"Save the clock tower!"

Universal disaster:

The brave firefighters of Los Angeles County tried, but they just couldn't do it -- the iconic Hill Valley clock tower, and the city scene around it, was engulfed in flames Sunday in the second fire to strike Universal Studios' back lot in the last 20 years.

The clock tower was my favorite part of the studio tour when I took it way back in 1988; who needs an animatronic shark when you can see the actual fake (actual fake?) clock tower from "Back to the Future"?

Fortunately for Universal, the fire didn't damage any of its theme-park attractions; some of the photos from the Associated Press show the smoke emanating from a building dangerously close to the new Simpsons ride -- which, perhaps poetically, replaced the much beloved "Back to the Future" simulator ride this year.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, the fire didn't stop the MTV Movie Awards from taking place at the Gibson Ampitheatre on the Universal campus. The always meaningless show was the worst it has ever been this year, ditching the movie parodies that made it must-see TV in favor of going live. What did we get instead of the parodies? Host Mike Myers playing new makeup monstrosities in a series of pre-taped sketches that seemed to go on forever, Tom Cruise introducing the tongue-in-cheek lifetime achievement award for Adam Sandler with his tongue nowhere near his cheek, a poorly staged dance-off with Chris Brown, and a series of unfunny presenters. Which gag was worse: Seth Rogen and James Franco smoking their "faux" weed, or Jason Bateman trying to get a crowd of teenagers to scream a euphemism for the male reproductive organ?

"Sex" sells:

How in the world did "Sex and the City" make $55.7 million this weekend? Did every single fan of the show go this weekend? That must be the explanation, because no one in the industry thought this thing could do more than $30 million in its opening weekend, and for sure no one thought it would knock Indy off the top of the chart. But it did both, and it also guaranteed a tremendous drop-off next weekend, when both Adam Sandler ("You Don't Mess With the Zohan") and Dreamworks Animation ("Kung Fu Panda") will arrive to smite the Manhattan foursome.

So tell me, ladies: Is there any chance in heck I would enjoy this film? Wednesday is going to be an all-day-at-the-theater day for me, and I hadn't planned on seeing "SATC." Tell me why I should spend my money on Carrie and the gang instead of on "Speed Racer," "Narnia" or "The Fall."

I'm listening...