[Nfbnet-members-list] January Events

[Steve Cook]

Happy New Year to all! 

 

Feel free to share with everyone! 

 

I hope you will join me for the below January events on Zoom!

 

Friday, January  3, 2025

Beetle Juice audio described movie at 8:00 PM Eastern

 

Friday, January  10, 2025

Beetle Juice, Beetle Juice audio described movie at 8:00 PM Eastern

 

Saturday, January  18, 2025

Harry Potter 1-Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone audio described movie at 8:00 PM Eastern

This year we will be showing the Harry Potter movies series as our 3rd movie of the month. There are a total of 8 movies in this series!

 

Friday, January 24, 2025

Name That Tune at 8:00 PM Eastern

 

SC Tech Talk

Takes place every Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern

 

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Phone number: 19292056099

Meeting ID: 803 254 3777

Password: 124578

 

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Meeting ID: 803 254 3777

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Beetle Juice


 

In Winter River, Connecticut, Adam and Barbara Maitland spend their vacation decorating their large country home that family member (and local real estate agent) Jane Butterfield constantly pesters them to sell. Adam spends his off-time in the attic working on his hobby: building a scale model of the town. Adam tells Barbara he needs items from the hardware store they operate in town (now closed for their vacation), and she offers to accompany him. Adam collects the items, but on the drive home, the Maitlands' car swerves to miss a dog and plunges off a bridge, into the river.

 

Barbara and Adam arrive home but are unable to recall how they arrived. When attempting to leave the house, Adam enters an otherworldly desert-like landscape populated by enormous sandworms. The encounter lasts mere seconds for him, but after Barbara rescues him, she claims he had been gone for two hours. After discovering a Handbook for the Recently Deceased and noticing they have no reflections in a mirror, the couple deduce they died in the accident and are now ghosts.

 

The house is sold to New York real estate developer Charles Deetz and his second wife Delia, a sculptor of questionable talent. Charles' teenage goth daughter, Lydia, lives with them. Under the guidance of interior designer Otho, Delia begins renovating the house with a new-wave aesthetic of postmodern art.

 

While consulting the Handbook on how to remove the Deetzes from their home, the Maitlands see an advertisement on their attic television advertising the "Bio-Exorcism" services of a black-eyed, green-haired entity named Betelgeuse.

 

Following the handbook's guidelines, they travel to an otherworldly bureaucratic waiting room filled with other distressed souls. After navigating the afterlife's complex bureaucracy, the Maitlands return home only to realize three months have passed and the house has now been completely redesigned. Their caseworker, Juno, arrives and discloses the Maitlands must remain in their house for 125 years before "moving on". She strongly urges them to scare the Deetzes out of the house themselves without getting Betelgeuse involved, revealing that he was her assistant before going into business for himself as a "freelance bio-exorcist."

 

Adam and Barbara's continued invisibility to Charles and Delia thwarts their fright attempts. Lydia, however, can see them, which she attributes to her peculiar nature. In frustration, the Maitlands end up summoning Betelgeuse, and instantly find themselves transported into the model, where they meet him. Adam and Barbara find Betelgeuse's crude and morbid demeanor offensive and quickly exit the model, then plan their first "haunt".

 

During a dinner party, the Maitlands possess Charles, Delia, Otho and their guests: Delia's art agent and his wife and daughter. Unexpectedly, their antics only amuse the group, inspiring Charles to pitch a supernatural theme park to investor Maxie Dean. The Deetzes uncover the town model in the attic; additionally, Otho discovers the Maitlands' Handbook and steals it.

 

As a show of his power, Betelgeuse transforms into a giant snake and terrorizes the Deetzes before Barbara banishes him back into the town model.

 

Juno summons Barbara and Adam back to the afterlife office and berates them for releasing Betelgeuse. Meanwhile, Lydia – depressed and blaming the Maitlands for Betelgeuse's attack – writes a suicide note. Lydia discovers Betelgeuse inside the model. In exchange for passage to the afterlife, she almost summons him, but the Maitlands return and stop her in time.

 

Maxie Dean and his wife arrive, repeatedly requesting evidence of the paranormal occurrences, but the Maitlands refuse to remanifest for their amusement. Otho uses the Handbook and conducts what he believes is a séance to force the Maitlands to show themselves. He uses Adam and Barbara's wedding clothes to summon them, but shortly after they materialize in their wedding clothes, they begin rapidly aging to the point of decomposition; Otho has instead mistakenly performed an exorcism on the Maitlands, which begins to send them to "death for the dead".

 

In a panic to save the Maitlands before it is too late, Lydia pleads with Betelgeuse, who offers a quid pro quo: he will rescue the Maitlands if Lydia agrees to marry him, which will allow him to permanently remain in the mortal world. Lydia reluctantly agrees and invokes his name three times.

 

Betelgeuse saves the Maitlands, drives away the Deans and Otho, then prepares to wed Lydia. The Maitlands, slowly recovering from near-exorcism, attempt to rebanish Betelgeuse to the model. In response, Betelgeuse beats them to the punch and banishes Adam to the town model, with Barbara sent to the desert-land.

 

Just before the wedding ceremony concludes, Barbara smashes through the ceiling of the house on the back of a sandworm, which devours Betelgeuse.

 

The Deetzes and the Maitlands agree to harmoniously live together, and the Maitlands grow closer to Lydia. Betelgeuse is left in the afterlife waiting room, waiting his turn to see a caseworker. When he attempts to steal a witch doctor-ghost's numbered ticket, the latter shrinks his head in retaliation.

 

Cast

Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse

Alec Baldwin as Adam Maitland

Geena Davis as Barbara Maitland

Jeffrey Jones as Charles Deetz

Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz

Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz

Sylvia Sidney as Juno

Robert Goulet as Maxie Dean

Dick Cavett as Bernard

Glenn Shadix as Otho Fenlock

Annie McEnroe as Jane Butterfield, Sr.

Simmy Bow as Janitor

Maree Cheatham as Sarah Dean

Carmen Filpi as a run-over man employed as a messenger in the waiting room

Tony Cox as the preacher that Betelgeuse summons for his wedding with Lydia

Jack Angel as the voice of the preacher

Susan Kellermann as Grace

Adelle Lutz as Beryl

Patrice Martinez as Miss Argentina

Rachel Mittelman as Jane Butterfield, Jr. "Little Jane"

 

Beetle Juice Beetle Juice

 

In 2024, Lydia Deetz hosts a paranormal talk show called Ghost House. She has been estranged from her daughter Astrid ever since her husband, Astrid's father, Richard, died while in the Amazon. Astrid also refuses to believe that her mother can see ghosts. While taping an episode, Lydia hallucinates seeing Betelgeuse, who tried to marry her thirty-six years earlier,[b] in the audience.

 

Lydia's stepmother, Delia, informs Lydia that her father, Charles, was killed by a shark. They and Astrid travel to Winter River, Connecticut, for Charles' funeral. At the wake, Rory, Lydia's boyfriend and producer, pressures her to marry him on Halloween; she hesitantly agrees. Meanwhile, Astrid meets a local boy named Jeremy Frazier, who invites her to spend the holiday with him.

 

In the Netherworld, Betelgeuse oversees an office of "bio-exorcists" consisting of shrunken-headed employees and is obsessed with Lydia. Former actor-turned-afterlife-detective Wolf Jackson informs Betelgeuse that his ex-wife, occultist Delores LaFerve, has resurfaced and gone on a murderous spree, draining the souls of the dead while searching for him. The couple met during the Black Plague in Italy, when Delores married and then poisoned Betelgeuse as part of an immortality ritual; he murdered her before succumbing to the poison.

 

Astrid realizes she has inherited her mother's psychic abilities and discovers Jeremy is a ghost; he persuades her to accompany him to the Netherworld to help regain his life. In exchange, she can meet her father's spirit. Lydia learns from a local realtor that Jeremy murdered his parents twenty-three years prior and died when the police tried to arrest him. Lydia reluctantly summons Betelgeuse and signs a marriage contract in exchange for him taking her to the Netherworld to save Astrid. Betelgeuse blows open a hole between both their worlds; he disguises his lead employee, the anxious Bob, as himself to use as a decoy. Wolf discovers Betelgeuse has brought a living person into the Netherworld and launches a manhunt for him, capturing the disguised Bob. Delores meets Bob at the police station while continuing her search for Betelgeuse and drains his soul.

 

As Betelgeuse and Lydia search for Astrid, Jeremy escorts her through the Afterlife's bureaucracy, then reveals his intent to deceive Astrid into exchanging her life for his. Astrid is taken to the "Soul Train" to be permanently sent to the "Great Beyond". Lydia saves Astrid right before the Soul Train departs. They escape through a portal to Saturn's moon Titan, where Richard saves them from a Sandworm. While Betelgeuse sends Jeremy to the "Fires of Damnation", Richard shows Lydia and Astrid how to return to the living world. Meanwhile, during a mourning ceremony for Charles, Delia is bitten by a pair of asps that she was assured were defanged. She arrives in the Netherworld and summons Betelgeuse to help find Charles; he agrees in exchange for help finding Lydia.

 

Returning home, Astrid apologizes to Lydia for not believing her abilities. The duo arrives at the church for Lydia and Rory's wedding, but Betelgeuse crashes the ceremony with Delia. Betelgeuse injects Rory with "truth serum", forcing him to admit that he never believed in Lydia's abilities and is only a profiting gold digger. As Betelgeuse begins his marriage to Lydia, Wolf and his officers interrupt, but Betelgeuse freezes them. Delores then arrives to exact her revenge as Astrid summons a Sandworm which Betelgeuse tricks into devouring Delores and Rory. Astrid then reveals their marriage contract is void because Betelgeuse illegally brought Lydia into the Netherworld as Lydia then banishes him back there.

 

Now unfrozen, Wolf escorts Delia back to the Netherworld after she says farewell to Lydia and Astrid. She reunites with Charles as he is about to board the Soul Train to the Great Beyond. Lydia ends Ghost House to spend more time with Astrid but remains haunted by Betelgeuse.

 

Cast

 

The cast and crew of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the 81st Venice International Film Festival

Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse, a ghastly "bio-exorcist" who desires to marry someone from the living world. Both Keaton and director Tim Burton opted to keep the character as politically incorrect as he was in the original film due to their love for that character trait, with Burton deeming Betelgeuse as a character whose whole point is that he does not undergo any character arc or development, never evolving.[7]

Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, the former gothic teenager who was almost forced to marry Betelgeuse, now mother of Astrid Deetz and hostess of a talk show called Ghost House. Ryder initially imagined her character would live as a spinster in the Maitland residence's attic, but appreciated the development of her character, particularly around her relationship with daughter Astrid.[8]

Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz, Lydia's stepmother, Astrid's stepgrandmother and Charles Deetz's widow, now the hostess of a real art show located in a SoHo gallery.[8]

Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz, Lydia's teenage daughter and Delia's step-granddaughter.[9][10][11]

Justin Theroux as Rory, Lydia's current boyfriend and a television producer.[8][12] He was inspired by the late Glenn Shadix's Otho Fenlock character from the original film. Writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar devised him as a character who everyone wanted to see getting his comeuppance, like Otho, and enjoying the idea of Lydia being in a weird codependent relationship which everyone sees that way, herself included. Gough and Millar wanted the audience to understand why Rory is with Lydia and that he was a "schmuck", but they felt that they needed to find Rory's humanity without him being a mere punchline. Once Theroux was cast and connected with the writers over Zoom, he provided Gough and Millar with ideas they incorporated

 


Harry Potter 1-Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone 


 

Late one night, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid, deliver an orphaned infant wizard named Harry Potter to his Muggle aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, his only living relatives.

 

Ten years later, just before Harry's eleventh birthday, owls begin delivering letters addressed to him. When the abusive Dursleys adamantly refuse to allow Harry to open any and flee to an island hut, Hagrid arrives to personally deliver Harry's letter of acceptance to Hogwarts. Hagrid also reveals that Harry's late parents, James and Lily, were killed by a dark wizard named Lord Voldemort. The killing curse that Voldemort had cast towards Harry rebounded, destroying Voldemort's body and giving Harry the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. Hagrid then takes Harry to Diagon Alley for school supplies and gives him a pet snowy owl whom he names Hedwig. Harry buys a wand that is connected to Voldemort's own wand.

 

At King's Cross, Harry boards the Hogwarts Express train, and meets fellow first-years Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger during the journey. Arriving at Hogwarts, Harry also meets Draco Malfoy, who is from a wealthy wizard family; the two immediately form a rivalry. The students assemble in the Great Hall where the Sorting Hat sorts the first-years into four respective houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Harry is placed into Gryffindor alongside Ron and Hermione, while Draco is placed into Slytherin, a house noted for dark wizards.

 

As he studies magic, Harry learns more about his parents and Voldemort, and his innate talent for broomstick flying gets him recruited for the Gryffindor Quidditch team as the youngest Seeker in a century. While returning to the Gryffindor common room, the staircases change paths, leading Harry, Ron and Hermione to the third floor, which is forbidden to students. There they discover a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy. On Halloween, Ron insults Hermione after she shows off in Charms class. Upset, she spends the entire afternoon crying in the girls' bathroom. That evening, a giant marauding troll enters it but Harry and Ron save Hermione; they make up and become close friends after Hermione takes the blame for the incident by saying she went looking for the troll.

 

The trio discover that Fluffy is guarding the philosopher's stone, a magical object that can turn metal into gold and produce an immortality elixir. Harry suspects that Severus Snape, the Potions teacher and head of Slytherin, wants the stone to return Voldemort to physical form. When Hagrid accidentally reveals that music puts Fluffy to sleep, Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to find the stone before Snape. Fluffy is already asleep, but the trio face other barriers, including a deadly plant called Devil's Snare, a room filled with aggressive flying keys, and a giant chess game that knocks out Ron.

 

After overcoming the barriers, Harry encounters Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Quirinus Quirrell, who wants the stone; Snape had figured this out and had been protecting Harry. Quirrell removes his turban to reveal a weakened Voldemort living on the back of his head. Dumbledore's protective enchantment places the stone in Harry's possession. Voldemort attempts to bargain the stone from Harry in exchange for resurrecting his parents, but Harry sees through his trick and refuses. Quirrell attempts to kill Harry. When Harry touches Quirrell's skin, it burns Quirrell, reducing him to ashes. Voldemort's soul rises from the pile and escapes, knocking out Harry as it passes through him.

 

Harry recovers in the school infirmary. Dumbledore tells him the stone has been destroyed to prevent misuse, and that Ron and Hermione are safe. He also reveals how Harry defeated Quirrell: when Lily died to save Harry, a love-based protection against Voldemort was placed on him. At the end-of-school-year feast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are rewarded extra house points for their heroism, tying Gryffindor for first place with Slytherin; Dumbledore then awards ten points to their housemate Neville Longbottom for having had the courage to stand up to the trio, granting Gryffindor the House Cup. Harry returns to the Dursleys for the summer, happy to finally have a real home at Hogwarts.

 

Cast

Further information: List of Harry Potter cast members

A photograph of Daniel Radcliffe

A photograph of Rupert Grint

A photograph of Emma Watson

Left to right: Daniel Radcliffe (pictured in 2022), Rupert Grint (2018), and Emma Watson (2013)

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter:

An 11-year-old orphan living with his unwelcoming aunt, uncle, and cousin, who learns of his own fame as a wizard known to have survived his parents' murder at the hands of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant when he is accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Columbus had wanted Radcliffe for the role since he saw him in the BBC's production of David Copperfield before the open casting sessions had taken place but had been told by casting director Susan Figgis that Radcliffe's protective parents would not allow their son to take part.[6] Columbus explained that his persistence in giving Radcliffe the role was responsible for Figgis' resignation.[6] Radcliffe was asked to audition in 2000 when Heyman and Kloves met him and his parents at a production of Stones in His Pockets in London.[7] Heyman and Columbus successfully managed to convince Radcliffe's parents that their son would be protected from media intrusion. They agreed to let him play Harry.[6] Rowling approved of Radcliffe's casting, stating that "having seen [his] screen test I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry."[8] Radcliffe was reportedly paid £1 million for the film, although he felt the fee was "not that important" to him.[9] The Saunders triplets appear as Harry as a baby.[10]

Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley:

Harry's best friend at Hogwarts and a younger member of the Weasley wizarding family. A fan of the series, Grint decided he would be perfect for the part "because [he has] ginger hair".[9] Having seen a Newsround report about the open casting he sent in a video of himself rapping about how he wished to receive the part. His attempt was successful as the casting team asked for a meeting with him.[9]

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger:

Harry's other best friend and the trio's brains. Watson's Oxford theatre teacher passed her name on to the casting agents and she had to do over five interviews before she got the part.[11] Watson took her audition seriously, but "never really thought [she] had any chance of getting the role."[9] The producers were impressed by Watson's self-confidence and she outperformed the thousands of other girls who had applied.[12]

John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick: The ghost of Gryffindor House.[13]

Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid:

A half-giant and Hogwarts' gamekeeper. Coltrane was one of the two actors Rowling wanted most, along with Smith as McGonagall.[14][15] Coltrane, who was already a fan of the books, prepared for the role by discussing Hagrid's past and future with Rowling.[16][17]

Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick: The Charms Master and head of Ravenclaw House.[18] Davis also plays two other roles in the film: the Goblin Head Teller at Gringotts,[19] and dubs the voice of Griphook, who is embodied by Verne Troyer.[20]

Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley: Harry's Muggle uncle.[19]

Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore: Hogwarts' Headmaster and one of the most famous and powerful wizards of all time. Harris initially rejected the role, only to reverse his decision after his granddaughter stated she would never speak to him again if he did not take it.[21][22][23]

Ian Hart as Quirinus Quirrell:

The stuttering Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.[19] Hart also voiced Lord Voldemort,[24] while Richard Bremmer provided his physical appearance and portrayed him as a hooded figure during a flashback.[24][25]

John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander: a highly regarded wandmaker and the owner of Ollivanders.[19]

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: The Potions Master and head of Slytherin House.

Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley: Harry's Muggle aunt.[19]

Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall: The Deputy Headmistress, head of Gryffindor and transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. Smith was one of the two actors Rowling wanted most, along with Coltrane as Hagrid.[14]

Julie Walters as Molly Weasley: Ron's mother. She shows Harry how to get to Platform 9+3⁄4.[26]

Additionally, Zoë Wanamaker appears as Madame Hooch, Hogwarts' flying instructor and Quidditch referee;[27] Tom Felton portrays Draco Malfoy, a student in Slytherin and Harry's rival.[28] Harry Melling plays Dudley Dursley, Harry's Muggle cousin; and David Bradley appears as Argus Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker.[29] Matthew Lewis, Devon Murray and Alfred Enoch portray Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas respectively, three first year students in Gryffindor;[30] James and Oliver Phelps play twins Fred and George Weasley, Ron's brothers,[31] while Chris Rankin appears as his other brother Percy, a Gryffindor prefect,[32] and Bonnie Wright appears as Ron's sister Ginny.[33] Sean Biggerstaff portrays Oliver Wood, the Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team;[34] Jamie Waylett and Joshua Herdman play Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's minions;[35] and Leslie Phillips voices the Sorting Hat.[36] Derek Deadman plays Tom, innkeeper of The Leaky Cauldron;[37] and Elizabeth Spriggs appears as the Fat Lady, a painting at Hogwarts.[38]

 

 

Steve Cook, Board Member

National Association of Guide Dog Users

 <mailto:scook at nagdu.org> scook at nagdu.org

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