'Couples Retreat' stars Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell and Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis, and Faizon Love and Kali Hawk. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.

COUPLES RETREAT (Rated PG-13)

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, actors Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau collaborated as writers on the hit film “Swingers” to deliver snappy, comedic dialogue that cemented their reputations for delivering laughs. The fame achieved by that success has served them well, though Vaughn has been more visible in the public eye since then.

Nevertheless, these two old friends have returned to try to work their magic formula for a relationship movie involving couples on the cusp of middle age. The aptly-named “Couples Retreat” is the fruit of this renewed teamwork.

Vaughn and Favreau, assisted by Dana Fox, have pieced together a script that delivers, at the minimum, a serviceable comedy, one that is likely to do well in the future on late night cable viewing.

Working off the template of randy sex comedies, “Couples Retreat” strives with the help of its talented writer-stars to come up with comical situations and barbed one-liners that deliver the normal expectations.

For good measure, Vaughn and Favreau mix in some drama just to keep afloat the relationship conflicts inherent in a story where couples are expected to bicker, if only to satisfy conventional plot lines.

The story of “Couples Retreat” begins with the obsessive Jason (Jason Bateman) and his frustrated wife Cynthia (Kristen Bell) scheming to get their friends to join them in a package deal for an island paradise vacation.

Unbeknownst to the others, Jason and Cynthia, though outwardly contented, are seriously thinking of divorce because they remain childless. Going off to a resort in French Polynesia looks terribly inviting, but the troubled couple can’t afford to go alone, nor can they tell their friends the real reason for the trip, which is namely to take advantage of the “Couples Skill Building” workshops.

Vaughn’s Dave is happily married to Ronnie (Malin Akerman), with two adorable sons, the youngest of which has potty issues with toilets on the showroom floor of a local department store. Meanwhile, Favreau’s Joey and his wife Lucy (Kristin Davis) find their marriage on the brink of dissolution once their daughter goes off to college.

Recently divorced Shane (Faizon Love) is hooked up with 20-year-old Trudy (Kali Hawk) in a romance that seems unlikely to survive for another two weeks. Given that these friends are enduring a cold winter in the Midwest, a trip to the sun and fun of the Eden resort proves irresistible.

Arriving at the beautiful Eden resort, the couples soon discover that the seaside paradise is anything but the hedonistic playground they had expected. Instead, they are confronted with a daily regimen that makes an Army boot camp look like a trip to Disneyland.

Running the resort with an iron fist is an imperious Frenchman named Marcel (Jean Reno), who insists that everyone must participate in a series of grueling programs, particularly early morning counseling sessions with therapists who seem incapable of doing anything other than creating relationship schisms.

Meanwhile, Joey and Dave are increasingly restless after dealing with Marcel and the pompous henchman who is always insisting that everything is for their own good. Joey, in particular, is itching to get to the other island, which is called Eden West, a sybaritic pleasure zone for swinging singles.

The urge to move to the fun island is even more compelling after the guys are exposed to slimy yoga instructor Salvadore (Carlos Ponce), looking very much like an oiled and muscled Fabio. One of the funniest, if crude, scenes involves Salvadore, dressed only in very brief shorts, pacing the women through some very eccentric, sexualized moves.

Except for the brazen Trudy, who is eager to break free of the stodgy routine, the wives are trapped with little to do other than spar with their husbands in therapy sessions. On the other hand, the guys pretty much live up to their predictable screen personas.

Vaughn and Favreau do their best to be humorously obnoxious, hurling insults and wisecracks in scattershot fashion. Bateman plays his usual uptight role to varying comic effect, while Love, possessed of considerable girth and size, is the object of physical comedy.

“Couples Retreat” may not be a candidate for the best comedy of the year, but it has enough laughs to entertain viewers who have enjoyed these actors in even better comedies.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Sometimes I wonder why films with a holiday theme are released outside the expected time period. With the economy in the dumps, maybe it makes sense to start Christmas shopping early.

The DVD release of “Little Spirit: Christmas in New York,” an animated story that features music by Faith Hill and Duncan Sheik, may be just thing to buy now and hold for holiday gift giving.

“Little Spirit” tells the story of a young boy who embarks on the holiday journey of a lifetime in the city that never sleeps.

Moving to a new house in a new city is never easy, but when the boy’s dog is accidentally lost in Central Park, he’s determined to find his furry friend in time for Christmas.

Feeling lost and alone, a magical spirit takes the boy on an incredible adventure, learning the true meaning of Christmas along the way.

“Little Spirit” will entertain both kids and their parents.

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

The concert – presented by Clear Lake Performing Arts – took place on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Kelseyville's Galilee Lutheran Church.

Burgess has spent most of his adult life traveling, studying and performing in the world's centers of this musical form, including Spain and virtually all the nations of Latin America.

For his Lake County appearance he presented a program designed to show how both the instrument and its music evolved over the years, starting with some of the first music ever written for guitar – by Spanish composers Luis Milan and Alonso Mudarra – shortly after Columbus' discovery of the new world.

He then fast-forwarded to1790, with the "Sonata in D" by one of the era's best-known musicians, Mateo Albeniz.

Albeniz's grandson, Isaac ran away from his demanding musical family at the age of 13, playing piano in bars and bistros throughout South and North America, before returning home to incorporate his experiences into such superb guitar pieces as "Cordoba" and "Leyenda" both expertly performed by Burgess.

Burgess ended the first half of the program with the demanding music of contemporary composer Raphael Rabello, with its complex rhythms and runs.

After intermission, Burgess shifted from history into a musical travelogue of the guitar, opening with a traditional dance from Bolivia, then on to Brazil for "Berimbau" by Baden Powell.

Since the days of the conquistadors, Burgess noted, Spanish music had been blended with the music of the Indians, particularly the Incas, who used a five-tone scale, with emphasis on drums, flutes and a stringed instrument fashioned from seashells.

Later, with the arrival of Africans to South America, their music was also incorporated resulting in the unique sounds and rhythms demonstrated in Burgess's playing of the music of Venezuelan composers Mario Casas Auge and Antonio Laurio. These men took the traditional European waltz, and translated it into the music of their country, including even the sound-alike notes of Venezuela's miniature harp, and rewrote it for the guitar. Burgess's rendition was performed flawlessly.

Perhaps the most popular and prolific composer of Latin American music was Cuban Ernesto Leucona, and Burgess supplied one of his best-known works, "La Comparsa" followed by another of Cuba's modern song writer Eduardo Martin's "Son del Barrio" featured not only the soaring strains of the strings, but punctuation by the expert slapping of the guitar by Burgess.

As a finale, he presented "La Misionera" by Argentina's Fernando Bustamente, but an appreciative audience gave him extended applause, resulting in an encore – "Una Limosne Por el Amor de Dios" a romantic piece often called "Where the Love Starts" by AgustinbBarrio.

This was the first in CLPA's fall concert series. The next takes place on Sunday, Nov. 22, when the full Lake County Symphony, under the direction of John Parkinson, plays at the Marge Alakzsay Center of Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.

Concert time is 3 p.m. and general admission is $20, with an entry fee of $15. for CLPA members. Youths under 18 are admitted free.

Five-year-old Lauren Trippeer took first place with her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at the Lake County Fair's talent contest on Sept. 5, 2009. She's pictured with Mickey the Clown, who emceed the event. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT – The annual talent competition at the Lake County Fair drew a capacity crowd again this year as local performers took the stage on Saturday, Sept. 5, with an array of showmanship that ranged from hip hop to gymnastics.

Five-year-old Lauren Trippeer took first place with her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the soundtrack to the movie "The Wizard of Oz." Lauren picked the melody on her Harmony guitar as she sang along in perfect pitch to a hushed crowd. Her efforts won her a check for $80 along with a shiny blue ribbon.

Second place honors went to the dance duo called "Fly By," who performed a rousing hip hop dance to the song "Starstruck" by Lady Gaga. Brandi Lindsey, age 12, and Victoria Zendejas, age 13, both of Kelseyville dazzled the crowd with their charm and precision that showcased each girl's dedication to her craft. The award for second place winners is a check for $60 along with a beautiful red ribbon.

Third place went to the lovely Kelci Peterson of Clear Lake Oaks, age 7. Kelci performed a song and dance routine to the song "He Could Be the One" by Hannah Montana. Kelci's efforts earned her a white ribbon along with a check for $40.

Mickey the Clown, a regular fixture at the Lake County Fair, emceed the event with his usual effervescence.

After warming up the crowd, Mickey kept the show moving with a steady stream of jokes and a couple of songs.

Volunteering to serve as judges for the competition were Miss Lake County Taylor-Paige Butler and Miss Lake County Outstanding Teen Katie Murphy.

The Lake County Fair welcomes all entrants to the talent contest. Entry is free and available to the first 20 contestants who sign up. For details on how to enter the 2010 Lake County Fair talent competition, visit www.lakecountyfair.com in the spring.

“An Echo in the Bone” by Diana Gabaldon

Delacorte Press. Sept. 22, 2009. 832 pp. $30, ISBN 0-38-534245-4

“The good old days.” How we yearn for “the good old days.” When exactly were they, can you tell me? Can any generation of men and women ever fully appreciate how hard it was for the generation, or generations, before?

I am convinced that none can, and yet Diana Gabaldon has done it in her passionately popular Outlander series.

The series ranges in time from the 18th century Jacobite Risings in Scotland to the almost modern 1980s. To the delight of Gabaldon fans around the world, the long-awaited seventh book in the series, “An Echo in the Bone,” released Sept. 22.

Set during the American Revolution “Echo” is historical “fiction” but includes enough fact that it can teach us something about who we are as a nation.

The characters and real life heroes (and villains) of the American Revolution were not mere folk tales but flesh-and-blood men and women who were shaped by their parents and the wars of their parents. They struggled with their identity as patriots and rebels and Gabaldon brings them, and their story – our history – to breathtaking life.

“Echo” is religious “fiction” but includes fact enough to give us insight into the traditions of today’s America. Are we a Christian nation? How did we come to be? Are we truly a melting pot or has intolerance always been the ugly underside of American history, a bequest from those who came before?

In “Echo” the religious diversity and all the struggles that come with learning to live with, and love, people of other traditions is brought factually to mind in a way that only fiction can do.

“Echo” is science “fiction”, but reveals our bias to what is known. The heroine Claire Fraser is a physician from WWII ripped from her time into one long ago. The medical knowledge she brings is more often than not seen as witchcraft but she is compelled by compassion to bring healing where she can though it frequently puts her life in danger (not to mention our willing suspension of disbelief). Where are we afraid to bring healing because of how we might be judged?

The book also is a romance. I began this review by saying that Gabaldon has done what cannot be done – she has identified exactly when the good old days were and how they can be again. They are the days when we are with those we love.

“An Echo in the Bone” is the continuing love story of Claire and Jaime Fraser. The good old days are the days they spend together laughing, making love, building their lives and our history. “Echo” is 800-plus pages that shout to us “LOVE!”

If “Echo” were being rated for the movies it would likely be “NC-17” for sexually explicit content. Books have no such rating standard, but as a romance novel told with wit, historical accuracy and for provoking thought – this reviewer gives it an “A.”

Geri Williams is a local book fancier.

The following list includes times, dates and locations.

– Saturday, Oct. 10, 9:30 a.m. to noon: Solo piano, Steele Winery Annual Harvest Festival, Highway 29, Kelseyville.

– Saturday, Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Sunday, Oct. 11, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Appearing with Bill Noteman & the Rockets, Steele Winery Annual Harvest Festival, Highway 29, Kelseyville.

– Friday, Oct. 16, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Sunday, Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Sunday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Calistoga Inn, brunch on the beautiful shaded creekside patio. Call 707-942-4101 for reservations.

– Sunday, Oct 18, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., 10 p.m. to midnight in the outdoor amphitheater. Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saw Shop Gallery Bistro, Main St. in Kelseyville, 707-278-0129.

– Friday, Oct. 23, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Thursday, Oct. 29, 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Final night, Hidden Valley Lake Farmers Market, commercial center behind Hardester’s Market.

– Friday, Oct. 30, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Saturday, Oct. 31, :30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Sunday, Nov. 1, noon to 3 p.m.: Calistoga Inn, brunch on the beautiful shaded creekside patio. Call 707-942-4101 for reservations (remember to move your clocks back one hour early that morning).

– Friday, Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

– Saturday, Nov. 7, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa, “The New Cool” restaurant. Call 800-660-LAKE (5253) for reservations.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: All Seasons Café (indoors), Calistoga, as part of the “Jazz & Blues Festival,” Highway 29, center of town.

Sunday, Nov. 8, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Calistoga Inn, brunch on the beautiful shaded creekside patio. Call 707-942-4101 for reservations. This may be the last performance at the inn until next spring, weather permitting.

Nov. 6 and 7 will be Neft's final two nights at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa as the resort is closing until further notice.

Watch for Neft to appear regularly on weekends at a new venue to be announced soon, as well as him doing his “mellow morning tunes” from late fall to early spring at a new soon-to-be determined Sunday brunch location.

Call Neft at 707-987-4290 for more detailed information on any of the venues above and for late changes or additions to his busy gig schedule.