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• Dividing lines of political ideology

• New discoveries: Lodi growers add variety to wine list

• Regional Roundup

• Logbook

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (165)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (71)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (49)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Public health care is a Christian option (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (17)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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'Cabaret' (****)

Classic continues to outperform most modern musicals

With their elaborate sets and complex choreography, most contemporary musicals dwarf their old-Hollywood predecessors in terms of visual spectacle and soul-stirring intensity. However, there is one classic that in turn continues to make most modern musicals seem rather silly and irrelevant by comparison. And what else could I be speaking of besides "Cabaret," Bob Fosse's 1972 adaptation of the blockbuster Broadway play set against the backdrop of the Nazis' rise to power in 1930s Germany.

Sure, it's a story with an important message about the seductive power of evil ("Tomorrow Belongs to Me" still sends chills through my spine whenever I think about it), but beyond that, it's also one of the most viscerally thrilling musicals ever made, with song and dance numbers that continue to captivate despite their relative simplicity.

Credit its staying power not only to Fosse's Oscar-winning direction, but also to the film's phenomenal cast headed by Liza Minnelli (also an Oscar winner) as Sally Bowles, an ostensibly carefree American girl working in Berlin as a cabaret dancer. Intoxicated by personal freedom, she falls in love with the brand of immoral instant gratification afforded to her by the bohemian lifestyle. These ideals are challenged when she falls in love with Brian (Michael York, in one of his only truly memorable roles), a sexually confused English teacher who takes life a bit more seriously than Sally, but nonetheless finds himself drawn into her life.

Of course, "Cabaret" wouldn't be "Cabaret" without Joel Grey (yet another Oscar winner for his work here) as the emcee of the Kit-Kat Club, where Sally headlines. We only see him on stage, and he has no outside contact with the other characters. Even so, he's the film's dominant thematic force: always lurking, flashing his impish smile, inviting you to come join in the liberating festivities. He's the face of evil incarnate — an evil made all the more dangerous by the fact that it looks so innocent. When he finally bares his teeth during a performance of the deceptively sweet love song "If You Could See Her," it's unsettling yet strangely inevitable.

In addition to stellar acting and imaginative direction, "Cabaret" also boasts one of the all-time great movie soundtracks. From the opening numbers of "Willkomen" and "Mein Herr" to Minnelli's defiant rendition of the powerhouse closing title song, the bawdy nightclub scenes would qualify the film as a masterpiece even if the rest of the narrative were stripped away.

"Cabaret" is rated PG for language, violence, sexual content and mature themes.