Earthly Delights
Last year, the Reel Nature series of the Film Fest was very much a “side” bar-all of its screenings were at the Museum of Natural History, which is decidedly off the fest’s downtown circuit.
Month: February 2006
Virgin Voyages
Any veteran film festivalgoer knows that the World Premiere designation before a film is a broad and uneven category. It’s no guarantee of quality, and may, in fact, be a tip-off for a film going straight to video, or worse. In the festival world-especially beneath the tightly curated upper echelon of festivals-world premiere may be a code word for “last stop before oblivion.” Suffice to say, some of the bleakest moments in our own Film Fest history have occurred at “world premiere” events.
By George, He’s Got It!
Roger Durling Chats Movies and Life with George Clooney. It’s been quite a year for George Clooney, from writing, directing, and acting in the acclaimed Ed Murrow vs. Senator Joseph McCarthy black-and-white epic Good Night, and Good Luck to his dedicated onscreen work – weight gain, bad injury, and all – in the controversial Syriana, a film about going to war over oil.
Quote of the Week
”Healthcare? Helthcare’s a mess and he brags about it. I sat with pharmacists in Santa Maria; a nurse broke down and cried it was so bad.”
–Congresswoman Lois Caps reacts to President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address.
Day Late, A Dollar Short
Former homeless advocate and well-known Santa Barbara street person James Lee Magruder, 44, died Monday at Cottage Hospital just a day before the City Council committed research funds aimed at ending chronic homelessness in Santa Barbara.
Lompoc Chief Enters Fray
Born in Alabama, the son of an advance scout for Christian televangelist Billy Graham, Brown took over the Lompoc Department 10 years ago, fighting an uphill battle against gang violence and domestic abuse with a department beset by rapid turnover, losing 20 officers to the Santa Maria Police Department.
Southern Comfort
The automobile was given the backseat in Ventura County’s future as supervisors voted unanimously to forge a transportation future relying on buses, trains, and bicycles.
Goleta Vision Quest
State education czar Jack O’Connell (pictured) was in Santa Barbara last Monday to talk about the California high school exit exam, No Child Left Behind, and the ever-precarious funding of the state’s public schools.
Schoolhouse Blues
The backburner county-split debate heated up in the downtown public library’s Faulkner Gallery last Thursday in a well-attended public forum that flipped north-south party lines by pitting former Santa Maria planning commissioner and split resister Nancy Johnson against Santa Barbara city resident and former Boulder (CO) city manager split sympathizer Ted Tedesco.
Sewage Overflow
The Santa Barbara Association of Realtors objected to a proposal to require sewage-line inspections whenever property is sold in the city.
