Right off the bat, Finke admits she's not into lists, writing:

"Last year I was on Elle's Women in Hollywood power list; this year I was asked to write it. That's ironic, because I hate power lists more than one-size-fits-all spa robes. These influential jobs are not necessarily comparable. Are the casting directors I included more important than the cinematographers and film editors I didn't? So what I have is a very subjective roster of women I deem essential to a town run by alpha males who don't play well with others. Women in general do."

The List is split up into sections; there's The Movie Executives; The TV Executives; the awfully titled "The Wives & Daughters." But first and foremost there's The Talent — which includes Tyra Banks, Beyoncé, director Kathyrn Bigelow, Miley Cyrus, Ellen DeGeneres and Tina Fey. Also on that list? Michael Patrick King, whom Finke calls "2009's honorary female." Finke explains:

He gave us the best years of Sex and the City on TV and can be credited for reviving the chick flick in Hollywood when the movie version grossed $415 million.

The commenters on Women In Hollywood are split. One writes:

I just dislike that she left out a woman in order to include Michael Patrick King as an "honorary female". It is not good to be told that a man knows and produces women's films better than women.

But another replies:

That bugged me as well… but then I thought, well… It's the biggest film starring a cast of women of all time. He may not be a woman, but his film surely did something great for women in Hollywood, especially with a cast of women 40+.

Here's the question: If a man sympathetic to women is in power, is it as good as a woman in power? I'm going to go with: No. Because the more women pulling strings and making executive decisions the better. But since Finke makes a point about the SATC franchise being a powerhouse — and generates some buzz by including a man — she gets a pass from me. Disagree?

The Most Powerful Women in Hollywood According to Nikki Finke [Women In Hollywood]
Nikki Finke's Power List [Elle.com]
Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood

Earlier: Hollywood Heavy Nikki Finke: Victim Of Misogyny, And Misogynist Extraordinaire

But despite revisionists who have since accorded political meaning to director Meir Zarchi's grotty castrations and disembowelments, the producers at CineTel Films are apparently sticking to the straight crapsploitation playbook:

As reviled as it was when originally released, I Spit on Your Grave was a precursor to a slew of female revenge film hits, [CineTel president Paul] Hertzberg said. Contemporary genre fare has become so graphically violent that the original doesn't seem as outrageous as it did 30 years ago. Hertzberg is listening to pitches from writers on how to ratchet up the shock factor.

"After seeing what was done with an R rating on films like Saw and Hostel, we think we can modernize this story, be competitive with what this marketplace expects and not have to aim for an NC-17 or X rating," Hertzberg said.

Good for them, but let's hope they get really creative; what is Michael Patrick King doing with that first-look deal at DreamWorks, anyway?

• Cinetel set for 'Grave' remake [Variety]

The second time I was fired for being myself was when I was hired as the show runner in charge of a failing sitcom.

The then-head of the network (who has since been fired) pulled me aside and told me he thought the script was "a wash." I was, at that time, naive enough to believe that we were having an artistic discussion. So I responded: "I've got to tell you—insert name of fired network president here—I think you're wrong."

Said the president to the show runner: "Well, I hope you're right, because if you aren't, I'll bury this show and you." [...]

Which brings me to the next time I was fired...The project was a "girl-themed" television pilot before they were in the zeitgeist (in other words, B.S.—before "Sex and the City"). [...]

Over six weeks of production, I bit my tongue and nodded and cooperated and repressed my urge to blurt out the passionate and fatal: "I've got to tell you—insert name of another network president here—I think you're wrong."

"Insert name of fired network president here?" "A 'girl-themed' television pilot?" "Another network president?" It's like Mad Libs: Hollywood Revenge Edition. The guy has the record-shattering, number one movie at the box office: why is he so reluctant to name names? Is he worried Laurence Tisch is going to rise from the grave and take it all away for not having seen eye-to-eye during Cybill's tumultuous final seasons? We mean, Jesus Christ man—you've made it. You won. What's the good if you can't rub some noses in it?

• Michael Patrick King on being true to yourself [LAT]

"I did want an emotional roller-coaster but...Kill Mr. Big? I would have been chased around the planet by women with torches. It's a summer movie. Why would I want to kill anyone?"

Sarah Jessica Parker/Carrie Bradshaw: Not a chance. King claims women would chase him down with torches if Big bit it, but should the show's narrator and guiding light pass on after taking a cab that oh-so-glamorously crashes into Barneys or falls victim to a cocktail poisoned by some envious Vogue staffer, enraged SATC fans would hunt down King not with torches, but things like guns and machetes.

Cynthia Nixon/Miranda Hobbes: Nah. For one thing, Nixon recently revealed the fact that she went through a cancer scare back in 2004, so killing off Nixon's most famous role to date would just be plain cruel.

Kristin Davis/Charlotte York Goldenblatt: We've already heard she magically gets pregnant against all odds, and dying after giving birth could be seen as some kind of tragic but ironic plot twist. Fans have suffered through season after season hearing about Charlotte's baby-making anxiety, so the joy they'd feel knowing Char finally reached her stereotypically feminine life goal might nullify the sadness felt should she not pull through.

Kim Cattrall/Samantha Jones: If one of the four girls is really the killed-off character in question, we'd safely place our bets on Sam for two reasons: her character was diagnosed with cancer during the last season and though we were assured she eventually beat it, that's one disease with a temper, sadly capable of returning. Secondly, Samantha is the most controversial of the four; some fans love her for behaving like a man in a woman's body and boldly suggesting sleeping with every man in Manhattan is an example of feminists' success. But others just think she's a slutty bitch.

What we really think? It's Steve's mom. She's old, demented, eats garbage and despite being played by the worshipped and adored Anne Meara, it's just her character's time. Plus, Meara's take on the role is delightfully hateful: a beer-swilling, old-fashioned crazy kook whose voice makes us cringe.

• 'SEX AND THE CITY' DIRECTOR ADDRESSES DEATH RUMOR [CNN]