Tag archives: Jeff Bridges

Bridges & Backstories
By Richard Mineards and Friends   |   May 26, 2026

By Lisa Duncan Surrounded by striking black-and-white photographs from across his remarkable career, Jeff charmed the packed gallery with deeply personal tales from film sets spanning more than 90 movies. Guests listened intently as he reminisced about working alongside his father, Lloyd Bridges, on Sea Hunt, and photographing life on the set of The Fabulous […]

Depth of Field: The Bridges’ Panorama View On
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 18, 2025

This Saturday night at the Arlington, Jeff and Susan Bridges are introducing a screening of Heaven’s Gate, the 1980 epic Western film written and directed by Michael Cimino, whose The Deer Hunter won five Academy Awards less than two years earlier, including Best Picture and Best Director. But this isn’t just some random revival of […]

The First Picture Show (Jeff to Jeff)
By Jeff Wing   |   October 21, 2025

When I was 12 years old the classic Hollywood star machine was in the throes of extinction (not to suggest I had anything to do with that). Tinseltown was being overthrown by UnmediatedGritTown as a new generation of auteurs stormed the Dream Factory ramparts, broke into the place and tore down the velvet curtains.  David […]

The Tour of a Lifetime
By Richard Mineards   |   December 3, 2024

Local warbler Katy Perry is launching an iconic world tour with her daughter Daisy Dove in tow. The 13-time Grammy nominated singer says it is an “adventure together” as they travel the globe. The Montecito resident says her Lifetimes Tour will be traveling around the U.K. next year and says she loves how London is […]

Saturday Night’s Alright: Famous Film Folk from Here Fighting It Out This Weekend
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 26, 2024

Are you a big Josh Brolin fan, especially ever since his character Llewellyn Moss got his buff cowboy body blown away by Javier Bardem’s methodical and passionless hitman Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, one of the Coen Brothers’ finest films? Or perhaps your taste runs to Jeff Bridges, another locally resident actor […]

House on Market
By Richard Mineards   |   May 14, 2024

Tech mogul Eric Schmidt, who owns Montecito’s sprawling Solana estate, the former home of Bill and Sandi Nicholson, has put his Bay Area compound on the market. The three-acre property, created by combining three contiguous parcels in the tony township of Atherton, home to America’s priciest zip code for seven consecutive years, is asking $24.5 […]

Unity Shoppe
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 8, 2023

You may not have noticed, but Unity Shoppe, one of Santa Barbara’s oldest nonprofits, had a significant change in its leadership just last summer. That’s when Executive Director Tom Reed, who had led the organization best known for its storefront shop providing locals in need with groceries, clothing, and other essentials, as well as toys […]

Security Concerns
By Richard Mineards   |   June 6, 2023

Prince Harry has suffered a major defeat in the British courts and now faces a hefty $620,000 legal bill. The Riven Rock resident sought a judicial review over a Home Office decision that he should not be allowed to pay U.K. police for his personal protection. The Duke of Sussex, 38, was stripped of police […]

A Birthday Surprise
By Richard Mineards   |   January 31, 2023

It wasn’t quite James Bond, but certainly top secret when Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff celebrated her birthday at the La Lieff wine tasting room in the Funk Zone. Nearly 20 people gathered for the hush-hush fête with Gretchen taken totally off guard by the bash. “I had absolutely no idea!” she gushed. “What a […]

60 Years of Scholarships
By Richard Mineards   |   December 20, 2022

The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, hosted lunch at the Hilton for 250 guests to recognize donor and volunteers, after cancelling two previous lunch events in response to the pandemic. Featured speakers included Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease physician and past foundation recipient, and Arturo “Cheech” Raygoza, a […]

Local Animator Graced With Award
By Richard Mineards   |   November 22, 2022

Jeanette Fantone, a Japanese Filipino animator from Carpinteria, has won a 2022 Princess Grace Award. Her work largely stems from cultural nostalgia and gravitas towards the manipulation of textures and tactility as a way of invoking impressions of memory. Fantone received her BFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts this year and competed three films in […]

Unity Shoppe
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 15, 2022

The holiday season, as the Andy Williams song goes, is the most wonderful time of the year. But for some of the more disadvantaged people in the South County, it can also be the most stressful. And for the Unity Shoppe – the 105-year-old nonprofit that serves as a unique lifeline for thousands of families […]

Rock ‘N Roll Heaven
By Gwyn Lurie   |   October 27, 2022

There were many COVID casualties, beyond the loss of precious life. Like ceremony. So many of us were forced to say goodbye to loved ones without the spiritual and emotional closure that comes with gathering closely with community to celebrate the lives that were lost. One such loss that hit hard here was the passing […]

Reveling in Equinox
By Richard Mineards   |   October 4, 2022

The Scottish bagpipes sounded loud and clear at the University Club when Susan Keller’s Santa Barbara Revels celebrated its seventh annual Equinox concert celebrating the changing seasons. The al fresco evening on the Sola Patio combined selections from three centuries of Spanish and Mexican music of the New World, in an echo of the Revels […]

A Shapeshifting Solstice Performance
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 28, 2022

Shapeshifting, in mythology and folklore, is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, or sorcery, Wikipedia says. Metaphorically, at least, and leaving out the part about demonic manipulation, that pretty much sums up Santa Barbara’s The ShapeShifters, the new supergroup/house band hosts created by Randy Tico.  “It’s about changing […]

Hike Through History
By Richard Mineards   |   June 7, 2022

A new exhibit at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum celebrates the region’s hiking trails and public lands through historic photographs, paintings, and historic items from the museum’s collections. Take a Hike, Save the World is a visual journey through our Eden by the Beach’s most scenic areas, as seen by artists and photographers beginning in […]

Pure Class
By Richard Mineards   |   October 19, 2021

John Daly, the Santa Barbara Foundation’s 78th Man of the Year, and his wife, Marti, celebrated his accolade with a bash for 50 guests at their charming Samarkand home. John, who I’ve known for many years, founded the Key Class, recognized for helping high school students learn skills needed to create a lifetime of opportunities. […]

Happy News
By Richard Mineards   |   January 28, 2021

Oscar winning Montecito actor Jeff Bridges, 71, who revealed he has lymphatic cancer in November, is making great progress in his medical battle, I’m delighted to report. The Big Lebowski star says in a statement on his website that a “new protocol” he’s under seems to be a success. “I go in for a CAT […]

Remembering Barbara Tellefson
By Montecito Journal   |   December 17, 2020

Pound for pound, or rather inch for inch, it’s doubtful that Santa Barbara has ever had a more hardworking, tireless, dedicated, and effective advocate for the underprivileged than Barbara Tellefson. The founder and president of Santa Barbara’s Unity Shoppe, who passed away at 84 on November 22, was an undeniable dynamo whose stature and influence […]

Focus on Film: Women in the Water
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 29, 2020

She is the Ocean, the new documentary from Inna Blokhina, the director of the award-winning film On the Wave, is an in-depth exploration of the lives of nine women from around the world who share a love for the sea so profound that they have chosen to make the ocean the center of their physical, […]