Gabourey Sidibe will be here on Friday
Gabby couldn’t be part of the Virtuoso panel last night. She will receive the Virtuoso Award and participate on the Cinema Vanguards evening on Friday.
Highlight of the festival so far for me, and one of the top highlights of my seven years in office
The Q&A between Kirk Douglas and Quentin Tarantino. Past and present - in so many levels a very special moment - once in a lifetime.
AHNOLD
The Governor changed the schedule of his arrival at the Arlington, and we had to shuffle the program a bit at the Modern Master tribute. It was one of the most fun events because everybody backstage had to keep up with the changes. All’s well that ends well. 
Confirmed!
Yes, Lee Daniels’ doing the directors panel at eleven am today Sunday.
Dream…
The directors panel this coming Sunday is just amazing with Pete Docter, Jason Reitman, James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Todd Phillips and Quentin Tarantino. It would be amazing if Lee Daniels were to show up…
AVATANIC!!!
It has taken James Cameron’s latest film just over seven weeks to accomplish what his last film took almost a year to do. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cameron’s Avatar has broken the all-time domestic box-office record, with an updated domestic take of $601.2 million through Tuesday.
Gotta sing!
Colin Firth joked that he “discovered unfamiliar vocal tones” when he found out he had been nominated for an Oscar.
The 49-year-old, who recently had a singing role in Mamma Mia!, said of his nomination for his role in A Single Man: “I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones - perhaps I should do another musical.”
SBIFF TO WELCOME 30 OSCAR NOMINEES
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is proud to welcome 24 Academy Award nominees with a combined total of 30 nominations amongst them as this morning’s Oscar announcements brought news that many of the artists and films SBIFF has the privilege of paying homage to have earned spots on the most coveted of ballots.
SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling comments, “The Academy has sent us an amazing 25th Anniversary gift just two days before our 25th celebration begins. Congratulations to all of our honorees…we look forward to hosting you!”
Leading the pack is SBIFF’s Modern Master Award recipient James Cameron, who not only received a nod for Best Picture and Best Director, but Avatar garnered a grand total of 9 nominations. American Riviera Award honoree Sandra Bullock received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in The Blind Side, while Colin Firth received his first nod for his outstanding performance in A Single Man.
Also receiving their very first Oscar nominations are Virtuoso honorees Carey Mulligan (Best Actress, An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Best Actress, Precious), as well as Cinema Vanguard honorees Vera Farmiga (Best Supporting Actress, Up In The Air), Stanely Tucci (Best Supporting Actor, The Lovely Bones) and Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor, Inglourious Basterds).
In addition to becoming the first woman to win top honors from the Directors Guild of America and being named SBIFF’s Director of the Year, Kathryn Bigelow received a Best Director nomination for Best Picture nominee The Hurt Locker. SBIFF will also celebrate Best Actor nominee Jeff Bridges Day, with a retrospective of Bridges’ FIVE Oscar-nominated performances, which now includes his Oscar-nominated performance in “Crazy Heart.”
Other festival attendees/films who received nominations include:
Double nominees: Mark Boal, for writing and producing The Hurt Locker
Jason Reitman, for directing and writing Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino, for directing and writing Inglourious Basterds
UP, for Best Picture, Best Animated Picture
Pete Docter, for writing and directing UP
Best Documentary: The Cove, which will receive the David Attenborough Award for Excellence in Nature Filmmaking.
Best Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious)
Producers:
Lawrence Bender (Inglourious Basterds)
Jon Landau (Avatar)
Ivan Reitman (Up In The Air)
Jonas Rivera (Up)
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Animated
Feature: The Secret of Kells
The 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival begins February 4 - 14, 2010. For festival and ticket information, please visit www.sbfilmfestival.org.
Oscar nods!
Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Actress, Supporting
Penelope Cruz
Vera Farmiga
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Anna Kendrick
Mo’Nique
Actor Supporting
Matt Damon
Woody Harrelson
Christopher Plummer
Stanley Tucci
Christoph Waltz
Actress
Sandra Bullock
Helen Mirren
Carey Mulligan
Gabby Sidibe
Meryl Streep
Actor
Jeff Bridges
George Clooney
Colin Firth
Morgan Freeman
Jeremy Renner
Directing
James Cameron
Kathryn Bigelow
Quentin Tarantino
Lee Daniels
Jason Reitman
Original Screenplay
Mark Boal Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
Adapted
District 9
An Education
In the Loop!!
Precious
Up in the Air
Foreign
Ajami
Secreto Ojos
Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon
Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess and the Frog
Secret of Kells
Up
Come FLY with me
Hard to believe we’re two days away from the beginning of the Festival. Some people have asked about the wings in our 25th logo. 100 years ago a film studio opened its doors here in Santa Barbara, and it was called the Flying A Studios. Its logo contained wings. Our 25th edition is paying tribute to their anniversary.