Christmas Eve

ice harvestAlthough "The Ice Harvest" is a taut and solid suspense film with enough plot twists to carry it through to conclusion, I can't recommend it with any enthusiasm. This is a film that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be when it grows up. On one hand, it is a pulpy, graphic crime drama, and on the other, it is an offbeat, darkly humorous comedy that never quite finds its feel. I felt a bit betrayed by the bait-and-switch tactics used in the trailers and expected a raucous comedy more in the style of "Bad Santa," especially with Harold Ramis directing.

JOYCE RUDOLPH Media City Ballet's "The Nutcracker" showcased the marvelous talents of the Burbank company's principals as well as punched up the humor during Sunday's matinee performance at The Alex Theatre in Glendale. Ellen Rosa was an exuberant Sugar Plum Fairy while Askar Alimbetov made a gallant showing as her Prince Koklash in the Grand Pas de Deux, which was rewarded with a standing ovation. Jennifer Wilson's portrayals of the Snow Queen and Dew Drop were impeccable with her partner Askar Kettebekov, who exhibited great precision as her Snow King and Cavalier.

As the new year nears, hundreds of volunteers are putting the final floral touches on Burbank’s Rose Parade float entry. This year’s float, titled “Oktoberfest,” will depict flute-playing squirrels and a merry German beer maiden serving a man in front of a cottage. It will also feature a live Oom-pa-pa band and dance troupe called Die Gemutlichen Schuhplattler, who have been instructing 20 people who will dance alongside and on the float during the parade.

A last-minute push from firefighters and the community helped the Family Service Agency of Burbank meet a record demand from families in need of holiday toys, officials reported. Firefighters in the days leading up to Christmas Eve dropped off more than 1,000 action figures, dolls and board games, filling a room inside the agency’s Burbank Boulevard office to the ceiling. In all, about 2,000 toys awaited the rush of 700 families, organizers said. The toy-store-like scene inside “Santa’s Room” elated Pat Smola, an agency employee who began organizing toy giveaways seven years ago and has done so every year since.

The evergreen appeal of Frank Capra's film classic, “It's a Wonderful Life,” about a despairing Everyman who learns that his life has had profound meaning, translates not only to frequent TV airings during the holiday season, but to numerous live stagings. Joe Landry's “Live Radio Play” adaptation, touring the country since the 1990s, has pretty much dominated recent theatrical territory, but that hasn't closed the door to other dramatized versions of the classic. Giving it a go locally: Theatre Unleashed, reprising its own 2011 radio-themed staging, “KAWL Presents 'It's a Wonderful Life': A Radio Play for the Stage,” at the Missing Piece Theatre in Burbank.

Officials of the First Baptist Church of Glendale are basking in the glow of accomplishment with the completion of the sanctuary’s restoration. The first service after the renovation was on Christmas Eve, and the sanctuary was rededicated Sunday during the worship service. The congregation was organized in 1904, and over the last 105 years, it has met in three buildings. The groundbreaking ceremony for the present sanctuary was in 1925. Sunday services were in the chapel during renovation, said Pastor Charles L. Updike, who came to the church in 2007.

Newly minted Cub Scout Roman Moreno was having the patches stitched onto his uniform when he sensed that Bear, his rescued German shepherd, had gone missing. A devout superhero fan with a penchant for the hard-living “Hancock,” Roman waited for his mother to put the final touches on the uniform while the family’s 14-year-old German shepherd, Max, stood by. “I saw Max, but I didn’t see Bear,” said Roman, 9, after admitting to being terrified of the dark.

Bob Kramer Have you noticed the latest craze in television? It's the quiz show. No matter what channel you turn to you will see one of these new programs. All of this started with the huge success of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" It has been a national phenomenon for ABC and remains the most popular of all the new shows. CBS has countered with "Winning Lines," followed by NBC's offering of "Twenty One." This new popularity of quiz and game shows has prompted various producers to take a new look at some old shows, in the hope of revamping them.

JOYCE RUDOLPH From working with clay to sewing clothing for dolls, Lucille Fewless likes to keep her hands busy. A student at the Creative Arts Center for more than 30 years, the Burbank resident started taking ceramics classes with longtime instructor Claude Hulce, who is now retired from the center. Over the last couple of months, Fewless has been making items to sell at the center's annual Holiday Boutique. She's made clothing and accessories for 15 porcelain bisque dolls.