While the cost of gas to get to the movie theatre may quickly become the most expensive part of a cinema outing – trumping even the $11 ticket price – it's the price of popcorn you should be worried about. Thanks to flooding in the Midwest and farmers treating their corn as cash crops, one estimate has movie popcorn hitting $7 by next year. Rather than planting flour or sweet corn, farmers are putting ethanol corn anywhere they can, reaping the benefits of government subsidies and the growing demand for ethanol-based fuels.

And thanks to the 2005 U.S. Energy Bill, you can blame your congressman for gouging you at the concession stand.

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