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Opera House To Show Affleck Flick

Casey Affleck stars in “Manchester by the Sea,” which is playing at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House Saturday and Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m.

FREDONIA — The next feature film in the Opera House Cinema Series is the widely acclaimed “Manchester by the Sea.” It will be screened on Saturday and Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 7:30 p.m.

“Manchester by the Sea” currently is receiving Oscar buzz as the front-runner for the Best Picture Oscar and Best Actor Award for its star Casey Affleck. It is the story of a solitary Boston janitor who is transformed when he returns to his hometown to care for his teenage nephew. The story of the Chandlers, a working-class family living in a Massachusetts fishing village for generations, the film is a deeply poignant, unexpectedly funny exploration of the power of familial love, community, sacrifice and hope.

After the death of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), Lee Chandler (Affleck) is shocked to learn that Joe has made him sole guardian of his nephew Patrick. Taking leave of his job, Lee reluctantly returns to Manchester-by-the-Sea to care for Patrick, a spirited 16-year-old, and is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and the community where he was born and raised. Bonded by the man who held their family together, Lee and Patrick struggle to adjust to a world without him.

Bill Goodykoontz, in the Arizona Republic, calls the film “a masterpiece in a minor key, an exploration of grief that never lets its characters – or its audience – off the hook.”  Calvin Wilson, in the St. Louis Post-Journal, and Peter Howell, in the Toronto Star, both call it “one of the best films of the year.” Rex Reed, in the New York Observer, calls it “an exemplary film of such exceptional wisdom, beauty, clarity, sensitivity and emotional depth that I had to rub my eyes to believe it.” Peter Travers, in Rolling Stone, says “no film this year has moved me more with its humor, heart and humanity. Engrave the name Casey Affleck on the Oscar for Best Actor right now, so extraordinary and engulfing is his performance.”  Rated R for language throughout and some sexual content, “Manchester by the Sea” runs two hours, 17 minutes.

The Opera House Cinema Series is sponsored by Lake Shore Savings Bank. Tickets are available at the door for $7 (adults), $6.50 (seniors & Opera House members) and $5 (students) the night of each screening. A book of 10 movie passes is available for $60 at the door or online at www.fredopera.org. For more information, call the Opera House Box Office at 679-1891.

The Opera House is equipped with individualized closed captioning headsets for the deaf as well as with assistive listening headsets for the hearing-impaired. Simply request one from any usher or Opera House staff member. Headset funding provided by Robert & Marilyn Maytum, the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, the Dunkirk-Fredonia Lions Club, and by a grant from Theatre Development Fund’s TAP Plus program in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts.

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit performing arts center located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.

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