Weighing In On The Oscars

Last night for the first time in several years, I watched the Oscars from the comfort of my living room couch. Laugh at me if you must, but I'm a big fan of the Oscar telecast. Even when it's bad it's good and I didn't think last night's telecast was as good as some in recent years.


Natalie Portman on the red carpet at last night's Oscars.

Not that I'll ever complain about having to look at Anne Hathaway for three hours but they really need to bring back a comedian as the MC. The attempts at comedy just plain flopped. And if there was ever any doubt, the one thing you don't ever want to see on stage at the Oscars is a guy in a dress, as co-host James Franco was.

Yes, I'm old enough to remember when Bob Hope used to be the host year in and year out. I thought it was sacrilege when they finally replaced him with Johnny Carson, if I recall.

My moviegoing in the last few months paid off. I ended up going nine for 11 in my Oscar predictions. Turns out I don't know anything about animated movies or foreign language films, the two categories in which I guessed wrong. In case you missed the show, here's a complete list of the winners.

When Melissa Leo dropped that F bomb during her acceptance speech for best supporting actress it made me wonder if she wasn't acting in "The Fighter."

I guess the kids in the chorus from PS 22 sure got an earful!

Of course, if they've seen "The King's Speech" they've heard the word repeated a number of times.

And was that the first F bomb ever dropped during the history of the Oscars telecast?

The Academy has a strict two-ticket limit for the show. Montecito's Jeff Bridges, a best actor nominee, had a posse of at least five including his wife Susan and three daughters. Rumor is they got the tickets that weren't being used by the Toy Story 3 cast.

With "The Social Network" winning three Oscars can a movie about Twitter be far behind?

This just in, the Governor of Wisconsin wants to take away the collective bargaining rights of all of last night's winners.

That accountant guy who they showed with the briefcase handcuffed to his right wrist just before they went to a commercial break: I hope he didn't have to go to the bathroom during the telecast and if he did I hope he's left-handed.

Biggest winner on Oscar night wasn't "The Kings Speech" but rather were the guys in the limo rental business and the company that makes Spanx.

I'm more convinced then ever: I want to be Colin Firth when I grow up!

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Academy Voters Will Friend The King's Speech

The Academy Awards are handed out tonight and this year, in comparison to years past, I feel much better able to make Oscar predictions. I've seen six of the ten movies that are up for Best Picture. ("Black Swan," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech, "127 Hours," The Social Network," and "True Grit.) Heck, until a couple of years ago if you'd seen six best picture nominees you'd seen them all and then some.

On top of that, I have the benefit of the recently wrapped up Santa Barbara Film Fest, where I attended the panel discussions involving directors, screenwriters and, perhaps most importantly, bloggers who cover "Hollywood." So I feel I picked up a bit of a sense about what the Oscar race buzz is.

This is the Oscar ballot I'm working from, so here I go with my picks. If I'm right, no one will remember, If I'm wrong, few of you will ever forget.

Best Supporting Actor I've only seen two of the five nominees in this category but I'm going to make my pick based on buzz and go with Christian Bale, for "The Fighter." Geoffrey Rush could win it, but I think it will be Bale.

I also kind of wonder why Rush wasn't nominated in the best actor category? He was certainly on the screen long enough.

Best Supporting Actress As was the case with the last category I've only seen two of the five nominees and once again I'm picking a performance I didn't see, Melissa Leo, for "The Fighter."

Best Animated Feature Film Only three nominees in this category and I didn't see any of them (with kids who are 15 and 21, my "Toy Story" days are over) but I'm putting my money on "Illusionist." Sorry Buzz and Woody.

Best Foreign Film Didn't see any of the five nominees but I'm going with "Biutiful" from Mexico.

Best Original Screenplay "The King's Speech."

Best Adapted Screenplay "The Social Network."

Best Documentary It's always difficult to pick a winner in this category since hardly anybody gets to see the nominees. But I think this year the key to picking the winner this year is to follow the money, so I'm going for "Inside Job."

Best Actress Only saw two of the five performances in this category but I'm going with Natalie Portman for "Black Swan."

Best Actor I saw four of the five nominees in this category and I say the Oscar goes to Colin Firth. I also thought Jeff Bridges in 'True Grit" was great but Bridges won last year and I thought his character in True Grit" was a little too much like his character in "Crazy Heart." Firth was also nominated last year for his role in "A Single Man.," in which he was also very good so I think he'll still have some momentum going for him from last year's awards.

Best Director Once again, I saw four of the five nominees in this category "The Fighter" being the only one I didn't catch. I say the winner is Tom Hooper for "The King's Speech."

Best Picture The Oscar goes to "The King's Speech." Ever since our own Film Fest the talk has been that this has come down to a two picture race with the other front-runner being "The Social Network." While that was an enjoyable movie I just don't think it was a great movie. I think the Academy voters will choose World War II era history over recent history.

Th-th-th-that's all folks! Let me know if you do better than me.

All photos in this post courtesy Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Previously on Craig Smith's Blog, Geoffrey Rush is an Actor Not a Celebrity

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Maldonado to Challenge Capps?

Abel Maldonado, the former lieutenant governor and state senator from Santa Maria, hopes to go where no man has ever gone before: to the election-night podium to declare victory over Congress-member Lois Capps.

According to The Fix, a Washington Post political blog, a source close to Maldonado said the plucky politico would indeed challenge Capps next year.

Maldonado is banking on the redrawing of the district boundaries to help him out. "He's pretty confident that redistricting will change that district enough that it will be better than it is now," the Fix's source was quoted as saying. Of course, if you're a Republican, the district couldn't get any worse. It went 66 percent for President Obama in 2008.

Maldonado is a moderate Republican and a nice guy, but what are the odds of him defeating Capps? About the same as walking down State Street from Micheltorena to the beach and not getting panhandled: None.

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If it seems like I'm blogging less these days and enjoying it more, I'm not the only one. According to a recent article in the NY Times, blogging is on the wane.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Capps Isn't Among Those in the House Who Is Sleeping at the Job

NBC News had a story yesterday on members of Congress who sleep in their offices instead of maintaining a second residence in the Capital.



I was curious as to whether our own representative in Congress, Lois Capps was among those who sleeps around the office.

"She certainly doesn't sleep in her office," her press representative, Ashley Schapitl, assured me in an e-mail.

Without getting too personal, I asked what are the Congresswoman's sleeping arrangements? According to Schapitl, "Her daughter Laura and her husband live on Capitol Hill, and Lois lives with them while in D.C."

So Barack Obama isn't the only person in Washington who has his mother in law staying with him!

As the video indicates, there are some who think using government offices as a residence is a benefit which the lawmakers ought to be taxed on.

In Santa Barbara, we'd know how to put a stop to people sleeping in public places. We'd rearrange the furniture!

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

At Least They Have a Sense of Humor About It

Two days after an elderly driver paid an after-hours visit and backed his SUV into the plate glass window of Fast Frame in the 1300 block of State Street, the plywood boards over the windows of the picture framing store looked like this.



When questioned by police who were investigating the accident the 83-year old driver told them he thought Fast Frame was a crash and carry store.

No, not really.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

State & A Sold to New Owners

State & A, which since I moved Downtown happens to be one of my favorite neighborhood watering holes, has been sold.

Rumored for some time now to have been on the market, a Notice of Application for Ownership Change is posted in the window of the restaurant which is located on the corner of State Street and Anapamu, showing the names of the new owners, Barry and Margaret Shulman, and that the name of the restaurant will be changed to "Maggie's at State and A."

Employees were reportedly informed of the sale at a Sunday morning staff meeting. They were assured that their jobs were safe and that the transfer of ownership would be completed by April 1.

The new owners plan to do some remodeling and reportedly were at the restaurant on Sunday morning taking measurements.

They can remodel all they want as long as they don't get rid of that patio which is great for people watching and don't change the recipe the bartenders use for their Bloody Marys.

And please keep my favorite item on the appetizer menu, the seared Ahi Tuna.

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© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Shuttered Bookstores Leave Me With That Empty Feeling

Borders and Barnes & Noble, the two chain bookstores that were located practically across the street from each other in Downtown Santa Barbara have both been closed for a little over a month now and I sure do miss them.


The empty Borders bookstore on State Street.

I live Downtown and on the weekends when my 15-year old daughter comes over to visit we often go for a walk down to Paseo Nuevo Mall. When we arrive at the mall my daughter invariably gives me that look. You know, the one where she turns to me and without saying so much as a single word conveys the unmistakable message: "Dad, it's time for you to make yourself scarce while I go shopping." (Because we all know that the most mortifying prospect in the life of a teenage girl is to get busted by one of her friends while shopping with her father tagging along.)

I may be stupid but I'm not dumb. I got the message and I would usually take refuge in either Borders and Barnes & Noble killing time browsing the shelves or sitting and reading magazines.

Of course, I can't do that anymore and I'm probably part of the reason why the two stores closed as I, and a lot of other people apparently, did too much browsing and not enough buying hence hastening the departure of the brick and mortar bookstores.

Having been part of the problem I now find myself in the position of the child who has committed parricide and am throwing myself on the mercy of the court because, after all, I'm now an orphan.

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In addition to being without a place to browse the demise of the bookstores has raised a different problem for another group among us: Where is an author expected to peddle a book these days?

Authors trying to hustle their books would often do book signings at either Borders or Barnes & Noble. For the customers it was a chance to meet the author and listen to him or her read a chapter from their book and if you actually dipped into your pocket and sprung for a copy you could get the author to actually sign it for you.

While the opportunities for that kind of interaction have dwindled they haven't disappeared altogether. You just have to search a little harder for them.

Last week during the Film Fest, David Prybil, author of the book I'm currently reading Golden State,was at the Book Den on Anapamu to sign and read from his novel. Evidently believing that truth is stranger than fiction, Prybil took the basic facts surrounding the California recall election that gave us Governor Schwarzenegger and turned it into a work of fiction.

This Saturday, friend and local author Leslie Westbrook will be signing her new book on the history of Santa Barbara City College from 3pm to 5pm at Tecolote Bookshop in Montecito's Upper Village.

I'm sure that Chaucer's on upper State Street and of course the Borders in Goleta will continue to host book signings as well. But being a denizen of Downtown it's not as convenient for me to get to those last two outposts.

With clothing retailers reported to be the new tenants at the venues that formerly housed the Downtown bookstores we figure to have the opportunity to be better dressed even if we won't be as well read. While that may make my daughter happy, I'm not sure if that's a good trade off.

And as far as filling the book signing void, maybe those clothing retailers can have Kathy Ireland come in and read the care labels off of her line of clothing and then sign the price tags for you?

Naw, not even that would be as good as a real live author.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Reagan Ranch Folks Yell Fire in Flap Over Media Exclusion

In response to my post of Tuesday on how the Daily Sound and the Independent were denied access by the Young America's Foundation to coverage of Sarah Palin's speech here last Friday I received the following e-mail from Brent Kilpper who is associated with the YAF:

A few points regarding your complaints about our denial of access to small business - KEYT was offered a spot ( by me ) to place their broadcast camera in the room, so the choice of the pool feed was theirs alone. Also, though there may have been physical space for additional reporters, fire codes prevented us from extending invitations.

I e-mailed Mr. Kilpper back and thanked him for his response and assured him that I would publish it. I also asked him that in light of Wendy McCaw's financial support of YAF and the fact that the News-Press had two people covering the event where other media outlets had none, whether he was concerned about the appearance that the News-Press might be buying access to YAF events?

It's been over 24 hours since I sent that e-mail to Mr. Kilpper and I have yet to receive a response.

Maybe I should have included a donation with my question?

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

The Explainer In Chief Responds

Even us lowly bloggers occasionally receive "letters to the editor." Last week, while my coverage of the Santa Barbara Film Fest was in high gear, this e-mail landed in my inbox.

I simply can't stand it any more and had to email you. Please, Craig - Why are you focusing on this trivia when there is so much suffering and injustice going on in the world and you have (to your credit) established a well-read public forum that you could actually be doing some good with? I don't get it - you are so intelligent. You can still write about this stuff, but PLEASE start covering some meaningful social issues as well. For instance, the local disgusting School To Prison Pipeline. Your "friends" in high places will start to shun you, and it will be difficult in that respect, but if you hang in there, your karma will start to shine (and who really needs them, anyway?).

And they say that I never disappoint a reader.

I wonder if anybody ever went up to Woody Allen and said to him: "You know Annie Hall was a cute movie, but you really ought to be making films like The Sorrow and the Pity."

While I'm flattered that the writer (who is someone that I know in real life) thinks that I'm intelligent, I think she has me overrated in that department. But, I'm at least smart enough to know that I'm no Woody Allen. Yet, letters like this cause me to step back and examine why I blog.

Unless you're Arianna Huffington, blogging doesn't pay much. So, I do it for other reasons. Mainly because I like to write and putting one's thoughts down in writing is cheaper than going to a therapist. Because it doesn't pay much, I still have to work for a living which means, for me, blogging is a hobby which I don't have unlimited time to pursue. While the "school to prison pipeline" is an important issue, it doesn't sound like it's much fun to cover. In fact, it sounds like a lot of work. And I have more than enough work to fill my day as it is.

Every so often I have to remind myself of what it is I'm doing and what it is I'm not doing here on this blog. I'm not a newspaper. I'm not even a reporter. I'm just a middle-aged, cappuccino sipping media junkie who has a laptop computer and a high-speed Internet connection.

I just react to what I see in the world around me and when the inspiration strikes (and I happen to have the time) I throw in my two-cents worth every so often. Any good that I may do along the way is really just collateral damage that I chalk up to the law of unintended consequences.

Yes, I admit, I'm inconsistent in what I choose to write about. The meltdown at the News-Press and the community's reaction to it was and is a serious story. The Desperate Housewives of the Ivy League wasn't and never will be.

But being the Chief Blogger in this one-man operation means that I get to assign the stories and that I get to turn down the assignments that I don't want. And considering what the boss is paying me, I'm not accepting any assignments that I don't have the enthusiasm to tackle.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thank you for your e-mail and I hope you'll stick with me and my stories.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Dale Francisco, Fashion Felon?

I don't know this for a fact but my guess is that on Tuesdays when the Santa Barbara City Council holds its meetings, councilmember Dale Francisco must get up awfully early and get dressed in the dark.


Dale Francisco at a recent City Council Meeting
I mean, how else would you explain what he's wearing?

Dale is known for being conservative but he's certainly liberal when it comes to mixing his checks, his stripes and his plaids.

That's a lot going on there Dale!

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Palin Blows In From Alaska, Local Reporters Left Out in the Cold

As you may have heard, Sarah Palin, America's best-known half-baked Alaskan, slipped into town Friday evening to give a speech before the Young America's Foundation as part of the celebration of the centennial of the birth of Ronald Reagan.

Although one of the talking points in Palin's speech on Friday night was to decry big business, it was small business that got left out in the cold, at least when it came to the local media that was permitted to cover her appearance. KEYT-TV and the Santa Barbara News-Press were allowed inside to report first-hand on her appearance. The Independent and the Daily Sound were denied access. (KEYT had video of the speech, but it was from a pool feed.)

Brandon Fastman, a writer for the Indy reports that an official of the Young America's Foundation refused to take his call but later sent an e-mail saying, "Due to overwhelming demand, we are unfortunately unable to offer you press credentials for our banquet with Gov. Palin." He suggested that Fastman watch the speech on the Internet.

Fastman would later be told by another member of the media who attended the event that there was more than enough room for one more reporter.

Daily Sound Publisher Jeramy Gordon told me that his paper's request for a media credential met a similar fate. Gordon put in the Sound's application for a media credential as soon as he heard that Palin was coming to town. After some hemming and hawing the Young America's Foundation decided there wasn't room at the dinner to accommodate a reporter from the Sound either. For all the talk by the Republicans and Tea Party folks about how small business is the backbone of America they couldn't give a break to a 28-year old entrepreneur like Gordon?

The fact that the News-Press was allowed to have both a reporter and a photographer cover the event should come as no surprise as the paper's owner, Wendy McCaw is a major contributor to the Young America's Foundation.

I'm sure News-Press reporter Scott Steepleton enjoyed his plate of food at the dinner. And the Independent's plate and the Daily Sound's as well.


Dick Cheney and Wendy McCaw at Saturday's Dinner (AP Photo)

The following night as the celebration of Reagan continued, it was former Vice President Dick Cheney who addressed the group. According to my source who was in attendance, the guests seated next to Cheney were McCaw and her boyfriend Arthur von Weisenberger. My source told me that von Weisenberger was bending Cheney's ear all evening long, leaning over his live-in lover McCaw to do so.

For the first time in my life I kind of feel sorry for the former Vice President. He came here to pay tribute to the Gipper and had to put up with the Nipper.

Well, I'm sure Cheney was handsomely compensated.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

All That's Missing From This Grand Old Party Are Members of The Grand Old Party

On the final weekend of the Film Festival, State Street seemed to be packed with people from out of town. And not a single one of them was wearing a NASCAR jacket.

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Of course there did seem to be an unusually high percentage of well-dressed older gentlemen escorting their college-aged daughters around.

But that's what Film Festival is about. The Hollywood wheelers and dealers making the pilgrimage to Santa Barbara. But it's not just that. For us locals it means heading down to the neighborhood around the Metro 4 theaters on any night of the week and being guaranteed that you will run into someone who you know and with whom you will have something to talk about: "Seen any good movies lately?"

No matter what you're looking for when it comes to movies, you can find it at the Santa Barbara Film Fest. If you want to see movie stars, they always have plenty of Oscar contenders. If you want to see the movies that are up for Oscars, they have those. If you want to party, there are plenty of parties to go to. And, if you are truly serious about film and cinema you can ignore all of the foregoing and immerse yourself in films from 8 in the morning until midnight every day of the festival.

As for myself, I figure I saw about 15 films, an all-time record for me. Troubadours was my overall favorite. Phunny Business, had me laughing the hardest. Women In Temptation was the most entertaining, and Finding Kind was the most moving. (Some of the commenters at Edhat could learn a thing or two from that last movie.)

Over the course of the last 10 days, I saw a lot of local politicians at Film Fest events. Mayor Helene Schneider is a regular and Congress member Lois Capps and Assembly member Das Willams came to opening night. I saw First District County Supervisor Salud Carbajal at the premiere screening of Bringing King to China and I saw former mayor Marty Blum along with husband Joe in the line at the Metro 4 and in the audience for the Directors' Panel.

Anybody notice a trend here? Where are all of the Republicans? Actually I am told that city council member Dale Francisco attended opening night, but that's it as far as our elected officials from the GOP.

If the Film Fest wants to improve their Republican demographic maybe they ought to program a Ronald Reagan retrospective. "Bedtime for Bonzo" anyone?

More Film Fest Photos by Chuck Cagara in this year's photo gallery.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Is She Bewitching? Nicole Kidding!

The last of the big movie star tributes of the Santa Barbara Film Festival took place on Saturday night at the Arlington Theater. The honoree was Nicole Kidman.


Nicole Kidman, on stage at Santa Barbara's Arlington Theater last night.

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

More Film Fest Photos by Chuck Cagara in this year's photo gallery.

True "It"

Hard to imagine a 14-year old who could be more poised and confident than Hailee Steinfeld.


Lovely and poised at 14, Hailee Steinfeld wades into the limelight at the Santa Barbara Film Fest Virtuoso Awards presentation on Friday night.

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Of course, having an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in "True Grit," probably doesn't hurt.

More Film Fest Photos by Chuck Cagara in this year's photo gallery.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

And They Say Fiesta Draws A Strange Crowd

They say Fiesta attracts people who like to party and drink, but when it comes to a spaced-out crowd, you can't beat the folks who show up at the Santa Barbara Film Fest.



This bunch was in front of the Metro 4 Friday afternoon to promote the film Angels & Airwaves Presents "Love."

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Diary of a Mad Film Goer

Thursday afternoon, I went to the Arlington to see Women In Temptation, which reportedly is the top grossing movie in the Czech Republic, even outperforming "Avatar."

It's the story of three generations of single women; a marriage counselor who has been abandoned by her husband, her 20-something daughter and, grandma, a sensuous septuagenarian. The vibrant urbanscape of a cosmopolitan town is the backdrop as they prowl for men.

In other words, Czechs And The City.

There were so many women in the theater to watch the 1 pm screening of this movie it looked like they had brought in the studio audience from Oprah.

I halfway expected Film Fest Director Roger Durling to take the stage and announce that everyone in attendance was getting a free car.

No car, but we were rewarded with a very funny and entertaining movie that was well received by the audience. It was clever and unpredictable. I give it three-thumbs up.

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I miss the Victoria Theater which is out of commission as a Film Fest Venue for this year. Like the Arlington, it takes less than 10 minutes for me to walk there from my house. The convenience factor made putting up with its quirkiness more than worth it.

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In addition to the "turn off your cell phone rule" and the "no texting during the movie rule," I would like to propose an additional rule: No chewing on the ice cubes from your drink during the movie. At Wednesday's matinee at the Metro 4, a guy sitting two seats away from me in the same row was masticating his ice cubes for the first 20 minutes of the movie. Especially annoying when the film you are trying to watch has subtitles.

I tried to give the guy the skunk eye but, no luck. I couldn't help but wonder if his co-workers had taken up a collection to buy him a ticket and get him out of the office for the day.

I know, he was probably wondering the same thing about me.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

I've Got A Megaphone!

If you don't have a Film Fest Platinum Pass but you wanted to be treated as if you do, what might you say to a Festival volunteer and what might you get in response?

"I'm friends with Roger, he and I are down." "Yeah, you and every fool in town."



That's one of the lines you will hear if you listen carefully during the Film Fest's opening trailer for this year. Called," I've Got A Megaphone!" (at least that's what I think it's called) it spoofs the festival volunteers who are in charge of keeping order in the line to get into the theaters. It's animated and all done with Lego pieces. Harry Bossert, of England did the animation. Local musician, Parry Gripp, wrote the song.

And I do love that song!

I've heard someone describe it as being "hip-hop" but I'd say it's more techno. But then again, what do I know?

I don't know if that reputation the volunteers have for being bossy is well-deserved because they've always been nice to me. Then again, I've got a press pass.

And I know what you're thinking. "Yeah, you and every fool in town."

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

More Film Fest Photos

Helena Bonham Carter

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Geoffrey Rush

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Film Fest regular Christopher Lloyd and Roger Durling are deep in thought on the red carpet. For you trivia buffs, Durling had just asked Lloyd, "What does a yellow light mean?"

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

More Film Fest Photos by Chuck Cagara in this year's photo gallery.

Film Fest Photo Ops

I made my first visit of the year to the red carpet Monday night for the Geoffrey Rush/"King's Speech" tribute. My old cronies from the media contingent on the carpet welcomed me back and one of them asked why I wasn't taking more photos while I was there? My reply was, "Oh, I have my photographer to do that for me." Although I didn't mean to, I probably came off as if I was trying to sound like some big shot.

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Alyssa Price (Director, The Monstrosity)

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

Brittany Ballard and Jamil Walker Smith (Producer/Cast, Make A Movie Like Spike)

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

But the truth is, it's nice to have a choice of really high quality photos to accompany my Film Fests posts and I'm grateful to Chuck Cagara who feeds them to me every night.

Chuck has to get to the red carpet at least an hour before the arrivals start in order to stake out a good position. And when things are behind schedule, as they did for James Franco the other night, Chuck spends as much as three hours on the red carpet and then another nearly two hours inside before he heads home to start sifting through the photos to send to me.

Chuck has the services of his assistant Marie or maybe I should say that Marie has the services of her assistant, Chuck. They are husband and wife.

The downside of having so many photos at my disposal is that there's not enough room on to publish them all on my main blog page. But if you want to see more, please go to my 2011 Film Fest Photo Gallery where there are some 50 or so photos with the number growing everyday.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Early Risers Fill Film Fest Seats

Usually, the first thing I do in the morning after leaving the house is head out to find coffee. On Tuesday, the first place I headed to when I left the house in the morning was the Metro 4 to see a movie. Who would show up at 8 am on a Tuesday morning to watch a movie? During Film Fest, a lot of people.

The auditorium was about two-thirds full for the screening of Troubadours. The three other auditoriums of the Metro 4 which were also showing films starting around the same time had similar size crowds according to Film Fest Director Roger Durling.

At this point of the Festival it's mostly locals who are in the audience for the weekday screenings. Many of the out of towners will return this weekend.

Troubadours, which was shown at the just concluded Sundance Film Festival, revolves around the L.A. Folk/Rock music scene of the 60's and 70's and focuses in on the 50th anniversary of the famed L.A. Music venue, The Troubadour nightclub, and in particular the music of James Taylor and Carol King, who recently did a reunion tour to celebrate that anniversary.

(By the way. Is it just me, or does Carol King bear a slight resemblance to our District Attorney, Joyce Dudley?)

How could I not like this movie? Having grown up in L.A. and attended college at UCLA in the early 70's I have been to the Troubadour a few times and even saw the comic duo, Cheech and Chong, who are interviewed in the film, perform there.

The music featured in the film was the soundtrack of my college years. Besides King and Taylor, the film also has interviews with, Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby and Kris Kristofferson just to name a few.

I don't know if every movie is suited to starting your day off with, but Troubadours was just what the doctor ordered on this particular Tuesday morning. All that was missing was my large cappuccino. Anyone ever think of installing a Starbucks counter inside the theater lobby?

You still have a chance to catch Troubadours at the Film Fest. It will be shown again on Thursday at 4pm at the Arlington.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com

Geoffrey Rush Is An Actor, Not A Celebrity

He's not blessed with the classic movie star looks of Colin Firth, but Geoffrey Rush sure can act!


Geoffrey Rush

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

That much was evident after watching the film clips from a cross-section of his work during the tribute to him at the Arlington on Monday night where he received the Santa Barbara Film Fest's Montecito award.

Seeing The King's Speech immediately before the tribute presentation to Rush, who was accompanied by his co-stars, Firth and Helena Bonham Carter and the film's director Tom Hooper, is certainly a good way to "plus" the movie watching experience.


Colin Firth presenting the Montecito Award to Geoffrey Rush

Photo Credit: Chuck Cagara / www.MagicalLightPhotography.com

I have now seen six of the ten films that are up for the best picture Oscar this year. That's an all-time high for me. Of the six that I've seen, here is how I would rank them: 1. The King's Speech, 2. True Grit, 3. 127 Hours, 4. The Kids Are Alright, 5. The Social Network, 6. Black Swan.

Leonardo DiCaprio may be the heartthrob and Seth Rogan may be the class cut-up, but the consensus among Film Fest attendees who saw them both this week seems to be that Rogan, by far, was the better and more entertaining award presenter.

A thousand screaming teenage girls are saying, "so what?"

More Film Fest Photos by Chuck Cagara in this year's photo gallery.

© 2011 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com