Just wondering what everyone's most anticipated "Indie" films for 2005 are?

I'll have my list up in a little bit.

Here goes, but honestly, I often don't know. Some of the smaller films I haven't even heard about. I tend to go to a theatre and then pick up their calendar, and that's what points me to the next film I want to see. I have no idea what indies are even coming out this summer. Right now (I'm restricting this to English, but including docs) I want to see:

Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Melinda & Melinda
Gunner Palace
In My Country
Mail Order Wife
King's Ransom (does that count as Indie?)
Palindromes
Mad Hot Ballroom (Anything that mentions Spellbound and Strictly Ballroom in the same sentence? I am sooo there)

That's only up through the end of May. Clearly I won't see all of them, but I hope to get a good chunk of them in.

I'm not interested in Gunner Palace and frankly I'm quite surprised that it managed a PG-13 rating with over 42 "F" words in it. Melinda and Melinda I will try to catch, and definately The Upside of Anger when it expands.

I'm trying to find a list of other limited releases through the rest of the year. The-Numbers usually has a good list, but I'd have to go search for it.

We've got a thread on Gunner Palace where Torri found a Washington Post article about why it got PG13 instead of R rating. It doesn't call my name so much as I want to know how it was handled. I'm not like, yeah, awsome, gunner palace...what I've always wanted...another doc on the soldiers in Iraq. I've just read so much about it being treated differently than past docs that I have to see it now.

Upside of Anger looks good, I was going to list it but then thought Kevin Costner? No way is this an indie. It could be though. He's really hit or miss as far as his film selection though, so I want to wait and see what everyone else thinks before I dish out money for it.

I'll tell you the #1 on that list I want to see is Mad Hot Ballroom. I'm a real sucker for quircky kids, and insight into their ambition if its done right. Spellbound is one of my top 5 docs of all times, and this is supposed to be like that about youth ballroom dancing. Should be interesting, and also fun to look at, since I love watching dancing movies.

I haven't heard about Mad Hot Ballroom but I'll have to check it out. I've always wanted to try out ballroom dancing. So I take it since you're a sucker for dancing films you saw Shall We Dance? If not, I would actually recommend it, as it was good. Sure, it was cliched, but I enjoyed it, which I was not expecting.

I saw the original Japanese version in theatres back in 97 I believe. It appaently kicked up a massive Ballroom craze in Tokyo. \:D/ I love Strictly Ballroom, Dirty Dancing, Center Stage, Chicago....I'm trying to think of otherones I've seen. I know I've seen more and am drawing a blank now. I didn't see the Vanessa Williams version if that what you're asking about, but not because it looked bad. It looked cute, I just never got around to it. But I kind of like Vanessa, she managed to turn around something that could have killed her career and was very smart about it. Not a bad actress either. She's not spectacular, but she's fun.

Mail Order Wife is a doc about, you guess it, a couple in New York. The director pretty much paid for the order in return for being allowed to docuemnt the entire process, etc. I anticipate pretty insightful discussions coming out of this film about mobility, marriage, and a whole slew of other taboo issues having to do with tying the knot.

In My Country is a drama about two journalists in contemporary South Africa.

What exactly is a definition of a "indie film". Would like Good Will Hunting be considered one? I'm a bit confused on this topic

Pretty flexible in here. There's pretty much no such thing as Indie distribution anymore. Even arts house theatres still pick up their stuff from Zeitgeist or Miramax, etc. Basically just movies with smaller budgets, maybe the money wasn't fronted in the same way, even if distribution later on went through bigger companies. I know Good Will Hunting is huge now, but I don't remember what it was at the time. Matt Damon and Ben had already been on the Hollywood scene for awhile a believe, so it was probably not an Indie, but it could have been. You know who produced it and the budget? I have no clue.

Up Side of Anger and King's Ransom are definately hovering. They're starting on limited release which is why I'm including them. I can't really say more about King's Ransom because even the homesite doesn't have synopsis up yet. Just the trailer and some photos. Looks like it could be fun though.

here's the info on good will hunting:

Released in US December 5, 1997
Total US Gross $138,433,435
Production Budget $10,000,000
Rentals $53,988,000
Worldwide Gross $225,900,000
MPAA Rating R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue
Distributed by Miramax
Music Composed By Danny Elfman
Major Genre Drama
Director Gus Van Sant


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I think that matt damon and ben affleck were not that well known at that time, but Robin Williams certainly was, so maybe not an indie?

Actually, Vanessa Williams was not in the Shall We Dance? remake. It was Jennifer Lopez. :wink:

#-o Got it confused with '98 Dance With Me. Which I wanted to see. I don't want to see anything with J.Lo, she is more grating than anyone else out there right now, and that's saying something.

Neo, nope, looking at those numbers I'd say GWH was never an Indie. Big ones I can think of from the last two years is pretty much anything with Patricia Clarkson in it. Seriously, I don't know how I haven't seen Station Agent yet. I still want to, and somehow never do.

Shall We Dance (the remake) was pretty good, actually. Lopez, however, was stiff and unconvincing. Bleh.

Anyway, the two closest on my horizon are The Upside of Anger and Melinda and Melinda.

A lot of the movies that played at Sundance look interesting:
The Matador (Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear)
Ellie Parker (Naomi Watts)
Hustle & Flow (larget purchase price by a distributor in Sundance history)
Junebug (ensemble southern comedy)
The Squid and the Whale (Laura Linney, Jeff Daniels)

IMDB front page has In My Country up right now. Its with Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche. Both those actors have done their fair share of hitting and missing, but it looks like this could be ok. As usual, can't get to RT, but I know this opened today, so some reviews might be in already. Can anyone say how its doing?


Hustle and Flow looks like it oculd be interesting. Libs, what is it about? I've never heard of it. Did it win anything at Sundance?

I'm not a big Jennifer Lopez fan either. After her mediocre (at best) performance in Anaconda, I didn't have much hope for her in the future. She did, however turn in a solid, if not spectacular turn in Enough, and actually did a fairly solid performance in Shall We Dance? as well. Neither performance was spectacular, but they were certainly well done at the same time.

Dolce, In My Country is currently at 33% Rotten:

Reviews counted: 33
Fresh: 11 Rotten: 22
Average Rating: 4.9/10

Note to self...scratch that one off the list.

About J.Lo, I just can't stand her personality. So I just get turned off by her roles even if the roles themselves is ok. Ugh...maybe I'll take a look at Shall We Dance. I like Richard Gere, and she did start out as an In Livin' Color flygirl....so she does know how to dance.

Dolce, please do check it out. It focuses more on the relationship between Gere and Sarandon, which was what made it all the more likable to me. Don't get me wrong, it is cliched, and its not the best film in recent years by any stretch of the imagination, but it is enjoyable and worth at least a rental.

I know the premesis, they said it was pretty close to the original Japanese one. A couple with a kind of alienating marriage, the guy is in a sort of lame corporate job, they're bored with eachother and life. One day on the train he sees a young beautiful woman dancing in a studio and goes in to take ballroom lessons because he is awestruck by her. It ends up not really being about her, nothing happens between them, its more that he was mesmerized with her poise and dance, which she then teaches him. He learns his boss takes lessons too at one point. He gets really into it, in the meantime the family life is getting worse, his wife suspects him of cheating since he's away at these lessons. In japan at the time it was considered "girlie" to dance which is why he didn't tell his wife or anyone he knew. Finally of course it all comes out and they dance in the kitchen together or something like that, and then she starts taking lesons with him. new spark, new life, everything gets better. That how the American one goes?

:laugh:

Maybe you don't need to see it. You got most of the story down, except for the dancing in the kitchen. In the remake it is at a department store.

Nothing with J.Lo will ever be that grounbreaking. She's too idiotic and worried about herself to try her hand at something that may not go over well in the general public. She waited a good eight years (to make sure the ballroom craze was already firmly established here) and to make sure the original became one of the highest grossing Japanese imports in the U.S. before she thought it might be ok for her to try it out.

Department store huh? Reaaaaaal creative.

Anyways, I suggest you see the orginal. Its a real gem. 7.6/10 stars at IMDB (I don't get rt, so you can check there if you like) in comparison to the remake's 6/10 stars. Let me know what you think. Great, now I'm in the mood to rewatch it.


I can't wait until Mad Hot Ballroom comes out!

I'll check it out sometime. I saw it for sale next to the remake at Media Play. Not sure if it's worth picking up though. I might do it though if I can't find it at Blockbuster.

Back on topic, I saw the trailer the other day for "The Ballad of Jack and Rose", have you seen that Dolce? It looks like it may be good but at the same time may be simply mediocre family-drama. I might try and check that out sometime. Its being released sometime this year.

Well, I saw the trailer for Ballad and I have to say, it looks a bit weird even for me. It has Daniel Day in it though, so I'll probably se it anyways. He picks good roles, so I have some trust in that, but I think the possessive daughter thing took a nose-dive when it got too literal. I just know its almost bordering on a mystery/horror flick from the feel of it. But their have been so many ones about incest, and I think incest os one of the trickiest topics to cover ever. Never seen someone pull it off well. Th eonly good movie (excellent actually) that even mildly touches upon it that I love is Paper Moon.

Where you planning on seeing it? I actually think I should send makeshift over to watch it, or Lecter. The trailer made me think it was a horror movie. That the daughter goes nuts and tries to drive away the incoming family *using any means possible*

J. Lo was wonderful in both Selena and Out of Sight. I think she should've received Oscar consideration for at least one of them, seriously.

Other than that, her career has slipped alarmingly. She wasn't even that great in gooey fare like Maid in Manhattan.

hm...here are a few that l look forward to...

House of D
The Science of Sleep
Paris, je t'aime

Also, l agree: anyone doubtful of J. Lo's acting abilities should watch Selena.