In Contention

Tag: Santa Barbara International Film Festival

  • Quartet tapped for Santa Barbara’s Cinema Vanguard honor

    Peter Sarsgaard in An EducationThis marks the first time four honorees have been chosen for the Santa Barbara Film Festival’s Cinema Vanguard Award.  The press release, in part:

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Stanley Tucci and Christoph Waltz with the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 25th edition of the Fest, which runs February 4-February 14, 2010, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. The Tribute will take place on Friday, February 12, 2010.

    The Cinema Vanguard Award was created in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path – taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. In previous years, this award was first bestowed on Ryan Gosling and last year to Kristin Scott Thomas.

    Comments Durling, “This group of supporting actors encompasses the best of the best; their roles have made us love them as well as hate them, sometimes all at the same time. I am so pleased to have all of them together, in one place to celebrate them and thank them for the cinematic treasures they have created.”

  • Cameron to receive Santa Barbara’s Modern Master Award

    James CameronThis went to Clint Eastwood last year.  The press release, in part:

    James Cameron has been selected to receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s highest honor, The Lucky Brand™ Modern Master Award, it was announced by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. The Tribute will take place on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at the historic Arlington Theatre.

    The Lucky Brand™ Modern Master Award is the highest honor presented by SBIFF. Established in 1995, it was created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through his/her multi-faceted accomplishments in the motion picture industry. Cameron joins an illustrious group of past recipients including Michael Douglas, Jodie Foster, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Diane Keaton, Sean Penn, Jeff Bridges, Peter Jackson, George Clooney, Will Smith, Cate Blanchett and Clint Eastwood.

    “James Cameron is one of the most visceral storytellers working in cinema today and AVATAR is one of the most ambitious projects ever,” comments SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “Because of his high aspirations and film achievements, James Cameron is not only the perfect Modern Master for our 25th anniversary, but one for the ages.”

  • Firth to be honored for Outstanding Performance of the Year at Santa Barbara fest

    Colin FirthActor Colin Firth is set to receive yet another award for his work in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” after taking the Best Actor crown in Venice last month.

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (a comforting getaway right at the height of Oscar season in February) has announced that Firth will receive its Outstanding Performance of the Year Award.  In the pres release, festival director Roger Durling calls Firth “one of the most enduring performers working in cinema today” and notes that his performance in Ford’s film might call for a reassessment of the actor’s work to date.

    The tribute will take place at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara on Saturday, February 13.  Expect further SIBFF award announcements in the coming weeks, including, for the first time ever, a trio of Vanguard Award winners.  More as it comes in…

  • ‘Basterds’ gets dolled up for Oscar as Tarantino receives Santa Barbara’s Kirk Douglas Award

    (from left) Kirk Douglas and Quentin TarantinoThere was a moment last season where I gave up going against the grain on the notion that “The Dark Knight” would be nominated for Best Picture.  I was called a fool, I was told I wasn’t with the program, I was told certain milestones related to the film would not be overlooked, etc.  I just didn’t think it was going to happen.

    But I relented.  I used the healthy precursor trail the film blazed as reason enough to join the (perhaps fanboy-driven) chorus and say sure, the film will be nominated.  Why not?  Still didn’t feel right.  And we all know how that turned out.

    I’m getting a similar vibe from “Inglourious Basterds,” which is even being considered a sure-fire lock in some quarters.  An extra five nominees change the dynamic, of course, and most would argue that “The Dark Knight” would have made it in with 10 nominees.  But even with a wider target, I still don’t think Quentin Tarantino’s latest will make the cut.  And if I go down in flames sticking to that inclination, so be it.  But I don’t think I will.  Fool me once, as the saying goes.

    But all of this doesn’t mean there isn’t an old-school concentrated effort on the part of The Weinstein Company to appeal to the Academy membership, and things really kicked off in earnest on that front Thursday night in Montecito.

    (more…)

  • Tarantino to be feted early by Santa Barbara fest

    Quentin TarantinoThe press release, in part:

    Santa Barbara, CA – In recognition of his contributions to the world of film, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is honored to present the fourth annual KIRK DOUGLAS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM to the legendary, Academy Award-winning writer/director/producer/actor Quentin Tarantino.  The black-tie Gala dinner, sponsored by Chopin Vodka, will take place at The Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara on Thursday, October 22.

    “We are beyond excited to be able to honor a man who has turned filmmaking on its ear,” commented SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling.  “He has forever changed the direction of American cinema.”  The award’s namesake, Kirk Douglas, will present the award to Tarantino.

    As a writer, director, producer and actor, anything Tarantino touches becomes an instant cinematic classic.  He has not only established himself as one of the most celebrated filmmakers of his generation, but his dedication and diverse producing efforts consistently demonstrate his respect for both those who came before and the ones just now breaking in.

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Slumdog’ stays happy, Bale gets angry

    A slower news week, this, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t find plenty to discuss. Here’s what was on our (and your) minds:

    • In the week’s biggest precursor news, Danny Boyle won the Directors’ Guild Award. Hollywood is still reeling from the shock.

    • Oh, and “Slumdog Millionaire” nabbed the USC Scripter award too.

    • Speaking of scripters, we say “WALL-E” is taking Best Original Screenplay. Here’s why.

    • We take a detailed look at this year’s Oscar-nominated shorts.

    • The Santa Barbara fest wrapped, with a tribute to Mickey Rourke among the highlights.

    • Two London critics’ groups acquitted themselves well this week, giving long-overdue Best Picture honours to “Hunger” and “The Wrestler” respectively.

    • Does “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” have a prayer in the Best Picture race after all?

    • Sticking with “Button,” Tech Support interviewed composer extraordinaire Alexandre Desplat.

    • We finally laid eyes on an Oscar season institution: the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue.

    • We contemplated what constitutes a genuine ‘upset’ in the Best Picture category.

    • BAFTA is taking a long hard look at their own voting process.

    • Away from the awards beat, you probably didn’t know this, but Christian Bale said some bad words.

  • ‘Skin’ takes the Santa Barbara Audience Award…but where are the buyers?

    SkinOne of the films I caught during the recent Santa Barbara International Film Festival but neglected to mention was Anthony Fabian’s “Skin,” the true-life story of Sandra Laing, a black girl born to white parents in Apartheid era South Africa.

    The film has been bouncing around the festival circuit — Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, AFI — but despite landing buyers in a few foreign markets, American distributors have shied away.

    “Skin” boasts solid performances from Sophie Okonedo and Sam Neill.  It’s quite accessible and is the kind of thing you’d expect a dependent to pick up without blinking.  I wasn’t blown away by the film or anything, but it’s certainly marketable.  So what gives?

    Well Fabian’s film somewhat surprisingly took the Audience Award in Santa Barbara over the weekend, it’s first gong so far.  I expected something like “C’est pas moi, je le jurre!” to win the award, or one of the Asian dazzlers, like “Suspect X,” each of them audience favorites during the fest.  But “Skin” made its stand.

    Maybe those domestic buyers will come calling now.

  • SANTA BARBARA: That’s a wrap

    David Fincher at the 24th Annual Santa Barbara International Film FestivalToday is the last day of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which I have had an absolute blast covering for the past nine days.  It was a great breather after the build-up to the Oscar nominations (which exhausts us all), but I’m back in Los Angeles and ready to round out the season properly.

    I didn’t catch as many films as I’d have liked, even though Santa Barbara isn’t your typical dusk-till-dawn film-watching festival.  I didn’t even see the majority of the films that won prizes (collected for you from the press release after the jump), but most of what I’ve seen, I’ve commented on.  There were a few I never got around to discussing, however, like the Jeremy Irons-narrated “Eye of the Leopard,” which was hardly the derivative nature doc I expected.  It was, in fact, an exhilarating experience, crafted with all the knowledge of what makes fine drama.  It’s also cool to hear Scar narrating a documentary about leopards.

    Staying in the nature vein, the PBS documentary “Lobo: The Wolf That Changed America” wasn’t exactly a good film, but it really piqued my interest to read more about Ernest Thompson Seaton and the lessons he learned hunting wolves a century ago in New Mexico.

    I briefly mentioned “The Informers” last night.  It’s a mind-bender that might be terrible, but like I said, I couldn’t stop watching.  And I want to see it again.  And “$9.99” is a stunning accomplishment in stop-motion animation that I expect we’ll hear about throughout the year.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: Mickey Rourke puts a bow on the fest

    Mickey Rourke at the 24th Annual Santa Barbara International Film FestivalMickey Rourke landed in Santa Barbara tonight to accept the final award of the festival, the American Riviera Award.  The on-stage Q&A/career retrospective was moderated by Pete Hammond and presented a swift trip through the actor’s portfolio of impressive performances, making me want to revisit films like “Rumble Fish” and “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” or finally get around to those I’ve never seen, like “Year of the Dragon” and “Animal Factory.”

    Michael Cimino’s “Dragon,” in fact, was the beginning of Rourke’s downward spiral in Hollywood, the actor said.  After reading some lacerating reviews that seemed to be more interested in attacking Cimino (in the wake of the “Heaven’s Gate” disaster) rather than the film, Rourke started to become disenchanted.  The seeds were actually planted when Francis Ford Coppola’s “Rumble Fish” wasn’t well-received here in the states and picked up steam with the critical reception of “Dragon.”

    The conversation was a fascinating one, and really, anyone who spends more than five minutes talking to the guy is bound to hear a couple of great stories or some particularly revealing insights.  Rourke touched on his beginnings at the Actors Studio in New York, where he befriended Christopher Walken and paid the bills working at a transvestite club (an experience that would come in handy when Steve Buscemi would direct him in “Animal Factory” 20 years later).

    He also mentioned, as I believe he’s noted elsewhere, that he believes Adrian Lyne (who directed Rourke in “9 1/2 Weeks”) may be the most underrated actor’s director out there and that Eric Roberts remains one of the best actors he’s ever worked with.  And he offered some nice sentiments for fellow Oscar nominee Michael Shannon, who co-stars with Rourke in the upcoming remake “13.”

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: Clint Eastwood hailed as a Modern Master

    Clint EastwoodSo Clint Eastwood arrived in town tonight without all the pizazz you might have expected, as I reported from this evening’s Arlington Theatre event.  But inside the place was bananas.  Every single seat in the theater was filled, many of the locals vocalizing their shock on the way down the aisles.  “I’ve never seen it this packed before,” many of them said as they found a place to settle in and behold the career the festival was honoring.

    Moderator Leonard Maltin seemed to bite off a little bit more than he could chew.  Seriously, an hour and a half in and we were just getting to 1971.  I figured the 1980s would be a blur and indeed they were — Who wants to remember “Heartbreak Ridge” and “Firefox?” — but I would have liked some discussion on “Bird,” maybe, or “Pale Rider.”  But Maltin warned at the top that if he didn’t get to your favorite film, please understand.  We’re talking about six decades here.

    Early in the discussion Maltin spent a lot of time picking Eastwood’s brain on his early career — a contract player at Universal, roaming around the lot soaking up what information he could, getting the gig on television’s “Rawhide” and, of course, Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns that didn’t find release in the states until rights were cleared up regarding Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo.”  On the whole it was one of those kiss, kiss sessions, but the crowd was pumped.

    Every film that might be mentioned briefly in passing seemed to find this pocket of applause or that.  The “Dirty Harry” stuff was an obvious favorite (of course we were treated to the infamous “I gots ta know” sequence), but “Gran Torino” really brought the house down, especially the old guy vs. the homies scene that might have been Eastwood’s Oscar clip had the performance been nominated a week ago.

    (more…)

  • Reasons Clint Eastwood is cool, #246

    He drives himself to his own tribute, eschews the big to do of a red carpet arrival, hops the metal barricade and slides into the fray minutes before anyone notices. Classic Eastwood.

  • SANTA BARBARA: Virtuosos on the march

    Richard JenkinsUnfortunately, “Happy-Go-Lucky” star couldn’t make it to tonight’s presentation of the Virtuoso Awards at the Lobero Theatre due to surgery recovery, but Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, Rosemarie DeWitt, Melissa Leo and Michael Shannon were on hand to talk their roles in five of the most critically acclaimed films of the year.  James Cromwell did the honor of presentation.

    It’s a shame DeWitt was the only one on stage lacking (criminally) an Oscar nomination, but moderator Roger Durling kept the conversation away from awards as much as he could.

    A considerably amount of the discussion was spent on the nature of these actors’ careers, floating between the big screen, television and theater with a particular ease.  Many of the Virtuosos swept the comment aside with the usual “we go where the work takes us” rhetoric, which is fine, but Davis made a compelling comment regarding the state of the profession.

    “When you think about actors, you think about Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie,” she said.  “But most of them look just like us here on stage.”  The indication, of course, is the middle class actor and how often he or she isn’t given the proper credit, be it on television, on stage or, certainly, on the screen.

    “Please, go to New York,” DeWitt said.  “See a play.  Some of the greatest actors in the world are working on stage,” but their names aren’t well-known.  It’s an interesting topic with the SAG dispute of late, which finds middle class actors at the forefront of a fight for credit.  Durling, of course, didn’t pursue that line of questioning.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: ‘Fallujah’ soars, Thomas Vanguarded

    The Road to FallujahSomething of a slow day today at the festival — well, I purposely put the breaks on in favor of some quality time with you guys throughout the day and to put my feet up for a spell at the ole’ homestead.

    Anyway, I was really taken with Mark Manning’s “The Road to Fallujah,” an Iraq war documentary that played at Sundance last week and had its California debut this evening at the Arlington Theatre.  There was a nice turn-out, largely because Manning is a local (the first Santa Barbaran, in fact, to bring a film to Park City and then back the hometown fest).  But what I expected to be a derivative analysis of “what we did wrong” slowly revaled itself as perhaps one of the very best docs on the conflict we’ve seen yet.

    A former oil platform worker who up and decided one day to take a documentary course and shoot over to the middle of hell and find out what was going on, Manning only commits one sin that tends to irk me in non-fiction filmmaking: he put himself in the film.  If this is done to dramatically impacting effect (like in, say, “Dear Zachary”), it’s generally forgiveable at the start.  But it actually didn’t get to me as the film went on because the portrait Manning paints is immediate, penetrating and emotional.

    In essence, the film is a “what do the Iraqi people do now?” think-piece, littered with depictions of collateral damage and, of course, an extended look at the build-up to the Battle for Fallujah, the horrors of war during it, and the repercussions both Iraq and the U.S. are left with as a result.  Manning makes great use of his string of talking head experts, grabbing the key lines at the right times.  It’s amazing all this came from a night class education.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: ‘Three Monkeys,’ ‘C’est pas moi, je le jure!,’ ‘War Against the Weak’

    Antoine L\'Écuyer in C\'est pas moi, je le jure!And a few more…

    “THREE MONKEYS” (**1/2)

    I was left scratching my head yesterday afternoon after a screening of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Three Monkeys.”  I can’t for the life of me comprehend what all of the Cannes fuss was about.  It’s a solid exploration of mood and atmosphere, to say the least.  And there are some penetrating performances.  But…?

    The bleakness of the narrative likely appealed to festival jury members looking to reward a filmmaker for “going there,” but there’s a big “So what?” residue to the film and its themes.  The story, in a nutshell, revolves around a family playing blind, deaf and dumb (hence the title) to a time of hardship, and for that, I give it some respect.  There aren’t many films willing to pull back the veil of complacency that settles into families in crisis.

    The cinematography is subdued, and striking as a result.  And like I said, the performances — particularly from Yavuz Bingol and Rifat Sungar — are superlative.  But the whole comes up short of the sum of the film’s parts.  I’ve been impressed by Ceylan’s work so far, but I’m sure he’s got something better, more akin to “Distant” inside him somewhere, so I’ll wait for it.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: Danny Boyle reflects on his career

    Cliff Curtis in SunshineThere are a number of ambitious films that fascinate me despite their level of failure.  “Syriana” and “Hancock” are recent examples, but the quintessential exhibit has to be Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine,” which I caught once more today in the middle of career retrospective for the filmmaker.

    I still stand by every word I wrote about the film nearly two years ago.  It flakes apart swiftly in a final act that may have been doomed on the page, but damn if it isn’t a magnificent, near-masterpiece for about an hour and 15 minutes.  We’re talking true magisterial work from Boyle that has me chomping at the bit, anxious to see him tackle a deep space saga once more.  When I interviewed the director back in November, he said the process of making “Sunshine” made him understand why filmmakers only ever seem to make one space film.  “It’s merciless, the demands on you,” he said at the time.  “The precision you have to bring is migraine-inducing.”

    But this thing came close to top-of-the-genre material, and I hope and pray he has another one in him.  Something less boiled in genre like this one eventually is, perhaps.  Something ethereal, reaching for philosophical heights he and screenwriter Alex Garland clearly had in mind.  I’d be front row center.

    Anyway, Boyle was in town this evening to talk about his career once more, an eight-film stretch that seems, by all accounts, to be headed for an Oscar next month for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire.”  He sat down with festival director Roger Durling after the film screened at the Lobero Theatre tonight to discuss the fairytale story of the film, both on screen and off, and he was met with a massive standing ovation from the packed theater.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: ‘Sugar,’ ‘Mile High,’ ‘Ink’

    InkAnother day, another series of capsule reviews…

    “SUGAR” (***1/2)

    Even though I never fully understood what it was trying to say, I fell in love with Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s “Half Nelson” follow-up “Sugar.”  I missed the film at last year’s AFI Fest in Los Angeles, and it received a world premiere over a year ago at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, but a day after catching it at the Lobero Theatre here in Santa Barbara, I still find myself turning it over in my mind.  It’s the lingering sort of cinema that I’m tempted to say will mean something different to you every time you watch it.

    Algenis Perez Soto is the film’s revelation, a tender first-time performer who excels under the direction of Boden and Fleck, two filmmakers who have cornered the market on intimate indie filmmaking that actually resonates.  The duo isn’t afraid of the natural awkwardness of relationships, but not in the pretentious sort of way that leaves you reaching for a barf bag at every step of the way.  They trust their characters to be honest first, dramatic second.

    That can also be a hindrance for obvious reasons.  The narrative rarely escapes a sense of safety.  Nothing is ever threatened along the way.  Nothing ever seems truly at stake.  But, in a sense, such is life.  But “Sugar” is as much a departure from the themes of “Half Nelson” as it is an extension of them, and to be such drastically different films, that is fascinating.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: ‘Blessed is the Match,’ ‘Inventing L.A.,’ ‘Pirate for the Sea’

    Paul WatsonA trio of documentaries to kick off our Santa Barbara coverage, two of them in competition…

    “BLESSED IS THE MATCH: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HANNAH SENESH” (**)

    Roberta Grossman’s portrait of the Jewish Joan of Arc, Hannah Senesh, is somehow not the testament her actions deserve.  Hindered by an overabundance of meaningless photographs and dubious reinactments, the film lacks scope and at times seems more interested in serving as a narrative biopic than a work of non-fiction.

    Senesh was a poet and one of a troupe of Jews living in Palestine trained by British military to save the Hungarian Jews from eventual extermination at Auschwitz.  Her team tragically parachuted into the region mere days before the country was invaded by Germany.  She was eventually arrested and executed for her actions.  Her writings and poetry were discovered by her comrades and published immediately.

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: ‘Truth,’ Winslet light up the town

    Kate Winslet receives the Montecito Award at the 24th Annual Santa Barbara International Film FestivalI’ll dig into individual film reviews in due time.  It’s been a slow start up here in Santa Barbara but the first two nights have been charming enough.

    Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But the Truth” gets better and better each time I see it, particularly where Lurie’s work as a writer is concerned.  Some beats are on the nose, perhaps too much for some people’s tastes, but I think he’s really developing as a filmmaker.  And the flick went over like gangbusters with the crowd at the packed Arlington Theatre opening night gala yesterday.  All the clever jokes found a home.  The performances caught their stride with the viewers, it seemed, and everyone seemed to be in tune with the film’s tight rhythm.  Most of all, the message seemed to settle (not surprising in a town this left of center), and that’s encouraging.

    Jeff Bridges and James Cromwell were among the A-listers who came out to celebrate the film, which has been all but smothered by an untimely Yari Film Group bankruptcy.  And the after-party at Paseo Nuevo up the street was slammed — too slammed.  But, as always, upstairs in a V.I.P. setting is the place to be, and that’s where Lurie and his sharp college-bound son yukked it up with Bridges and “Truth” star Noah Wyle, among others.

    Here’s my brief one-off on the film from back in September when it was playing Toronto.

    Tonight, Kate Winslet was in town to accept the Montecito award, becoming the first person in the history of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to be awarded twice.  With that in mind, festival director Roger Durling took playful umbrage on stage with her remarks at the Golden Globe ceremony a week ago when she claimed she never wins anything.

    Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin sat down with Winslet for a two-hour conversation through her career that I frankly expected to be a bore, but it was a lively and candid chat.  Clips from her wide ranging portfolio were peppered in here and there, but the cutest moment came when the actress couldn’t stop chuckling at the “Titanic” clip.  “It’s so funny because I don’t see me and Leo playing Jack and Rose,” she said.  “It’s just me and Leo.  What are we doing there?  It’s so funny to me that we were in ‘Titanic,’ I don’t know how to explain it.”

    (more…)