Chip Rosenthal's blog

The backlash to California Proposition 8 is sweeping the country. Here in Austin, last weekend, thousands of people gathered at City Hall in large protest against the recently passed California constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Now the protest is moving into movie theaters.

What's come out in the days since the election is the extent to which religious followers across the nation donated to the "Yes on Prop. 8" effort. One of those donors was Alan Stock, CEO of the Texas-based Cinemark movie chain, who donated $9,999 to the Prop. 8 advocates.

Some moviegoers are very upset. A national call to boycott Cinemark theaters has been growing, and there is evidence that Austinites are responding. A Boycott Cinemark group has formed on Facebook, and I'm seeing Austin friends join the group. Missives to boycott are flying through the Internets' tubes, such as this posting to Craig's List Austin.

There are five Cinemark movie theaters in the Austin area.

Matthew Smith over at Austinist notes:

Hurry up! Today is your last chance to get an Austin Film Festival badge at early-bird rates. If you're buying the fanciest badge (the Producers Badge), you can save yourself $65 by purchasing before midnight tonight.

Jette noted the other day that Oliver Stone's W. will be the opening night film.

Read the full article here: Last Chance for Discounted Austin Film Festival Badges

Tim League, co-founder of the Alamo Drafthouse, recorded a half-hour interview with John Aielli of KUT this morning. They talk about the upcoming Fantastic Fest. The interview highlights some of the movies scheduled to screen. You can listen to it at the KUT site.

[Photo of Guillermo del Toro and Tim League from Alamo's Hellboy 2 preview screening, courtesy of Jette Kernion]

­Here is your chance to be part of the biggest movie marketing hype since Snakes on a Plane. There will be nationwide sneak previews of ­Cloverfield next Tuesday, January 15. The Austin Chronicle is giving away free passes­ that will entitle you to stand in line for many hours, with some chance you'll actually get to be shoehorned into a movie theater to see it before anybody else. For free!

Act now if you are interested. Deadline for signup is 4pm, Tuesday, Jan. 8.

[Updated by Jette on Jan. 10 to note that Spill.com has announced ­another pass giveaway on Sunday night at Elysium on Red River.]­

­I'm not sure I understand what this is, but it's free, outdoors, involves music and sounds mega freaky—­so it's got to be worth a look.

Experimental film artist Luke Savisky will present "Film Actions VI". Includes music by Graham Reynolds. It will be outdoors at Woolridge Square Park on Friday, Oct 26 at 8pm.

­Here is a writeup I found on the Austin Parks Foundation calendar:

On Friday, Octob­er 26, 2007, experimental film artist Luke Savisky will bring Wooldridge Square alive with projected film images and lighting accompanied by live music from composer Graham Reynolds and recorded music by Stars of the Lid. Using more than twelve projectors, Savisky will float a montage of images on to existing trees and translucent scrims placed around the park’s gazebo. Savisky will construct a non-traditional screen made of fog with intermittent sprays of water and projected imagery from Barton Springs and other natural areas of Austin. Transposed recorded music by Stars of Lid will interchange with live music and original compostions by award-winning composer Graham Reynolds and the Tosca String Quartet. This project is a large scale film projection installation/performance and is the latest in Savisky's series of "Film Actions" that have been performed at The Sundance Film Festival and The Dallas Museum of Art. The event will involve 35mm film, 16mm film and digital video installations in and around the grounds of Wooldridge Square involving the natural features of the park. The event is FREE to the community. Bring blankets and chairs for seating. A second performance by Luke Savisky is scheduled for Monday, December 31 as part of H-E-B Presents First Night Austin 2008.