Which one looks better as the Evil Queen?

Hard to say, really. If only for what we can see in the picture added to this entry, my money is on Charlize. She looks cold, cruel and yet regal, while Julia cannot shake off that "good girl" image. Without the proper context I would even say she is some fairy godmother though there is none mentioned in the story of Snow White. Of course they are both consumate interpreters (they  both are Oscar winners) and to be fair, we should watch first both versions of the fairy tale where this queen witch rears her pretty-then-ugly face. And in this case, two of them. BTW, it´s not the first time that Snow White is taken to the silver screen in non-animated form: Sigourney Weaver (the famous Ripley in the first three Alien movies was also the evil queen in Snow White: A Tale of Terror.

Is it having two different interpretations of the same tale put out the same year a good idea? It´s not unusual that two film companies decide to release movies that deal with the same theme if only to annoy each other. There are precedents and the one that most easily comes to my mind is the production of Deep Impact followed by Armageddon, both in 1998 with only months of difference. Now we have Mirror, mirror and soon Snow White and the Huntsman. Perhaps this is a good time not to wonder which actress will be a better (or worse) witch but to reflect on this little thing: it is said in the story that the queen through means of her witchcraft becomes an old woman to talk Snow White into eating her apples. Could it be that the queen was not her real persona? Was the witch her real self and not the other way around? Then perhaps the queen was an immortal looking to secure a new place for her by eliminating any possible obstacle. As usual there is more in fairy tales than just kid stories.