Film & TV

February 15, 2015

My Not so So Ordinary Eight Days as an Intern

By Brianna Guzman

The 2015 Santa Barbara Film Festival came to a close this past Sunday. With it goes the star sightings, the hip boxed water for pass holders and the influx of visitors to downtown Santa Barbara. But what exactly goes int...

February 15, 2015

Directors Given Prestigious Honors at SBIFF Chazelle, Linklater, Miller, Poitras and Tyldum Reflect at Arlington

By Alex Wehrung

The Outstanding Directors of the Year tribute event was admittedly more low-key than one would imagine. While there was certainly a long line to get into the Arlington, there weren’t any screaming fans descending upon ...

February 13, 2015

Women’s Panel Highlights Male-Dominance in Film Industry

By Nadine Bedwan

The phrase “women in show business” conjures a variety of onscreen stereotypes: the distressed damsel, the young clandestine coquette and the sensual temptress, amongst others. The cause for this can be traced off-sc...

February 12, 2015

“McFarland, USA” Tells the American Story Picking and Running: Disney Film Explores Teenage Life in Central Valley

By Jane Huson, Audrey Bachelder

Kevin Costner plays Coach Jim White in Disney’s “McFarland, USA,” which tells the true story of a coach who inspired his seemingly hapless students to form a cross country team and go the distance. In interviews in...

February 12, 2015

“Partners in Crime” Sheds Light on the Truths of the Teenage Psyche

By Phi Do

Chang Jung-chi’s thriller is all about uncovering secrets, discovering lies and exposing the truth. One would expect as much from a story centered on the sleuthing adventures of high school boys, but Chang takes the co...

February 12, 2015

SBIFF Awards Steve Carell at Ceremony Looking Back on his Career

By Alex Wehrung

“Woo! Steve!” shouted someone way in the back of the Arlington Theatre. In one of the front rows, the man of the hour himself shot up in his seat, turned around and yelled, “Hey! Quiet!” in true maniacal Steve Ca...

February 11, 2015

Novelist Bruce Wagner Opens Film “Maps to the Stars” at SBIFF Spoiler Alert! New Film Deals with Incest, Hollywood and Murder

By Bin Nguyen

Sex, murder, incest — these are a few themes in the film “Map to the Stars,” written by novelist Bruce Wagner. Though the trailer makes the film seem like a satire on Hollywood’s demented lifestyle, “Map to the...

February 6, 2015

“The Truth About Lies” Delves into Self-Identity

By Nadine Bedwan

On one level, “The Truth About Lies” is largely an account of writer and director Phil Allocco’s own life’s misfortunes. On a deeper level, it delves into the human issue of self-identity. The title itself was en...

February 6, 2015

South Korean Thriller “Confession” Debuts at SBIFF

By Alex Wehrung

Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. -Murphy’s law

February 6, 2015

Documentary “Caffeinated” is Stimulating, Fresh

By Alex Wehrung

Ironic story: right before I went to see this documentary, I sat on a State Street bench, catching up on my Gothic literature reading. I yawned, and some random man passing by me said, “You should get some coffee.” A...

February 6, 2015

Cousteau Family Honored with the Attenborough Award “Secret Ocean 3D” Grants Cousteau Excellence in Nature Filmmaking Award

By Phi Do

The second day of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival found the Arlington Theatre packed with many eager to meet the legendary Cousteau family. Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, and ...

February 6, 2015

“It Starts With the Script” Writer’s Panel SBIFF Panel Uncovers the Process and Art Behind Screenwriting

By Phi Do

Like most Hollywood professions, the art and business of screenwriting is perplexing. Career paths don’t necessarily follow the same direction (although the formulaic nature of scripts themselves are debatable). “It ...

February 5, 2015

A-List Celebrities Flood to the Arlington for Virtuosos Award

By Bin Nguyen

Hollywood’s newest, hottest and brightest stars arrived in chauffeured SUVS on Sunday, Feb. 1 to receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Award. A virtuoso is defined as “a person highly sk...

February 5, 2015

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones Honored with the Cinema Vanguard Award “Theory of Everything” Stars Speak to the Nexus on the Red Carpet

By Arasch Blurfrushan

Eddie Redmayne has been on a roll lately. Nominated for over 25 awards for his leading role as Stephen Hawking in the biographical film “The Theory of Everything,” the 33-year-old British actor has already won the Go...

February 5, 2015

Jennifer Aniston Sells Out the Arlington to Fans “Cake” Star Receives Montecito Award

By Nadine Bedwan

The street facing the Arlington Theatre in Downtown Santa Barbara was completely blocked off to cars while staff anxiously scurried to make sure everything was in place. A mass of reporters and photographers began to poo...

February 5, 2015

Emotions Spring Up During Michael Keaton’s Tribute

By Audrey Bachelder

Michael Keaton is well-loved. A man who has done genres from salacious comedy to psycho-thriller, he’s scored admiration from co-stars and directors alike in his career, which began in 1968 when he operated “Picture,...