A small but hardcore crowd of surf fans cheered enthusiastically as the lights dimmed at UCSB’s IV Theater Saturday night, transporting them to the beautiful sunny beaches of Hana, Maui for a special screening of Russ Spencer’s “Hana Surf Girls.”Hana, starring Monyca Byrne Wickey and Lipoa Kahaleuahi, premiered originally at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2010 but screened specially for UCSB students this weekend to raise money to support the UCSB Surf Team, of … [Read more...]
Upbeat ‘Soul Surfer’ keeps it simple
Friday, April 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As far as inspirational true-life stories go, Bethany Hamilton’s is as moving as they get. The surfer’s optimism and determination are laudable in the face of great adversity, and the fact that Hamilton went on to become a pro surfer despite the trauma of losing almost an entire arm to a tiger shark at the age of 13 is pretty amazing.Sean McNamara's "Soul Surfer", the story of Bethany’s shark encounter and journey back into the world of competitive surfing, however, leaves much to … [Read more...]
Fans can vote for Sundance Beach’s ‘Viewer’s Choice Award’
Monday, March 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Sundance Beach’s 4th annual Surf Video Contest brought big waves to downtown Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theater this weekend in a series of 10 short locally submitted surf flicks.Twenty shorts were submitted for the contest but only 10 were selected for the event. The films were being judged in the categories of Best Overall Video, Best Cinematography, Best Surfing Footage and Most Original by a panel of five industry and film professionals including Jay Larsen, Matt Bovard, Jon Schafer, … [Read more...]
‘The Westsiders’ provides gritty portrayal of Santa Cruz surfers
Sunday, February 6, 2011 By 2 Comments
Between all the beautiful sun and sand, it’s hard to picture there being a “dark side” to surfing, but Josh Pomer’s “The Westsiders” reveals this often-overlooked and under-reported aspect of surf culture.“The Westsiders”, which showed this Friday at the Arlington theater as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s “To the Maxxx” series of sports films, follows the trajectory of a clan of Santa Cruz surfers in their rise to fame.The documentary … [Read more...]
SBIFF still has lots to offer
Thursday, February 3, 2011 By 1 Comment
With a week under its belt, the Santa Barbara International Film festival has already played host to so many surfing and action sports films that it's hard to believe there’s still plenty left to see and do.The Arlington Theater has been a particularly busy venue this week. Jack McCoy’s 25th film, “A Deeper Shade of Blue” premiered on Tuesday to a raucous and energetic sell-out crowd. A wave of surfing icons were present to show their support, including Bruce Brown, Peter Townend, … [Read more...]
McCoy’s 25th film makes premiere at SBIFF
Thursday, January 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
Jack McCoy’s “A Deeper Shade of Blue” is not a surf movie. It’s a movie about long boards, short boards, skimboards, Hawaiian beach boys, finless surfing, hot curls, camaraderie, competition — in short, it’s not a surf movie, it’s a movie about surfing.Told in 11 interwoven chapters, “A Deeper Shade of Blue” explores surfing’s deeper roots: in history, lore, the subconscious, and man’s relationship with the natural world. This documentary includes historical and … [Read more...]
SBIFF revisits skiing’s Bill Johnson
Thursday, January 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
“This course was designed for me,” Bill Johnson said right before his downhill ski race in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, “and everyone else is here to fight for second place.”The other racers were not too pleased with Bill’s attitude, but Johnson went on to win the United States' first Olympic gold medal in downhill racing. It was this mixture of personality and heroism that attracted director Zeke Piestrup to Bill Johnson’s story.“Downhill: the Bill Johnson Story” … [Read more...]
‘Way of the Ocean’ is local filmmaker’s first in a series
Thursday, January 27, 2011 By 2 Comments
When you think of tropical islands, those little surf paradises, what do you think of? Hawaii, Fiji, Indo... the Maldives maybe. But do you think of Australia?Matt Kleiner’s documentary “Way of the Ocean” will make you. Kleiner sets out to make surfing synonymous with Australia, the world’s largest island, in his film debuting at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.“Way of The Ocean” is a nature driven, … [Read more...]
SBIFF’s ‘To the Maxxx’ loaded again
Thursday, January 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
From monster waves and the deep depths to the most shredtastic streets and slopes, the 26th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s “To the Maxxx” series has it all.The 11-day festival begins today and runs through February 6th.“To the Maxxx” was put together eight years ago as the brainchild of festival director Roger Durling and local filmmaker Russ Spencer. “Roger and I wanted the festival to be more inclusive than it had been in the past to attract a more … [Read more...]
SBIFF debuting sixth ‘On the Pipe’ film
Thursday, January 27, 2011 By 1 Comment
Jumping out of helicopters or over cliffs may not be something the average person does on the average day, but for the riders in Jay Schweitzer and Mike McEntire’s motocross epic “On the Pipe Six”, it is almost an everyday occurrence.This will be the 6th installment in Santa Barbara director Jay Schweitzer’s “On the Pipe” series, started in 2004. “On the Pipe Six” will be premiering this Saturday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art at 9:30 pm.Grab a helmet, because this … [Read more...]
Sports Movie Review: ‘The Fighter’
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 By 2 Comments
“The Fighter” is the story of not just one fighter, but two: Micky “Irish” Ward and his half-brother Dicky Eklund. And the proverbial “fight” encompasses much more than just two guys with gloves in a ring. Director David Russell’s film focuses on the early portion of Micky Ward’s famous career, when his own brother was his trainer, his mother was his manager, and the small-town of Lowell, Massachusetts was his gym.Junior welterweight Micky Ward, portrayed by a quiet and … [Read more...]
Stocking Stuffing for the Sports Movie Fanatic
Thursday, November 25, 2010 By 2 Comments
With Halloween already behind us, all signs of candy corn and ghouls have been abandoned in favor of—not the turkey, as our calendar dictates—but jingle bells, twinkling lights, and glorious amounts of fake snow. That’s right, it’s holiday season already. So today I’m going to take a break from our regularly scheduled programming in order to bring you a compilation of new releases, re-releases and old classics perfect to stuff this year’s stockings.SPORTS MOVIES MAKE FOR … [Read more...]
