Fairy Tale

There is a downside to winning American Idol. The victor can be profiled in a movie as dreadful as The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film premieres at 9 tonight on Lifetime, and Barrino's story would seem perfect fare for a cable channel dedicated to empowering women. The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale airs at 9 tonight on Lifetime; it repeats at 8 p.m. tomorrow and 9 p.m. Monday.

'Tis the season to rip fondly.(To the tune of "Frosty the Snowman")Arthur the owner.Is getting a new home.With PSLs and luxury suites.Now he won't need another loan.Arthur in the Super Bowl.Is a fairy tale they say.He brought the Browns.They played like clowns.Still the fans pay and pay!Ka-ching-a-ching-ching- ching.Ka-ching-a-ching-ching- ching.Look at Arthur go.Ka-ching-a-ching-ching- ching.Ka-ching-a-ching-ching- ching.Here comes all his dough!Peter the owner.Hates his manager every season.

Dan Rodricks' column "More rotten tomatoes for American workers" (Dec. 9) made a very important point. The fairy tale of trickle down economics is a cruel hoax that impoverishes most Americans while exacerbating the ever-increasing income disparity that afflicts our country. Candidate Barack Obama proclaimed that the Bush tax cuts "offend" his "conscience. " President Obama fails to point out the obvious, that President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy produced the worst job creation record of any president since Truman.

What's visionary is not always art, and vice versa.Bosnian Serbs were sold out by Serbia in the Dayton accord but will comply because their own army never existed. It was always Serbia's.With the collapse of the Powell and Specter balloons, moderate liberals have found their place in the Republican Party: outside, looking in.After she snared the Prince, Diana did not live happily ever after. Yet. This fairy tale is not over.

Which fairy tale was Susan Reimer reading? ("Al and Tipper: They break up, we suffer," June 7.) I cannot imagine spending even one chapter with the wooden, monotoned and artificial Al Gore. His life is about accumulating great wealth and living like a prince. That awkward kiss at the Democratic National Convention obviously turned Albert into a frog. May Tipper live happily ever after. Kathy Novak, Towson

Reviews for "Snow White and the Huntsman," a dark and violent retelling of the fairy tale, are all over the map. This movie follows the recent release of a comic adaptation -- "Mirror, Mirror" with Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane -- and they couldn't be more different. "Snow White and the Huntsman" is driven by special effects, and a vicious queen, played by Charlize Theron. Snow White (Kristen Stewart) is much more feisty too -- far, far from a naive fairy tale character. Sounds like a movie you will love or hate.

Anyone who proposes a film musical is undoubtedly aware of that costly 1982 flop "Annie," a textbook example of everything that can go wrong with such a project. Nonetheless, the producers of two forthcoming musicals believe that the sun will come out tomorrow and shine on their ventures.The producers of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" are planning "The Revenge of the Old Queen." It's not precisely a sequel to "RHPS," whose fans like to dress as their favorite characters and recite dialogue as the film runs.

The Emperor's Nightingale' See the mystical story of how the love of a songbird saves the life of a Chinese emperor, in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Emperor's Nightingale," Saturday, May 30 and May 31 at the Hannah More Arts Center. Enchanting original music highlights the play, as exotic sets of the Far East capture young people's minds and imaginations, in this Pumpkin Theatre production. A sign language interpreter will be present at the May 31 performance.

A former Maryland Penitentiary inmate has testified that he stabbed a correctional officer in self-defense after the guard entered his cell and threatened him with a knife."

This week's featured adaptation is "Mirror, Mirror," the humorous retelling of the Grimm fairy tale about Snow White and the jealous Queen, and reviews are encouraging. Of course, it won't have a chance of beating the debut of "The Hunger Games," which brought in more than $150 million in its opening weekend. But it looks like an entertaining treatment, and the cast has some star power with Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane. Here are excerpts from "Mirror, Mirror" reviews.