It's like a perfect storm of Cosmo approved clichés, so it's sort of not surprising that in the past year or so, Kate Hudson has appeared on the cover of pretty much every women's magazine under the sun, including W, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and of course, Cosmo. But it's not like Bride Wars is Hudson's first dip into the tasteless end of the cinematic pool.

On his blog Hollywood Elsewhere, movie critic Jeffery Wells says plainly, Kate Hudson has no taste. Though we all loved her as charming, winsome Penny Lane in Almost Famous, Wells asks, "Is there another actress out there whose name on a movie poster is a more reliable assurance you're going to have a dispiriting or lousy time in a theatre (or in your living room)?" Most recently it's been this terrible looking Bride Wars and the Dane Cook-co-staring fiasco My Best Friend's Girl, but in the years leading up to those dim bulbs, You, Me and Dupree,, The Skeleton Key, and How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days.

And Hathaway, despite a commanding performance in Rachel Getting Married, you're not off the hook either. Wells notes that her three most recent movies have had something to do with weddings: Rachel, Bride Wars, and according to MTV, now she's just signed on to do a film called The Fiance, about "a woman on the verge of walking down the aisle, who decides to cancel her wedding and dump her seemingly perfect fiance. She wants to figure out who she really is, and what she wants out of life. But unfortunately for her inner journey, her meddling parents attempt to patch things up between the couple, and she can’t move on."

Seriously? I know there is a dearth of good scripts out there for young actresses, but come on, Anne. I expected more from you. Kate I'm pretty sure has no talent, but you can actually act. Bride Wars comes out in January of next year, so at least we have a few months respite before the deluge of idiocy.

Saints Protect Us [Hollywood Elsewhere]
The Girl Has No Taste [Hollywood Elsewhere]
Anne Hathaway Has A New ‘Fiance’ [MTV]

A few shows do manage to feature women having conversations that are (gasp!) not about men: On 30 Rock, women talk about what's funny; on Brothers & Sisters, women discuss the family business. ABC Family's new show The Middleman has characters talking about art. As for movies, well, it was the summer of the dick flick.

The summer movies targeted toward women — Sex And The City, Mamma Mia and Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants — did not obey the Bechel Rule. And fall means the return of TV shows like Grey's Anatomy and Lipstick Jungle. Rule breakers!

But women love movies, and surely some women want to see women doing cool, kick ass stuff! Beware of the flicks you think have strong chicks in them: The movies probably made Cracked.com's list: Hollywood's 5 Saddest Attempts at Feminism.

The list includes Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings, Padme Amidala from the dreaded Star Wars prequels, River Tam from Firefly/Serenity, Catwoman from Batman Returns and Elizabeth Swan from Pirates Of The Caribbean. They each disappoint in their own special way: Eowyn trades the warrior life for married life; Padme cries and decides to die; River is crazy and always needs rescuing; Catwoman is too sexy to live; Elizabeth Swan is a "token" chick. Writes Jennifer Liang: "Why do all the boys want a piece of her sweet, boobless ass? Because she's literally the only woman available. It's either her or one of the members of the film's catering staff."

So basically, when women are in a story with other women, they end up talking about men; when they're in an action/adventure film with men, they ultimately fail as characters. Can you think of a movie that upholds the Bechdel Rule and manages not to be a total disappointment to women?

The 'Bechdel Rule,' Defining Pop-Culture Character [NPR]
Hollywood's 5 Saddest Attempts at Feminism [Cracked]

Sure, there's also an Angelina Jolie assassin film (Wanted) and Cameron Diaz stars with Ashton Kutcher in What Happens in Vegas, (which, as Dargis writes, is "a role that shrieks Brittany Murphy five years ago." But seriously. Where are the big-budget, quality films with women in them? Writes Ms. Dargis:

In 2008, when a white woman and a black man are running for president and attracting unprecedented numbers of voters partly because they are giving a face to the wildly under-represented, you might think that Hollywood would get a clue.

Earlier: Whatever Happened To The "Comedy Of Equals"?
Does The Female "Buddy" Movie Exist?
The Future Of Female Comedies May Sit Squarely On Tina Fey's Shoulders
Where The Hell Are The Strong Women?