Popcrunch has created a list of famous people who have gone on the record about suffering with depression. The list included more than 100 people from all walks of life: politics, Hollywood, sports, journalism, anthropology, etc. For our purposes here, I’m interested in the women on the list.

Now, some of these women were pretty obvious candidates — I think we all had a hunch Sylvia Plath wasn’t happy every day — but others caught me by surprise and, again, illustrated what we all sort of know: that depression hits anyone, regardless of status, success, talent, smarts, looks, fame, love or lack thereof. Getting depressed is starting to feel like a given in the world today. I mean, times are bad: We’ve been at war for several years. Gas costs too much. It’s hectic out there. We’d be mad not to get sad.

The key, obviously, is dealing with our depression healthily. Talking to friends works for some of us, or sometimes journaling or jogging. Some of us need counseling at times, and despite what Tom Cruise says, medication can help sometimes, too.

It’s important to know that were not alone, and that some of our heroes have been depressed. Several of the people who are responsible for our favorite books, songs, and films, even. (Hey, isn’t it ironic that some of the people we turn to when we’re depressed get down, too?) Here are a few wonderful everyday women who get the blues:

—Politicians, their spouses, and sex scandal partners (regardless of party affiliations): Tipper Gore, Barbara Bush, Betty Ford, Monica Lewinsky, Marilyn Monroe

—Royalty who may or may not have despised each other: Princess Di, Queen Elizabeth II

—Athletes who grunt while playing and/or had a trend-setting hairdo in the 1970s: Monica Seles, Dorothy Hamill

—Women who sing about sad stuff: Shirley Manson of Garbage, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Sinead O’ Connor

—Women who sing about happy stuff: Sheryl Crow, Melanie C

—Women who sing about hot stuff: Donna Summer

—Women who sing about the importance of holding on: Carnie Wilson … continue reading

What could make a film about women's roller derby that stars Ellen Page and is directed by Drew Barrymore even cooler? Think hard. I'll give you a second.

OK, time's up. Have you guessed? The answer is, of course, a really cool supporting cast of actresses. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellen and Drew will be joined in their upcoming film Whip It! by Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden and Zoe Bell.

The film follows Ellen's character, Bliss Cavendar, a small-town Texas girl who runs away from her ex-pageant queen mom played by Marcia. While her mother wants her to follow in her tiara-wearing ways, Bliss would rather strap on some skates. So instead she joins a roller derby league in Austin. … continue reading

Take a look at these women:

OK. Now please take a look at the title of their new film: He’s Just Not That Into You. Um, hello, disconnect. Ah, men – they’re a conundrum we here at AfterEllen.com are only too happy to leave to our more heterosexually-inclined sisters. … continue reading

On any given day, the Lifetime Movie Network will play a made-for-TV movie that features a woman scorned, and sometimes, she will kill to get what she wants. But so often, those women are killing for a man they are dangerously obsessed with, and I just can’t relate.

But MSN Movies currently has a count down of film’s famous fatale femmes, including The Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz, Maleficent of Sleeping Beauty and, my personal favorite, Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery. While I can’t relate with these women either, I can understand why they might take issues with the ones they love to hate (Dorothy killed the Witch’s sister — that’s certainly worth some cinematic revenge.)

MSN’s list got me thinking of a few other favorite characters that happened to be murderers (or perhaps just misunderstood.)

Hedy in Single White Female

Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Bridget Fonda’s new roommate who gets obsessively weird in the worst way. As Hedy, Leigh perfectly began to become a creep, emulating Allie (Fonda) in every way — as if stealing her signature auburn pixie cut wasn’t enough. On her quest to become Allie’s doppelganger, she manages to kill her boyfriend, her neighbor, and her poor puppy. … continue reading

Last fall, scribegrrrl assessed some of the most bizarre casting news ever, Drew Barrymore as Little Edie in Grey Gardens. That's the documentary-turned-musical about the relatives of Jackie Kennedy whose lives, dreams, and house decay in one of the most truly uncomfortable things I've ever seen. I wholeheartedly agree: I don't see Barrymore — whose on-screen presence is brilliantly suited for cutesy-romantic and cutesy-badass roles — playing Edith Beale without coming across as, well, just cutesy. For those of you who aren't familiar with the crazy-making documentary-turned-musical, here's some perspective.

In a more comprehensible choice, Jessica Lange, you might recall, is playing the mother. Personally, I'm still trying to understand why we need a dramatized version at all, when you can just rent the documentary. (That is, if you feel like being depressed. Or are depressed, and want to make yourself feel better by comparison.)

But Barrymore and Vogue have been working to convince the skeptics that she's up for it and, in fact, grown-up enough for it. Among other revelations, director Michael Sucsy recounts how Barrymore hunted him down, making her case accompanied by an inches-thick binder of her personal Little Edie collection. I do understand the fascination with Edie, a S-T-A-U-N-C-H woman:

For her part, in the interview Barrymore discusses the process of the film, from makeup to accent to mental readiness. Since Edie has about two decades on Drew, it took five hours of makeup, wigs, and prosthetics to transform her. She also signed on for months of dialect coaching to master the speech cadences of a Long Island debutant from the 1930s. This, she says, was the hardest part for a Valley Girl: "In those days, there were no R's. I talk out of the side of my mouth, and she talks from the back of her throat. It's really a different language." … continue reading

UPDATE: Alison Lohman (White Oleander, Things We Lost in the Fire, Beowulf) has signed on to star in Drag Me to Hell. See the end of this post for more.

Drag Me to Hell, the new horror movie from Sam Raimi, has to find another actress to drag with it, as Ellen Page has dropped out.

The Oscar nominee's withdrawal is bad news for the film, which marks Raimi's return to directing the horror genre after seven-plus years in Spiderman country. Personally, I'd prefer that he return to the Xena genre. Yes, Xena gets a whole genre — any objections?

The official explanation for Page's withdrawal is that she had a scheduling conflict. Besides Drag, Page is cast in Drew Barrymore's roller derby comedy, Whip It! and Peacock, a thriller starring Cillian Murphy. Since most studios are trying to get films produced before a possible Screen Actors Guild strike on June 30, Page's schedule no doubt is packed. … continue reading

Recently, I have been contemplating getting another tattoo. After all, it has been scientifically proven that they are hot. Before I get inked, however, there are two things I have to decide on first: the design and the placement.

Now you see why I am holding out. There is nothing worse than a bad tattoo.

Let's be real, though: The design options are endless; the placement options are not. And what better way to decide where to permanently mark my body than by looking to celebrities for guidance? It seems to be the trend.

First, there's the old-school armband that Pamela Anderson made popular.

Her thoughts on body art?

"Tattoos are like stories — they're symbolic of the important moments in your life. Sitting down, talking about where you got each tattoo and what it symbolizes, is really beautiful."

But what exactly does barbed wire symbolize? Oh, right: There was that 1996 movie written by someone named Ilene Chaiken. But I digress.

Moving on, I present to you arms and wrists.

Clockwise from top left: Winona Ryder, Jessica Alba, Alanis Morissette and Tegan and Sara.

(See more of Tegan and Sara's tattoos here.)

Of course, I could follow the examples of Megan Fox, Alyssa Milano and Christina Ricci and choose the back of my shoulder. … continue reading

So you're watching a scary movie, and the expendable female character, who is probably blonde, is about to die. You know this because of (a) the Psycho-esque shrieking music, (b) the food, either in the microwave or stove, that is beginning to burn, or (c) it is starting to rain outside, and said female is trying to escape from her car but cannot hold onto her keys. The correct answer? Any or all of the above.

Ah, movie and TV clichés. We all know the things that happen only in the movies or on TV. If you've ever lived in a large city, you know that the Sex and the City girls had to be wearing some sort of taxi-attracting pheromone. That is, unless they were in danger, or having a bad day, or needing rescue by a man, in which case no cab would be available. Then they would have to walk, most likely in the rain.

This month, TVsquad.com and its readers have been tracking some favorite clichés. The lists made me chuckle enough that I thought I should share. Here are some of my favorites and my nominations.

Here's one that's bugged me for a while: “In bedroom scenes, men have sheets that reach their waist, but women have L-shaped sheets that come up to their chests.” No kidding! This is especially true on American TV. Heaven forbid we have a wardrobe malfunction and expose the country's children to the evils of the female body. (I know, some of this has to do with actresses who won't do nude or charge for it. But still. Double standard.) … continue reading

Yesterday, two new wax figures were unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London. The next time they visit the U.K., Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz can look into the abyss that is themselves sculpted in wax:

Eeek! Waxworks have always creeped me out, even before I'd seen House of Wax (BTW, the 1953 version is sooo much better than the 2005 remake). But because I sort of like to be creeped out, I considered this an opportunity to peruse some other photos of waxy celebrities.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:

Those could come in handy when you're just sick of campaigning. Also, doesn't that look like a winning ticket? … continue reading

Yesterday, Variety reported that Ellen Page has signed on to play a roller derby queen in Drew Barrymore's directing debut, Whip It!

I'm going to ignore the Variety headline for the moment ("Ellen Page to 'Whip It!' for Barrymore") because, well, eww and eyeroll. Let's focus on the plot summary: Page plays Bliss Cavendar, a blue-haired Texan misfit whose mother keeps pushing her into beauty pageants. Bliss "finds herself" when she joins a roller derby team.

This has so much potential, I don't even know where to begin. First, roller derby? Campy, retro and almost as gay as billiards! And it's about time somebody made a roller derby flick, so I can stop mourning that A&E series Rollergirls. … continue reading

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial turned 25 this year. OK, so this news immediately makes me want to do three things. 1) Phone home. 2) Eat Reese’s Pieces. 3) Scream. Kind of like this.

The phoning and eating are because of the nostalgia, and the screaming, well, that’s because of the oh-my-God E.T. is 25 years old. It’s hard not to freak out when a beloved touchstone from your childhood hits the quarter-century mark. The only thing keeping me from freaking out completely is seeing how ridiculously adorable Drew Barrymore looked in pigtails back then. … continue reading

Believe it or not, 2007 is quickly winding down. The new year will be upon us before you know it. As a result, I am currently trying to decide which new calendar will adorn my sparsely decorated cubicle in the coming year. Really, the idea of shopping around for a new calendar is the fault of Sporty, Posh and the rest of the Spice Girls. They will not be adorning my walls, but news of their new 2008 calendar is what prompted my train of thought.

Sure, they're not horrible to look at or anything, but the two-month reunion tour will be more than enough Spice Girls for me. A full 12 months would just be overkill in my world. Paris Hilton has a 2008 calendar too, but any time spent with her would be too much for me.

Instead, I'm thinking something more along the lines of Battlestar Galactica or The L Word. The only problem is, while my cubicle is sparsely decorated, I have room for only one 2008 calendar. And frankly, the options are almost endless. So, instead of shelling out my hard-earned cash for something published by someone else, I decided to create my own calendar for 2008. And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share my latest brainstorm with all of you? (A non-working one, that's what kind.) So, for your perusal and enjoyment, here is Siege's 2008 wall calendar.

January — Melissa Etheridge

Her voice alone would keep me warm on a cold January night in the Midwest, and frankly, it has. Oh, to be the lucky farm girl who gets to curl up next to this every night. … continue reading

More than once, we bloggers have lamented, or at least pondered, the phenomenon of musicals being made into movies and vice versa. Hairspray has seemed like the weirdest possible example, going as it did from campy film to cheerful stage musical to downright-ecstatic-and-still-campy movie musical. And then there's the film version of Mamma Mia!, which could be terrible, Meryl Streep notwithstanding. But yesterday, I saw some even crazier movie-to-musical-to-movie casting news.

Here it is: Drew Barrymore has been cast as Edie Bouvier Beale in HBO's adaptation of the bizarro documentary-turned-musical Grey Gardens.

Jessica Lange will play Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (the mother of Barrymore's character).

If you haven't seen the documentary or the Broadway musical, here's the usual summation: A mother and daughter — who just happen to be Jackie Kennedy's aunt and cousin — let their lives and their house go to ruin, invoking the ire of the local authorities and the shame of their famous family. A better way to summarize it is to tell you that Jenny Schecter once professed her deep love for the documentary. … continue reading

Ever wonder what it would be like to hang out with Hollywood superstars? I certainly do. I wonder sometimes who I would connect with in the land of air brushing and gluttony. Of course, I would much prefer to hang with the sane, rational people of La-La Land, not the Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears crowd.

So while wandering the web the other day, I found a site that lets me see just who I would connect with in the land of celebrity. I had some time to kill and couldn't resist giving it a go. Turns out I have good taste. My celebrity best friend is Drew Barrymore.

Think she’d be willing to join me for beer and pizza? … continue reading