Dolls—a big head, skinny body with the lips of Angelina Jolie and overly made-up come-hither eyes. And these are dolls that girls as young as 5 years old want to play with.
For heaven’s sake, girls don’t need dolls that look like streetwalkers. The social and behavioral cues girls get from the sleazy Bratz dolls are far from empowering—at least Barbie has been a doctor and an astronaut.

It's Andrew, Jim, But Not As We Know It

Aren't I good to you guys? Two days in a row I've added a whole load of new fics to beef up the section on a pretty rare character in fic, and today it's Andrew's turn.Don't scoff folks, at least not until you've read Tucker's Brother (under Andrew or Spike). The most loveable geek also gets some action in the following categories:

Anya
Giles
Oz
Spike
Warren
Wesley
Xander

There's also a new section for Jonathan

Britney's Hair For Sale: Crass Exploitation?

Yesterday Dark And Bright reported on Britney Spear's shocking new look and out-of-control behaviour, and it seems that the singer's fragility is already being exploited.

The owner of the salon where Britney Spears shaved off her hair is selling the singer's locks for more than £500,000.

Esther Tognozzi has set up a special website for the sale and is throwing in Britney's abandoned drinks can and cigarette lighter.

Her husband, JT Tognozzi, said some of the proceeds from the sale would go to charity,
including one which supplies wigs to children with cancer, which is rather ironic, as Britney was pictured last night in a nightclub wearing a cheap-looking blonde hairpiece to cover up her shorn scalp.Apparently she stormed out of the club after the DJ played her single Hit Me Baby One More Time.Stressy much?

He also said "We still don't know why Britney chose our shop.We'll probably never know" which seems rather a stupid thing to say.Maybe because she just happened to be there at the time? Maybe because it was near the tattoo parlour she was visiting? It's not as if he was questioning why she shot herself, just why she went to their hairdressers, which hardly seems important.

A search on eBay for "Britney Spears hair" reveals dozens of supposed clumps of the popstar's tresses - some of it not even the right colour! In reference to the frauds,Mr Tognozzi said "It's pretty crazy all the frauds and stuff that's out there, They're not even in our state."

Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist who has given professional advice on Big Brother, believes that Britney may be suffering from post-natal depression,but that the singer might also be trying to make a statement along the lines of "'I've had this blonde pop princess imposed on me. You guys need to take heed now. I'm more than that, I'm different than that'."

Not Only Is She Bald, It Was Self-Inflicted!

I reported Britney Spears' new hairdo a couple of posts ago (scroll down for pictures!) and now it's come out that she was in a San Fernando Valley hair-salon on Friday night when she grabbed an electric clipper and shaved her own head.

The salon owner, Esther Tognozzi told CNN:

"I tried to talk her out of it. I said, 'Are you sure you're not having a bad day and tomorrow you'll feel differently about it? Why don't we wait a little bit?'

"She said 'No, I absolutely want it shaved off now.' Next thing I know, she grabbed the buzzer and she went to the back of my salon and she was shaving off her own hair. "

Thats pretty impulsive.And somewhat worrying.

Over the past few months she's got divorced, been accused of being a negligent parent, partied hard with Paris Hilton, ruined her image by being photographed without knickers on four seperate occasions, got a new boyfriend, been dumped by him, checked into rehab, checked out less than twenty-four hours later, and got a new tattoo (a pair of pink and red lips on her wrist) just before she shaved her head.

Christ, she's been a busy girl! I got tired just typing that list!

According to Yahoo! News:

Professor Cary Cooper, professor of psychology and health at Lancaster University, and an expert on stress, said: "She's obviously quite a disturbed girl at the moment, she doesn't know who or what she is. She obviously needs some help, and needs somebody to take hold, because her behaviour is very erratic. I think it's a call for help. She's saying, 'I'm very confused, I'm not in control of myself at the moment, I need a fresh start, I need help'. "

He refers to the dramatic head-shaving incident thus:"To me, it's a symbolic act, saying, 'Help, I'm not altogether here' - and it's certainly drawn attention to her."

Lets hope she listens.

Fashion at the BRIT Awards

I read this on the net and thought "This has to be blogged." So here it is:

Compost Heap: If Tim Burton directed a remake of "Mary Poppins" with his permanently frumpy and frizzy wife Helena Bonham Carter as the titular, umbrella-wielding nanny, and there was a scene in which she must fish her young charges out of a lake crammed with taffeta-chomping piranhas, the result would look exactly like Imogen Heap at the Grammys. The Best New Artist nominee fills the calculatingly kooky void left by the once swan-swaddled Bjork by kitting herself out in an oddball Bride of Swamp Creature costume. Her bog-inspired accoutrements include a moss-sprouting mane, nonslip lily pads lifted from the bottom of her tub and a hapless frog that's hoping against hope this isn't the day when a kiss from his true love turns him back into a prince.

Britney Spears Is Bald!

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=entertainment&id=5042740
SHERMAN OAKS, February 16, 2007 - Britney Spears is back in the U.S., and she's sporting a brand new look.
Spears was photographed at the valley tattoo shop "Body and Soul" in Sherman Oaks, getting a tattoo reportedly of a pair of red and pink lips on her wrist. But the biggest change to the pop singer's style? She shaved her head bald.
Spears could be seen inside the tattoo parlor with her head fully exposed, but as she left the shop she was led by her bodyguard straight to a waiting SUV. Spears had her head covered with a hooded sweatshirt to hide her new noggin.
The sidewalk outside the shop was filled with fans, onlookers and paparazzi. Some fans that were interviewed after Spears departed declared the new look less than flattering.