Widescreen: Big-screen events starring Batman and Superman's mom

Director Matt Reeves reinvented the Caped Crusader for the big screen earlier this year in a three-hour, David Fincher-esque crime epic called "The Batman," with Robert Pattinson donning the cowl. Pattinson proved himself worthy of a legacy that includes Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck.

And composer Michael Giacchino - the king of putting new spins on long-running franchises with music for "Jurassic World," "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible III," proved himself worthy of a legacy that includes Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer.

You can hear Giacchino's thundering motifs performed live at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 6, 2023, as the film is projected at Chicago's Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, Chicago. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at auditorium theatre.org, and run $44-$109.

Cult favorite in Elk Grove

Speaking of superheroes, this weekend you can see Superman's mom, aka Diane Lane, fronting a rock band! Willem Dafoe with a creepy grin and an even creepier hairdo! Rick Moranis acting tough! A city caught somewhere in time between 1950 and 1985 that evokes both Chicago and Los Angeles!

If none of that sounds familiar - well, the Willem Dafoe part probably does - it's because you aren't an initiate in the cult of "Streets of Fire," an outlandish rock 'n' roll street rumble directed by Walter Hill and released to empty theaters in the summer of 1984. You can rent it online, sure, but this weekend you can see it on the big screen at the Elk Grove Theatre, 1050 Elk Grove Town Center, Elk Grove Village, as part of the "Smash Cut Cinema" series. Tickets for the 10 p.m. Saturday show cost $10 and are available online at classiccinemas.com.

• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor who just opened the path to Helheim ahead of "God of War: Ragnarok's" release.