Main Stream Film Vs. The Independent

 

Since the dawn of film, their has been independent films and the well known blockbusters. Most of us only pay attention to those which land at main stream movie houses like  Regal or Dipson, but their are movies out there that are not financed by big corporations like Paramount, DreamWorks or 20th Century Fox, but rather by smaller companies like  Bad Robot, Miramax and The Weinstein Company.

Now besides that of the budget for the films, much separates these two genres of film art. Large budget mainstream films are bigger, more dramatic, and filled with that of rich actors and directors that are capable of films that put us in awe. Movies like Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Matrix, Anchorman, Super Bad and Avatar. Films like these are loved by all and watched over and over again for our enjoyment but there are other films made for  reasons other than big explosions or ghosts making you jump in your seat.

Independent and Foreign films unfortunately don't receive the amount of attention that films like avatar got, mainly because most independent film can't spend the money mainstream films can. So, these films must focus on things other than giant transforming cars, they focus on things we can relate to. Many people who frown upon the chance to see a great independent film don't actually know that many of the most beloved films are independent ones. Movies like Black Swan, Half Nelson, Sideways, Lost in Translation, Paranormal Activity, The Evil Dead, Halloween, The Terminator and Pulp Fiction.

To say one is better than the other is wrong,  because films are meant to entertain all kinds of people. But I believe that independent films are all too overlooked by average movie gowers, they make the viewer experience pain, loss, love, excitement and it gives us a peep hole into our soul for just two short hours and it entertains and takes us on a journey much like mainstream films do. The following is a list of independent and foreign films I feel everyone should see before he/she dies.
1.Doubt
2.Girl, Interrupted
3.This is 40
4.Pulp Fiction
5.Lost in Translation
6.Sideways
7.Inglorious Basterds
8.Dancer In The Dark
9.Brides Head Revisited
10.Garden State
11.The Hours
12.Along Came Polly
13.Borat
14.W.E.
15.A Single Man
16.The Piano
17.Grey Gardens
18.The Pianist
19.The Reader
20.Capote