Acting on Impulse, Seizing the Spotlight
(L-R) Austin Butler, Ke Huy Quan, and Jeremy Strong on the red carpet at SBIFF 2023 | Credit: Don Brubaker
Even if you are part of the throng, or what Santa Barbara International Film Festival head Roger Durling referred to as the cinephile “tribe” during his festival-opening speech, which believes the most gratifying takeaway from the festival is its international cinema menu options, there’s just something magical about that mythic movie star buzz/fizz. They’re just different than the rest of us mortals.
I remember lurking with the crowd waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the more than fashionably late Johnny Depp to show up at the Arlington theater several years ago — this before his coolness-shattering domestic abuse trials. When Deep did deign to pop by and saunter down the red carpet, there was a certain detectable sizzle in the air. In a more modest way, a sizzling sensation could be felt last night at the Arlington’s Virtuoso Awards, when the straggler Austin (Elvis) Butler slowly wandered down the red carpet zone, serious dimples in tow, it was as if Elvis was entering the building, or at least some modest facsimile thereof.
True to Durling’s introduction to Wednesday’s program, which started modestly 21 years ago and is now a hit of the SBIFF offerings, this gathering of high-profile newcomers and spotlight-grabbing veterans suddenly grabbing the spotlight has become a “signature event” of the festival.
