I don't know the last time I felt like a kid at the movies, but while watching Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D this past week, I honestly reverted to my 8-year-old self. That isn't to say the movie is necessarily as good as the movies that astonished me as a kid -- because of the subject matter, I'd think about comparing it to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies, both of which came out when I was around that age, and neither to which this film holds up in terms of originality or storytelling craft. But as far as holding onto my sense of wonder, Journey is up there.

Of course, it's necessary to point out that Journey would be nothing without the digital 3-D factor. It's actually the first live-action narrative feature to be shot and released in the new format (the non-fiction concert films, U2 3D and Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour were technically the first live-action 3-D features), and while it's far from perfect, it is a terrific pioneer. I shall continue favoring the look of animated 3-D films, especially those directed as well as Monster House, and I anticipate that James Cameron's Avatar will blow away all live-action 3-D films released prior to its arrival. For now, though, I'm telling you, with the utmost cinemaphilic urgency: you need to see this ASAP.

There was a time in my life when I spent more of my weekends going to concerts than going to the movies. And many of those concerts were fittingly at a venue that had previously been a movie theater. Back then, though, I never thought about the significance of seeing The Mighty Mighty Bosstones in the same place I once watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. There was a fine distinction between live music and cinema.

Unlike now, when there's an ever growing feeling that for the exhibition industry cinema is dead, while live music is, umm, live. The signs have been visible for the past year: Garth Brooks selling out multiplexes; a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert coming in at #1 at the box office. But nothing made the future seem as clear as last month's news that National Amusements is going into the live entertainment business.

The theater chain, which also technically owns most of Viacom, has apparently seen enough interest in live entertainment through "experiments" at its fancy Cinema De Lux locations that it will begin operating venues strictly for live entertainment, which will be called Showcase Live! (a name similar to the company's Showcase Cinemas brand of multiplexes). The first is set to open this August, and while it's the only one apparently planned out so far, the company expects to open three to five more within the next few years.

Oh my, oh Miley. Blogs around the internet are buzzing over these photos of 15-year-old Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. Movie City News' David Poland, writing about the pics on his Hot Blog, said, "People do know that 15-year-old breasts, while they really have no business being shown in public, do exist, whether covered in a sheet or a t-shirt, right?" (Poland has the full picture up on his website, I'm not going to put it up here. You can see it there or on Vanity Fair.)

Well, yes, we know that 15-year-old girls have 15-year-old breasts, but that does that make it appropriate for a magazine to publish photos of a half-naked teenager? Whether because the folks over at Disney, where Cyrus's show Hannah Montana is one of its biggest properties, pitched a bitch about the photos, or because she's genuinely mortified by the photos in retrospect, Cyrus issued a statement to fans that said, in part, "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed."

The Montana madness continues! Now that the writer's strike is resolved, Variety reports that Disney is the latest studio to revamp their schedule and stake out some prime release dates.

Among their 2009 and 2010 releases will be The Hannah Montana Movie, to be released on May 1st, 2009 and pitted against 20th Century Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Wolverine versus Hannah Montana. I'm laughing just thinking about it. I want someone to make a comic book cover of this right now. (Seriously. I will frame it.) My money is on Wolverine to actually win that battle, but who knows what incredible powers Montana may possess.

All sarcasm aside, I imagine this will actually be a very good move by Disney. Moms and daughters can go watch Hannah Montana, while their fathers and brothers go see Wolverine. The whole family wins!

No, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) did not get caught sending nude photos to a boy (one would think the girls from Disney would know better by now). But Cyrus, who's currently the biggest thing to hit the tween market since Cabbage Patch Kids, is right smack in the middle of a new controversy -- one that's apparently upset the folks over at ConsumerReports.org. During a scene in the recently-released 3-D movie Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concer Tour, apparently Miley and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, are shown riding in the back seat of a Range Rover on their way to a concert rehearsal. Ah, but look a little closer and you'll notice ... neither of them are wearing a seat belt!!!

As CR notes, "Miley, her father, and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract -- rather than encourage -- this trend." Statistics show that in 55 percent of passenger vehicle fatalities in 2006, the occupants were not wearing seat belts. And in the 13-to-15-year-old age group, that number rises to 65 percent. I'll admit to not wearing my seat belt in the back seat on occasion, and even Miley herself has stressed through her music that "Nobody's Perfect!" -- but I agree the teenager should've set a good example by strapping in while she was on the road. What do you think? Is this a big deal? And seeing as this girl is watched by thousands upon thousands of young kids, should she be a little more careful in the future?

Hannah who? OK, not only did the Hannah Montana movie surprise me and most of the participants in last week's competition, but it broke the record for a film opening on Super Bowl weekend (previously held by the 2006 remake of When a Stranger Calls) as well as the record for the smallest number of theaters for a film debuting at number one. This was aided in part by the fact that most venues were charging $15 per ticket, but the teen concert flick still raked in more than twice as much as The Eye which took second. 27 Dresses held third place for the second week running. Here's the rundown:

1. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert: $29 million.
2. The Eye: $13 million.
3. 27 Dresses: $8.4 million.
4. Meet the Spartans: $7.3 million.
5. Rambo: $7.1 million

There's not much in the way of genre diversity this week as all three new flicks are comedies, though admittedly three different kinds of comedy.

Fool's Gold
What's It All About: A surf bum turned treasure hunter (Matthew McConaughey) attempts to reconcile with his his estranged wife (Kate Hudson) as the two embark upon a search for a fabulous treasure that was lost at sea in 1715.
Why It Might Do Well: These two strong leads are joined by Donald Sutherland and Alexis Dziena (who had a particularly memorable show stopping scene in Broken Flowers) making for a cast worth seeing. McConaughey and Hudson starred together in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which made $177 million worldwide, so the folks who saw that one may come back for more.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The trailer makes this seem like a retread of Romancing the Stone and rottentomatoes.com is giving this a mere 7%.
Number of Theaters: 2,700
Prediction: $20 million

Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - From Hollywood to the Heartland
What's It All About: Concert film shot during a thirty day tour in which Vince Vaughn emceed a group of "renegade" comics, also including footage shot behind the scenes.
Why It Might Do Well: Well, Hannah Montana proved a concert film with a small release can kick some butt, so why not this one? That was a joke, people.
Why It Might Not Do Well: I still haven't forgiven Vaughn for the dreadful The Break-Up, and I may not be the only one holding a grudge.
Number of Theaters: 800
Prediction: $6 million

Whoo, I bet you couldn't have seen this coming: after bringing in a whopping $29 million on just 683 screens and selling out shows left and right, the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour has added another week to its one-week limited engagement. This will be great news to all the Hannah fans out there who weren't able to score a ticket the first time around, or who just want to enjoy another week of Hannah-mania. Variety's Pam McClintock noted that the concert's take is the highest Super Bowl weekend gross of all-time, outscoring even mega-hit Titanic*.

My oldest daughter contributed to Titanic's box office by seeing the film something like 20 times with her friends when it was in theaters, and now I expect her 10-year-old sister is going to want to see the Hannah Montana concert at least that many times. The first thing she said on the way out of the theater Friday night was, "Can we go again?" Superbowl weekend is typically heavy on the estrogen, but Disney really scored big with the tween set by making the wildly popular Best of Both Worlds concert available in theaters.

*Typo corrected, thanks to reader Ler for pointing it out. - ed.

Today, as millions of (mostly) men are watching the Super Bowl, possibly witnessing the Patriots make history (sorry Erik), millions of (mostly) girls are watching Miley Cyrus (aka "Hannah Montana") make history of her own. As you read this, across the country the 3D concert film Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour is selling out its show times for the day. Actually, it's more likely that at many theaters show times have long been sold out.

On Friday, when the Disney release opened, I took a look at the status of the weekend show times in the tri-state area on Moviefone, Movietickets.com and Fandango. Most times were already unavailable. But I had no way of knowing how recently those times had sold out, because tickets went on sale back on December 1, and many people (our own Kim Voynar and her daughter included) bought theirs way in advance. As Kim mentioned last week, Fandango announced that more than 1,000 show times had already been sold out and that theaters were trying to squeeze in more screenings. The online ticketing company also announced that since December 1, the film has been one of its top selling titles and that this past week the film accounted for 91% of all the company's online ticket sales (compared to 1% each for Rambo, 27 Dresses and Cloverfield).

True confession: I had more fun at the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Concert Tour than I've had in a long time at the movie theater. I think it's safe to say that we're seeing the beginning of a new wave in movie theaters; bringing concerts to fans in 3-D in the comfort of a movie theater, for a fraction of the ticket prices of a live concert, is going to be the Next Big Thing -- so long as it's done as well as Disney has pulled off the Hannah Montana concert.

Here's the backstory, in case you haven't heard. Hannah Montana is the Disney Channel's huge hit show among the tween set. It's more than a show, it's a phenomena, spawning everything from Hannah Montana dolls to Hannah wigs and dress-up clothes to a sing-and-dance-along video game that teaches girls (and boys, let's not be gender-specific here) all Hannah's cool moves. Part of the enormous appeal of Hannah Montana is the show's central conceit: Hannah Montana, a famous pop star, is the secret superstar identity of Miley Stewart, an ordinary, dorky girl struggling to get through her freshman year of high school.

If you've got a tween girl in your life, chances are pretty good you know the name Hannah Montana. The popular Disney series stars Miley Cyrus (daughter of former mullet king/country star Billy Ray Cyrus, who stars in the show as Miley's father) as an ordinary girl who lives a secret double life as a wildly popular pop star.

The Best of Both Worlds concert tour last year (which features young Cyrus both as herself and in her Hannah Montana persona) sold out across the country within minutes, largely due to ticket scalpers snatching up tickets and then reselling them for exorbitant markups.