Leonardo DiCaprio – Ted Mills

SBIFF: Double Dose – Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio share the stage at SBIFF

February 7, 2014April 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Leonardo DiCaprio meets fans on the red carpet before receiving the SBIFF award.

Look what happens when you wait.

When Leonardo DiCaprio bowed out of his own American Riviera Award at the SBIFF last year fans were disappointed. When, they wondered, would Mr. DiCaprio return? Well, as it turns out, he’s back this year and he brought Martin Scorsese with him for an evening’s worth of conversation moderated by Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy. The focus was film and the history of the two men, who increase their symbiotic relationship with each movie they work on together. (This time Mr. DiCaprio’s award is the “Cinema Vanguard” award.)

And the nominees are…: Fifteen Oscar hopefuls come to SBIFF

January 18, 2014August 29, 2014 tedmills Leave a comment

More hits than misses: that’s the tally of Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s award-winning movie stars who also got an Oscar nomination this week.

The festival books its buzz-worthy actors and filmmakers months ahead, hoping precognition will turn out to be correct, and after Thursday’s announcement, the festival can now claim 15 Academy Award nominees visiting Santa Barbara at the end of this month.

Ready to explore: The SBIFF announces its 2014 slate and unveils its poster

January 8, 2014August 31, 2014 tedmills Leave a comment

Barbara Boros unveils the poster for the 29th annual Santa Barbara international Film Festival on Tuesday. "Exploration" is the theme — Barbara Boros unveils the poster for the 29th annual Santa Barbara
international Film Festival on Tuesday. “Exploration” is the theme

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Tuesday announced “Exploration” as the main theme for this year’s 11-day celebration of stars and films.

For stargazers, the 29th annual event runs Jan. 30 through Feb. 9 and promises many of Hollywood’s biggest actors.

Cate Blanchett will arrive Feb. 1 for her tribute evening. After that the Virtuosos (Feb. 4) features up-and-coming actors Daniel Brühl, Adele Exarchopoulos, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, Jared Leto, and June Squibb.

Film review: Gangs of New York (2002)

January 18, 2003June 27, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Martin Scorsese recreates the birth of New York City in sprawling epic
By D.M. Terrace, Special to the Voice

In Gangs of New York, Martin Scorsese has taken a blood-and-scandal soaked non-fiction book from 1928 and brought much of it to the screen as the backdrop to a quite simple revenge drama. Or is it the other way around? This is a movie so jam-packed with detail and history (some real, some pastiche) that at all moments it threatens to swamp the characters. Most critics so far — Kenneth Turan, especially — have balked at this elephantine film, calling it interminable and obscure. But I quite liked the excess of it. In its portrait of a city, the film captures the density, confusion, and lawlessness therein. As an adaptation of a book that is really one juicy, violent tale after another, it succeeds largely because it has such a simple story as Hollywood wrapping.
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