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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Lake County Theatre Co. (LCTC) is sponsoring its biannual playwright festival again this year.

The contest is called “Dreamcatcher” and is currently under way.

All residents of Northern California are encouraged to dust off old manuscripts and create new ones and send them in by snail-mail (c/o Suna Flores, 3012 willow Rd, Kelseyville, 95451) or email visit the LCTC Web site at http://lctc.home.mchsi.com. You will find an application form and the contest rules at the same Web site.

What happens if you win the contest, you may ask. The first thing will be $350 in cash, but, better yet, your play will be performed and you will be invited to be the guest of honor.

LCTC (formerly known as Lake County Repertory Theatre) has sponsored this playwright competition for many years with amazing results and very high quality productions. We are looking forward to this year's offerings with high anticipation.

The final date to submit your play is March 15.

If you have questions, call 279-2595). Hurry! Get started. Don't put it off ... Not again!

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The concert starts at 8 p.m.

This concert is a benefit for KPFZ 88.1 Lake County Community Radio.

Tickets, $20 in advance and $25 at the door, are available at Watershed Books, 350 N. Main St. in Lakeport, and Wild About Books, 14290 Olympic Drive in Clearlake, or call 262-0525.

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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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CLEARLAKE – “King Corn,” Second Sunday Cinema's free documentary film for Jan. 11, is a delightful yet serious examination of how corn, America's native crop, is now threatening America's health and community-based happiness.

Two friends, just graduated from college, set out to understand the relatively new paradigm of American farming: agribusiness. Because corn forms the basis of most everything we eat in this country (as has been discovered through cellular analysis) they focused on this once proud and healthy crop.

Both their great-grandfathers had grown corn in Iowa, so they returned there and convinced a friendly farmer to rent them one acre of his farmland so they could plow, plant, grow out, harvest, sell and then follow the corn they produced through the markets. They discovered that their corn sure ain't their granddaddies' corn.

Today's corn is all but 100-percent genetically modified (GMO) and requires herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers – and robust government subsidies. Since a cousin of theirs makes movies, they brought him along, and the result is this entertaining, informative and inspiring documentary. Inspiring? Yes – inspiring us all to change our diets and improve our health!

Have you noticed the "obesity epidemic" in this country? Many experts blame high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which sweetens virtually all cans of non-diet soda in this country (and infiltrates most processed foods as well).

HFCS is far worse in its effects on the human body than even that old villain, white table sugar. Because HFCS is structurally different from sucrose, it is metabolized differently – resulting in extremely easy weight gain and a higher threat of diabetes, another current epidemic.

At this screening, two local speakers will briefly present info on xylitol and stevia – alternatives to HFCS.

Our young heroes were students of well-known author and Slow-Food advocate Michael Pollan who states: "Food is a powerful metaphor for a great many of the values to which people feel globalization poses a threat, including the distinctiveness of local cultures and identities, the survival of local landscapes and biodiversity."

Imagine for a moment all the benefits of feeding your family organic food produced by local, sustainable farmers proud of the tasty, healthy, corn, carrots, squash and other veggies they grow!

This film earned widespread and enthusiastic praise. The Boston Globe extols "King Corn" as "an enormously entertaining moral socio-economic odyssey through the American Food Industry." The Washington Post found it to be "funny, wise and sad".

As always this Second Sunday Cinema film is free, and as always it will be screened at the Clearlake United Methodist Church at 14521 Pearl Ave. near Mullen in Clearlake.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for chatting with neighbors and grabbing seats and snacks. The film will start at 6 p.m.

More information is available at 279-2957.

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Despereaux is the movie's hero, a mouse who doesn't follow the rules. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX (Rated G)

Not all cute mice belong to the Walt Disney animated universe. Our newest champion is a tiny, brave mouse named Despereaux Tilling, graced with such oversized ears that he should probably be called the Dumbo of Mouseworld.

“The Tale of Despereaux,” based on the best-selling children’s book by Kate DiCamillo, celebrates the virtues of this unique mighty mouse, the most unlikely of valiant heroes who lives in a storybook medieval world that lends itself beautifully to colorful animation.

The story is set in the magical Kingdom of Dor, an inviting place that draws people from around the world. Dor is as renowned for its great soups as France is for its cheese.

This is what appeals to the rat Roscuro (voiced by Dustin Hoffman), who arrives at the kingdom just in time for the annual Royal Soup Day on which Chef Andre (voiced by Kevin Kline) reveals his latest culinary masterpiece.

Alas, by virtue of a series of mishaps, Roscuro lands in a bowl of soup, causing a terrible accident resulting in the death of the Queen. Banished to the filthy sewers of Ratworld, Roscuro longs to return to the place inhabited by humankind.

Meanwhile, over in the thriving society of Mouseworld, a tidy, cozy and friendly place, the brave and virtuous mouse Despereaux (voiced by Matthew Broderick) lacks the required timidity and adherence to conformity that is expected of all mice.

Failing to cower or display fear, Despereaux flouts the traditional ways of Mouseworld, much to the consternation of his parents and teachers. When he spends time in the Royal Library, it is not to eat the books but rather to read the great stories that inspire his imagination. For his enthusiasm to experience life at its fullest, Despereaux is soon banished to the castle dungeon and the world of the rats.

Another story unfolds in the Royal Castle, which since the death of the Queen has turned into a dark and gloomy place. The King, consumed by grief and oblivious to the needs of his kingdom, sits alone in his music room and plays somber tunes on his lute. Princess Pea (Emma Watson) feels loneliness and isolation in the castle, and longs to escape her doldrums.

While the Princess bemoans the burden of her royal birthright, homely servant girl Miggery Sow (Tracey Ullman) dreams of becoming a princess, even though she fails to understand that one must be born into royalty.

“The Tale of Despereaux” devolves into a more complex plot than one would imagine feasible for a family animated entertainment. The story requires the various realms of Mouseworld, the Royal Castle and Ratworld to collide in a giant scheme of treachery and deception.

For one thing, Miggery plots against the princess for personal gain and strikes an alliance with the denizens of the dark underground in the castle dungeon. And so, Princess Pea is kidnapped and delivered to Ratworld, where the fate that awaits her should prove disturbing, if not downright frightening, to small children.

Despereaux and Princess Pea form an unlikely friendship. Courtesy of Universal Pictures.

Oddly enough, this family entertainment has its share of menace and gloom that could prove unsettling. However, the air of uncertainty and dread sets the stage for Despereaux’s inevitable bravery and heroic rescue efforts on behalf of the Princess.

In the end, the principal characters find redemption and forgiveness. Roscuro reclaims his dream of chivalry and derring-do. Despereaux becomes all that he can be, mustering his courage to become the knight in shining armor that saves the imperiled Princess.

For all its visual beauty and inspired animation, “The Tale of Despereaux” is most beautiful for its earnest exaltation of the timeless virtues of bravery, forgiveness and redemption. It’s a winning message that trumps the cynicism so easily found in popular culture.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

History is a lot more fun when it is serialized in a Showtime cable series. That’s the case with “The Tudors,” a no-holds-barred look at Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), the promiscuous British monarch whose move to divorce Queen Katherine and marry Anne Boleyn prompted an excommunication by Pope Paul III.

“The Tudors: The Complete Second Season” revisits the turbulent world of the King’s expansive appetite.

Anne’s failure to provide Henry with a male heir sets the wheels in motion for her eventual beheading and sends the King into the arms of Jane Seymour (Anita Briem).

The third season of “The Tudors” returns to Showtime in the spring of 2009, with Joss Stone joining the cast as Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

Meanwhile, I also want to make you aware that one of the all-time best TV detective series is getting its second season released on DVD. “Mannix: The Second Season,” which stars Mike Connors, features all 25 episodes.

In this second season, the tough-talking Joe Mannix has set up his own agency, aided by his loyal secretary Peggy Fair (Gail Fisher), a young widow and mother, whose policeman husband died in the line of duty.

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

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