NOTE: In a revival of this "classic" Friday feature, Courier-News reporter Mike Danahey guesses how much beer (or other beverage of choice) it might take him to pay money to see a recently-released movie. His opinions are based on trailers, ads and advance hype.

Here are some of the movies playing this weekend...

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze, the motorcycle-riding fire face who collects debts for the devil. It wasn't available for critics in advance. You'd think they would put out better movies in February. It's usually cold, and there's not much else to do. Maybe it's a conspiracy to get more people to go bowling.

Beer rating: Lots of Duvel Belgian Ale.

This Means War, after the jump.

NOTE: In a revival of this "classic" Friday feature, Courier-News reporter Mike Danahey guesses how much beer (or other beverage of choice) it might take him to pay money to see a recently-released movie. His opinions are based on trailers, ads and advance hype.

Here are some of the movies playing this weekend...

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

This movie is a follow-up to "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The second Journey album came out in 1976 and was called "Into the Future." No one remembers it either.

Beer rating: A 12-pack of Anchor Steam, the San Francisco treat.

Safe House, The Vow, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D, after the jump.

Was that a big orange moon over Cabela's in Hoffman Estates Wednesday night or just a missing prop from Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam," which opened down the road at Sears Centre?

Both were eerily dreamy, which is nothing new for a Cirque show ("Quidam" dates back to 1996,) but sort of surprising, still, as this one bill's itself as "a young girl's escape into the world of imagination."

Zoe's imagination is not filled with puppy dogs and cotton candy, nor is Justin Bieber anywhere to be found in her cranium, as she's apparently from a time before kids had YouTube, i-Product and fast food to keep them occupied.

Guided by a Cirque kind of ringmaster, her trip down the rabbit hole -- or, in this case, onto a huge revolving stage - is filled with acrobats of all sorts, some more nightmarish than whimsical, and comic bits hearkening back to Charlie Chaplin that pull people from the audience (who may or may not be planted there).

The rest of Danahey's review, after the jump.