Ten days have gone by like a flash and I'm sitting here in the press room on Saturday afternoon, Valentine's Day, mulling over the dull flicks I slept through, the one or two that kept me awake, and the handful that I really wanted to see but never got around to. ("John Rabe", Sean Penn's "Milk", a Persian film called "Barbareye Elly", the latest Wajda, and a few others). Of the half dozen competition films I did get to, not one was a real winner, and most were so...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Kristin Scott Thomas with the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 24th edition of the Fest, which runs January 22-February 1, 2009, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling.The Cinema Vanguard Award was created in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path - taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Formally known as The Independent Award, it was bestowed last year to Rya...