Widescreen

In the winter of 2005, everyone just assumed that "King Kong" would be the king of the box office, and why wouldn't they? Director Peter Jackson had just come off the historic feat of making an epic fantasy trilogy that won the best picture Oscar, the visual effects in the trailers were simply jaw-dropping, and the critical buzz was humming at a pretty high register.

But everyone underestimated "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" -- and overestimated how many people would want to watch a love story between a vaudeville reject and a giant gorilla for three hours -- and Disney's adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel wound up outclassing "Kong" at the box office into the first month of 2006.

I don't have anything groundbreaking to say about the "Event Promoters" ordinance Chicago is considering, except to ask one question: How will the steps outlined in the ordinance prevent another tragedy like E2 from happening?

21 clubgoers were trampled to death in 2003 when people tried to flee amid a fight in the E2 club in Chicago; many of the club's exits were locked or barred. Now, how charging promoters $500 to $2000 for a license -- on top of $300,000 in liability insurance -- is supposed to stop a crowd from panicking is beyond me.

Mom, I thought you would really, really like this.

"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" opens July 25.

At the risk of sounding like I'm 92 instead of 29, they just don't make 'em like they used to.

The 20 minutes I saw of "Back to the Future" on HBO this morning made me long for the movie summers of old, when pesky things like comedy, ingenuity and characters kept getting in the way of all those visual effects. "BTTF," which began as an absolutely perfect screenplay by Bob Gale and director Robert Zemeckis, was joined that summer by "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," "Weird Science," "The Goonies," "Cocoon" and "St. Elmo's Fire."

NOTE: As you may have noticed, I like to write about "Lost." I will never spoil anything in a headline or an opening paragraph, but beware of spoilers all the same anytime my favorite TV show happens to come up.

I am back from a weekend in Minneapolis, one of my favorite of all cities, where I visited friends, enjoyed a Premium Grain Belt or two (or 5 or 10), and finally bought that Johan Santana Twins jersey. (What? He doesn't play there anymore? Ah, whatever.)

Some things I learned while there:

I have no idea why a Hollywood studio would greenlight a $100 million-plus adaptation of an animated series that has a cult following at best. And I really have no idea why said studio would release said movie at a butt-numbing length of 135 minutes.

I always feel a little burst of excitement whenever a movie or TV show name-drops one of the Chicago suburbs; it's like finding out that, yes, famous people do know there's more to life than L.A. and NYC.

Wheaton is the latest regional town to earn this distinction, although in a rather dubious manner: The gunman who took Trauma 2 hostage on last Thursday's "ER" told Dr. Archie Gates (Scott Grimes) he was from the DuPage County bastion of sobriety.

Thursday, I asked where I could find the best theater in the suburbs. Saturday, I found my answer.

The Muvico 18 in Rosemont is quite the facility. Aside from the plush seats, the perfect sound system and the Sony HD projectors that every single auditorium boasts, this veritable palace can guarantee you won't be bothered by screaming children -- for a price, of course.

The summer movie season begins tonight as "Iron Man" rockets across the big screen beginning at 8 p.m. Thanks to my rear driver's-side wheel coming off of my car -- and me locking my keys inside when the tow truck came -- I won't be able to see it until Saturday, I'm guessing, which gives me time to ponder where I should see it.

Ten summers ago, everyone in the Northwest suburbs knew exactly where to go when a big movie came out: Woodfield 1&2.

The destruction of the American child apparently continued this week with Miley Cyrus's Vanity Fair photo shoot, an admittedly strange portfolio from Photographer to the Stars Annie Leibowitz that shows the erstwhile "Hannah Montana" with a bare back, covered only in a bed sheet. Oh, the outrage. You mean to say an underage starlet from the Disney stable has been made to look sexy? My word, this has never happened before! (Oh, wait; let us not forget 17-year-old Britney Spears in the "Baby One More Time" video, and its ensuing Rolling Stone spread. You know, the one that had everyone saying little Britney already had breast implants.)