Greetings, Citizen Readers. You will have noticed I have not done any movie reviews lately.

Well, over the past few weeks, I have seen four movies that I am now going to tell you about: “Seven Pounds,” “Marley and Me,” “Hotel for Dogs,” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”

Although Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was yesterday, there are a number of events in the coming days to celebrate his life.

The Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater announced their summer concert series this afternoon.

The six concert series will start with Kenny Loggins on May 1 and 2, followed by LeAnn Rimes on June 5 and 6, The Beach Boys on June 26 and 27, The Spinners on July 17 and 18, HippieFest on Aug. 14 and 15 and Peter Cetera on Aug. 21 and 22. Hippiefest will feature The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie, Chuck Negron on Three Dog Night, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, Badfinger featuring Joey Molland and Brewer and Shipley.

** 1/2

The trailers for “The Unborn” made me think that I was going to see the 21st century incarnation of “The Exorcist.” And then I found out this film was rated PG-13 and I thought, O.K., maybe not. Still, the images looked very creepy and the story, what I could get from the trailer, looked interesting. “The Unborn” is not the second coming of a horror classic. It isn’t even a great horror movie, but it was entertaining and it did have a unique story and some scares, although many of them were of the “the monster wasn’t in the mirror a second ago and now he is, BOO!” variety.

When the new “Fun at the Fred” concert season kicks off this spring, every seat in Peachtree City’s 2,400-capacity Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater is going to be a great one thanks to a new, state-of-the-art sound system.

On view through May 25, 2009, at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, “Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs” features more than 130 striking objects from some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, from the Fourth Dynasty into the Late Period (about 2600 B.C. – 660 B.C.). Derived from a variety of contexts, including temples and royal and private tombs, many of these artifacts have never before visited the United States.

Tomorrow, a new year begins and with it comes a calendar filled with fun events in the area for the family to enjoy.

Auditions for “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Main Street Players next production, will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 7 and 8, at The Main Street Theatre, 115 North Hill Street, in Griffin, Ga, starting ay 7 p.m. each night. 

The Centre for Performing and Visual Arts of Coweta County is starting up the new year with “Teacher Man,” a play performed by The American Theatre, which specializes in making theatrical productions out of literary works.  “Teacher Man” is based on a book by Frank McCourt.

As the promotion and reviews for this film hit the newspapers, magazines and television programs last week, the story of the film was treated like a big secret, as if there were major plot twists to figure out. Either I have seen too many movies (I have) or the people behind this film didn’t want the public to hear the plot and misconstrue it as something sad and avoided during the holidays.

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The Lockni and Nohrin people have been fighting each other for years, ever since the evil Sedessa (the late Ann Bancroft) stopped the Lockni’s peaceful journey to the Nohrin’s land and slaughtered most of them. Fortunately, King Zahn (Louis Gossett Jr.) stopped Sedessa’s plan to totally kill everyone, cut her wings off, and banished her. Under his rule, the amount of fighting has decreased. Zahn’s daughter, Kyla (Jennifer Love Hewitt) does not understand why the Nohrin and Lockni are fighting but she does know that Sedessa also killed her mother when she was a baby.

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This was the number one movie in America for several weeks, but the holidays kept me busy and the Names and Faces pages full so I didn’t get a chance to see this until the other day. Maybe it is because Christmas is only a week away and I am in the holiday spirit, but I really liked this movie. It made me smile and I laughed quite a bit, something I wasn’t sure I was going to do after seeing the previews and commercials over and over and over again.

With the wide assortment of goods and services available in Fayette County, shoppers don’t have to travel far for their holiday shopping. The Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and local municipalities are encouraging consumers to “buy local” to support Fayette businesses and help keep our local economy strong. The Chamber recently launched a new website, www.FinditinFayette.org, to highlight Fayette businesses and be the go-to place to find holiday events, bargains, and shopping destinations in Fayette County.

Fayette Fiddlers will present their 16th annual Christmas concert tonight at Grace Evangelical Church in Fayetteville at 6:30 p.m.

The Christmas concert of the Centre Strings orchestra will be held at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts of Coweta County on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. Admission is free. The repertoire will feature a variety of classical works for the Christmas season performed in a casual atmosphere. This concert will provide a great experience for the whole family and is a good way to introduce children to classical and chamber music and to celebrate the Christmas season.

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without presentations of “The Nutcracker” and there are many of them to choose from.

The Starr’s Mill High School Band program will host its 4th annual Pyramid Concert at 7 p.m. tonight at the Starr’s Mill High School gym.

The Fayetteville First United Methodist Church will hold its Annual Christmas Home Tour this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 and 7.

Among the homes that can be visited are those of Dennis and Becky Davenport on Reynolds Place, and Phil and Bonnie Smelly on Broadmoor Drive. Their homes are pictured with this article. Other homes on this tour are those of Dan and Cindy Smith on Bernhard Road and John and Laura Ryckeley on Annelle Park Drive. Also available on the tour is the business of Diane Reeves on South Glynn Street.

First Christian Church in Tyrone will have a small winter coat collection/drive Sundays, Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and 14 from 2-4 p.m. The project was started by Sandy Creek sophomore Mitchell Turner. If there are people who can donate coats, especially in children and teen sizes, or if there are people in the community in need of coats for their children, they are welcome to browse through the coats on the dates and times mentioned above.

The company that brought you “ The Grinch” A contemporary ballet has done it once again with “Babes in Toyland”.  Evolving Pointe Ensemble a non profit dance company in conjunction with Dance Contempra’s Centre For Dance Education in Peachtree City have joined forces once again to update a holiday classic.

Southside Theatre Guild in Fairburn will present “Christmas Belles,” starting tomorrow night.

“Christmas Belles,” by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, is about a church Christmas pageant that spins wildly out of control as three squabbling sisters try to reign in the mayhem. Amidst an ailing Santa, a vengeful sheep, and a reluctant Elvis impersonator, a family secret emerges that just might derail the entire production. And on top of everything else, the pageant will be shown live on cable access television for the first time ever.

Fayetteville’s 16th annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Sat., Dec. 6. will officially mark the beginning of the Main Street Holiday Season. The public is invited to gather at Heritage Park, with festivities scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. A pre-show by Pro Musica, a string trio, will set the festive mood as the public arrive. The traditional lighting of the tree will be followed by complimentary carriage rides with Santa from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. We are also partnering with the Fayette Samaritans again this year to help fill their pantry. We ask that you bring non-perishable food items, and can goods with you to drop off in our donation area.

Peachtree City will hold its third annual Hometown Holiday Christmas event on Saturday, Dec. 6, beginning at Shakerag Knoll at 5 p.m. and ending at City Hall with the grand Christmas tree lighting, local entertainment, and a visit with Santa Claus.

WWII Flying Museum and Veterans mark historic event

The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Dixie Wing, Honor Flight Fayette and local veterans organizations will join forces on Sunday, December 7, 2008 to host Peachtree City’s first observance of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.  The program will be held at the Historical Airpower Facility, Falcon Field 11:00am-1:00pm.

The Peachtree Wind Ensemble’s first Christmas event will be on  Saturday, December  6th at 7:30 p.m. The Wind Ensemble will be providing the holiday music for the Peachtree City Tree Lighting Ceremony which takes place at the City Hall Complex .

Christmas with the Southern Crescent Chorale will take place Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. at Flat Creek Baptist Church, 161 Flat Creek Trail, in Fayetteville.

Dianne Olsen, speaking on behalf of the Newnan Theatre, has this to say about their presentation of A Christmas Carol:    

"Magical, musical, comical -- all in time for the holiday season!  Newnan Community Theatre Company's A Christmas Carol will not be the usual traditional program.  This adaptation, by director Tonya Dewyne Jefferson, includes lots of laughs and modern songs (imagine Michael Jackson's Thriller and Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You!).

If you are a fan of “The Plaids,” the group from the beloved show “Forever Plaid,” Christmas is coming early for you.

The Legacy Theatre will present “Plaid Tidings,” a Christmas show featuring The Plaids, Nov. 28-Dec. 21.

It’s Thanksgiving week, your family is in town.. what to see??? I saw two great movies this week, Bolt and Twilight. Here are my thoughts.

With the Thanksgiving break starting this week, there were two movies for teens and younger audiences to enjoy during their time off. Lucky for everyone, they are both worth the price of admission.