In Honor of Sundance

This week the Sundance Film Festival kicks off in Park City, Utah. I was not very into "indie" films until a little thing called NetFlix came along. Now I can't seem to get enough of them. Indie films can say what they want to say because they are not under the thumb of a big studio with a big budget. You won't see special effects and car chases and bombs going off in most indie films. What you WILL see are slices of everyday life: the heartbreaks, the brutal honesty, the small moments that change your life forever. The bigger name movie stars who act in these films are there because the script is great, not because the money is good. But you'll discover some of the best unknown actors in the world in these types of films.

Jan has the Independent Film Channel, which I'm beginning to believe is a very legitimate reason to switch to DirecTV. Tonight we watched A Slipping-Down Life with Guy Pearce. It was really good. Other movies I've fallen in love with from NetFlix are:

Off the Map with Sam Elliot
You Can Count on Me with Mark Ruffalo
The Upside of Anger hilarious movie with Kevin Costner and Joan Allen
Maria Full of Grace
The Motorcycle Diaries

I also just finished watching Little Miss Sunshine this weekend. It was also very good and is rumored to receive an Oscar nomination tomorrow. If I were to ever write a script, it would be decidedly "indie" in nature...no big suspense, thrillers or mysteries...just interesting characters living everyday life.