SANTA BARBARA HOME MOVIES
Films by artists and performers who call Santa Barbara home
There was a time when Santa Barbara was at the very center of the burgeoning filmmaking industry, more prolific and influential than Hollywood and on a par with any other filmmaking locale.
From the moment it opened in 1924, The Granada played a vital role as a showcase for the increasingly popular new form of entertainment. In 1930, Warner Bros. acquired The Granada, and for the next three decades, The Granada hosted multiple star-studded film premieres, dozens of Hollywood “sneak previews,” and a showcase for first-run features.
With deep respect for our heritage as a Grand Movie Palace, and in recognition and awe of the wealth of talent we have in our midst, The Granada proudly presented a series of 9 Santa Barbara Home Movies created by Andrew Davis, Robert Zemeckis and Fannie Flagg – and we invited them to join us on stage at the screenings to talk about their films.
Explore the conversations—watch below
Starring Andy Garcia and Alan Arkin and set right here in Santa Barbara, Steal Big, Steal Little begins with the 1994 Solstice Parade down State Street. It’s a Santa Barbara Home Movie in every sense of the word!
Enjoy a thoughtful conversation with director Andy Davis, co-star Andy Garcia, and Santa Barbara journalist Joe Woodard, moderated by Film Historian and UCSB Professor of Film & Media Studies Ross Melnick.
Starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito, Romancing the Stone takes us from the canyons of Manhattan to the steaming jungles of South America with Joan Wilder (Turner), author of romantic thrillers. Suddenly, she is involved in a real-life thriller filled with cliff-hanging predicaments just like the ones she writes about.
Enjoy this pre-screening conversation with Robert Zemeckis, moderated by Ross Melnick.
Back to the Future is entertainment of the purest kind, a fusion of sci-fi, action, romance, and comedy so tightly plotted and wittily scripted that it’s impossible not to dive in head-first and be swept gleefully along. Starring Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Crispin Glover.
Watch the welcome and Introduction by Jill Seltzer.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the kind of movie that gets made once in a blue moon, pitting Bob Hoskins’ disheveled 1940s Hollywood gumshoe against a manic ensemble of invented cartoon characters alongside Disney and Looney Tunes veterans, to solve a snaky showbiz murder mystery. It was the first film to convincingly combine real actors and animated cartoon characters in the same space in the same time, and make it look real.
Enjoy the conversation with co-star Joanna Cassidy and Associate Producer Steve Starkey, moderated by Ross Melnick.
An undisputed master of film technology, Robert Zemeckis shows an equal aptitude for vivid storytelling in Forrest Gump, winner of 6 Academy Awards in 1995. Tom Hanks’ Oscar-winning performance is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness, in a story rich in big laughs and quiet truths. The film is a wry commentary on the stupidity of smartness and a meditation on the times, as seen through the eyes of a man who lacks cynicism and takes things for exactly what they are.
View the discussion with producer Steve Starkey and Ross Melnick.
Based on the beloved young adult book, and with an all-star cast – Sigourney Weaver, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Henry Winkler, Tim Blake Nelson, Dulé Hill and Khleo Thomas, Holes has a brash, confident identity of its own. You spend much of it in a state of flashlight-under-the-covers breathlessness, wondering what on earth will happen next.
Watch the conversation with director Andrew Davis, author Louis Sachar, and actor Khleo “Zero” Thomas, moderated by Ross Melnick.
The Fugitive was 1993’s breakout hit, earning 7 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Starring Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Joe Pantaliano, Julianne Moore, and Jane Lynch, it’s a movie where you are invested in everything happening on screen, and, just when you think you have all the answers, director Andrew Davis changes the question.
Enjoy a thoughtful discussion with director Andrew Davis, actor Sela Ward and Santa Barbara resident Jane Lynch, moderated by Ross Melnick.
Starring Tom Hanks, The Polar Express is based on Chris Van Allsburg’s lavishly illustrated best-selling novel about a boy’s waning faith in Santa Claus and his revitalizing journey to the North Pole. Renowned critic Roger Ebert predicted: “The Polar Express is a movie for more than one season. It has a haunting, magical quality because it has imagined its world freshly and played true to it, sidestepping all the tiresome Christmas cliches inflicted on children at this time of year.”
Watch the conversation with Associate Producer Steve Starkey, moderated by Ross Melnick.
When an unhappy housewife befriends a lady in a nursing home she hears a remarkable tale of laughter, devotion, and friendship that defies all obstacles. The movie has everything—love, friendship, mystery, laughs, and a lot of good food with good friends. Featuring impeccable writing by Santa Barbara’s own Fannie Flagg and a stellar, Oscar-winning cast including Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Cicely Tyson, Fried Green Tomatoes is a timeless celebration of resilience and connection.
Watch a very special conversation with author and screenwriter Fannie Flagg, moderated by Jill Seltzer.