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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The auditions will be held on Jan. 24, so you have just enough time to polish up your act, juggling while singing “Maggie's Farm” for instance. Or practicing “Flight of the Bumblebee” with the other two tuba players in your group.

But don't wait until your tuxedo gets pressed! Get a reserved place in the audition schedule now by calling Betty Lou on Wednesdays at the Main Street Gallery, 263-6658, or by writing to her at Lake County Arts Council, 325 N. Main Street, Lakeport 95453.

Given the success of presentations since they eliminated pre-recorded accompaniment, the Lake County Arts Council will continue that policy. Groups of studio musicians in plastic, who have never been to Lake County in their lives but who get to control the rhythm and timing of the artists on our stage, provide a superficial polish that has not been missed. The warm and personal relationship that develops across the footlights is worth a lot more to all involved.

The council will be able to supply some accompaniment for singers, but your own buddy at the piano or guitar would be better. Auditions with pre-recorded music will be allowed.

The auditions will be held at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it would benefit you to have an appointment, or you'll be waiting around until there is an opening for you. It's a good idea to have more than one number ready, since it is not just your talent that is important, it's how the piece can be integrated into what else is being done.

This is the last time in this century that there will be two zeros next to each other in the date, and that will be reason enough to attend. But if you need more, and if just having a great time being entertained isn't enough, recall that this is one of the ways that the arts council pays the bills at the office and Main Street Gallery and art fairs for kids.

The event is set for Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 1, at 2 p.m. at the Soper-Reese, 275 S. Main, Lakeport, and this is one of the best entertainment buys in the Lake County calendar.

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Sorry to say, this reviewer is not familiar with the alleged 1951 science-fiction classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” the basis for the quasi-remake starring Keanu Reeves.

The emotionless, stilted actor is not going against type as the alien visitor who comes to Earth on a mission to address world leaders, presumably at the United Nations since he crash lands his giant orb in Central Park. Fittingly, Reeves has an acting range that goes from emotionless to lacking emotion, and so he’s terrific for a robotic creature.

Now that the Cold War has practically receded from public memory, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” takes up the cause of climate change. Keanu Reeves’ Klaatu is, in fact, a global warming alarmist and probably a card-carrying member of Greenpeace.

To this end while holding negative views of humanity, the self-righteous Klaatu exclaims that mankind is killing the planet, and so he’s just going to have to destroy mankind. His perverse, twisted logic wears thin after awhile, and you find yourself hoping that a few Sidewinder missiles might get the job done. OK, maybe it’s just me wanting to see this annoying alien wasted, but by the movie’s end you may come around to my point of view.

Making this science-fiction snoozer a bit livelier is the presence of the attractive Jennifer Connelly as Dr. Helen Benson, a renowned astrobiologist. What movie isn’t improved by a hot scientist, even if her job title is obscure?

In any case, considering her status as a widow, she’s saddled with the care of her estranged stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith), who happens to be one of the most annoying kids you could find, and who by the way adds virtually nothing to the story. After a set of circumstances hardly worth contemplating, Helen and the kid end up chauffeuring Klaatu around the New Jersey countryside, eluding a massive military manhunt.

While on the run, Helen seems to be trying to buy some time from Klaatu’s plan to eradicate all human life. So she takes him to the home of Professor Barnhardt (John Cleese), a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who’s presented as a genius operating on a much higher level of mental well-being.

When Barnhardt absorbs the full measure of Klaatu’s mission on Earth, he tries to persuade the alien to give humans a second chance to rise to the occasion. The professor makes the point that we only act when on the precipice. This stuff would be ripe for mocking by the John Cleese of Monty Python fame. Alas, he plays it straight.

Another character who plays it straight but turns out to be much funnier is Kathy Bates as the United States Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson. Not only does she sedate, sequester and interrogate Klaatu inside a maximum security military installation, she constantly barks orders to annihilate the alien sphere, as well as Klaatu’s gigantic bodyguard, the robot Gort.

Oddly enough, Gort looks like the Oscar of the Academy Awards, with the notable exception of the laser beams emanating from the slit on his face. Unfortunately, Gort is indestructible, even after he’s placed inside an underground silo.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” is filled with many things that make little sense or seem illogical or out of place. How come we see a trucker and his rig vaporized on a remote highway that looks like it’s somewhere in Texas? Meanwhile, most of Manhattan remains standing, except for Giants Stadium? In any case, if the aliens wanted to make a statement, why not destroy the new Yankee Stadium, while leaving the old one still in place? That would have been a lot more fun.

For a fleeting moment, I thought about viewing the original film, more out of curiosity than for any intrinsic interest in a science-fiction potboiler. Upon further reflection, it seems best to just move on. For whatever reason, science fiction aficionados may be drawn to this updated version of “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” choosing to ignore the warnings of a non-believer.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

The antidote to dispiriting science-fiction is some good old-fashioned TV that seems just as otherworldly but for different reasons.

Revisit the folksy, small-town charm of Hooterville and the quaint comfort of the Shady Rest Hotel in “Petticoat Junction: The Official First Season.”

This feel-good series, from the creators of “The Beverly Hillbillies,” follows the everyday happenings of the Bradley family – widowed mother Kate (Bea Benaderet); her three beautiful daughters, Billie Jo (Jeannine Riley), Bobbie Jo (Pat Woodell), and Betty Jo (Linda Henning); and their genial Uncle Joe (Edgar Buchanan), who fancied himself as the hotel’s general manager but somehow managed to avoid anything that might be considered work.

The first season snagged guest stars such as Dennis Hopper and TV icon Adam West. “Petticoat Junction: The Official First Season” includes all 38 episodes of the classic comedy plus interviews with some cast members.

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

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From a wacky pet detective to a lawyer incongruously unable to fib, Jim Carrey has played all sorts of comedic characters in a film career that is, if not exactly brilliant, still worthy of appreciation.

Though the rubber-faced comedian incessantly mugs for the camera, he has the endearing quality of being disarmingly funny in his frequent bursts of anarchic humor. For example, “Dumb and Dumber” is arguably a frontal assault on good taste, but riotously funny.

But then, like all mortals, Carrey has had some flops. I, for one, never did catch on to the weirdness of “The Cable Guy.”

Carrey’s latest venture into the arena of screwball comedy finds him as a hapless mope in “Yes Man,” a film so blatantly inspired by “Liar Liar” that a sharp copyright lawyer could make a credible infringement claim. Then again, Carrey wouldn’t be the first person recycling his comedic material.

After a hiatus from comedy, Carrey’s return to form is most welcome.

We first see Carrey working in a Los Angeles bank as loan officer Carl Allen, stiff and unbending to the pleas of loan applicants. He delights in saying “No” to just about everything and everyone, including his handful of friends.

Divorced and living by himself in a modest apartment, Carl would never dream of doing anything spontaneous. Even a best friend (Bradley Cooper) about to get married cannot convince Carl to attend his bachelor party.

But then Carl’s life changes when he encounters former colleague Nick (John Michael Higgins), who has been liberated from the conventions of society. Nick convinces Carl to attend a self-help seminar run by a New Age-type guru (Terence Stamp) who insists that the key to happiness is to say “Yes” to every opportunity that arises.

Of course, taken to the extreme, as happens here, this pliable state of mind leads to all sorts of mischief.

Under the spell of the “Yes” state of mind, Carl gives a lift to a homeless man to a remote area of Griffith Park. Having given away his money to the homeless guy, Carl becomes stranded by car trouble.

The only upside to the terrible start of his new impulsive attitude is that he has a chance encounter with perky, eccentric artist Allison (Zooey Deschanel) at a gas station. Though she seems far too willing to live life with wild abandon, Allison is oddly enough the right person for the new Carl, and together they spark some genuine romantic chemistry.

As a result of the serious attraction, which appears to defy the odds, the chemistry between Carl and Allison develops into more of a romantic comedy than might be expected. They do some wild and wacky things together, such as breaking into the Hollywood Bowl just on a whim.

Nothing tops the unplanned visit to the airport when they decided to visit the destination of the first available flight. Their impromptu trip lands them in Nebraska where they cheer for the Cornhuskers at a football game and visit the local telephone museum. This sequence of the visit to Middle America is both touching and very funny.

Seeing that this is a comedy that seeks at times to channel the Farrelly Brothers, “Yes Man” is victimized by some crude low-brow comedy.

It sinks to its lowest point with a sequence involving Carl’s randy, elderly female neighbor, oral sex and dentures in a glass of water. Less disturbing is Carl’s date with a traditional Persian woman he encounters online.

Funnier still is Carl’s goofy boss Norman (Rhys Darby), a Brit who enjoys staging costume parties. Now that he can only say “Yes,” Carl starts accepting invitations to Norman’s parties, which are ridiculously themed to such movies as “Harry Potter” and “300.”

Jim Carrey is not really at the top of his comedic game in “Yes Man.” That is not necessarily due to a failing on his part, considering that the focus on the love story with the appealing Zooey Deschanel takes center stage.

In striking a balance between comedy and romance, “Yes Man” is a definite maybe insofar as the film does not commit fully to the full-blown screwball comedy that the premise suggests.

Nevertheless, Carrey delivers some of his trademark humor. For some lighthearted fare during the holiday season, “Yes Man” may be worthy of affirmative support.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

It seems odd that around Christmas time, some of the DVD releases are far from the holiday spirit.

Take, for instance, “Pulse 3,” the horrifying nightmarish fright-fest starring Rider Strong and Brittany Finamore. As a sequel, “Pulse 3” takes place seven years after the phantom invasion, and the survivors on Earth have settled into a primitive lifestyle completely devoid of technology, until Finamore’s character is lured into the city and unleashes the deadliest digital invasion yet.

The “Resident Evil” franchise now spawns “Resident Evil: Degeneration,” an animated thrill ride that takes the franchise’s terrifying zombie action to a whole new level with jaw-dropping visual effects and heart-pounding suspense. Hordes of zombies are unleashed at a major airport in a plot masterminded by a revenge-seeking terrorist.

Your enjoyment of “Resident Evil: Degeneration” is theoretically enhanced by its release in Blu-ray High-Def, DVD and PSP.

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

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Accomplished musicians Laura and Darin Smith have both won wide acclaim for their skills, including awards at Weaverville's "Open Fiddle" contest, the Nevada Championships and numerous other local and regional contests. They will appear in this year's annual CLPA Christmas Concert with Laura on violin and Darin on cello, playing a medley of holiday songs they arranged themselves. Along with performing the Potter Valley pair are music teachers. Photo courtesy of Andi Skelton.

LAKEPORT – The annual Christmas concert of the Lake County Symphony, under the sponsorship of Clear Lake Performing Arts (CLPA), will take place this year on Sunday, Dec. 21 at the Marge Alakszay Center at 3 p.m.

The center is located at the Lakeport Unified School District headquarters on the campus of Clear Lake High School on Lange Street in Lakeport.

Featured along with the orchestra, will be the always popular brother and sister act of Laura and Darin Smith, Lake County vocalist Tamah McQueen and the CLPA Youth Orchestra, directed by Wes Follett.

Over the years the Christmas concert has proven to be one of Lake County's most popular musical events, and the 2008 version promises to maintain that tradition.

Music Director John Parkinson has created a program of largely popular-music Christmas favorites, many of which he adapted personally for guest vocal artist McQueen. McQueen, who was born and raised in Lake County and attended schools in Kelseyville, has worked extensively with Parkinson during her music career.

She will sing a number of holiday classics including Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here" Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song," Irving Berlin's "White Christmas and Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's "Let it Snow."

Kelseyville vocal artist Tamah McQueen will join the Lake County Symphony in presenting a series of popular holiday favorites at the CLPA Christmas Concert on Dec. 21. She not only lives in Kelseyville but is a product of that community's school system, having been influenced by such local music notables as Lyle Stockwell, Nick Biondo and Tom Aiken. Photo courtesy of Andi Skelton.

The concert will open with the full orchestra performing Handel's traditional tribute to the faithful, the Overture from the "Messiah" and will conclude with the last of a three-number sing-along – the "Hallelujah Chorus" from the same piece.

Other sing-along numbers include a medley of "Joy to the World, Oh Come all ye Faithful, The First Noel, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and We Wish you a Merry Christmas" as well as Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride." The audience is encouraged to sing along with the performers.

An overwhelming audience favorite is the "Nutcracker Suite" by Tchaikovsky, and this year the Symphony aims to please, with all seven hallmark pieces from the Suite, opening with the "March of the Nutcracker" and ending with the magical "Waltz of the Flowers." Following this Director Parkinson has chosen a mix of popular and religious songs to wrap up the Symphony's first half

As always members of the Clear Lake Performing Arts Auxiliary will provide holiday cookies and juice during intermission, after which the Smith siblings will perform a special Christmas Medley which they have arranged themselves Laura is an accomplished, award-winning violinist and fiddler and a skilled music teacher.

Her 15-year-old brother Darin plays a variety of string instruments but has selected the cello as his instrument of choice for this concert. In prior appearances in CLPA concerts the Smith youngsters have proven to be true crowd-pleasers.

Admission to the concert is $15 for CLPA members and $20 for the general public. Youths under 18 are admitted free.

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Just about everyone is very familiar with one version or another of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” but have you ever had the story read to you? This “Ghost Story of Christmas” is particularly well suited to the medium of radio — where your imagination provides unlimited special effects.

By the way, did you know it was an English custom in the 1800s to tell ghost stories on Christmas Eve? This came from the old pagan Yule celebrations of Saturnalia and the Winter Solstice.

When Tony Palermo wrote his radio adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” he meant to take the audience back to Charles Dickens’ original purpose for writing the story some 165 years ago. His version is based on the production done by Orson Wells in 1939, staring Lionel Barrymore.

Palermo’s radio tale seeks to play up the ghostly aspects of the story — but in the context of the 19th century Christian beliefs.

Ebenezer Scrooge holds terrible, anti-social attitudes. His character is based upon Charles Dickens’ regrets for his own personal behavior — in not being kind enough to his fellow man, in not being charitable enough to unfortunates; in fact, Scrooge’s history is a reflection upon Dickens’ early life.

Dickens’s major literary themes were memory and forgiveness. He believed that through experiencing the joy and sorrow of memory, you could learn to live properly in this world; hence, Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption is carried out by memory, example, and fear.

On the stage, before the actual reading, demonstrations will be given showing how the sound effects are made and there will be a little background about how radio dramas are produced. The artists will be reading the script and technicians will be producing on stage sound effects.

A cast of 12, directed by the Soper-Reese Artistic Director Bert Hutt will present the live radio broadcast of this classic tale of redemption performed live on stage of the Soper-Reese Community Theater and broadcast on KPFZ 88.1 FM, Community Supported Radio for Lake County.

This program is underwritten by the generous donations of CPS-County Air Properties and BitSculptor and is free for everyone who comes to the theater or has a radio.

The Lake County Arts Council and KPFZ radio thanks you, the community, for your support. Please join us for this free presentation on Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Visit KPFZ 88.1 FM online at www.kpfz.org.

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