These days, going to the cheap show at a movie theater doesn't really seem so penny-pinching; it's smart. So, imagine my surprise, when we lined up recently with all the kids for the early matinee of Coraline, and it still cost $12.50 each. See, we saw Coraline in 3-D, and theaters are adding an extra charge for what they call a rental fee for the 3-D glasses. No popcorn for us.
So, is it worth it? Well, if you want to know if the 3-D is effective, absolutely. The stop-motion process, which manipulates actual real-life three dimensional figures frame by painstaking frame, is a much more effective medium for 3-D than the collection of animated movies that have been projected in this format. Do you need to pay so much for it? Well, no, you shouldn't, but, yes, you have to.

Or, you can see the movie in a handful of 2-D theaters, but that's missing the point. Cough up the money, and enjoy a dark tale of a little girl's quest to find a more caring set of parents - just on the other side of the wall in her creaky new house. Of course, what at first seems like the perfect set of parents (except for their button eyes), turns out to be something completely different. Just as different are the downstairs neighbors, a set of aging vaudeville performers, voiced by French and Saunders, who also provide the film with its brief nude scene, in nod to Boticelli.

Henry Selick, who created similar moods in The Nightmare Before Christmas and the underrated James And The Giant Peach continues to create unsettling worlds with unconventional comforts. To his credit, the movie never veers towards unnecessary noise or mayhem (although the climactic chase feels forced), and is actually and refreshingly quite quiet for much of its length.

After the goosebumpy creepiness of Coraline, you'll need to celebrate life with a bunch of friends. And, that means margaritas. The especially limey ones (also available in other flavors) at Lalo's are a bit Kool-Aid-like, but they do the trick. Toasting your amigos over the noise, you'll realize every table is a big group celebrating something.

Big and loud, like the Mexican food, which might be fairly unoriginal, but extremely dependable, Lalo's is a popular and long-standing Lincoln Park outpost of a local mini-chain, where fajitas, tamales, burritos, tacos, and all your other compadres come with the usuals of rice, beans, free chips and salso, and lotsa drinks. The key is the drinks. Why are all those drinking songs in German? Lalo's deserves one of its very own. Did I mention they serve booze? In between rounds, the servers are surprisingly attentive (at one point, three people were variously taking our orders, refilling glasses, and clearing plates all at the same time), they don't seem to hate their jobs, and the music never stops. A sizable bar up at the front offers the same ambience with TVs. You can wait here for a table (make a reservation on weekends), or spend the whole night, since the menu is also available here. But, wherever you end up sitting, be sure to order drinks.

Note to readers: As of press time, Coraline was being shown at area movies palaces such as AMC River East 21 (322 E. Illinois St.) and Century Evanston 18 (1715 Maple Ave.). Check your local listings for it or other 3D movies such as Monsters vs. Aliens 3D and the soon to be released UP. As for drinks at Lalo's (www.lalos.com), there's the one over in the Clybourn Corridor (1960 N. Clybourn | 773.880.5256), another in University Village (733 W. Maxwell Ave. | 312.455.9380) and eight others in the Chicagoland area.