Yesterday, before the broadcast of the Golden Globes, Kevin Costner posted a video on his Twitter explaining he was unable to attend the award show because he was stuck at his home in Santa Barbara due to the recent rain storms and flooding seen all up and down the Central Coast. Costner's nomination this year was the first and only Golden Globe nomination for the incredibly popular show, Yellowstone. 

The US-101 freeway was shutdown in both north and south directions going in and out of Santa Barbara. As Costner notes in the video, this is the second time in five years this has happened to the residents in the coastal Santa Barbara County communities. Crews had reopened the roads earlier today, but all eyes are on another storm coming this weekend!

Take a look at Costner's video message below. 

Costner would go on that evening to win "Best Performance by Actor in Television Series (Drama)." He would take to Twitter again thanking his fans and cast and crew. Another member of the cast, Cole Hauser, who plays "Rip" in the show, was born in Santa Barbara, however currently lives in Los Angeles. 

For a complete list of winners from the Golden Globes, click here. 

Submitted by Allan Hancock College 

Allan Hancock College will present a 14-week film course taught by award-winning filmmaker and retired Hancock film professor Jeanine Moret at the Santa Ynez Valley Center from Sept. 7 - Dec. 7.
The class, “Film as Art and Communication,” will run on Wednesday evenings from 5 to 9:45 p.m. The course covers a variety of international film styles, themes and directors with an emphasis on the ways film communicates through acting, photography, sound and editing.
“It’s great to be able to bring a filmmaker’s perspective to a film studies class,” said Moret. “I’ve found that many students are curious about the production process, and I love discussing what goes into making a film and how students can chart a path into film production work if that is their goal.”
Moret’s career includes serving as the camera assistant for the Washington, DC, time-lapse sequences featured in Oliver Stone’s biopic, Nixon. During her tenure as a full-time faculty member at Allan Hancock College, she coordinated the college’s multimedia and animation programs. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles with an emphasis in documentary film. At UCLA, Moret served as a teaching assistant for sound classes and crewed sound on such culturally diverse films as Arlene Bowman’s Navajo Talking Picture, Charles Burnett’s My Brother’s Wedding, Alex Cox’s Repo Man, Billy Woodberry’s Bless Their Little Hearts, and Alicia Rodriquez’s La Bicicleta.
Early in Moret’s career, she produced, shot and edited Banderani, filmed in a remote village in the Bolivian Andes. Following the success of Banderani, Moret was recruited as location manager and assistant to the producer on the experimental film, Powaqqatsi, a six-month production that took her to Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, England and other international locations. She also shot, co-produced and co-edited the one-hour PBS documentary, Song Journey, which followed female drummers on the powwow circuit across the American Plains.
Following retirement as a professor at Hancock, Moret continues to teach part-time and currently works for Monty Roberts Productions.
“The magic and power of a good movie never cease to move me. As a teacher I get to hunt continuously for great films to show and discuss in class,” Moret said. “I enjoy showing movies that engage the students, especially when they have a lot to say about it afterwards.”
To register for this class and other fall courses at Hancock, visit www.hancockcollege.edu/fall.

The popular television show, PAWN STARS official YouTube Channel shared a clip from Season 13, Episode 9 entitled "Cowboys and Cannons," which aired on the History Channel on September 7th, 2016. 

​In this clip, a potential client walks in with an obscure object purchased at the "Allan Hancock Estate" in Santa Maria, California.

​Rick and Chumlee are amused by the object but still need to "call in the expert" to find out more about it. Is it worth big bucks or just a lot of "yucks?" 

You can watch the clip for free, via YouTube right now, right below! 

Watch all new episodes of Pawn Stars, returning soon, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at http://history.com/schedule. #PawnStars

by Colin Dowse of Carmel High School, winner of Best Film
Wow! This was a phenomenal film. There is so much to unpack and so much to say that I really can't It's a great and gripping short film from start to finish. You have great coverage of your scenes with amazing lighting, performances and editing. Your dream sequences are well done with the visual and practical effects. I really am blown away by your craft here and see only amazing things in your future. Well done!!
~ Daniel Lahr, Executive Director Central Coast Film Society

Students from many Central Coast high school’s had the opportunity to share their work and be awarded with scholarships at the 3rd annual Student Film & Digital Media Arts Competition on April 6, at San Luis Obispo High School.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring this fun student showcase and to give local creators a platform to show their creative works, and reward them for their talents,” said Sarah Risley, newly elected board president of the film society.
All students who submitted their films or creative works received constructive feedback from the Central Coast Film Society (CCFS) board members and finalists had their work reviewed by a panel of judges from the industry and academia to earn awards for excellence and available $250 scholarships for each category from film, photography, cinematography, editing and ‘Central Coast Spirit’.
All the creative submissions were from high school students living on the Central Coast, specifically Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Monterey counties. There were more than 175 submissions that were narrowed down to a handful of finalists.
The finalists were then invited to the Showcase at SLO High School, where people had the opportunity to see all the films and photography and look through the screenplays.
“A huge thank you to the teachers, mentors, and judges. Your hard work and insights are building the next generation of filmmakers, screenwriters, and photographers,” said Daniel Lahr, executive director for the film society.
Judges for the showcase were Chris Hite, award winning filmmaker and professor of film at Allan Hancock College; Alan Fraser, co-founder of the Cambria Film Festival and Chachi Ramirez, film producer and owner of the Guadalupe Royal Theater.


Winners of the showcase are:

Screenwriting
Sweet on You
Rhys Eleanor Demarest, Morro Bay High School
(Click on title to read)

Photography
Cat Reflection
Ashley Robinson, Central Coast New Tech High School
See Above

Highlight Reel (Editing/Animation/FX)
Light to My Path
Abigail Reinstedt, Calvary Christian School

Film
Out of My Mind
Colin Dowse, Carmel High School

Central Coast Spirit Award
Lost- A Backyard Adventure
Coleman Howe, San Luis Obispo High School

We will be posting the winners films shortly!

Two of the most iconic photographers of the 20th Century are Ansel Adams and Alan Ross. Their photographs are recognizable and they happen to have been close friends and colleagues. 
Their work is on exhibit starting Sept. 25 through March 20, 2022 at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature in Solvang. 
This incredible exhibition explores the American West through their lenses. 

​This exhibition also has a connection to local award winning photographer and photojournalist George Rose.
George Rose took several classes from Ansel Adams in the 1970's, before his own successful career started working for the Los Angeles Times and other news publications, photographing Hollywood legends. 

You can find our interview with George Rose HERE. 

Photo of Ansel Adams and George Rose (1974) Courtesy of George Rose

Universal Studios and Dreamworks Animation released their new feature, Spirit: Untamed this past weekend. It offered a great option for those with smaller children to return to the movies and not see one of the three horror films that are out. Even Disney's Cruella dabbles in the dark side of things and this is the perfect alternative. 

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean this movie is very good. I will, however, admit that my five and three year olds loved the movie, but this was also their first time back in a theater in a long time, so the experience of going maybe a factor. So I'll give two scores, one for kids and one for adults.

Now the wild horse named "Spirit" has been around for a while and has its own franchise since the first movie came out in 2002. The animators actually used a real horse to model for the character, and the real "Spirit" now resides in the Return to Freedom horse sanctuary located here on the Central Coast. You can read all about his journey to the Santa Ynez Valley here. But this story goes away from that.

This movie is about a young girl whose mother dies tragically riding horses in a show. In his grief, the father sends the young girl off to live with her grandfather and aunt for the next ten years only to have them come back when the girl becomes a liability for the grandfather's gubernatorial campaign and then she is sent back out to her father in the frontier. Yep, that's the opening of the movie. Then the typical tropes begin to set in and things are predictable to the letter. The film is nicely animated and has some nice shots to look at, but it couldn't help the writing... even for a kids movie.

For my score, I'll give this a 2/5 stars and was very "ho-hum" for me. My kids really liked it and would probably give it a 3.5/5 stars for them. As a parent, it is not all bad to be back in a theater and in the air conditioning during the summer. Just don't pay more than matinee prices for it. Or just wait... it's bound to be streaming soon.

Let me start out by saying: This ain't the Cruella you know. 

That is something I loved about this: It's fresh! Yes, Disney has a knack for reinventing movies and intellectual properties of their own, but this was worth it. Opening in theaters and on Disney+ at the same time this weekend, I want to also say you should see this on the big screen. 

The movie is larger than life and tiptoes on the fantasy realm that Disney lives in. Like, I believe this version of London is the same one that Peter Pan and Mary Poppins visits, albeit a much darker side. Emma Stone does a great job of showing us that she borders on genius and madness and early references calling her "Disney's Joker" does not go unwarranted, especially after watching this film. It's actually fairly similar to Joker, but of course in the Disney universe. Let's also be honest, Cruella, is not a character for kids to look up to. The PG-13 rating is warranted for sure and the film is dark in subject matter and esthetically as well. I might even call this the most Tim Burton-esque movie he never made. 

The other standout in all of this is Emma Thompson's character, Baroness. I could watch a movie all around her character all day long. Needless to say, the two Emma's chemistry was electric and they sparked off of each other perfectly. The fun part of this movie is it's rewatchability. There's a lot of scenes where you get quick glimpses of the the hundreds, if not thousands, of costumes used. I never thought I'd want to go back and watch a film again to simply admire it's art direction, but it's that good. Again, the reveals of some of Cruella's outfits are needed on a proper silver screen, not Disney+'s at home experience. There of course is a connection to 101 Dalmatians, but it surprisingly doesn't come until the "mid credit" scene, so STAY! 

So if you're worried if you think your kids might not "get it," go see it without the kids and you're going to have a good time regardless. Then if you decide to watch it again with them, you'll be happy to do that too. She is so bonkers, you'll love going on the journey with her, and even be rooting for the baddie! I want another movie! I'm just so worried about those puppies... 

4/5 Stars

Well, it's Memorial Day Weekend in 2021 and the movies are back!

A Quiet Place Part II opens in theaters and before the movie is run, writer, director and star, John Krasinski, appears to greet guests and welcome them back to the theaters and welcome them. In a recent interview he said that A Quiet Place Part II had it's premiere last year, two day before the lockdowns, and now "it's not about our movie. Sure, we hope you come and see our movie, but at this point in time it's about movies in general." 

If you saw the 2018 original A Quiet Place movie, then you know that this movie is something that I don't want to spoil. So I won't give away anything that you haven't already seen in the trailers. The original was a very much a novel horror film and the sequel builds on it successfully. In fact, like a true "Part II" it takes place immediately after the first one ends. Well, right after they have a "flashback" sequence of what they call "Day One." We get more insight into relationships the family had with the townspeople before the monsters arrive, and gives us crucial context to relationships that come later. 

The movie, much like its successor, has it's main success in it's horror and tension in it's superb sound editing. There is no difference in terms of looks of sets, or the world the characters inhabit (other than the kids are obviously two years older). The storyline is something that goes off of the major plot development at the end of the original film and with great affect. It's something that at the end of the first one we are thinking, "Oh, I can't wait to see them kick these monster's asses now." But as we see in this movie, it's not that easy. 

There are plenty of scares and moments that will make you gasp. There's a lot more dialogue in this movie than there is in the first one, so we're losing the novelty of a film where there's almost no dialogue, but again, it is a seamless bridge from one movie to another. You could play these movies back to back, take away the credits, and you would have a hard time spotting the split. 

Wrapping up this spoiler free review, I have to say that there were two performances that are of big note. Young performer, Millicent Simmonds, is amazing in being able to perform with just a look. You can get such a feeling from her subtleties in her performance that makes it so genius, and is ultimately what makes you believe the terror happening around her. The other standout is Cillian Murphy, who is no stranger to apocalyptic monster movies, a la 28 Days Later. But here he is transformed into someone who you are both afraid of and sympathetic for, he's real. So if you're picturing him from any Christopher Nolan film or the Peaky Blinders series, you won't recognize him here.  I will say I feel that Emily Blunt maybe did this role to appease her real life husband, Krasinski, as she is actually only in about half of the movie and has no major developments throughout the movie. The ending is also a bit sudden and is reminiscent of the first film's ending by not giving us the traditional happy ending. And dare I say it? I'll dare. I can't wait to see "Part III."

This movie is honestly, one of the best ones to go back to theaters to see, and see it with people! There is a honest tension that is palpable in the audience and it's that experience that you really should have. After watching movies at home for a year, I can safely say, it's not the same. It's not. Go to the movies, and check out CinemaSafe, which helps show how theaters are being responsible with re-openings. You won't be disappointed. 


4/5 Stars

Well, Oscar picked his favorites from the wackiest year in cinema history. Most of the nominations are spot on, honoring amazing work and performances. But then you think Oscar might still be in quarantine (and possibly still day drinking) with the Borat nominations...

We are thrilled to see that Netflix's Mank get the most nominations (10 in total), as a large portion happens at Hearst Castle, which is a Central Coast icon. Even though the movie's Hearst Castle scenes were shot in sound stages, giving it an old Hollywood vibe, we love how accurate it appears to the real deal (We're looking at you, Production Design award!). So naturally, we're rooting for Mank!

So get ready for an interesting show, with this year's show coming to you from Grand Central Station! The 93rd Academy Awards will air on Sunday April 25th on ABC. Here's the complete list.