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A family man who’s, “Getting too old for this shit,” and a suicidal, ex-special forces operative, attempt to solve the mysterious death of a banker's daughter in Richard Donner’s infamous buddy cop action flick, Lethal Weapon . The film has all the makings of your typical action movie - drugs, shootouts, catch phrases, martial arts, explosions - all wrapped up neatly with a Christmas bow. But why the holiday setting? This isn’t some arbitrary Hollywood move of “Hey, the movie comes out during the holiday season so let’s throw some Santa’s in there." The choice appears to be deliberate; Lethal Weapon was released March 6th, 1987, months after the holiday season. The film constantly reminds you that it’s Christmas: from playing Jingle Bells over the opening title screen, to its ending on Christmas day. It’s a theme that’s so strangely at odds with the actual plot of the movie that you wonder why it’s even there at all. If you take out the holiday decorations, the occasional Santas and the Jingle Bells , the plot of Lethal Weapon remains the same: two cops trying to solve a suicide case who stumble onto something greater. So again: why is the film trying to tell us it’s Christmastime? The film is set in Los Angeles, which I’d imagine to be a strange place during the holiday season. L.A.’s hot climate and lack of snow seems (at least to myself, a New Yorker) strange. Even visually, to see folks wearing shorts and t-shirts amongst holiday décor is an odd juxtaposition. Christmas in L.A. is a battle of tropes; this perhaps speaks to the duality between buddy-cop power-couple, Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson). Murtaugh is a family man, a cop who plays by the rules, but more importantly he’s happy. He’s the “Christmas." Riggs on the other hand is suicidal; he’s a loose-cannon narcotics officer with a history of being trigger-happy. He has no fear; after his wife’s death, he has nothing left to lose. He’s the “Los Angeles." This mismatching of characters creates a sort of yin and yang between the two. The film on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily find the same harmony as a Christmas-wrapped action movie. As much as the film is trying to tell us it’s Christmastime, its other major element is suicide. The film's inciting incident is the suicide of banker, Michael Hunsaker’s (Tom Atkins) troubled daughter-turned-prostitute, Amanda Hunsaker (Jackie Swanson). This death sets the plot into motion. We are also constantly reminded that Riggs himself is suicidal. In a scene (that’s far too good to actually be in this ridiculous movie) Riggs puts a gun in his mouth and cries as he contemplates suicide. Later in the film we have back-to-back suicide attempts. Riggs and Murtaugh respond to a "jumper" and Riggs saves the man’s life by making them both jump off of the building into a safety net. The next scene features Riggs confessing to Murtaugh his own suicidal thoughts, almost pulling the trigger on himself in front of a painted storefront window saying, “Everything must go.” When Riggs confronts the jumper on the roof, he tries to calm him down by saying, “A lot of people have problems, especially during this silly season.” This line may reveal why suicide is so prevalent in the film. A common myth about the holiday season (that a few searches on google can disprove) is that suicide rates skyrocket during this time of year. Perhaps Lethal Weapon is trying to show us the ugly side of the holiday season. In a time sugar-coated with happiness, there are people among us who are depressed, there are people who are experiencing great loss, there’s no stopping the cold reality of everyday life. As most action movies tend to do, the last two-thirds of Lethal Weapon is an orgy of violence abandoning a lot of its holiday motifs - excluding the death of Michael Hunsaker: he gets shot in the back and the bullet exits through a half-gallon of eggnog he’s holding (it’s literally the best thing I’ve ever seen). The film ends on a happy note. Riggs is invited over to the Murtaugh household for Christmas dinner and gives his partner a gift: the hollow point bullet he was saving for his suicide, claiming he doesn’t need it anymore. So why is this movie set during Christmastime? It’s cheesy, but I think it’s what saves Riggs’ life. The gift of friendship between these two cops saves Riggs. The holiday spirit is somewhere deeply hidden in Lethal Weapon , you just have to take out a few drug lords to find it. Robert Anderson Robert has a degree in Screenwriting and Playwriting and works in multiple genres. He's just your typical man-child who enjoys most things nerd culture. You can follow him on Twitter @RoBaeBae #LethalWeapon #RobertAnderson #December #Newsletter #Review

At this time of year, when it seems rampant consumerism has usurped the spirit of Christmas, it helps take the edge off to watch a movie whose message is, “put a little love in your heart.” An updated take on the Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol , Scrooged , is a campy tale of redemption and holiday cheer with a dark sense of humor. Bill Murray is in his element as cold-blooded television executive, Frank Cross. Cross views Christmas as a marketing gimmick to be exploited for ratings and profit. When a soft-spoken employee suggests that the network’s promo for a live Christmas Eve special might scare people, Cross fires him and cancels his Christmas bonus. He gifts the majority of his friends and employees hand towels, including his younger brother. Cross brings selfishness to new heights of absurdity in his black high-rise office and he seems to enjoy it. Visited by the ghost of his former boss, Cross is warned that he’ll meet a fiery end if he doesn’t change his ways. Forced to relive the pain and joy of Christmas’ past with a foulmouthed cabbie, and knocked senseless by a fairy in the present, the film is a wild ride of highs and lows. The guiding light of Cross’ redemption is his old flame Claire, a humanitarian sweetheart who calls him “Lumpy.” Part of what makes Scrooged so enjoyable is nostalgia – a time when VCR’s were an expensive novelty, and offices had both stocked bars and full-time secretaries. Murray is by turns charming and frightening as Cross, but always a delightful miscreant. At its heart, the story of Christmas is one of salvation. Cross finds his own through his love for others and isn’t that just what Christmas should be about? Liz Velez Liz has a background in film & television production and has worked with NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, and Spotify. Her interests include diversity/representation in media, gender & sexuality politics, social justice and the impact of pop culture in shaping popular opinion. She also slays at drunken karaoke. You can follow her on Twitter @telitlikeitliz #Scrooged #December #Newsletter #LizVelez #BillMurray #Review

(Editor's Note: I apologize.) Dear Mike, Friday The 13th ? Jesus 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 Christ! Really Mike? Who the 🍩🍆👌👈 has time to sit around and watch stupid 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 movies anymore? I've got FOUR 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 jobs right now and I still can't make it work! Our mail gets pinker and pinker every day. I owe over a hundred thousand 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 dollars in back taxes for getting my stupid 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 face photographed way back when. I haven't been able to pay my studio rent in months. Our main sewer line is cracked straight through the God$&#% mother🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 foundation! And now we're going right back into another mean ass winter with a 30 year old 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 furnace and a rusted out old oil tank! There's enough mold in our basement to re-floor the Sherwood Forest. Our new washer we bought on Beacon Buy, Sell, Trade, or stick it up your 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 ass, won't drain. Our God$&#% dishwasher wobbles around like R2 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 D2! You think I got time for this 💩💩💩💩 , Mike? Look, I know I know, I didn't have to do this. I could've been honest and just said no. But these days people come up to me and ask me to do something and I'll just respond with whatever gets them the 🍩🍆👌👈 out of my face the fastest. So now it's 5:12 in the 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 morning on the day you said you needed this stupid 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 thing because, believe it or not, I still consider myself a man of my word.... Actually, that's not true, I would've slept in till about 6:00 and blown it off but my 3 yr old yelled in his sleep, "I WANT MY POOP!" and then kicked me right in the 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 nose, the same God#%&@ nose that he dug his sharp little fingernail into the nostril of and sliced a good hunk out of it, right at the tip. The blood was pouring down my lips and chin. "Daddy! You're bleeding, daddy!" he said to me with his cute little voice. "Yeah, I'm bleeding! You just sliced my nose!" That was probably a month or two ago and the damn thing still won't heal. People keep looking at it like I've got a crusty booger hanging there. But I don't give a 💩💩💩💩 . I don't give a 💩💩💩💩 about anything anymore. Seriously, if I didn't have kids, I couldn't care less if a God$&#% nuke landed on the top of my🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 head, or I got my face chewed off by a mother🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 baboon. I've just had enough of this stupid 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 world. I mean, is any of this 💩💩💩💩 really happening? Is there really such a thing as Donald Trump? Is this what everything that has ever happened in the history of mankind has brought us? Is this why all those wars were fought? Is this what science and philosophy and all that great art and literature has done for us? Jesus, Mozart, Di Vinci, Ghandi, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, Bob Dylan, Doug Stanhope, Ferdinand🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 Celine, that dude from Cinderella (I have a thing for him. I can't kick it. I'm not proud.)? What the hell was the point of it all? What difference did any of it make? I mean, the only good thing about any of it is that we've all been completely and utterly, hopelessly failed by it all. I mean, doesn't it just totally 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 suck to be anything anymore? I haven't laid eyes on a single human being in decades where I felt the least bit of envy for. It sucks to be a man, it sucks to be a woman, it sucks to be black, white, young, old, rich, poor. It sucks to win just as much as fail. I don't know, man. About all I can say about this world anymore is that we've got to somehow get it together for the children. I 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 LOVE children! I certainly wouldn't recommend having any but they're amazing! My children are the only thing that keeps the gun barrel out of my mouth, the noose from snapping my neck. But listen, man, I DID watch a few minutes of Friday The 13th like you asked me to before I switched it over to about the only thing that I can count on anymore, the only thing that still makes any sense- big booty porn. At first, all I could think about was how nice it would be to be able to go back in time and get a crack at some of that fresh young early 80's camp counselor ass with what I know now. But then I started thinking about the parallels of this dead, young, sweet killer boy named, Jason. Or wait, was it his mother that killed everyone in that stupid 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 movie? I can't remember. But I feel like Jason here in Beacon, ya know, with everything that's happening to Beacon. Those unscathed, un-lived 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 asshole camp counsellors, sittin' around the fire without a care in the world, singing their stupid songs, running off to screw each other in the woods. They're just like all these weekenders that come up here to enjoy themselves while we all 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 suffer for it. They make me 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 sick. And now that The Hop's closed, shit, that was our 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 mouse trap right there! They're gonna start nosing around every God$&%# tasty morsel that's left of this doomed town. What the hell are we gonna do, Mike? 💩💩💩💩 , maybe you're right? Maybe it's best just to check out and watch stupid movies and act like it's not actually happening, that it's not finally, truly, without a doubt, the end of the mother🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 world as we know it? And hey, you should sell Corn Nuts at your screenings. I LOVE Corn Nuts! Always have. They're 🍆🍩🍌👌👈💋💤 awesome! Ranch is my favorite. Love, Phil Phil Bram Phil Bram lives, works, writes, works, makes art, works and works in Beacon, NY. "Like a hardened worm stuck on the sidewalk beneath a burning son." #Articles #Newsletter #Fridaythe13th #PhilBram #HorrorSlasher

Horror. My first love of a genre. I read Stephen King’s Cujo when I was 8 years old. The cover intrigued me while I was snooping through my parents’ bookcase. The cover even made me uneasy, before I knew it, that was what I craved most when it came to horror. That pure, uneasy feeling. The voluntary loss of comfort. ​My niche when it comes to horror has always been the slasher sub-genre. I couldn’t tell you honestly if it was the gore, the outright campiness or its gratuitous nature in general. A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of my first favorites, followed by Friday the 13th which ultimately became my go-to for years to come. It wasn’t until I was close to becoming a teenager that I finally discovered a horror film that once again brought me back to that uneasy place that I so very graciously volunteered to traverse: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. ​ From the opening of the film (voiced by a young, uncredited John Larroquette), a journey is set in motion that is, in no small words, a sensory overload. The sounds of old camera shutters snapping pictures, the slow pan and zooms that have the most slight unnatural feeling, the scenes that seem void of sound until one trivial noise is personified, to the very real and discomforting dialogue prior to our group's arrival at the dilapidated farmhouse followed by their latter fate. While watching this film it becomes apparent that most scenes, how they’re framed, shot and executed (no pun intended), will leave you wondering if they were indeed intentional or just a beautiful mash-up of low budget (mind you; shot for less than $300k), inexperienced actors and a hefty emphasis on not only the soundtrack but the sounds and visuals that accompanied each scene. Almost every scene in this film feels genuine and natural. The first few times I watched this movie it became abundantly clear why it intrigued me so much. This film is the grandfather of the slasher genre. The timing, the placement, the group of young twenty something's, the relentless, unstoppable killer. ​Any movie can invoke at least a feeling or two, here or there, but for one supremely unexpected film to hit every mark again and again until its absolute, abrupt ending there is no wonder why this film has solidified itself in the annals of American history. ​ Can you hear that generator? Michael Vierra He can't be bargained with. He can't be reasoned with. He doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely will not stop... ever, until you watch more movies! #Newsletter #Articles #MichaelVierra

What indignities can one endure to survive? What is the true strength of young girls and women? Is it their resilience in the face of a world trying to break them, or something else entirely? What are you willing to sacrifice for freedom? There is no style of storytelling more engaging than a coming of age story; a character faced with the reality of a world both indifferent and actively hostile towards their realization of selfhood, encountering the honest few willing to aid in that struggle. Gaining the strength to be self-possessed, while not allowing others to destroy that sense of self, creates a unique opportunity for an audience to learn not just about a character, but to learn something about themselves. Even more so, if it’s the story of a young girl. Add complex relationships between women and you have the trappings of a feminist’s dream film. “Spirited Away,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and “The Diary of A Teenage Girl,” directed by Marielle Heller, demonstrate the resonance and necessity of young girls’ stories. In “Spirited Away” Chihiro’s mission to rescue her parents from the spirit world she finds herself trapped in transforms her from a typical ten year old into her own savior. Similarly in “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” Minnie is the master of discovering herself and her relationship to sexuality while overcoming the judgments of those who would shame her for it. “Mustang,” directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, delivers on all these aspects and more. Told from the view of Lale – played wondrously by Günes Sensoy – the youngest of five orphaned sisters; the experiences of joy and love she shares with her sisters comprise the heart of the film. Skipping off after school to play games at the beach comes into stark contrast with facing down an armed farmer in an apple grove. This ability to shift moods in a moment, to go from warmth and light to cold isolation, to create life & death tension and fear in these girls, keeps the audience on edge early on in the film. “Mustang” portrays coming of age in its characters’ confrontation of harsh realities. When the girls’ uncle, Erol, takes them to have their chastity validated by male doctors their discomfort and tension in the waiting room is palpable. Sonay, Selma, and Ece, as the eldest sisters, are subjected to a physical examination while Lale and Nur are spared as they have not yet reached sexual maturity. While they are out, their grandmother confiscates their “corruptive” belongings and cuts off their communication with the outside world in an effort to stymy their free-spirited exploration of self. Trapped in a house with not even school as an escape, the girls revel and sneak out to a soccer match all the village girls are attending. As they sneak past their guardians, fear of punishment is mentioned and dismissed: “At least something will happen.” When they return home, their grandmother’s punishment is to arrange marriage for Sonay and Selma. On the night of their wedding, Lale comforts a depressed Selma and encourages her to run away if she does not want to go through with the marriage. Selma understands it is not so simple, “Istanbul is 1,000 kilometers away. And I can’t drive.” Warren Ellis’ score is by turns beautiful and haunting. It falls away imperceptibly and reemerges without fanfare, serving and elevating a scene all at once. There are echoes of scenes throughout the film, shots framed in the same way that serve in sharp relief to the joy experienced early on. Early on in their captivity the girls “swim” in their bed sheets in bathing suits; they find joy and comfort in each other’s company. As the elder girls are ritually married off, Lale is left alone with Nur. Though they play the same game, their distress is palpable. As Lale’s experiences of loss pile up, so too does the visual isolation. The first time we meet the girls’ grandmother she berates them for playing with boys. It is not until later when their uncle Erol arrives home that it becomes clear her wrongdoing towards the girls is her way of trying to protect them from his violent temper. Erol locks the girls away and keeps them from attending school. His disdain for their “disrespectful” existence under his roof and the expense he has incurred by taking them in, is the catalyst for their grandmother’s wife training and matchmaking. If she gets them out of the house in an honorable way, they have some hope of escaping his abuse. What is clear is that she does not realize how much harm she is causing the girls in turn by attempting to marry them off to strangers. The girls sneak out to attend a soccer match that only women are permitted to attend – the men have rioted so much they’ve been banned. They miss the group van to the match and stop the next vehicle headed in the same direction; a transport truck driven by a young man named Yazin. Yazin refuses to help them at first, fearful of losing his job if they are discovered. The eldest sister, Sonay, wears him down and Lale uses her argument against him later in the film – they are both taking an equal risk in spending time together. It is this friendship forged in mutual risk and trust from which Lale gains the skills and assistance she needs to escape her confinement. The girls’ aunt Emine is in charge of their cooking lessons. She appears docile and meek, but she is the one who teaches Lale how to make homemade gum; something that her uncle would surely disapprove of given his reaction to his niece Ece chewing gum early in the film. It is she who protects the girls from certain corporal punishment when they sneak out to the soccer match and she spots them on television. Emine cuts power to the entire village so the girls’ secret is not exposed. In her own way, she is rebelling too, showing adaptability and strength in quiet insubordination. At the beginning of the film Lale bids a tearful goodbye to her teacher, Dilek, who is moving to Istanbul. The role of a teacher in a student’s life is one that borders on and crosses into the territory of a parent-child relationship. The closeness and nurturing nature of their relationship is evident when Dilek gives Lale her personal address. Lale guards this information in what seems at first to be a typical child-like forgetfulness, but is truly her desire to put off acknowledging the reality of her absence. When things become dire for her and Nur she digs it out again; it is her one hope for escape and survival. Lale’s indomitable spirit, toughness and smarts, make you root for her. As the stakes get higher, she works even harder and formulates a truly daring, dangerous, and brave plan to change her and Nur’s circumstances. Not until she has soundly defended her values does she allow a moment’s weakness. As a friend skillfully put it: “If you don’t cry while watching this film, you just might not have a soul.” Liz Velez Liz has a background in film & television production and has worked with NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, and Spotify. Her interests include diversity/representation in media, gender & sexuality politics, social justice and the impact of pop culture in shaping popular opinion. She also slays at drunken karaoke. You can follow her on Twitter @telitlikeitliz #LizVelez #Mustang #Newsletter #Review

Host Robby Anderson talks about the fascinating suspense behind the Brazilian genre tale, Bacurau, with guests Bernadette Gorman-White and Mike Burdge. It's their first social distancing podcast, so let's see how these super professional cinephiles do, shall we? Listen on....

Welp, we gave it a shot, gang! But due to the safety restrictions now placed upon New York State's movie theaters (not to mention restaurants, bars, music venues, etc), Story Screen Beacon Theater will be temporarily halting operations until restrictions are lifted. For now, we will continue our posting of online content like normal, and will even try to curate some new things for our readers to enjoy while hunkering down. When we have a plan for reopening, rest assured we will be pretty loud about it, but keep your ears to our social media ( Facebook , Instagram , Twitter ) anyhow just to be safe. It will be a pretty wild return. This is harrowingly bad news for us, and can be felt in equal measure from all our brothers and sisters in the small business community in our surrounding areas. We have some ideas in mind to not only offer an escape from all this madness, but to also allow those of you out there looking to show support for our little venture. We'll be rolling those out in the coming days, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for those. And naturally, you could head over to our site’s store and purchase a digital gift card of any amount you wish to use at a future date once we have reopened our doors. There may even be some pretty cool surprises coming your way should you, say, purchase a gift card of $50 dollars or more. There's just no way of knowing, really, you'll just have to try it out and see! On that note, we want to thank everyone for their past and continued support of our theater. We've been welcomed into the weekly activities of the City of Beacon, and we're not at all weirded out to say that we consider many of you more than customers and supporters, but also friends. Beacon truly is a unique spot with unique advantages, and one of the things that really makes Beacon special is its slew of various small businesses. These are distinct outlets run by some exceptional people, and they ALL work endlessly week after week to supply the demand this city can throw at it. They are as much a part of what makes Beacon what it is as the people that populate it, and they are going to need all the help they can get in the coming weeks. Things are going to be hard for everyone, but we ask that, where you can, please seek out local business's social media accounts, share their information with anyone you think may be interested, and take advantage of any special offers many will be promoting during this change in normal operations. We will all get through this the same way anybody can always get through something: together. Wash your hands, please. Take care of yourself. Be sure to take care of others, and we'll see you on the other side of this thing. - The Story Screen Family

What can be said about a cult-comedy classic that took the world by storm over 20 years ago? A lot of time has passed and it can be easy to forget just how big of an impact Wayne’s World really had on our culture, not just here in America, but just about everywhere. Catchphrases became normal dialogue, jokes were repeated dead-horse style, and even this past Halloween, 24 years later, we all saw a Garth or two partying on. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey were catapulted to stardom pretty much overnight, spreading their characters across the covers of magazines, commercials, billboards and arriving in England by plane to a crowd of over 5,000 screaming fans, Beatles-style. Cut-off jeans were back. But does this movie really still hold up after all these years? Back before the first rough cuts were shown to test audiences, many people behind the scenes of Wayne’s World thought they had somehow pulled off a dud. After all the hard work, it seemed the sketch from Saturday Night Live just didn’t have enough breath to last a full-length feature. And Mike Myers agreed. He was known to be inconsolable about the state of the film before its release. He and Carvey had transferred from the wacky, edgy 11:30 pm on a Saturday night in NYC setting, to a quiet, well-lit studio with marks on the ground and take after take after take. They had the precision of Penelope Spheeris, who was riding high after her documentary sequel: The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years , was still making huge waves even during Wayne’s World’s filming. People already knew the characters, the set-up's, the one liners; they got the shtick. What could go wrong? Myers believed almost none of the jokes landed, and that the story, at best, worked only in 3 minute intervals, which seemed liked cheating when converting a 3-6 minute skit into an 1 hour 35 minute film. He even thought some of the jokes were so bad that he didn’t want to shoot them in the first place, but through Spheeris, Carvey and Producer, Lorne Michaels, many of the scenes he found devastatingly bad were shot, cut and are in the movie you’ve watched on late-night TV time and time again. But we all know where it goes from here, right? Wayne's World was a hit. First test screenings were such a mess because people were laughing so long after jokes finished that viewers were missing dialogue and build-up to other jokes. Rob Lowe remembers the "Cream of Sum Yung Gai" joke being weird to film on set and that half the crew thought it wasn’t funny at all. Lowe persuaded Myers to keep the joke and when it first screened, the laughter from the crowd was so insane that the rest of the scene was practically useless to the audience. Lowe and Myers looked at each other and shrugged. The next time you’re watching that scene, notice the long pause that was put in between Myers’ delivery of the joke and the next line of dialogue. (If you’re into that sort of thing). But look beyond jokes landing, does the film still hold that energy everyone fell in love with back in 1992?? Ed O’Neill is still straight up on fire in every scene as the overly dark and depressed manager of the donut diner, Glen. I still laugh my ass off at his delivery of, “Well, the world’s a twisted place...” Dana Carvey is brilliant (as mostly always) as Garth. It has a super silly Terminator 2 reference that I think still works very well even today. Penelope Spheeris does a very good job mixing together the sketch comedy strokes implanted by SNL with the music video background she had come from. The film's ending with Cassandra’s band playing in Wayne’s basement feels just like an introduction to a live performer on the Saturday night sketch show. Oh, yes, let’s talk about Cassandra. Cassandra may be a side character and Wayne’s love interest/girlfriend, but your Bechdel test can take a lap on this one. Cassandra’s story from playing shows in clubs where fights break out on the regular, to scoring a 6 album deal with one of the hottest producers in the music industry, is just as upfront as Wayne and Garth’s journey from their basement to commercial television. She doesn’t take shit from Wayne when he’s being a child, she doesn’t let the idea of fame and money distract her from her growing distrust of a slimy producer and she rocks the fuck out. Wayne even gives up his dreams of his show reaching the big time to get the word out on Cassandra’s band. It’s her project and her dreams that are fully realized by the end of the movie. And while many other women in the film are objectified to dream girls or super crazy ex’s, there’s something to be said for a musical-comedy from 1992 written by Mike Myers where the female lead is an Asian punk-rocker who wins the day. So does Wayne’s World hold up? Well, Rob Lowe is in the middle of a huge comeback, Dana Carvey just released a new stand-up special on Netflix, Mike Myers is rich somewhere and the cry for films to feature stronger, independent women has never been louder or as well heard. That’s pretty good for a movie. And it’s really good for a movie that still makes you laugh at Bugs Bunny jokes. That's just excellent. Mike Burdge Founder of and programmer for Story Screen. Lover of stories and pizza in the dark. When he isn't watching movies, you can find him reading things about people watching movies. He lives in Beacon, NY with his cat who is named after Kevin Bacon's character from Friday the 13th. #Articles #Newsletter #MikeBurdge #WaynesWorld #November #Music #Comedy #PartyOn

“Civility is not saying negative or harsh things. It is not the absence of critical analysis. It is the manner in which we are sharing this territorial freedom of political discussion. If our discourse is yelled and screamed and interrupted and patronized, that’s uncivil.” -Richard Dreyfuss Politics. You used to be able to say it was boring. Ho boy, you definitely can't say that today and be considered a person who does not, in fact, live under a rock. The political world today is a fiercely alive animal, and a revolutionary one at that. Change is happening, regardless of who is winning or profiting. For better or worse, after November 8th, 2016, our country will be changed for the foreseeable future. Who wants to watch some movies? This September, Story Screen has partnered up with People for Beacon, as well as a handful of other intelligible, local businesses and organizations, to bring a sweeping political series that covers the problems and key points that are most relevant to our country's current political and public system. We call it Poliflicks. Because we like puns. And pundits. See? Join us all month long as we present political documentaries and dramas screened in Beacon, NY that we hope will not only entertain, but inform. From political scandals to false democracies to media manipulation to racial profiling and more, our programming this month hopes to touch on as many important topics as we can. To help us fill this roster, Howland Cultural Center, Harry's Hot Sandwiches and Stock-Up have offered their spaces for screenings throughout the month, as well as our normal operating schedule at More Good every Sunday. Guest speakers and surprises abound, as usual. We'll even be offering some Free Screenings all month! Please, check out our screening schedule for September and join us. -Mike Burdge of Story Screen The thrill of citizenship; existential crises and their possible remedies; the promise of collective action. These films are love letters to the struggles of our age, and seeing them gives us not only the chance to learn something useful, but to do so together, as communities hold the power to shape their destinies. -Alex Reed Kelly of People for Beacon We’re living in a society where we have been afforded access to information right in the palm of our hands, and yet knowledge and understanding about the laws and systems that govern and affect our lives most seem to be less known among the general population. IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT! There’s a lot going on out there. A lot of pages to visit, things to read, opinions to consider, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown at us and to feel that we simply do not have enough time to weed through and digest it all. Enter Poliflicks, a politically charged documentary/drama film series tackling a number of different themes and issues through the month of September. I do believe that documentary films can help to drive social and cultural change through their use of storytelling and so help widen our access and depth of information in ways that other forms of media cannot. I am certain that the documentaries we have selected for this series will not only leave you feeling more informed, but inspired and motivated for change and to take action. Did I mention there’ll be popcorn? -Sarah A. Salem of People for Beacon #Politiflicks #PeopleForBeacon #Newsletter