Some of these are biographies, some are 'What Ifs...' and some are just good old-fashioned fiction.  Either way, each of these movies highlight a brilliant author as one of the main characters and give us a look in to what could have happened...

Anonymous (2011)

AUTHOR/WRITER: William Shakespeare
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Rafe Spall

PLOT: A political thriller advancing the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays; set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her.

ACTORS: Vanessa Redgrave, Rhys Ifans, Jamie Campbell Bower

Becoming Jane (2007)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Jane Austen
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Anne Hathaway

PLOT: A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.

ACTORS: James McAvoy, Maggie Smith

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

AUTHORS/WRITERS: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
PLAYING THE AUTHORS: Matt Damon and Heath Ledger

PLOT: Will and Jake Grimm are travelling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires genuine courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.

ACTORS: Lena Headey, Monica Bellucci

Capote (2005)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Truman Capote
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Philip Seymour Hoffman

PLOT: During his research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family, writer Truman Capote develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers.

ACTORS: Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr

FairyTale: A True Story (1997)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Peter O'Toole

PLOT: Based on factual accounts, this is the story of two girls that have the ability to take pictures of winged beings... which certainly causes quite a stir throughout England during the time of the first World War. Everyone is excited about this "photographic proof" that fairies exist... even the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini pay the girls a visit.

ACTORS: Harvey Keitel, Bill Nighy

Finding Neverland (2004)

AUTHOR/WRITER: J.M. Barrie
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Johnny Depp

PLOT: The Story of J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.

ACTORS: Kate Winslet, Radha Mitchell, Dustin Hoffman

Gothic (1986)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Mary Shelley
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Natasha Richardson

PLOT: Story of the night that Mary Shelley gave birth to the horror classic "Frankenstein." Disturbed drug induced games are played and ghost stories are told one rainy night at the mad Lord Byron's country estate. Mary finds herself drawn into the sick world of her lover Shelley and cousin Claire as Byron leads them all down the dark paths of their souls.

ACTORS: Julian Sands, Gabriel Byrne

Hans Christian Andersen (1952)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Hans Christian Andersen
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Danny Kaye

PLOT: Once upon a time there lived in Denmark a great storyteller named Hans Christian Andersen. This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about the great spinner of fairy tales.

ACTORS: Farley Granger

The Hours (2002)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Virginia Woolf
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Nicole Kidman

PLOT: The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.

ACTORS: Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly

Miss Potter (2006)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Beatrix Potter
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Renee Zellweger

PLOT: The story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children's book, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", and her struggle for love, happiness and success.

ACTORS: Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Joe Orton
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Gary Oldman

PLOT: Based on the book by theater critic John Lahr, this unadorned biography of playwright Joe Orton charts his bawdy, dangerous relationships. The hilarity of scenes from such Orton plays as Loot and What the Butler Saw is evenly balanced by the bleakness of the playwright's tormented (and tormenting) off-stage existence.

ACTORS: Alfred Molina, Wallace Shawn, Vanessa Redgrave

The Raven (2012)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Edgar Allan Poe
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: John Cusack

PLOT: A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet pursues a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.

ACTORS: Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson

The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000) TV Series

AUTHOR/WRITER: Jules Verne
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Chris Demetral

PLOT: The fantastic steampunk adventures of the future science fiction writer and his friends, the Foggs and Passepartout.

ACTORS: Francesca Hunt, Michael Praed

Shadowlands (1993)

AUTHOR/WRITER: C.S. Lewis
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Anthony Hopkins

PLOT: C.S. Lewis, a world-renowned writer and professor, leads a passionless life until he meets spirited poet Joy Gresham.

ACTORS: Debra Winger

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

AUTHOR/WRITER: William Shakespeare
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Joseph Fiennes

PLOT: A young Shakespeare, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.

ACTORS: Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench

Time After Time (1979)

AUTHOR/WRITER: H.G. Wells
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Malcolm McDowell

PLOT: H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to the 20th Century when the serial murderer uses the future writer's time machine to escape his time period.

ACTORS: Mary Steenburgen, David Warner

Tom & Viv (1994)

AUTHOR/WRITER: T.S. Eliot
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Willem Dafoe

PLOT: In 1915, T.S. (Tom) Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood elope, but her longstanding gynecological and emotional problems disrupt their planned honeymoon. Her father is angry because Tom's poetry doesn't bring in enough to live on, but her mother is happy Viv has found a tender and discreet husband.

ACTORS: Miranda Richardson

Wilde (1997)

AUTHOR/WRITER: Oscar Wilde
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Stephen Fry

PLOT: The story of Oscar Wilde, genius, poet, playwright and the First Modern Man. The self-realization of his homosexuality caused Wilde enormous torment as he juggled marriage, fatherhood and responsibility with his obsessive love for Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed Bosie.

ACTORS: Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Sheen

Will Shakespeare (1978)

AUTHOR/WRITER: William Shakespeare
PLAYING THE AUTHOR: Tim Curry

PLOT: A 1978 historical drama serries created and written by John Mortimer. Broadcast in six parts, the series is a dramatisation of the life of William Shakespeare.

ACTORS: Dick Burbage

If you don't love a good zombie flick, we can't help you.  These are the zombie movies that give us everything we love about the genre as well as lots and lots of laughter...

Boy Eats Girl (2005)

PLOT: A boy declares his love for his girlfriend, only to die the same night. He is brought back to life by his mother as a flesh-craving zombie, who sires more teen undead while trying to control his, er, appetite for his beloved.

ACTORS: Samantha Mumba, David Leon

C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)

PLOT: A military experiment to create a race of super-warriors go awry, and legions of murderous zombies are unleased upon a surburan neighborhood.

ACTORS: Brian Robbins, Tricia Leigh Fisher

SIDE NOTE: The original 'C.H.U.D' was about cannibal huminoid underground dwellers.  This movie was originally written as a sequel to 'Return of the Living Dead'.  Huh.

Dance of the Dead (2008)

PLOT: On the night of the big High-School Prom, the dead rise to eat the living, and the only people who can stop them are the losers who couldn't get dates to the dance.

ACTORS: Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick

Dead Alive (1992)

PLOT: A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.

ACTORS: Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver

Dead Heat (1988)

PLOT: Seems some nutcase has learned how to bring back the dead and is sending them on crime sprees. Now these indestructable goons are in the way of officers Mortis and Bigelow. To even things up, when Mortis is killed (in the line of duty, of course) he gets a jump start from the Resurrection machine and takes the fight to the zombie bad guys.

ACTORS: Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo

Fido (2006)

PLOT: Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family.

ACTORS: Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dylan Baker, Tim Blake Nelson

My Boyfriend's Back (1993)

PLOT: Missy McCloud is the most beautiful girl in school and Johnny Dingle has been in love with her for years. One night, Johnny is killed trying to win her over, and soon he comes back from the dead, and wins Missy's heart.

ACTORS: Andrew Lowery, Traci Lind

Night of the Living Dorks (2004)

PLOT: Three not-so-cool school friends decide to try a old voodoo ritual. Later, they die in a car accident, but live on as zombies. But being a zombie has advantages, too...

ACTORS: Tino Mewes, Manuel Cortez, Thomas Schmieder

Return of the Living Dead (1985)

PLOT: When a bumbling pair of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to re-animate as they go on a rampage through Louisville, Kentucky seeking their favorite food, brains.

ACTORS: Linnea Quigley, Clu Gulager, Jewel Shepard

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

PLOT: A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.

ACTORS: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy

Zombieland (2009)

PLOT: A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, and a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the Last Twinkie and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.

ACTORS: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson

Zombie Strippers! (2008)

PLOT: In the not too distant future a secret government re-animation chemo-virus gets released into an underground strip club. As the virus begins to spread, turning the strippers into "Super Zombie Strippers" the girls struggle with whether or not to conform to the new "fad" even if it means there's no turning back.

ACTORS: Jenna Jameson, Robert Englund

This is a collection of films that have the 'cabin in the woods' story.  A group of kids get together to go camping or get a flat tire or take a 'wrong turn'.  Somehow, this group of incredibly stupid people end up at a cabin in the woods where most of them (if not all) die terrible, horrible deaths.  So, in honor of the upcoming film 'Cabin in the Woods' from Joss Whedon, here are the films that were the stepping stones for the sub-genre.

Antichrist (2009)

PLOT: A grieving couple retreats to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.

ACTORS: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg

The Burning (1981)

PLOT: A janitor at a summer camp is accidentally burned severely from a prank. Years later, he is released from an institute, and returns to the camp with a pair of hedge clippers to take revenge on the campers.

ACTORS: Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander

Cabin Fever (2002)

PLOT: A group of five college graduates rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a horrifying flesh-eating virus, which attracts the unwanted attention of the homicidal locals.

ACTORS: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd

SEQUELS: Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)

Cabin in the Woods (2012)

PLOT: Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen.

ACTORS: Chris Hemsworth, Amy Acker and Jodelle Ferland

Dead Snow (2009)

PLOT: A group of medical students decide to spend Easter vacation in a secluded cabin amongst the snowy mountains of Norway. After a late night visit from a mysterious stranger, they soon find themselves confronting an unspeakable horror; Nazi Zombies.

ACTORS: Jeppe Laursen, Charlotte Frogner

Dog Soldiers (2002)

PLOT: A group of soldiers, on a training mission in the Scottish Highlands, are lured to a cabin only to find that they are the bait being used to capture a pack of werewolves.

ACTORS: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd

SEQUELS: Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat (2014)

The Evil Dead (1981)

PLOT: Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

ACTORS: Bruce Campbell

SEQUELS:  Evil Dead II (1987), Army of Darkness (1992), The Evil Dead (2013)

Friday the 13th (1980)

PLOT: Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to re-open a summer camp that was the site of a child's drowning.

ACTORS: Kevin Bacon, Betsy Palmer

SEQUELS: Friday the 13th Part II (1981), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Jason Goes to Hell (1993), Jason X (2001), Friday the 13th (2009)

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

PLOT: Slightly disturbed and painfully shy Angela Baker is sent away to summer camp with her cousin. Not long after Angela's arrival, things start to go horribly wrong for anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions.

ACTORS: Felissa Rose

SEQUELS: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988), Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (1989)

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

PLOT: Tucker & Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids.

ACTORS: Taylor Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden

Wrong Turn (2003)

PLOT: Six people find themselves trapped in the woods of West Virginia, hunted down by "cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding."

ACTORS: Eliza Dushku, Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Zegers

SEQUELS: Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007), Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009), Wrong Turn 4 (2011)

This is a list of fairy tale movies taking place in a modern-day setting that are targeting a teenage/adult audience.  If you can think of any that got left out, feel free to comment!

AQUAMARINE (2006) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale.

PLOT: After a vicious storm, half the ocean washes into the beach club swimming pool. Two teenagers, Haley and Claire, discover a mermaid in the pool. She tells them that she needs to find love in three days, and they agree to help her because helping a mermaid means you get a wish, and they decide that they can use their wish to try and stop Haley from moving to Australia.

ACTORS: Sara Paxton, Emma Roberts, JoJo Levesque and Arielle Kebbel

BEASTLY (2011) FILM

BASED ON: Beauty & the Beast

PLOT: Kyle thinks he is God's gift at his high school. He plays a prank on a fellow high school student, Kendra who, unbeknown to him is a witch. Kendra teaches him a lesson by putting a curse on him making him as beastly on the outside as he is on the inside. He has one year to find someone to fall in love with him or stay like that forever.

ACTORS: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris

BIG FISH (2003) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale from Tim Burton.

PLOT: The story revolves around a dying father and his son, who is trying to learn more about his dad by piecing together the stories he has gathered over the years. The son winds up re-creating his father's elusive life in a series of legends and myths inspired by the few facts he knows. Through these tales, the son begins to understand his father's great feats and his great failings.

ACTORS: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Alison Lohman and Jessica Lange

CHOCOLAT (2000) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale.

PLOT: Vianne Rocher and her young daughter are drifters who are met with skepticism and resistance when they move to a conservative town in rural France and open a chocolate shop during Lent. As Vianne begins to work her magic and help those around her, the townspeople are soon won-over by her exuberance and her delicious chocolates - except for the mayor, who is determined to shut her down.

ACTORS: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina and Judi Dench

A CINDERELLA STORY (2004) FILM

BASED ON: Cinderella

PLOT: Sam Montgomery is a tomboyish, unpopular girl at school. She has been text messaging a somebody named Nomad for a few months and he asks her to meet him at the Halloween dance at 11:00 in the middle of the dance floor. Before Nomad can found out who she is, she must leave to get back to the diner, run by her stepmother.  After that night, everything in Sam's life changes.

ACTORS: Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale by Tim Burton.

PLOT: In a castle high on top of a hill lives an inventor's greatest creation - Edward, a near-complete person. The creator died before he could finish Edward's hands; instead, Edward is left with metal scissors for hands. Since then, Edward has lived alone, until a kind lady called Peg discovers Edward and welcomes him into her home. At first, everyone welcomes Edward into the community, but soon things begin to take a change for the worse.

ACTORS: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Anthony Michael Hall

ENCHANTED (2007) FILM

BASED ON: Original Disney fairy tale.

PLOT: The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

ACTORS: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey and Susan Sarandon

FREEWAY (1996) FILM

BASED ON: Red Riding Hood

PLOT: After her mom and step-dad are arrested, 15-year-old Vanessa Lutz decides that instead of once again being put into a foster home, she'd rather go and search for the grandmother she's never met, and live with her. Vanessa's car breaks down, and she's picked up from the side of the road by Bob Wolverton, a counselor at a school for troubled boys. Bob slowly earns Vanessa's trust, and eventually convinces her to talk about her sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. When Vanessa realizes that Bob is enjoying what she's saying, she realizes that he's "The I-5 Killer," from the news. She tries to get out of his truck, but the inside door handle has been removed...

ACTORS: Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland

GRIMM (2011) TV SHOW

BASED ON: Grimm's fairy tales.

PLOT: Portland detective, Nick Burkhardt, has seen some gruesome crime scenes, but nothing prepares him for the strange visions he begins seeing: seemingly regular people momentarily transforming into hideous monsters. A visit from his only living relative reveals the truth. Nick has inherited the ability to see supernatural creatures, and as a "Grimm," he is tasked with keeping the balance between mankind and the mythological. A reformed "Big Bad Wolf" becomes his greatest (and also reluctant) ally and confidant. It's not long before his work as a policeman leads Nick to the criminals he once thought were only found in fairy tales.

ACTORS: David Giuntoli and Russel Hornsby

HOOK (1991) FILM

BASED ON: Peter Pan

PLOT: Peter Pan has grown up to be a cut-throat merger and acquisitions lawyer, and is married to Wendy's granddaughter. Captain Hook kidnaps his children, and Peter returns to Never Land with Tinkerbell. With the help of her and the Lost Boys, he must remember how to be Peter Pan again in order to save his children by battling with Captain Hook once again.

ACTORS: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (2009) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale by Terry Gilliam

PLOT: In London, the sideshow troupe of Doctor Parnassus promises the audience a journey to the "Imaginarium", an imaginary world commanded by the mind of Doctor Parnassus, where dreams come true. He made a deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth. As part of the bargain, he promised his son or daughter to Mr. Nick on their sixteenth birthday. Valentina is now almost to the doomed age and Doctor Parnassus makes a new bet-whoever seduces five souls in the Imaginarium will have Valentina as a prize. Meanwhile the troupe rescues Tony, a young man that was hanged on a bridge by the Russians.

ACTORS: Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield and Heath Ledger

LADY IN THE WATER (2006) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale by M. Night Shyamalan

PLOT: Cleveland Heep, a stuttering apartment superintendent, encounters a girl named Story swimming in the complex's pool. He soon learns that she comes from the Blue World, and has a message for mankind. Will he be able to help her complete her mission?

ACTORS: Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti

MALICE IN WONDERLAND (2009) FILM

BASED ON: Alice in Wonderland

PLOT: When an American law student in London gets knocked down by a black cab, she wakes with amnesia. We follow her adventures as she's dragged through an underworld filled with twisted individuals and the lowest low-lifers, by the enigmatic cab driver, Whitey. She needs to find out who she is, where she's from and use what wits she has left to get back home in one piece. As her journey progresses she discovers nothing is what it seems, realizes that fate and life are terminally entwined, and finds true love lurking in the unlikeliest place.

ACTORS: Maggie Grace

MIRRORMASK (2005) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale by Neil Gaiman

PLOT: In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl named Helena who works at the family circus with her father and mother, who wishes--quite ironically--that she could run away from the circus and join 'real life'. But such is not to be the case, as she finds herself on a strange journey into the Dark Lands, a fantastic landscape filled with giants, Monkeybirds and dangerous sphinxes. She must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get back home.

ACTORS: Stephanie Leonidas and Gina McKee

MOULIN ROUGE (2001) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale from Baz Luhrmann.

PLOT: It's Paris in 1899. Christian, a young English poet, comes to Paris to pursue a penniless career as a writer. At the Moulin Rouge, Christian meets Satine, the club's star and a beautiful courtesan. He falls head-over-heels in love with her and though it takes a bit of convincing, she falls for him as well. Meanwhile, the club's owner, Harold Zidler, invests in a wealthy Duke to help pay for the club, however, the Duke will only pay if Satine is his. And little does Satine know that she has a deadly secret that could end everything.

ACTORS: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and John Leguizamo

NO SUCH THING (2001) FILM

BASED ON: Beauty and the Beast

PLOT: Disgusted with human evolution and a society driven by instant gratification and voyeuristic sensationalism, a foul-mouthed Monster kills anyone who crosses his path. When a news crew sent to investigate the Monster disappears, their ratings-obsessed boss sends a guileless young woman to follow up on the story. This young journalist forges an unlikely friendship with the Monster.

ACTORS: Sarah Polley, Helen Mirren and Julie Christie

ONCE UPON A TIME (2011) TV SHOW

BASED ON: Lots and lots of fairy tales.

PLOT: Emma Swan gets the surprise of her life when Henry, the son she gave up 10 years ago, arrives on her doorstep. Returning the boy to his adoptive mother becomes complicated when Henry reveals a stunning theory to Emma. Everyone in Storybrooke, Maine is a fairytale character under a curse, and Emma - as the long lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming - is the one who can save them all.

ACTORS: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison and Robert Carlyle

PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale by Guillermo del Toro.

PLOT: In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

ACTORS: Ivana Baquero and Doug Jones

PENELOPE (2006) FILM

BASED ON: Original fairy tale.

PLOT: Generations ago, a witch placed a curse on the Wilhern family that would result in the next girl being born into the clan having the face of a pig. The otherwise-normal girl Penelope is forced to endure life with a pig's snout instead of a conventional nose, which has sent many a potential suitor running off into the streets, shouting in terror. Eventually, she runs away from her sheltered existence and overprotective parents, to explore the world on her own. All the while her parents believe the only way she can be happy is through an arranged marriage, which will hopefully break her curse.

ACTORS: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon

PRINCE CHARMING (2001) FILM

BASED ON: The Frog Prince

PLOT: After an extramarital indiscretion, a fairy-tale prince and his sidekick are turned into frogs for all eternity or until the prince can convince a maiden to kiss and then marry him.

ACTORS: Christina Applegate, Sean Maguire and Martin Short

PRINCESS: A MODERN FAIRY TALE (2008) TV MOVIE

BASED ON: Original fairy tale.

PLOT: A few years after their graduation from Princeton, Louis Baxter, who retired having sold his dot.com business, takes in college-buddy William, who desperately nears the end of his trust fund after several fully failed career-attempts. Louis takes William along to L.A.'s weirdest society event, the annual endangered animals benefit. This year, to raise more money she auctions a single dinner, which William bids his last capital on. He wins, according to Louis a shrewd business networking opportunity. But he's love-spelled by Ithaca, while she believes him to be the seeker, a long-awaited savior for the castle's most secret reality.

ACTORS: Nora Zehetner and Kip Pardue

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (2008) FILM

BASED ON: Holly Black's 'Spiderwick Chronicles'

PLOT: Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures. Unable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family blames it all on Jared. When he, Simon and Mallory investigate what's really going on, they uncover the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate and of the creatures that inhabit it.

ACTORS: Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger and Mary-Louise Parker

SYDNEY WHITE (2007) FILM

BASED ON: Snow White

PLOT: This story follows a beautiful college freshman as she pledges her late mother's once dignified sorority. But after discovering that today's sisterhood is not what it used to be, Sydney finds her new home away from home with seven outcasts. With the help of her socially challenged new friends, Sydney will take on the reigning campus queen to attempt to transform the school's misguided social hierarchy.

ACTORS: Amanda Bynes and Sara Paxton

TIN MAN (2007) TV MINI-SERIES

BASED ON: Wizard of Oz

PLOT: The adventures of DG, a waitress and part-time student, as she travels through the mystical world of "The O. Z. (Outer Zone)", discovering her hidden past. DG battles the sorceress Azkadellia along with the help of three friends; Glitch, a former adviser to the Queen whose brain has been removed; Raw, a psychic empath; and Wyatt Cain, a former police man (aka Tin-man) who has been imprisoned in an iron suit, forced to watch his family's destruction time and time again.

ACTORS: Zooey Deschanel, Neal McDonough and Alan Cumming