Indie Movie Thread

[HndsmCelt]

Since Winter break is here and many of us will be renting arm-loads of films I thought it would be cool to start a recomendations thread for indie and low profile films. So the form I thought might be both fun and usefull is to list a well known similar film as well like this:

If you like Pulp Fiction check out Boondock Saints

If you like Deliverance check out Clearcut

If you like you liked Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid check out Way of the Gun

 

[RoyalDiva]

I just saw "The Ice Storm" with Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline on IFC last night. Excellent movie! I had never heard of it until last night.

 

[Gargamel]

Trees Lounge, HsdmCelt. Ever see that? Depressing, but poignant. Buschemi production.

 

[AceKingSuited]

I love Buschemi's work. Great actor, and he's done some good stints directing on the Sopranos. I liked Trees Lounge. If you get bored easily by methodical character studies and meaningful dialogue, this is not your movie.

Since you mentioned Buschemi, another good indie film he was in was Ghost World. It also has Thora Birch and Scarlett Johanssen. It's basically a comedic character study, and pokes fun at pop culture, as well as slacker counter-culture. Lots of funny dialogue.

 

[RoyalDiva]

I love Buschemi's work. Great actor, and he's done some good stints directing on the Sopranos. I liked Trees Lounge. If you get bored easily by methodical character studies and meaningful dialogue, this is not your movie.

Since you mentioned Buschemi, another good indie film he was in was Ghost World. It also has Thora Birch and Scarlett Johanssen. It's basically a comedic character study, and pokes fun at pop culture, as well as slacker counter-culture. Lots of funny dialogue.

That movie rocks!! One of my all-time favorites. I love indie films! Some of my other favorites are:

Trust
Gas Food Lodging
Ruby in Paradise
Boys Don't Cry
The Baghdad Cafe
Buffalo '66

 

[sloter]

If you like Pulp Fiction check out Boondock Saints

If you like you liked Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid check out Way of the Gun

I have seen both Boondock Saints and Way of the Gun, and they are both pretentious, but they fall very flat. They are by no means indie movies, they just didn't get enough publicity because they weren't good enough. The only thing that saves Boondock Saints from being a complete crap movie is brilliant Willem Defoe's role, everything else is very cliche'd.
Way of the Gun is even worse; and I'm not sure how anyone can compare that to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Zero similarities.

 

[HndsmCelt]

I have seen both Boondock Saints and Way of the Gun, and they are both pretentious, but they fall very flat. They are by no means indie movies, they just didn't get enough publicity because they weren't good enough. The only thing that saves Boondock Saints from being a complete crap movie is brilliant Willem Defoe's role, everything else is very cliche'd.
Way of the Gun is even worse; and I'm not sure how anyone can compare that to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Zero similarities.

Wow who peed in your cornflakes? don't think I'll bother to defend any of the the films, just respcet your right not to like them. I more or less agree with your sentemant that they are not true indies, but were technily low budget studio films relesed to the art house market. At any rate the point in picking them was they are successfull films that I though many people would recognize making it easier to follow a fun pattern for recomendations. As for the similarities between Sundance and Way, if you did not see them Im not sure you were paying attention. McQuarrie makes no bones of lifting the storyline directly from Butch and Sundance and even hints to it in the opening sequence when the charaters introduce themselves as Mr Parker and Mr. Longbaugh.

Lets try again. If you liked Dumb and Dumber check out Napolen Dynamite.

 

[RoyalDiva]

Holy cow. We're just talking about movies. Relax!

 

[sloter]

Wow who peed in your cornflakes? don't think I'll bother to defend any of the the films, just respcet your right not to like them. I more or less agree with your sentemant that they are not true indies, but were technily low budget studio films relesed to the art house market. At any rate the point in picking them was they are successfull films that I though many people would recognize making it easier to follow a fun pattern for recomendations. As for the similarities between Sundance and Way, if you did not see them Im not sure you were paying attention. McQuarrie makes no bones of lifting the storyline directly from Butch and Sundance and even hints to it in the opening sequence when the charaters introduce themselves as Mr Parker and Mr. Longbaugh.

Lets try again. If you liked Dumb and Dumber check out Napolen Dynamite.

Hey, I didn't mean to sound insulting, but I had high expectations for both of those movies and I remember being very disappointed and bored by the end.

Actually, the first time I watched Boondock Saints I liked it, but the second time around every line sounded really over the top and there was just an abundance of profanity which I found completely unnecessary and absolutely ineffective. I think that the movie tries very hard to be Tarantino like, and fails at that; but perhaps you are right, it is better than an average 'Hollywood cinematic piece'.

As for Way of the Gun, I remember the movie being advertised on TV quite a bit, and had two of the bigger Hollywood stars in it at the time, so I'm not sure where you got that it had very limited bugdet. But I saw it a long time ago, and remember barely being awake for parts of it (both times I saw it), so I'll believe you on the connections to Sundance Kid.

 

[sloter]

And while we're on topic of movies with past references, I would highly recommend Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven". It's a great deconstruction of classical western movies stereotypes. Not an independent movie, either.

 

[Gargamel]

Since you mentioned Buschemi, another good indie film he was in was Ghost World. It also has Thora Birch and Scarlett Johanssen. It's basically a comedic character study, and pokes fun at pop culture, as well as slacker counter-culture. Lots of funny dialogue.

I've seen that one. The interplay between Scarlett and Thora was great. That's the first time I've ever seen SJ in a movie and I was impressed by her acting.

 

[Gargamel]

Swimming With Sharks was on yesterday. Kevin Spacey & Frank Whaley. This is a fairly known indy, but a not-to-miss for Spacey fans who haven't seen it.

 

[sloter]

Ah yes, Swimming With Sharks is good.

 

[AceKingSuited]

Holy moses that movie was dark. Dark, but very good.

 

[Lightforms]

I don't know how to follow the formula, but I'll try.

I enjoyed Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love, which was similar to Lost in Translation (which was also great).

I also loved his Ashes of Time, which is his way of turning a martial arts genre movie into a thinking person's martial arts film... But the short of it is that it was the long version of his Chung King Express.

And I also enjoyed Ghost World. It made me laugh. Clerks was amusing too.

 

[VF21]

I just watched Kevin Spacey in "Ordinary Decent Criminal." It wasn't exactly an Indie film, but it's not one that broke any box-office records either.

Spacey is one of my all-time favorites. He seems to be one of those few actors who come along who are so adept at assuming a character's persona that it doesn't look difficult. I cannot think of one film of his that I have not enjoyed watching...

 

[GoGoGadget]

I finally saw Closer this weekend -- had to see it on vacation since its not playing anywhere near me -- and I was very impressed.

Definitely a very adult script, but very smart and VERY well acted. How refreshing.

 

[Gargamel]

Clerks was amusing too.

Ironically, that's on the Independent Film Channel right now. There are a few parts that are hilarious to me (mainly the commentary by Jay; the scene with Olaf is my fave), but Kevin Smith's movies are yawners for me with all that dialogue.