Writer-director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley) adapts Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic horror novel for the big screen. Oscar Isaac stars as brilliant but egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a monstrous creature (Jacob Elordi) constructed from cadaver parts, leading to tragedy for both. (149 min.) FrankensteinWhat’s it rated? RWhat’s […]
<i>Frankenstein</i> is a gothic visual feast about what makes us human
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Writer-director Ari Aster’s 2018 feature-length debut, Hereditary, is a disturbing shocker
HereditaryWhat’s it rated? RWhen? 2018Where’s it showing? HBO Max Since it’s Halloween season, streaming services are packed with horror films, and one of the best is Hereditary, writer-director Ari Aster’s (Beau is Afraid, Eddington) feature-length debut. Toni Collette stars as Annie Graham, a miniature artist who constructs highly detailed and weirdly unsettling dioramas of houses. […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
The Woman in Cabin 10 delivers a twisty murder mystery and conspiracy at sea
The Woman in Cabin 10What’s it rated? RWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? Netflix I remember Ruth Ware’s novel of the same name being a real page turner. She has a knack for twisty mystery. This on-screen version of the story wasn’t going to have the same wow factor for me given that I knew the twists […]
Posted inEats
A veteran uses his voice as a winemaker to spread awareness about mental health
Jason Mergenov first got the “California bug” at 22 years old when the military sent him for training to become a nuclear missile launch officer. He served in the military for 22 years, including time in Iraq. Using the G.I. Bill, Mergenov started studying winemaking at Allan Hancock College in 2012, which turned into his […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: October 30, 2024
• Reports of private jet purchases and U.S. Coast Guard helicopter reassignments caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-California) who scrutinized Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for recent travel habits on two separate occasions. On Oct. 20, Carbajal criticized Noem for using tax dollars to purchase “a pair of luxury Gulfstream G700 […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Pet pride: Take a break with the cutest little companions from across the Central Coast
Find some peace by checking out the winners of our third annual pet photo contest. They’re cute! Really cute. Readers from San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara counties submitted hundreds of images of their fur, feather, and scale babies as part of this year’s competition. A panel of in-house judges narrowed them down to […]
Posted inPet Issue
Blessed are the beaks: Central Coast-based parrot rescue provides adoption and sponsorship opportunities for local bird lovers
Parrot adoptions at the scenic Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary are few and far between for a flock of reasons, founder and director Jamie McLeod explained. “Unless you’ve owned a parrot before, it’s hard to understand what you’re getting yourself into. It’s a wild animal,” McLeod told the Sun. “You have to realize that when you […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Temporary refuge: C.A.R.E.4Paws will offer boarding for pets living with struggling families
About a year ago, C.A.R.E.4Paws was offering its services to a shelter for the unhoused, when a woman staying at the shelter asked for help to take care of her dog who had become pregnant, and would eventually have 10 puppies. The woman wasn’t in a state to be able to care for either the […]
Posted inUncategorized
County Superior Court denies Sable Offshore’s petition of $18 million fine
Between various state agencies’ ongoing legal battles with a Texas-based oil producer, at least one chapter of the Sable fable came to an end in mid-October. While Sable Offshore Corp. is currently seeking more than $300 million in damages from the California Coastal Commission for delaying its restart work on the Santa Ynez Unit, the […]
Posted inNews
County to build more infrastructure to help fuel its fleet with electricity
More electric vehicle chargers are coming to Santa Barbara County in the next few years for county and public use, with plans to install at least 180 new chargers by June 2028. “We’re doing the best that we can to make charging stations available and to make them sustainable for us right now,” county Energy […]
Posted inNews
Board of Supervisors approves conditional modifications to cannabis odor ordinance
Santa Barbara County’s path toward enforcing new restrictions on cannabis greenhouses is one step shorter—thanks to a recent conditional green light from the California Coastal Commission. In March, the county Board of Supervisors adopted a plan requiring cannabis growers with indoor cultivation operations to follow new odor mitigation protocols, set to go into effect in […]
Posted inNews
Political Watch: October 23, 2025
• Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed new state legislation that was partly based on a 2024 Santa Barbara County grand jury investigation, according to Assemblymember Gregg Hart’s (D-Santa Barbara) office. Authored by Hart, the Forensic Accountability, Custodial Transparency, and Safety (FACTS) Act of 2025 requires medical investigations of all deaths that occur in county jails, […]
