So it's Christmas eve and we've eaten the Chinese food and are on our way to the movies... don't ask it's a family tradition.

anyway - we decide on King Kong. I've been afraid of this film - since i have a pretty strong anti-remake policy. (still haven't seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

But to my point. With two kids - one just 8 - we figured we could handle the pg 13 rating and close his eyes for some of the really scary stuff...

We were right - sort of .

What we couldn't skip were the trailers. A collection of some of the most violent, disturbing, sexually explicit, and downright troubling stuff i've seen in a while. My little one ended up hiding under his coat for almost all of them... and - once again- i found myself thinking about the DVD alternative.

Why? Because Hollywood didn't think about the fact that King Kong would be a family movie? That promoting adults (R) films in a PG 13 theatre wasn't going to enhance the family moviegoing experience?

And then there were the 8 minutes of long form ads that left me feeling like a sucker for sitting through ads and paying 10.50 for a ticket.

Oh, btw - King Kong was really good. Kind of amazing actually. Jack Black as the sleazy movie director... the girl, the ape, the whole thing. it's been a long time since a big hollywood movie actually drew me in... but this one did. It's a shame the theatre did so much to ruin the experience....