The first weekend of Summer Blockbuster Season traditionally has one gigantic film, and one smaller film that is sacrificed to the box-office gods as “counter-programming.” As this year’s season begins, it is of course “Spider-Man 3″ that is the 800-pound gorilla, while “Lucky You,” a rather bad gambling drama is offered up as something you can see if all the showings of “Spider-Man 3″ are sold out.

“Spider-Man 3″ has already set a new record, by the way, by opening in 4,252 theaters. Considering many of those theaters will be showing it on two or more screens, the actual number of screens is something like 8,000 — 1 in 5 of all the movie screens in America.

Sony Pictures demonstrated an unusual strategy

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I am flattered to have received today an e-mail from Gary Larson’s people with regard to my using a Far Side cartoon in this “Snide Remarks” column from last year. Apparently my reprinting of the comic infringed on their copyright (which was not news to me) and they noticed (which was news to me) and wanted it taken down. So it’s gone, replaced with a Ziggy that serves the same purpose in the context of the column. You can read the cease-and-desist letter in the “Comments & Reaction” section of the column.

For you Eager Eddies and Impatient Imogenes out there, here is my review of “Spider-Man 3,” which officially opens tomorrow but which has 10 p.m. and/or midnight screenings tonight in lots of places. With the previous two films in this series, I liked them more the more I thought about them. This installment produces the opposite reaction: The more I ponder it, the more disappointed I am.

To brighten your spirits, though, here is footage of Miss Kentucky displaying her awesome dance/seizure talents at the 1993 Miss America Pageant.