LCTC is teaming up with Mendocino College again to put on a production which is both a class (or two) and a great community theater experience.

One class is in performance and the other is in stage production (lights, scenery, costumes, back stage, etc.). If any of this interests you, contact Mendocino College and sign up, only $33 per class per transferable unit – education as well as enjoyment. Highs school youth only pay $11 per class and are definitely welcome.

This wonderful musical comedy is scheduled to rehearse on the stage of Little Theatre at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Martin Street in Lakeport on Tuesdays and Thursdays with performances to be held in May, but auditions are taking place right away, also at the fairgrounds at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan 22.

The music of “The Pajama Game” by George Abbott and Richard Bissell is well known to many (“Hernando's Hideaway,” “Hey There” and “Steam Heat” to name just a few), but the plot and the characters may need to be re-introduced.

The story revolves around a pajama factory which is about to go on strike over a seven-and-a-half-cent raise. Of course the hero represents management and the heroine represents labor and, well, the course of true love never runs smooth, does it?

The cast will include a huge number of singers, dancers and actors (around 30 of them!) of all adult ages. Unfortunately, there will not be any kids under 12 in this one.

This will be a great musical for the beginner in theater as well as theater veterans. Give it a try!

For more information, call 279-2595.

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What happens when a comedian, Kevin James, best known for his nine-year run in “The King of Queens” TV series, plays a bumbling mall cop trying to emulate Bruce Willis in “Die Hard?” The result may not be the funniest movie of the year, but it doesn’t need to be when you have a likable central character with a great talent for physical humor.

As the lumbering, unlikely action hero, Kevin James has an undeniable charismatic quality even at his most inept, shambling and awkward moments. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” for reasons almost immediately clear, is the right vehicle for James’ prodigious comic abilities.

In the titular role of Paul Blart, James employs his considerable heft as a comic vehicle. A single, suburban dad trying to make ends meet as a security officer at a massive New Jersey mall, Blart aspires to become a state trooper.

Ever-so-close to passing the exam, he continues to fail due his hypoglycemia kicking in at the most inopportune time. Still, he takes his job as mall cop very seriously, even when no one else does, including his lazy, apathetic new partner Veck Sims (Keir O’Donnell) and all his colleagues, for that matter.

Blart is on the front lines of mall safety, going so far as to flag down an elderly disabled gentleman for exceeding the speed limit on his motorized scooter. He can apprehend such scofflaws with the advantage of patrolling the expansive mall on his Segway. Blart puts to good use, at least for comedic effect, this personal transport vehicle that never caught on with the general public. The Segway is used so frequently that it should qualify for a supporting role in the credits.

Once married to an illegal immigrant who only wanted her green card, Blart lives at home with his young daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez) and his mom (Shirley Knight), whose solution to most problems is the offering of another slice of pie. Blart observes that pie “just fills the cracks in the heart,” as he merrily slathers a big piece with peanut butter.

Though lonely and socially awkward, Blart nonetheless has his eyes on pretty Amy (Jayma Mays), who sells hair extensions at a mall kiosk. She seems amused by his attentions, even when he runs the Segway into the back of a minivan on display.

In an effort to mingle with his co-workers, Blart has too much to drink at an after-work party, turning unusually obnoxious and somewhat aggressive. Apparently, he has no capacity for alcohol, and as a result ends up with tattoos all over his back.

Even more trouble ensues when he must confront a belligerent, loud-mouthed female shopper who just happens to be as fat as he is. One unfortunate remark leads to a full-on fight, where Blart gets beat up because he won’t hit a girl.

Now that we know Blart has his foibles and weaknesses, we can only imagine what may go wrong on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when shoppers invade the mall en masse.

The film shifts abruptly into an action picture when an extreme team of villains take over the mall in order to steal customers’ credit card information. The criminals include skateboarders, BMX riders and free runners. I am not familiar with free runners, but these people display unusually agile, athletic abilities.

As part of their operation to seize control of the mall, these X-Games thugs take a few hostages, including Amy, the object of Blart’s huge crush. For his part, Blart is at first oblivious to the takeover, since he’s playing video games in a store.

To foil the dastardly scheme and to save the girl, Blart goes completely Rambo inside the mall, adapting to his natural environment in clever ways to thwart and defeat the criminals. Not surprisingly, Blart becomes a reluctant hero, even impressing the obnoxious SWAT team leader (Bobby Cannavale) who has less than fond memories of Blart from high school.

Emanating from the Adam Sandler production factory, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” is the kind of slapstick comedy one would expect, and it doesn’t disappoint. But more than just laughs at the expense of Kevin James’ girth, the movie veers off into full-blown action turf topped off with a heavy dose of sentimentality.

What makes “Paul Blart” endearing for the audience is the undeniable likability of its plus-sized hero. Kevin James just might succeed as the comic successor to the late, lovable John Candy.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

It’s fitting that appended to a movie review with the increasing rare PG rating, we should offer up an animated family film for consideration in its DVD release.

“Igor” features a stellar ensemble cast of celebrity voices. The hilarious animated twist on the classic monster movie, “Igor” has its titular character (John Cusack), as the nice-guy assistant to a mad scientist (John Cleese), creating a female Franken-monster.

But Igor’s creation, Eva (Molly Shannon), is sweet and sings show tunes. That is, until she falls into the clutches of Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) and his shape-shifting girlfriend (Jennifer Coolidge).

Igor and his sidekicks (Steve Buscemi and Sean Hayes) have to save Eva and their country from the evil King Malbert (Jay Leno).

Another DVD release worth mentioning is that for “The Rockford Files: Season Six, The Final Season.”

Starring James Garner, this TV series is at the top of my list, right alongside “Mannix,” for the best in crime shows.

All six seasons are good to have, but I would forget the “Rockford” TV movie specials that made a comeback about 15 years after the series ended.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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The milestone occasion will be celebrated with music and poetry from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Local talent will include poet Lorna Sue Sides; singer-songwriter Karen Priest and Clear Lake Park Symphony Orchestra; musician-singer, Phil Mathewson; and many other performers.

Special pasta menu will be offered to celebrate this third year in business.

A Chamber of Commerce representative will be doing the ribbon cutting.

There will be free entertainment all day long, so stop by 301 Main St., on the corner of Third and Main St. in downtown Lakeport.

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This is the 17th Winter Music Fest, and last year's was the first presentation in the Soper-Reese since reconstruction work began.

The Soper-Reese has a well-managed, state-of-the-art sound system, plus massive stage lighting and comfortable seats every one of which has a great view of the stage.

Tickets can be purchased now at the Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport; Catfish Books in the Willowtree Mall in Lakeport; and Wild About Books in Clearlake.

To get reserved tickets, the Soper-Reese Community Theatre box office will be open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays beginning Jan. 22.

A seating chart showing where the reserved seats are can be seen at the box office or at www.soperreesetheatre.com.

If you want to get your reserved tickets before Jan. 22, or anytime the box office is closed, they can be had by telephone at 263-0577 with either Visa or Mastercard.

While all the seats have good sight lines, reserved seats are close to the stage, and usually are sold out long before opening night.

Shows will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 1, at 2 p.m.

For more information call the Soper-Reese Community Theatre at 263-0577, or the Lake County Arts Council at 263-6658.

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The Weaver Auditorium is full of the memories of days gone by, so it is a perfect place for a ghost story.

“Gramercy Ghost” by John Cecil Holm is a retro comedy, set in the 1950s when ladies still wore gloves and were extremely uncomfortable with a strange, unmarried man spending the evening ... even if he is already dead!

The ghosts in “Gramercy Ghost" are from the Revolutionary War but you would swear that you have met them before. They are young guys who hang around a lot, bug the people near them and talk to each other about women that they think are hot. Sound familiar?

An experienced cast is knee-deep in rehearsals even as we speak. A few new faces will add mystery and flair to the hilarious haunting that everyone is sure to enjoy. Ooooo ... spooky!

The show is scheduled for Feb. 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 7 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on Feb. 21 and 22.

Tickets will be $14 for reserved and $12 for general seating, $2 less in each category for seniors, students and LCTC members.

Reserved and general tickets will be available on Jan. 12 at Catfish Books in Lakeport (263-4454) and Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce in Clearlake (994-3600). General seating tickets will be available at Shannon Ridge Tasting Room in Clearlake Oaks (996-9656).

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There are movies intended for an audience with a median age somewhere around 15, and that’s a good starting point to understand why “The Unborn” is a sophomoric exercise in horror.

Amidst the terror that grips a number of young people, the film inexplicably involves subplots of horrific Nazi experiments during the Holocaust. After all, the intended viewers, sadly as the result of a lack of interest in anything that happened in the last century, probably have little knowledge or understanding of the unspeakable acts unleashed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis on the Jewish people. At least, possibly “The Unborn” performs a service in its small reminder of what was truly real horror.

But then, it’s more likely wishful thinking on my part that “The Unborn” has any significant redeemable qualities. For the most part, it’s another inane horror film, one that insults the intelligence of an adult with an IQ slightly above room temperature. This explains fits of laughter at the most inopportune moments.

The story begins with the obligatory babysitter scene, where our hot college student heroine, Casey (Odette Yustman), is tending to a creepy 4-year-old boy who holds up a mirror to the face of his baby sibling resting in a crib, whispering that “Jumby wants to be born.”

After this wonderful adventure in babysitting, Casey has recurring nightmares, mostly involving a creepy boy materializing out of nowhere as she goes jogging on deserted streets in a wintry Chicago suburb. The dreams get more terrifying, and soon Casey sees the weird little boy outside her window or hiding inside her medicine cabinet.

Other visions start to creep into her life, as Casey sees more clearly that her dead mother committed suicide while living out her last days institutionalized in a mental hospital. Though she’s young, pretty and vivacious, Casey seems headed down the same disturbing path as her mother.

More unsettling is that the fact that Casey discovers the one person who can help her is an Auschwitz survivor named Sofi Kozma (Jane Alexander).

This kindly old lady has good reason to understand why demonic possession could be taking over Casey’s life. For one thing, as a young girl Sofi was subjected to terrible Nazi experiments because she had a twin brother, and the evil German scientists thought twins possibly held the key to figuring out genetic experiments, or something like that.

Strangely enough, it turns out that Sofi is actually Casey’s grandmother, and why this is a sudden revelation is just another one of the movie’s mysteries.

Somewhere in the midst of the unveiling of family secrets, Casey learns from her father (James Remar) that she had a twin brother who died in utero. Of course, at this point, you realize there’s a strange pattern involving Casey’s family, and the likelihood that it won’t rub off on her is dim. As a matter of that fact, Casey’s eyes start to change colors and demonic possession is just around the corner.

After her best friend (Meagan Good) is killed by a monster child, Casey becomes the obvious target for the evil spirit eager to take control of her body. Naturally, this is not unexpected because Casey has a nice body, something evident from shower scenes and her penchant for running about the house in tight-fitting underwear.

Since the absence of clothing is not helpful, Casey seeks out Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman) for a good old-fashioned exorcism. Suddenly, the audience is thinking about shades of “The Exorcist,” except there’s no Linda Blair-type head-spinning or pea soup regurgitation.

Anyone older and wiser than a kid half-way through high school paying for this movie deserves to feel cheated. “The Unborn” is an exercise in ridiculous futility.

That an unknown young actress like Odette Yustman, who looks more suited for modeling, would appear in this silly film is understandable. But what’s a fine actor like Gary Oldman doing in this mess? Does he owe Uncle Sam back taxes or was he was blackmailed by the director?

“The Unborn” is an unfortunate waste of money and talent, and a sensible person should avoid it.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Pardon my low-brow taste, but I confess affection for the super-charged martial arts action flicks that go by the moniker of Hong Kong cinema.

It’s a thrill then that kung fu masters Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh are teamed as undercover agents battling a nefarious drug ring in “Supercop,” which is now being released on a 2-Disc Ultimate Edition.

The latest entry in the celebrated Dragon Dynasty line of adrenaline-fueled martial arts films tells the story of Hong Kong police officer Jackie Chan with a knack for improvisation who meets beautiful but straight-laced Chinese agent Michelle Yeoh.

Together, they bring down the largest drug syndicate in the Pacific Rim, getting the job done with a spectacular arsenal of exciting, high-flying kung fu.

Take it from me, if you will, “Supercop” is one of Jackie Chan’s most beloved films, as it mixes his action chops with a unique brand of slapstick comedy.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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