By LEBA HERTZ, San Francisco Chronicle

NEW YORK - There's the Steven Spielberg who makes cool fantasy movies -- "E.T.," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the Indiana Jones series. And there's the Steven Spielberg who has given us thought-provoking movies about World War II -- "Empire of the Sun," "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List."

"SOAPDISH" (1991. PG-13. PARAMOUNT. $12.98.)

This film is a hilarious send-up of the world of soap operas just before television began the genre's descent into becoming obsolete. (Just recently, "All My Children" became the latest example of the genre to get canceled.)

Ready to get your Irish on? Here are some movies to inspire your St. Patrick's Day celebration.

-- "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942) Irish-American James Cagney plays Irish-American song man George M. Cohan.

As a young boy growing up in Wykcoff, N.J., Constantine Maroulis would belt out Bon Jovi songs and music from "Jesus Christ Superstar" in his bedroom.

As a contestant on Season 4 of "American Idol," Maroulis made his biggest splash with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine."

So who plays Secretariat in the soon-to-be-released Disney movie of the same name? Rusty Hendrickson, veteran horse wrangler who also worked on such movies as "Seabiscuit," "The Horse Whisperer," "Flicka" and "Dances With Wolves," took time out to answer a few questions via e-mail about the star (or in this case -- as you are about to find out -- stars) of the movie.

So you think know your "Nutcracker"? Here are some facts, figures and anecdotes about the most famous ballet in the world.

When was the first "Nutcracker"?
Dec. 17, 1892: Reputedly the first performance of the "Nutcracker" at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Reportedly, it was poorly received by critics and audiences.

In "The Express," Rob Brown stars as Syracuse University's Ernie Davis, the first African American Heisman Trophy winner, who died of leukemia a year after wining the honor in 1962.

"Rudy": (1993) Notre Dame fans love this inspirational film starring Sean Astin as a walk-on who gets his moment on the gridiron.

Movies about athletes are not unusual, but "The Express" focuses on a fairly exclusive club: Heisman Trophy winners. Since we're talking Hollywood here, we thought we'd put together a list of some of the Heisman champs who have a connection, in one way or another, to the world of motion pictures.

With the Friday opening of the movie version of the musical "Mamma Mia!," ABBA once again takes center stage in a movie.Here's a look at some other films in which the music of the '70s and '80s Swedish supergroup played a prominent role.