Time for another voting thread! I've been wanting to get around to this genre for awhile and finally this time we're going to do it.
So this week we'll be voting on our favorite indie movies.
b_b, humanodon, ButterflyEffect, OftenBen, roysexton, iammyownrushmore, blackbootz,_refugee_, mk, eightbitsamurai, Ave, camarillobrillo, havires, kleinbl00, ecib, insomniasexx, elizabeth, nowaypablo, pigeon, rjw, StJohn, Mindwolf, Meriadoc, beezneez, longstocking, theadvancedapes, ghostoffuffle, T-Dog, jonaswildman, coffeesp00ns, bfv, cgod, mike, thenewgreen, zebra2, Kaius, lelibertaire
So I saw this voting thread and it caused me some trouble. One,because sometimes people differentiate between independently produced/distributed films and the quirky genre that came to define that scene. I also didn't want to pick any indie movies that were produced or distributed by companies like Fox Searchlight since that felt like cheating haha. And I didn't want to pick a movie people have seen before cause where's the fun in that. Even more troublesome, it was hard for me to narrow down my selection. So I'm gonna divide this into well known Indies and lesser known and maybe you all should reply which one you'd like. Well known: 1. Donnie Darko 2. Requiem for a Dream 3. Trainspotting 4. Being John Malkovich 5. Little Miss Sunshine (yeah, this one is Fox but oh well haha) 6. Primer 7. Boyhood 8. Dazed and Confused 9. Run Lola Run Lesser known: 1. Pi 2. Hunger 3. Funny Games (1997) 4. La Haine 5. Chungking Express 6. Beau Travail 7. Frances Ha 8. Me and You and Everyone We Know 9. Submarine It's hard for me to pick a favorite there. Really, really hard. Three I haven't seen myself, but I do love Hunger, La Haine, Chungking Express, Primer, Donnie Darko, and Being John Malkovich.
I've seen almost every film on this list. Not a big fan of the first two, but I recently saw La Haine for the first time and that is an intense film in every sense of the word intense. I would love to see what kind of discussion would result from us watching that film.
I adore La Haine. It's a great film and would be a very timely watch with recent events
Word on the street is that Mathieu Kassovits (le Director) wants to remake La Haine in modern times. I think it would be really interesting given the recent CHarlie Hebdo incident in Paris and could even find success in the US with our own racial tensions exploding the past year or so. Although, I don't know if La Haine qualifies as indie, per se. It was distributed by Canal+, the biggest film distributor in France, and had a budget of 2.5 million Euro, although it does look low-budget so props to the cinematographer there. Then again I might just be a little pedantic with what qualifies as indie as well :/
"Distributed" is pretty meaningless as to whether a movie was made independently. The distributor buys an equity stake after the fact for the right to disseminate the movie. Any movie that's going to get seen has to have someone with some deep pockets distributing it. Don't let that bother you.
Updot which ever comment has the movie you prefer or feel free to voice another! If you want something out of lets say lelibertaire's list just comment underneath or updot someone who has mentioned the movie already. Come Sunday evening I count everything up and post the following Monday which movie we watch. A week and a half later we'll have our discussion! Not a perfect system but its fun nonetheless! And too add quickly, if you want to be added to the shout-out list let me know.
I think it would be very helpful to have a definition of what an indie film is. What constitutes an "indie film?" b_b and mk, as hollywood moguls, do you have any sense of what is and is not an indie film? Also, when is the LA premier? Everyone reading this, go see the film that b_b is going to reference in his reply to me. It features the most kick-ass t-shirt ever seen on the silver screen. Plus, I hear it's a damn fine film. Go see it.
The movie is Welcome to Happiness. It had its second showing (and what they were calling the premiere) last night at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. My wife got to attend, because she happened to be in LA on business. By all accounts it went very well, but sadly, I'm here in MI. Happily, I'll be in Oklahoma City next week, where it is showing at the deadCENTER Film Festival. I hope to have more news soon about where it can be seen more widely. If all goes well, it will be on streaming services soon, and hopefully playing in some theaters in NY and LA. All up in the air at this point, however. I'm not involved in the negotiations for any of that, so I just hear after the fact what happened. We'll have to have a special edition of the film club once it's available. As for what constitutes indie, I guess anything that's not financed by a major studio. That's a pretty broad definition, but even expensive movies can be indie if the studio doesn't have control of it. As for our little picture, it was very indie. All the money came from friends and family. Even the score was written and recorded by my buddy and some other friends, so that no one had to be paid for rights.
You know what would be the ultimate Hubski collaboration? A film. One or several of the brilliant writers of Hubski could put together a short script. steve or another camera junky could capture the images. Hubski actors could be in it and we musicians could put together a score. How awesome and INCREDIBLY difficult to pull off would that be?
Only way it can be better, from what I've gathered, is if there was an original soundtrack from The New Green... I think we're all having the same problem right now, which is defining the term "indie film". Maybe ThatsAFreeThinker can append the post with a definition and we can work off of that.
Well like you have all mentioned its a bit difficult to define "indie". I like where lelibertaire was going with no films produced or distributed by companies like Fox Searchlight. Just doing a quick search I think these two opinions sum up the genre well. Michael Winterbottom
John August
So basically what I am thinking is a film outside of the influence of a large/major studio. Does that seem like a reasonable guideline here?I think from the point of view of making films, I just want to make the films I want to make. In a sense that is the best definition of independent, people making the films they want to make rather than working within the studio system and making a film for the studio.
Classically, an independent film was one that was made outside of the conventional studio system, be that Hollywood, Bollywood or Pinewood. But with the rise of the “independent” labels of the major studios, such as Fox Searchlight and Paramount Vantage, that distinction is pretty much moot. Also, consider that the last three Star Wars epics were made independently (by Mr. George Lucas). Any movie with fast-food tie-ins really shouldn’t qualify, in my opinion. I’d argue that the term “independent film” should be reserved for talking about the movie itself, rather than how it was financed. There’s a reason the word “independence” so often shows up in proximity to “revolution” — a shared spirit of frustration, anarchy and apple-cart-upsetting. From their conception, independent films aren’t just made outside of the studio system. They are made in opposition to the studio system, with its relentless need to round off the corners and soften the blows. And in standing against the status quo, independent films help to change it. Of course, my proposed redefinition of independent film can’t accommodate many of today’s darling indies, which mollycoddle their audiences with a careful recipe of quirk, warmth and family dysfunction. Just the very term “indie” seems to embody that spirit of fuzzy cuteness. I would call on filmmakers to start feeding their movies after midnight, and let their vicious little monsters roar.
I'm going to pick Bottle Rocket. It introduced me to the fella that would become my favorite director.
This is way too hard for me to pick just one film. Broken Flowers, Submarine are what I'm down to, while neglecting some other amazing films. But at this point my vote is for I have no idea.
I am so torn. On one hand, I completely agree with you and I love the movie and think it could get people interested in indie films if they aren't already. On the other, I think that La Haine is a very important political and social film to watch.
That's kind of why I want to avoid La Haine. Don't get me wrong, it's an extremely important film to see, but I think Broken Flowers is better for this, especially when we can view a film that opens the door to "plot is not important"-- which Jarmusch is the master of, but still have an intriguing narrative. It's something so totally unique to indie cinema because it would never work in the mainstream.
I can agree with that, I'll change my vote to Broken Flowers because I think there are other topics where we'll have a chance to watch La Haine. Also, something for the future but somehow r/truefilm has a "theater" where they occasionally have movie screenings, I wonder if we could fix something like that.
Also, something for the future but somehow r/true film has a "theater" where they occasionally have movie screenings, I wonder if we could fix something like that.
-That would be pretty kick ass.
Think I'll throw my vote with Broken Flowers since La Haine might be more suitable for another time as others have said.
This falls outside our guidelines now but its still a great movie. Go watch it. My choice is going to be Sound of My Voice. Despite a somewhat cheesy ending, I loved this movie. Its thought provoking and keeps you engaged all the way through, even if this isn't chosen this week I'd recommend everyone give it a shot.
mk @fowardslash@ — super super sorry. There's a bugski. When you have a link inside blacked out text, the link isn't blacked out (at least for spring). I'll add it to the list, we'll discuss monday.