Griffin Dunne to Visit Triplex Cinema for Double Screening, Talkback

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. The Triplex Cinema will host a special program of events with actor, writer, producer and director Griffin Dunne, on Saturday, Sept. 21. 
 
Dunne will visit the Triplex to screen "The Center Will Not Hold," his award-winning documentary about his aunt, Joan Didion; to sign copies of his critically acclaimed new memoir "The Friday Afternoon Club," and to present "An American Werewolf in London," directed by John Landis and starring Dunne and David Naughton." The Center Will Not Hold" will screen at 4:30 PM and "An American Werewolf in London" will screen at 8:00 PM. In between, Dunne and WKZE radio host Adam Schartoff will have a talkback, and Dunne will introduce "An American Werewolf in London." 
 
Tickets are available for all of the events at the Triplex website, and books will be available to be purchased and signed at the Cinema.
 
"The Center Will Not Hold" was released  in 2017 to critical acclaim. The film incorporates archival footage and conversations with Didion about the eras she covered in essays, novels and screenplays. The documentary also touches on key events in Didion's personal life. Appearing in the documentary are Tom Brokaw, John Gregory Dunne, Harrison Ford, Patty Hearst, Vanessa Redgrave and Anna Wintour, among many others. Dunne's father, writer Dominick Dunne, was the brother of Didion's husband, John Gregory Dunne. 
 
"An American Werewolf in London," released in 1981, is a comedy horror film written and directed by John Landis. The film tells the story of two American backpackers, played by Dunne and David Naughton, who are attacked by a werewolf while traveling in the English countryside.  The film follows the two Americans as they head to London, and deal with the effects of the attack. "Werewolf" was Landis' followup to his gigantic hits "National Lampoon's Animal House," and the "Blues Brothers," and was both a critical and commercial success. "It was Dunne's first starring role. At the 1982 Academy Awards, Rick Baker was given the first ever Award for Best Makeup for his work on the film; Baker has gone on to win six additional Academy Awards for Best Makeup. 
 
"The Friday Afternoon Club" is Dunne's memoir of growing up among larger-than-life characters in Hollywood and Manhattan. Covering his childhood growing up in an around Hollywood royalty in an unconventional family, the book has received acclaim.
 
Nicki Wilson, President of the Triplex Board of Directors said: "We are so excited to have Griffin Dunne joining us at the Triplex for this multipart event. His memoir is wonderful, and both films we are showing are special in their own way," said Nicki Wilson, President of the Triplex Board of Directors. "Thank you to WKZE's Adam Schartoff for joining us for what I know will be a lively and well-informed conversation."
 
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Neal, Markey Reflect on U.S. Political Climate

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LEE, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and U.S Sen. Edward Markey shared the reflections on the nation's political climate during separate swings through the Berkshires this week. 

"I watched the whole thing and I've known Tim Walz for a long time and I thought that the debate showed the vigor of where we find ourselves," Neal said at Lee Town Hall after bringing news of a $1 million earmark for Lee's proposed public safety building. This was one day after the vice presidential debate.

"And I thought it was pretty interesting."

On Monday night, Democratic nominee Tim Walz and Republican nominee James David "JD" Vance debated at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. The 90-minute program included foreign policy, reproductive rights, immigration, and more.

Neal observed that the candidates spent the evening talking about the respective presidential candidate of the other party. He did not identify a winner in this debate, which was not the case for the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in September.

"So in terms of outcome, I think media have a tendency to try to declare winners and losers and I thought last night, I don't think moves the needle much one way or another," the Springfield Democrat said.

"The presidential debate was entirely different. I thought even Republicans said they thought that the vice president won the debate."

"I think both candidates made the pitch for their presidential candidates very well," said Markey at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday. "However, it's going to come down to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and I'm very confident that the energy level on the Democratic side is so high that we're going to get out the vote. It's a very small percentage of all voters who are undecided right now across the country, it's only going to come down to seven states altogether.
 
Massachusetts and California have already decided, the Democrat said, and so has in Texas and Mississippi. "So we're down to just seven states."
 
Most of the last presidential elections have come down to the general election as ties, he said, so it will matter who gets out the vote. He was heading to Pennsylvania on Friday to speak to Democrats.

Neal was asked about his thoughts on immigration and if the Democratic Party's stance has drifted to the right over the past few years.

"I don't think I would say that it's drifted right," he said. "I think it's drifted to a reality. I think and have professed for a long period of time, you need a process."

He said the problem is you need to know who is in the country and how they arrive.

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