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

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

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Russell’s Hustle – SBIFF HONORS THE DIRECTOR OF ‘AMERICAN HUSTLE,’ ‘SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK,’ AND MORE

Jordan Strauss photo

The comedian Louis C.K. recently compared David O. Russell’s directing method to playing soccer: no time-outs, no huddles, you just keep moving. “Go big or go home” is often heard on a Russell set. And interviewing Mr. Russell is like that, too. He’s all energy, running here and there from anecdote to anecdote, and even though he’s probably been telling these tales since the very first junket, he sounds absolutely in the moment, like he’s just walked off set and can’t wait to tell you about it all.

Santa Barbara will get a full evening of Mr. Russell tonight in the first of SBIFF’s celebrity tributes, as he sits down for a career retrospective and the Outstanding Director Award.

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