Tag archives: film

In 1923, two builders named Woodruff and Shoults built a huge promotional gimmick on Mt. Lee above Los Angeles. The row of standalone white block letters, each measuring 30’ x 50’ and visible for miles, would proclaim their new housing development in those hills: HOLLYWOODLAND. Nine years later a forlorn actress would leap to her […]

Longtime Santa Barbara resident Andy Davis, director of such classic films as The Fugitive and Under Siege, will be on hand for a free screening of his well-received 2003 dramedy Holes (first feature film of mercurial actor Shia LaBeouf) on Sunday morning, September 28, at SBIFF’s Riviera Theatre. A conversation with Davis about the movie […]

We’re still more than four months away from Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the behemoth 11-day giant of a cinematic confab affectionately known as SBIFF that stages its 41st annual event from February 4-14. But there’s another festival that could go by that acronym, but has wisely chosen to sidestep the moniker, that holds its […]

Actress, singer, and producer Cynthia Erivo continues to defy gravity, as the multi-hyphenate has been announced as the recipient of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s 18th annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film, given in honor of the late screen legend who called Montecito home for decades. Erivo is more than three-quarters of […]

It’s almost unbelievable. It’s been nearly six decades since Steppenwolf scored its first hit single with the generation-defining rock anthem “Born to Be Wild,” and only now is there a documentary film about the band. As it is, the 2024 film Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf won’t yet be available at cinemas […]

It’s not an uncommon occurrence. For his own reasons, a nefarious jackass unleashes a quantum mechanical nuisance, which quickly goes haywire and wreaks the usual havoc at scale. The destruction is apocalyptic. Skyscrapers topple and plow into each other, the townsfolk scatter and shout amid boxcar-sized hunks of plunging masonry, the film score hollers with […]

The 2023 short documentary film The Dads featured five fathers of trans children who joined Dennis Shepard – father of 1998’s infamously murdered teen Matthew Shepard – for a weekend fishing trip. In the course of the outing, the dads found common ground across racial, geographical, and generational lines in their unconditional love for their […]

UCSB Arts & Lectures’ annual series of free summer film screenings outdoors under the stars at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Gardens might have come up with its smartest theme yet. Dubbed “Dog Days of Summer,” the series sports seven nights of dog-themed movies in one of the more spectacular venues in the heart […]

The Illuminate Film Festival’s second year in town takes place May 1-4 at various venues all within a two-block radius downtown, where the fest will screen 20 films that are all about raising awareness to explore human potential, spiritual growth and social change. There are 14 feature-length documentaries and a series of micro-shorts that touch […]

In a town rife with special film events seemingly every fortnight if not more often, it wouldn’t be wrong to think of the Illuminate Film Festival as a series of gatherings where film is, in many ways, only incidental to the mission. Billing itself as the world’s leading showcase for conscious cinema, Illuminate launches its […]

Famed Santa Barbara architect Robin Donaldson has traveled the world with the recent pair of documentary films – The House: 6 Points of Departure and This Is Not a House – that chronicle his immersive work on two important homes in the Montecito foothills; the Crawford House and Hill House. Donaldson, who studied painting and […]

High above the sun-drenched vineyards of Paso Robles, DAOU Vineyards stands as a symbol of passion, craftsmanship, and the pursuit of excellence. Since its founding in 2007 by brothers Georges and Daniel Daou, this estate has become a cornerstone of California’s Central Coast wine country. Nestled in the renowned Adelaida District, DAOU has built a […]

The Californian Rangeland Trust, founded in 1998, hosted the public premiere of its 49-minute documentary You Just Can’t See Them from the Road – directed by Keely Brazil Covello and Michaela Brazil Gillies, daughters of ranch veterinarians in a remote area of northern California. More than 200 people clad in Stetsons and cowboy boots poured […]

Maybe the best remedy for SBIFF withdrawal symptoms is to dive right back into the movies, perhaps particularly ones that are up for Academy Awards. Many of the nominated features can be seen at cinemas around town, but unless you’re an Academy member, chances are you haven’t viewed the vast majority of short films up […]

People are screaming it from cinema’s rooftops: it’s been a banner year for animation — critically and at the box-office. And this year’s Oscar nominated animated features are reaffirming that animation is more than just something to keep the kids occupied as the adults do whatever adult things adults do. It always has been. Take […]

Although there are only three days left in SBIFF 40, much remains to be seen. That includes a third screening on February 14 of The New Yorker Theater: The Talbots’ Legacy. This 26-minute short is about the movie theater founded by the couple – a theater that not only became one of the most influential […]

The wait is over. SBIFF 40 is here, with a full day already in the rearview mirror. The festival covers a lot of ground with its impressive slate of awards and panels, and screenings of almost 200 films domestic and foreign, documentary and fiction, shorts and full-length features, animation and live action.  What follows is […]