Year: 2006

Welcome to The Weekender

Welcome to “The Weekender,” one of the new online columns from The Santa Barbara Independent. Every Monday-or if it was a really long weekend, perhaps on Tuesday-The Weekender will recount as much as possible the previous weekend’s goings-on. That might mean mini concert reviews, notes on a new restaurant, trips to a wine tasting room, late nights at poolside party, early mornings in a dingy bar, the playing of obscure sports, trips to other happening cities:the possibilities are limitless. So make this a weekly stop to cure your case of the Mondays.

Is Downtown LA the New New York?

Five years ago this September I left New York City, and frankly, the place just hasn’t been the same since. I’m not trying to claim that my departure marked the tipping point, but repeated recent return visits have convinced me that, however easy it may still be to spend money there, the Big Apple has lost its edge. Somehow the alternative most frequently suggested–going to New York in order to hang out in Brooklyn–lacks appeal. Enter Downtown Los Angeles, the new hipster playground that’s only an hour and a half (if you’re lucky) from Santa Barbara.

The Indy’s A&E Blog

Welcome to independent.com’s arts and entertainment blog, the space where various editors, writers, and other Indy-folks will be posting brief commentary and links to a wide assortment of artistic endeavors both near and far.

Florida Sunbaked

The Boynton Beach Club

Joseph Bologna, Dyan Cannon, Len Cariou, and Sally Kellerman star in a film written by Florence and Susan Seidelman, David Cramer, and Shelly Gitlow, and directed by Susan Seidelman.

In the earliest moments of this half-endearing tale of December-December romantic entanglements, the going gets dark. We’re barely out of the opening credits when a sudden twist of fate hints that we may be in for a black comedy.

Good for Anyone

Little Miss Sunshine.

The real success is the characters themselves. You have Paul Dano’s deadpan Dwayne, the angst-filled teen who’s devoted to Nietzsche and has taken a vow of silence until he gets his license to fly jets. There’s Steve Carell’s Frank, the gay suicidal Proust scholar who makes the perfect friend and foil to Dwayne.