Stevens: You should watch indie films during the summer
In a world where epic studio blockbusters dominate the summer movie season, go see an indie film.
Big budget movies are the reason Hollywood is made of cash. Spending money on production means stars and CGI and notoriety and a big box office return. These movies can be fun, but they have some fundamental problems that indie films do not. Here are three reasons why you should skip the huge studio movie this weekend and seek out an indie flick.
- Unknown / up and coming cast
Movie stars inhibit a huge part of our entertainment culture. While this is great for those who follow stars and love seeing Tom Cruise in his latest action movie, something is lost when the audience sees the character as the actor and not the other way around. One of the most exciting parts of seeing an indie movie instead of a summer blockbuster is the emergence of new lead actors who can star in a film without preconceived notions about themselves.
For example, when I see the below trailer for “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” I see Jack Donaghy talking to Hawkeye about Jerry Maguire as Marcellus Wallace and Shaun run around assisting a ridiculous mission.
Still, I can’t wait for this movie. But I know that nothing about it will change the way I think about movies or even life.
However, when I see the below trailer for “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” I see a few unknown teenage kids dealing with real life stuff. This makes it immediately more relatable and honest, even if some of the side characters are big name actors.
- Promotional material does not ruin the story
Another big problem with blockbusters is the amount of promotional material available to the public before the release of the movie. All 20-something TV spots and every single funny scene gets uploaded to YouTube weeks or months before the film is released. If they’re for a film you want to see, you’ll probably go ahead and watch them or at least not avoid them. They do their job — people get a taste of the movie and want to see the rest. For most indie films, two (maybe three) trailers are quietly released without too much fanfare and the whole plot of the film remains enough of a mystery.
Watching a movie when you’ve seen six full scenes and a dozen mini trailers is like eating a cheeseburger when you are already full. Watching a movie without any expectation of what might happen combined with a mild amount of anticipation is like discovering a new favorite food when you were already hungry but didn’t know what you wanted. Summer indie films often turn out to be the perfect new food. “The Way Way Back” (2013) and “Boyhood” (2014) turned out to be the most critically acclaimed movies of those summers. Neither of them had three trailers or an overwhelming amount of TV spots.
- More writer + director controlled stories
Large budget films have a lot to lose, so the development and production often rely on business thoughts instead of creative thoughts. By definition, indie films have almost nobody to answer to, so creativity drives the development and production. Even though a ton of people work on any given movie, the ones that have more of a singular author often have the best voice.
The writer doubles as the director in a lot of indie films, and the central ideas of the story are their own and not those of a gigantic production company. Many big name directors were discovered when their indie films became a success, including Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Marc Webb and Bryan Singer. In most of those careers, the films in which the directors had the most creative control were their indie projects.
There’s always going to be a weekend full of big budget movies, but summer often provides the opportunity to see a great indie film. So instead of “Jurassic World” or “Ant-Man,” go sit in a less crowded theater for “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” or “Results.” You’ll be more entertained and experience something different and real.
Here are 10 indie films you should check out before summer’s end:
- “Green Room”
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
- “Results”
- “Ricki and the Flash”
- “Sleeping with Other People”
- “The End of the Tour”
- “Triple Nine”
- “Irrational Man”
- “Digging for Fire”
- “Mistress America”
Kyle Stevens is a sophomore advertising major. You can email him at ksteve03@syr.edu or reach him on Twitter at @kstevs_.
Published on June 13, 2015 at 10:11 pm
