Halloween is approaching fast, and that can mean only one thing: Disney has re-released The Nightmare Before Christmas.

This time, it’s a 3-D version, and I know better than to get between NancyTW and a pair of 3-D glasses.

So it was off to the movies after a couple of appointments right in the same area of town as the theater. NancyTW, our scheduler/planner, admits to nothing other than mere coincidence that we are always “right by” the local Cineplex whenever there’s something she really wants to see.

We lined up at the ticket window to fork over a mortgage payment for two over-sized 3-D glasses. A bus load of fun-loving, out & about octogenarians wearing their own dark, Elton John specs lined up in front of us to see the feel-good film of the season, Eastern Promises. Unfortunately, the super sleuth behind the glass saw right through my attempt to blend in by requesting a senior discount.

The last 3-D production we saw was a Muppets Movie last month at MGM in Orlando. The glasses were recycled and smudged with gross kiddie snacks, so we really got a “flavor” for that show, if you know what I mean. The goo helped prevent slippage down our noses, though, so it was good, in a way.

Now who among us can pass up the concessions counter after catching a whiff of fresh popcorn and butter flavoring? A friend who worked at a theater told me once that she was warned against offering “butter” on popcorn because, in fact, there was no butter in the building. Lawyers advised “butter flavoring” to cover more than just the popcorn. So after tickets, a grocery bag of that popcorn, and a 55 gallon drum of Diet Coke, we dropped enough valuta to buy two and a half months of Netflix.

That said, it was worth it. Number one, NancyTW was happy. Number two, I like Tim Burton’s stuff. Number three, I am OK with butter flavoring. Number four, it was an off day for the Sox.

So I give The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D five Test Strips based on creativity that never gets old, a very aptly two-faced mayor, and because Jack looks just like I did on the day I was diagnosed.