gemma arterton

Sure, we could review the standard lesbian-themed movies hitting various LGBT film fests around the country this summer -- and we will -- but with so few films that pointedly appeal to women in the world, it's time to find ways to reclaim Hollywood as our own. First up, Rebekah Allen reviews the big-screen Disney version of The Prince of Persia video game. And while Jake Gyllenhaal appeals to even gay ladies, it's Gemma Arterton that makes this blockbuster worth the price of admission.

First she created a role for herself as Kurt’s lesbian aunt on Glee and now Anne Hathaway has landed one of the most sought after roles since the American Lisbeth Salander. Anne joins a long list of ladies who’ve played Catwoman, now that she’s won the role in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, with Christian Bale. Anne joins Halle Berry, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eartha Kitt, Lee Merriwether and Julie Newmar as women who’ve inhabited the cat in the Batman series.

Hollywood’s fascination with girl culture in the hallowed halls of education, or its fascination with girls in plaid skirts, has a long history that could be traced to the landmark German film Mädchen in Uniform, in which a student and teacher in a girls’ school share an unusually close bond. From Madchen to D.E.B.S. to But I'm a Cheerleader, Foxfire, Higher Learning, Heathers and more, featuring Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie, Winona Ryder, Ally Sheedy, Lindsay Lohan and so on... Some feature lesbians and others are just strong female characters.