AMERICAblog: Hate cinema is reportedly THE central location for Sundance screenings
Gary SF
· 1 year ago
In related cinema/bigotry news, the new film about the gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk ("Milk" - starring Sean Penn) is slated to open here in SF at a Cinemark theater, the CineArts. Please call or email Focus Features - the distributor of the film - and let them know that you are boycotting Cinemark theaters and that Harvey Milk himself would never patronize a business that supported Proposition 8. Please be polite - I am sure that these people are being 'blindsided' by this. They were very nice and sympathetic to me during our telephone conversation. Also be aware that in Hollywood, there is no such thing as 'bad publicity' - so it is unclear if they will agree to look for another theater.
Thanks for the call to action, Gary! Sending e-mail right now.
liberaldemdave
· 1 year ago
this is the e-mail i just sent:
I just read that your new feature, "Milk", will be opening at the CineArts theatre in San Francisco.
Please reconsider.
Harvey Milk would be protesting in front of the theatre, were he alive today, because the head of Cinemark (which owns the CineArts) donated almost $10,000.00 to the hate-filled Proposition 8 campaign. It is inconceivable that Mr. Milk's memory would be so dishonored at such an historic time in American politics.
Again, please, do the right thing and move the opening to ANY theatre that isn't owned by Cinemark. If possible, FOCUS Films should make a commitment to prevent the screening of Milk in ANY theatre controlled by Cinemark.
Indigo
· 1 year ago
Robert Redford is directly accountable for Sundance. Make sure he get the message.
Boycottutah
· 1 year ago
I think there needs to be a blog or website concentrating on Utah tourism. Maybe a name like Boycott Utah Resorts Now, or BURN for short. After all, the state of Utah invaded the homes and lives of California families. People need to avoid anything UTAH related at all cost. Here is a link for Utah Tourism: http://www.parkcityinfo.com/static/index.cfm?co...
gwyneth
· 1 year ago
The problem with that is that it gets some of the people who support you wholeheartedly while letting bigger donators go scott free. There's got to be a way to hone and focus efforts. I'm still behind you though. If you haven't noticed by the Mormon trolls is that they hate Sundance and Park City...
They'd love nothing more than for that stuff to go away because the movies are "edgy" and for once their not the majority. And, it rules. So, I just hope everyone will take that into consideration.
I think we should reclaim Utah as part of the United States - it doesn't get to defect! Sundance needs to fix it's contract though and I hope that it does.
liberaldemdave
· 1 year ago
Sundance is the perfect venue for massive protests. The attendees, for the most part, are supportive of GLBT civil rights. The festival gets international coverage.
Cpeterka
· 1 year ago
How about starting a proposition in UTAH to revoke the states right to sanction "Marriage", since it's really a religious event, and to just grant equivalent rights via Legal documents? To have the "State" remove itself entirely from the Marriage business, and leave it in the churches where it belongs?
Or, How about a referendum to enact the Law that Marriage should only be between ONE Man and ONE Woman in Utah?
Think we can get enough signers ?
What's the law in Utah on Referendums ?
glendenb
· 1 year ago
Utah already has that law. Utah's law on ballot initiatives is complex ever since the voters overturned school vouchers. You have to get a minimum percent of signatures from registered voters in each of the state's 29 counties - and in some of those counties there are more coyotes than voter and most of the coyotes are friendlier to outsiders.
chowderSF
· 1 year ago
Here in San Fran, a group of movie-goers, SFMoviebears, who often would see movies at the Cinemark Theaters, have stopped, and will only go to other theaters...... When a group like this, which coordinates upwards of 100, and sometimes over 400 tickets a week, not to mention word of mouth in the community, Cinemark will see a dent in there profits....
Gary SF
· 1 year ago
I tried to post a message, but it is waiting for moderation. If you have their email, can you let them know that "Milk" is set to open at the CineArts and that they should urge their members to call Focus Features to let them know that this is unacceptable? See my post below for details. Thanks.
glendenb
· 1 year ago
If we're gonna boycott Utah don't forget things like Gay and Lesbian ski week in Utah.
Every January - a slow month - there is a big Gay/Lesiban ski week in Park City. When my sister was a manager at Yarrow Hotel in Park City, they eagerly awaited gay ski week - the money flowed freely. See http://www.communityvisions.org/SKIING/indexu.htm for more information - that's one site I found. I'm sure there are other sites.
RitornaVincitor
· 1 year ago
IMPORTANT NEWS: California High Court Shows Interest In Prop 8 Lawsuits
In a nutshell the article says that the Cal Supreme Court has given State Attorney General Jerry Brown until Monday to reply to lawsuits challenging Prop 8, which is a sign that the Justices are taking the lawsuits seriously and will not dispose of them quickly. The Court is seeking filings from Brown that address the initial questions of whether or not it should accept the lawsuits for review, and if so whether or not it should suspend Prop 8 while it decides the case, allowing gay marriages to resume in the interim.
Typically when plaintiffs ask the state's high court to take up their case directly without first filing in a lower court, the justices dismiss the suit without asking the other side for a reply. But they have not done so in this case. Some see this as a sign that the Court realizes the seriousness and immensity of the issue, and may accept the lawsuits for review.
See the entire article at the above link.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 1 year ago
there are a couple of recent precedents in which the court rejected similar claims that amendments were revisions. one amendment said the death penalty was okay and the other said that de facto segregation does not have to be remedied by busing to comply with equal protection. http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/11/califor... the author of that essay seems to think the present case (strauss v. horton) is no different. i didn't understand his argument at all. in any case the jury is still out.
RitornaVincitor
· 1 year ago
Very interesting, thank you. Yes, it is true that they could rule against us. I also understand that the court has at times in the past thrown out ballot initiatives because they were too sweeping and should have instead proceeded as constitutional revisions. Then of course it is always true that justice depends on who is administering it. So we'll watch this very carefully.
gwyneth
· 1 year ago
I read the article and I think it's saying that the issue is whether or not the proposition changes the tenets of the constitution enough to be thrown out as an inappropriate revision. But another type of amendment would have to pass that requires a whole lot of other stuff. :) What we hope for is I think for the Supreme Court to see that it does change the scope enough that an amendment would have to be made.
Which I think it does, I mean cancelling the civil rights of a whole minority group, come on. It's a drastic difference from what the original constitution does.
RitornaVincitor
· 1 year ago
Now we find out that the head of Cinemark (Century Theaters) donated $9,999 to Prop 8. And while Mormons paid for a proposition that gave Californians the right to step into a ballot box and vote away the marriages of their neighbors, they are claiming that they are the victims of an unjust backlash. Meanwhile we hear about a woman being fired from a PTA board because she went to a No On 8 rally, and a bunch of Mormon kids chanting "Assassinate Obama". Yeah, Mormons are victims. Right. Give me a break.
Well, USA Today has a wonderful article saying that as a result of Prop 8 support for gay marriage is GROWING.
Robert Redford's silence on this issue is pissing me off. Is the Sundance Film Festival not named for a character he played in a Paul Newman movie? Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward were supporting gay rights long before it was hip or trendy to be gay friendly. If this was the Butch Film Festival ;) we wouldn't be waiting for a response.
somethingsomething
· 1 year ago
I just wanted to correct you on a few points so you're informed: * If there is a *the* theatre at Sundance, it's the Eccles (at the local HS); that's where all the big premieres go; I used to work at HVC in high school (when one of the top vents fell on the audience at a screening) and it's a small-medium size theatre that actually has a history of employing people with various worldviews * yes, there are bigoted and narrow-minded people in Utah, but PC has a lower proportion of these people than other towns * Sundance moving out of Utah is counterintuitive; even with its corporate-sponsored state right now, Sundance still brings progressive viewpoints to a state and town where people wouldn't otherwise get them. You want to cut that off?! * like a commenter mentioned, try bringing your voice to Sundance; I had friends who protested on Main St years ago and they ended up being covered in the NYT
remikane
· 1 year ago
Yes, thinkforasecond, Eccles is the place for the premieres and "red-carpet" screenings, but as the post states, the Holiday Village Theaters are the main location for non-premiere, competition screenings as well as press screenings. An insider blogger says the same thing: http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/200...
I'm just saying...
somethingsomething
· 1 year ago
Press screenings have also been held at the Yarrow (yeah, it's not a real theatre), the newer Redstone Theatres at Kimball Junction and a separate smaller theatre at Eccles (Poland is incorrect there).
The Egyptian, the Sugarhouse theatres, the Library, the Broadway theatre, the Sundance resort, the Prospector hotel, the Tower, and the Yarrow all show roughly the same films as HVC, so calling the HVC the "main" theatre at Sundance doesn't hold up (maybe it's geographically at the center?).
Anyway, cheers if you can get Sundance to drop HVC. Having a corporation that supports Prop8 show movies at Sundance doesn't make sense. Since he has so much money to donate, maybe we could get that CEO to raise the wages of all Cinemark employees too ;)
Stenar
· 1 year ago
Holiday Village is DEFINITELY NOT the main theatre of Sundance. It's ridiculous to say so. Films are spread somewhat equally among nine different theatres in Park City. HVC is actually one of the SMALLEST venues for films in Park City as it has the fewest seats. Even though there are 3 theatres at HVC, they only seat 150 each, so most of the other venues are larger by capacity. They do show a lot of documentary films at HVC, though... many of which have been PRO-GAY films over the years. You can see a list of all theatres and their capacity here: http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/t...
Basil
· 1 year ago
Sundance should relocate to a gay-friendly state, like Connecticut or Massachusetts. I'm sure there must be a few theaters in those states. It would send an important message that Americans who value civil rights are not going to provide funds in states whose primary exports are lies, bigotry, and discrimination!
All Comments
Contact info:
Email: press@filminfocus.com
LA office phone: 818.777.7373
Website: http://www.filminfocus.com/
Thanks
I just read that your new feature, "Milk", will be opening at the CineArts theatre in San Francisco.
Please reconsider.
Harvey Milk would be protesting in front of the theatre, were he alive today, because the head of Cinemark (which owns the CineArts) donated almost $10,000.00 to the hate-filled Proposition 8 campaign. It is inconceivable that Mr. Milk's memory would be so dishonored at such an historic time in American politics.
Again, please, do the right thing and move the opening to ANY theatre that isn't owned by Cinemark. If possible, FOCUS Films should make a commitment to prevent the screening of Milk in ANY theatre controlled by Cinemark.
http://www.parkcityinfo.com/static/index.cfm?co...
They'd love nothing more than for that stuff to go away because the movies are "edgy" and for once their not the majority. And, it rules. So, I just hope everyone will take that into consideration.
I think we should reclaim Utah as part of the United States - it doesn't get to defect! Sundance needs to fix it's contract though and I hope that it does.
Or, How about a referendum to enact the Law that Marriage should only be between ONE Man and ONE Woman in Utah?
Think we can get enough signers ?
What's the law in Utah on Referendums ?
Every January - a slow month - there is a big Gay/Lesiban ski week in Park City. When my sister was a manager at Yarrow Hotel in Park City, they eagerly awaited gay ski week - the money flowed freely. See http://www.communityvisions.org/SKIING/indexu.htm for more information - that's one site I found. I'm sure there are other sites.
From the San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/...
In a nutshell the article says that the Cal Supreme Court has given State Attorney General Jerry Brown until Monday to reply to lawsuits challenging Prop 8, which is a sign that the Justices are taking the lawsuits seriously and will not dispose of them quickly. The Court is seeking filings from Brown that address the initial questions of whether or not it should accept the lawsuits for review, and if so whether or not it should suspend Prop 8 while it decides the case, allowing gay marriages to resume in the interim.
Typically when plaintiffs ask the state's high court to take up their case directly without first filing in a lower court, the justices dismiss the suit without asking the other side for a reply. But they have not done so in this case. Some see this as a sign that the Court realizes the seriousness and immensity of the issue, and may accept the lawsuits for review.
See the entire article at the above link.
de facto segregation does not have to be remedied by busing to comply with equal protection.
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/11/califor...
the author of that essay seems to think the present case (strauss v. horton) is no different. i didn't understand his argument at all. in any case the jury is still out.
Which I think it does, I mean cancelling the civil rights of a whole minority group, come on. It's a drastic difference from what the original constitution does.
Well, USA Today has a wonderful article saying that as a result of Prop 8 support for gay marriage is GROWING.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-13-...
* If there is a *the* theatre at Sundance, it's the Eccles (at the local HS); that's where all the big premieres go; I used to work at HVC in high school (when one of the top vents fell on the audience at a screening) and it's a small-medium size theatre that actually has a history of employing people with various worldviews
* yes, there are bigoted and narrow-minded people in Utah, but PC has a lower proportion of these people than other towns
* Sundance moving out of Utah is counterintuitive; even with its corporate-sponsored state right now, Sundance still brings progressive viewpoints to a state and town where people wouldn't otherwise get them. You want to cut that off?!
* like a commenter mentioned, try bringing your voice to Sundance; I had friends who protested on Main St years ago and they ended up being covered in the NYT
I'm just saying...
The Egyptian, the Sugarhouse theatres, the Library, the Broadway theatre, the Sundance resort, the Prospector hotel, the Tower, and the Yarrow all show roughly the same films as HVC, so calling the HVC the "main" theatre at Sundance doesn't hold up (maybe it's geographically at the center?).
Anyway, cheers if you can get Sundance to drop HVC. Having a corporation that supports Prop8 show movies at Sundance doesn't make sense. Since he has so much money to donate, maybe we could get that CEO to raise the wages of all Cinemark employees too ;)
You can see a list of all theatres and their capacity here: http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/t...