In these supposedly progressive times, gender equality is one of those touchy issues relegated to the last paragraph of a trend piece nobody reads. When Katherine Heigl suggested to Vanity Fair that Judd Apatow's movies were sexist, the assertion came across like an after-the-fact shrug of acceptance. Ever the galvanizing provocateur, New York Times critic Manohla Dargis confronts the issue head-on with a thorough analysis of the gender bias in this year's summer blockbusters.

With "Iron Man, Batman, Big Angry Green Man" and other massive expressions of virility invading the box office, female roles appear to be relegated to the back of the multiplex. Dargis touches on the rumors that Warner Bros head Jeff Robinov believes no woman has been able to sell a movie since Julia Roberts (a point that Natalie Portman might contest, but not Paris Hilton) before sizing up numerous upcoming studio releases, with particular attention paid to Anna Faris, "who could be the next Judy Holliday but without the right material will, alas, probably end up the next Brittany Murphy." It's the kind of pronouncement that hits you in gut.

Freaky Friday isn't the only movie where switching skin leads to a better understanding of a family member. In 1996, there was Wish Upon a Star, and it featured Katherine Heigl as Alexia, the older, popular, and way-too-purple-clad sister of Danielle Harris' nerdy Hayley. (Harris played the goth Tosh in Urban Legend.) Little sis wishes on a comet, hoping to get a little bit of Alexia's life and poof! They switch places!

Above you can check out the opening of the movie, where Heigl's character covers herself in pastels and gets ready for school. Obviously it's a school a lot more laid back than the one I went to, since she wears a barely-there mini shirt and stomach-baring tank top. It looks like she's trying out for a part in Clueless. If you can't get enough of a teen Heigl, head after the jump and see the sisters realize that they've switched bodies.

After being a bit unhappy with some of the portrayals in Knocked Up, what does Katherine Heigl do? She signs on to star in a new romcom called The Ugly Truth, which Christopher Campbell told you about in November. The flick will focus on a "romantically challenged" morning show producer who deals with a chauvinistic correspondent trying to teach her how to find love. There's nothing like saying Knocked Up is sexist and then signing up for a movie where she gets taught love by a chauvinist.

Now Variety reports that Gerard Butler will be the guy to "guide" her. He's going to play a man called Mike Alexander, who is the "host of a TV segment titled 'The Ugly Truth.'" Heigl's character is "reluctantly embroiled by her chauvinistic correspondent (Butler) in a series of outrageous tests to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love." Well, I guess he was just done with all that uber thoughtfulness from P.S. I Love You.

To give a little credit to the project -- it's teaming director Robert Luketic with writers Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith -- they're the team behind Legally Blonde, which was a surprisingly fun film that cut through a lot of stereotypes. But still. A film where a man who finds women, or whose behavior indicates that he finds them, to be inferior teaches a smart, successful, and attractive woman how to find love is condescendingly passe.

If, however, the description is painting a falsely poor light on the film, I sure hope they correct it soon.

Judging by choreographer/director Anne Fletcher's choice of projects, she must have a thing for weddings. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Fletcher, who directed Katherine Heigl's latest foray into interchangeable romantic comedies (27 Dresses), has signed to direct another rom-com called The Proposal. Proposal stars Sandra Bullock as a publishing executive trying to avoid deportation to Canada by marrying her assistant (played by Ryan Reynolds). So, like most career women in the movies, she is demanding and bullying and pretty much forces her assistant up the aisle -- although if my assistant had abs like Reynolds I might do the same thing.

Peter Chiarelli penned the script and while Reynolds and Bullock have been attached to the project since last May, it took Touchstone some time to find the right director. Fletcher started her career as a dancer and a choreographer, and finally made her directing debut with Step Up (a teen dance flick). Keeping with her strengths, she will. Fletcher told THR, "The Proposal has great physical comedy, which I for one, and I think a lot of other people, love seeing Sandy in. Ryan has great physical comedy skills too, and I always thought, why isn't he doing romantic comedies? So I'm excited to get my fingers into this."

Physical comedy is great and all, but am I the only one who would appreciate a moratorium on wedding comedies for awhile? I know I'm not the only one who thought that 27 Dresses premise was a little, shall we say, 'retrograde' for a modern romantic comedy. Maybe I've just come to expect a little more than tired clichés about bitter career woman and matrimonial fulfillment. The Proposal is scheduled to begin production this spring and will be released in 2009.

Not long ago, Katherine Heigl was at the center of controversy after she had some choice words for the film that helped kick-start her big-screen career in a BIG way. That film was Knocked Up. And we had some choice words for her. Now, however, the gal is back in 27 Dresses, co-starring one of my favorite New Yawkers, Eddie Burns, and you can watch the two interview one another as part of Moviefone's latest Unscripted installment. After watching the video, I have to say Heigl is definitely back in my good graces. To say she's just a tad -- hmmm -- risque in this piece is a bit of an understatement. Case in point: Watch the part when they talk about Heigl's Emmy Award and the many different ways she utilizes it. I'd like to think she was joking. If not, then ... umm, yeah. Watch it yourself.

Their conversation doesn't stray too far from the movie, weddings, funky bachelorette parties and whether Heigl was a better kisser than Burns' wife Christy Turlington, but there's a fun, personal vibe there that's worth a watch. And for some reason, I came away from the whole thing with an urge to hang out with Heigl's father. Strange, I know, but you'll have to watch it to see what I'm talking about. 27 Dresses arrives in theaters on January 18, and you can check out their Moviefone Unscripted chat right over here.

Raise your hand if you watched the trailer for 27 Dresses and immediately thought a) "I have to see this movie," and b) "TELL NO ONE."

Feel not ashamed. As a lifelong watcher of chick flicks, I consider myself something of an expert on the genre (a dubious distinction, to be sure), and this one looks like it's got legs, so to speak. For one thing, it stars Katherine Heigl -- the hot and hilarious (hey, that's my band name!) star of this summer's comedy hit Knocked Up, who also just won an Emmy for her work on Grey's Anatomy -- as a single young woman who's always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Even better, 27 Dresses co-stars James Marsden as the love interest, and it's about damn time, too. For once he's not playing the nice guy who gets his heart broken by the fickle heroine; and while he may have to compete with Edward Burns, as Heigl's unattainable boss, that dude's cake compared with Superman, Wolverine, Ryan Gosling and McDreamy.

Katherine Heigl and James Marsden will be interviewing each other for Moviefone's Unscripted series at the end of this week, and we need your questions to help the sparks fly. Based on Marsden's outstanding performance in Hairspray, I suspect he's nothing like some of the wimpy guys he'd played -- and here's our chance to find out. Submit a question for either Heigl or Marsden, then check here on January 7 to see if your submission made it to air. And no, "What in God's name does Izzie see in George?" doesn't count.

Here's the most recent example of our Unscripted series, by the way: Will Smith and his 'I Am Legend' director Francis Lawrence chat about how Stars Wars changed Smith's life, and what makes Smith sexy (apparently, it's tons of makeup -- I KNEW it!). Thanks to everyone who wrote in and contributed.

To ask a question of Katherine Heigl or James Marsden, leave it here in the comments or text one to AskCelebs@aol.com (brought to you by Verizon Wireless). Please provide your first name and your city and state, and if you're looking for inspiration, then take a look at some of our past Unscripted interviews here. Good luck!

What happens when you make a few lame comments about the film that skyrocketed your per flick payday from $300,000 to $6 million? Well, you call up People Magazine and "clarify" your statements. Yes, we're talking about Knocked Up's Katherine Heigl, who, while speaking to Vanity Fair magazine recently, called one of this year's funniest films "a little sexist." She then added, "It paints women as shrews, as humorless and uptight and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It was hard for me to love the movie." Now when her comments first hit the net, I wrote a somewhat scathing post bashing Heigl for, well, bashing the film that "made her." I also said that, if anything, it was the men in the film who came off as idiots; as guys who either couldn't commit to their wives or had absolutely zero motivation in life. The two prominent women (Heigl and Leslie Mann ) were strong female role models, in my opinion. One was a successful mother, while the other was a motivated career gal.

After I wrote the post, I had plenty of people who went the whole "her comments were taken out of context" route. And that may be the case. In a new interview with People, she does allude to the fact that her statements were (kind of, sort of) taken out of context. She says, "I was responding to previous reviews about the movie the interviewer brought to my attention. My motive was to encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously and to remember that it's a broad comedy." Wait, where in those comments does she "encourage other women like myself to not take that element of the movie too seriously and to remember that it's a broad comedy." I missed that part.

But anyway, Heigl later goes on to say, "Although I stand behind my opinion, I'm disheartened that it has become the focus of my experience with the movie. The truth is, it was the best filming experience of my career. Every person that was a part of making Knocked Up helped to encourage, support and inspire me. I never intended for anyone to think otherwise." Fair enough. She still thinks the film is sexist, but she had a great time making it. Should we let her off the hook?

Katherine Heigl in Pictures:

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Though she co-starred in one of the biggest (and most enjoyable) films of the year -- in a role that catapulted her from that chick on Grey's Anatomy to mega movie star -- Katherine Heigl has decided to turn around and take a giant dump on the film that "made" her. In a new interview with Vanity Fair (via Us Magazine), the actress called Knocked Up "a little sexist" and adds: "It paints women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as goofy, fun-loving guys. It was hard for me to love the movie." And your point is? First up, has Heigl ever watched a romantic comedy before? Doesn't she know that not all the characters can play freaks and geeks -- that some have to play it straight in order to up the conflict, the tension and the comedy? And what's wrong with being goofy and fun-loving? Isn't that the whole point of the film -- that Heigl plays a career gal on her way to a great promotion when she gets "knocked up" by a moron?

Seriously now, if she wants to go that route, then Rogen and Rudd could easily comment and say the film portrays all men as morons; as guys who don't want to commit, who hate their lives and who have no clear goals at all. If anything, Heigl and Leslie Mann are the most level-headed out of the whole lot. I don't see that as being "uptight," I see that as being stressed out that you just received a promotion only to find out that your idiotic one-night-stand knocked you up. I mean, what was her character supposed to do in that situation? Smoke a joint and play Nintendo? Reality check for Heigl: Guys obsess over sex. The website they wanted to create is a real website that exists in the real world. These characters were based, in some ways, on real people. I hate it when these actors and actresses trash a film they were in without saying what they would've done to correct the situation. Katherine Heigl thinks Knocked Up was sexist? Well I think 27 Dresses looks like absolute sh*t. Prove me wrong.

Earlier this year, in Knocked Up, Katherine Heigl played a television personality for E! But her character started out in a behind-the-camera role, despite the fact that she's a knock-out beauty. Now, according to Variety, the actress has been cast in a similar part. She'll play an off-screen producer of a morning show, who also happens to be "romantically challenged," in the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth, in which she must deal with a "chauvinistic" correspondent attempting to teach her how to find love. Here's where the plot description makes little sense: "His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result." Unexpected? I think we all can easily predict and expect the result as being that Heigl's character falls for the correspondent. Anyone who has ever seen a screwball romantic comedy can see that one coming a mile away. When is Hollywood going to just own up to the fact that they use genre conventions and that we in the audience enjoy genre conventions (and have enjoyed them for a century now) and leave out the "unexpected" crap? Who do they think they're kidding?

The sad thing is that this not only sounds like another genre picture; it actually sounds more like the plot of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy. But fans of that movie may not be interested in The Ugly Truth, which is being made by the collaborative team behind Legally Blonde. The script was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kristen Smith, who last gave us She's the Man (which I'm still not ashamed to admit I enjoyed), and it will be directed by Robert Luketic, whose last movie was Monster-in-Law (which I'm still not ashamed to admit I would never ever watch). Filming is set to begin mid-April. All we need now is a hot, irresistible, but believably chauvinistic actor to play the obvious love interest.

When we usually hear about motherly involvement in Hollywood, it's of the dysfunctional variety. During LiLo's big bust and drug kerfuffle, mom Dina was raked over the coals, just as much as Lindsay was, for her bad parenting. It's pretty sad that it's actually surprising to hear of a mom and daughter pair that's not partying together, struggling over money, or in court for legal emancipation. Leading the functional pack is Knocked Up star Katherine Heigl. She recently started a production company with her mom, Nancy, and Variety is reporting that they've optioned the rights to Lost & Found, a novel by Jacqueline Sheehan.

The second canine novel adaptation in recent months, it's about a woman named Rocky who drastically changes her life after the death of her husband. She leaves her job as a psychologist, moves to Maine, and becomes, of all things, an Animal Control Warden. The first dog she picks up is a black Lab with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Rocky keeps the dog, befriends an anorexic teen and an archery instructor, and tries to figure out the mystery behind the arrow -- which leads to a twist when she figures out the dog's previous owner. I hope that doesn't mean her new archery instructor friend isn't the dude, because that would be pitifully obvious. There is no word on a screenwriter, or whether the actress will take on the lead role herself. I imagine that decision will have a lot to do with schedules and strikes. If you're a fan rabbid for more Katherine, she's still got Grey's Anatomy, as well as that upcoming romcom, 27 Dresses, which premieres next year.

She's come a long way since playing daughter to Gérard Depardieu and Steven Seagal. Now Katherine Heigl is a full-blown movie star, thanks in part to her recent role in Knocked Up and soon to be confirmed with the rom-com 27 Dresses. So, now that she's a movie star she needs that thing that all movie stars have these days: her own production company. And now she's got one, which she co-founded with her mother/manager, Nancy Heigl. Apparently, it either hasn't been named yet or it wasn't revealed to The Hollywood Reporter, but the company does have an inaugural project lined up. But it doesn't have a name either. And its plot is -- big surprise -- top secret. All that is known about it is that it's an action-comedy, it was set up at Fox 2000, and Spyglass Entertainment (Evan Almighty) and Nash Entertainment (TV's Who Wants to Be a Superhero?) are co-producing.

It was Nash's Bob Kosberg (producer of Deep Blue Sea) and his former writing partner David Simon (In the Mood) who pitched the idea to Heigl, who will star as well as produce. The duo, who I'm imagining as being like Richard E. Grant and Dean Stockwell in The Player, actually approached the actress -- after pitching to her agent, of course -- during a Knocked Up press junket, where Heigl must have initially thought the guys were journalists (I expect some junket-attending blogger to attempt this plan of action now). From there the Heigls decided to start their own company and made a deal with Fox 2000 and Spyglass, the makers of 27 Dresses. It all seems so easy. While I can't imagine the actress being an action star, I'm curious to find out more about the project. It may be awhile, though, as the movie is still in the writer-search stage.

I was hopelessly ensared in the world of The 40-Year-Old Virgin the minute I saw that poster. Both simplistic, yet telling, Steve Carrell's smiling face with hopefully arched eyebrows, hair slicked back and a golf shirt said just as much as the film's title. You knew what you needed to know, and you knew that you'd get what was expected. Now Knocked Up is here, and while Seth Rogen's similar picture isn't as epic, it doesn't really matter because we all know that Judd Apatow has a talent for delivering the laughs, and heck, even the reviewers agree.

If you took out the particulars in those little blurbs over at Rotten Tomatoes, and left just the flowering praise, you'd think this could possibly be the best movie ever made, and definitely Oscar-worthy. Mashing it all up, Apatow's latest is an era-defining, uproarious and brilliantly-deceptive comedy that has earned him the honor of chief chronicler of modern family life. The film is a gleeful triumph that looks effortless, yet is a deceptively sophisticated meditation on moral agency. It's heartfelt, comic chicken soup with an elegance of form, and might just be an act of subversive genius. You get the idea. Almost everyone loves it, and the negative make it refreshing since it's so different from the flock that you have to wonder if it's just not their cup of tea, or they went to see it after getting cancer of the puppy -- for example, Roger Moore thinks it's "a tone-deaf skip down parenthood lane." I guess you can't make everyone happy. But at least critics and casual moviegoers can skip down the lane hand-in-hand for the next little while.

I've never been a fan of Ed Burns as a filmmaker, but I do kinda like him as an actor. I say "kinda," though, because I haven't had the urge to see him in much since Saving Private Ryan. In fact, as much as I dislike his work as a writer-director, I'm more willing to see his own films in order to see his acting work, than to see other people's films he stars in. I think I'd even see She's the One again before I see A Sound of Thunder or Life or Something Like It. Sure, I only really kinda like him for one role, which had the benefit of Spielberg's direction, but I do believe he is fully capable of being in another great film.

That great film may be awhile yet, as he's just signed on to another film I probably won't bother seeing: 27 Dresses. The romantic comedy, which Monika Bartyzel did an amazing job of telling us about in March, will feature Burns as a man about to marry one sister (Malik Akerman) while being the object of affection of another sister (Katherine Heigl). With this casting news, we are now left wondering how costar James Marsden will fit in to the story. My guess: he plays the guy who Heigl falls in love with once she realizes she can't have her future brother-in-law. 27 Dresses has been written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who last adapted The Devil Wears Prada, rewritten by Dana Fox, who already gave us one wedding rom-com (The Wedding Date) and is being directed by dancer-turned-choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher. If you like the sound of that mix of talent, you may want to check out 27 Dresses. As for me, I might just try my luck with Burns' new film, Purple Violets, which premiered Monday at the Tribeca Film Festival.

While her day-to-day job on Grey's Anatomy seems to less-than-cheery, what with arguments, insults, unrest and pay struggles, Katherine Heigl can at least let out a smile about her side job. She made a stellar professional decision to co-star in Knocked Up, which Scott Weinberg raved about from SXSW. If you can be funny, and you're looking to step into film, there's really no better way right now than to hop on the Judd Apatow train. Now the tow-headed actress is signing on for a more typical romantic comedy -- 27 Dresses. At this rate, I give Heigl a year before she turns into the next Sandra Bullock.

The flick isn't some sort of fashion comedy, but rather the cinematic version of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." Heigl will star as a young, single woman who has taken on the wedding side-job 27 times, and must be super best friends with an entire sorority, or be part of the Cheaper by the Dozen house. When she's offered her 28th trip down the aisle, it's for her sister, who is marrying the man she is in love with. Well, no wonder she's single if she's sitting around pining after her sister's man. Hopefully it's one of those tales where she comes to her senses, rather than her trying to steal her husband's man, or her having a sister who is written as wicked and unworthy. There are only so many Cinderella nods we can take! The original script was written by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada), with a re-write by Dana Fox, and it will be directed by Step Up helmer Anne Fletcher. The latter is also a choreographer, so does anyone want to bet on the chances that there is some sort of dance number in the movie? Production is set to begin this May in New York City and Rhode Island.

It really is a testament to the writing talents of Judd Apatow that he could take such a simplistically "sitcommy" concept like "slacker slob unexpectedly impregnates an upwardly-mobile young hottie" and turn it into such a warm, witty and frequently drop-dead hilarious motion picture. Clocking in at well over two glorious hours in length, Knocked Up is yet another brilliant little winner from the man who brought you The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared -- thereby proving that network television's loss is cinema's massive gain.

Seth Rogen, generally known as a scene-stealing "support" performer, delivers a star-making turn as Ben Stone, a pot-smokin' web designer who shares a house with four over-baked buddies. But when a chance encounter with a girl way out of his league turns into a night of drunken sex, Ben discovers that he's about to be a daddy -- and to say that the guy's unprepared for the responsibility would be a stunning example of understatement. As the beautiful Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) grows ever rounder, moodier and more hormonal, Ben turns from a funny-yet-irresponsible pothead into a very funny-yet-slightly more responsible pothead. Meanwhile, Alison's sister and brother-in-law struggle with their own marriage and Ben's buddies struggle with the idea that one of their crew has grown up.