With the "March of the Penguins" now at 26m and growing... I figured it was worth both a watch and a think.

So first, the movie. It's a classic National Geographic doc, maybe a classic doc overall. It takes you to a place you've never been, weaves a captivating story, and leaves you with both a greater understanding and a more fully dimensional view of the world. Penguins, it turns out, have a tough life. Who knew?

But that was the pleasant part of the 2:20 I spent at the Regal Cinemas in East Hampton. The other part - the almost 33 minutes - was shear agony. Starting with a creative attempt to blur entertainment and advertising - the "The 20" is 20 min of advertisements... TV show Promo's Ads, and plugs for all kinds of crap. Of course I had to be in the theatre 20 min early to get a seat (no reserve seats) so I was subjected to Cingular, Coke, and Kit Kat ads. Strangely... I found this was the first time I'd been subjected to ads. No Tivo in the theater... it almost felt like TELEVISION!

oh, and far and away the most horrible part was the remake of the "I want to buy the world a Coke ad, that is now remade as "coke chill" - so totally horrible i can't do it justice.

So, irony is that the best Theatrical experience I've had in a while started with 30 minutes of annoying, overly produced, too-lound commercials.

I hope that it's putting a ton of money on the bottom line... because if I have the choice between buying a DVD (that I control, can fast forward, and can OWN) or going to the theater to have my entertainment experience hijacked by marketers and paid commercial messages the film better be pretty darn compelling.