At one point, in grad school, one of my peers turned to me and said, “what exactly is an independent film?”  He was not from the States, so I imagine he was looking for some sort of insight into what an Indie film is considered in the U.S. and since I’m slightly opinionated and have a relatively good sense of humor he felt comfortable enough to ask my thoughts on the matter.  As it just so happens at that time I was reading Christine Vachon’s book, Shooting to Kill (Christine Vachon is a producer who runs Killer Films along with her partner, Pamela Koffler), and my immediate gut reaction was the budget.  If the film can be made for under X amount of dollars then it is an independent film, but then I stopped myself, because at one point an Indie film came down to the dollar amount and, often, the subject material, so I looked at him and said, “damned if I know anymore.”  And now with studios, such as, FOX, and Paramount having their own boutiques I have to say, “damned if I know what the hell an independent film is anymore.”

When I would watch films in the 1990’s Indie films were made by maverick’s who were outsiders, as far as I was concerned, to the studio system.  They were the nonconformists  I related to and whose films I enjoyed time and again on VHS – Rodriguez’s El Mariachi, McCall’s Lewis & Clark & George, Ander’s Gas, Food, Lodging, Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.  These films looked like gritty Indie films and their budgets were low ($800,000 (estimated) Welcome to the Dollhouse, $220,000 (after post-production) (estimated)/$7,000 (original) (estimated) El Mariachi, $1.2M (estimated) Reservoir Dogs), which reinforced my idea that Indie films had a budget under $5M.

In today’s film market, I’m still rather perplexed as to what is considered an Indie film.  Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, and Babel have often been referred to as Indie films, but are they really?  If you take a look at the budgets and dig a bit further into the company information these films are all somehow related to the studio system, which is not a bad thing, but then I begin to wonder does Indie film really exist anymore even if the subject material in these films might be considered Indie.  And if the picture is shot on digital, can you even call it an Indie film?

In retrospect, I guess what I long for most is when Indie film was still independent, but with the changes in the studios this is becoming much more difficult to come by and the world of Indie film is becoming extinct as the industry continues to shift.

-K.L.

By: Kerry Liethen

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of sequels (okay, sure, I have my exceptions, well, a small handful of films) and if I do decide to indulge my curiosity it is normally a few months later and on DVD, so when I was cajoled by a couple of friends into a showing of Toy Story 3 at a cheap theater in the valley I had low expectations, really low expectations.  In fact, the bar was set so low that it was rolling around on the floor.  Needless to say, I was elated when the bar flipped up and smacked me in the head to prove how wrong I was regarding the sequel, Toy Story 3.

But I had good reasons to keep my expectations low, because I was not a big fan of Toy Story 2.  Granted, it was cute, but the script was not as finely tuned as Toy Story and it felt as though it had lost its oomph.  But with Toy Story 3 the franchise has been rejuvenated and, in my opinion, is the perfect finale for the characters of Toy Story.

The film begins when Buzz, Woody, and the gang are accidently dumped off at a day care center during Andy’s departure for college.

Toy Story 3 was directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director on Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and Toy Story 2) with screenplay credits going to: Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich.  And the returning talent of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, and John Ratzenberger was like a welcoming hug from an old friend.  The additional vocal talent of Michael Keaton and Ned Beatty provided a couple unexpected antagonists that I became invested in as much as the protagonists.

Also, one last note, expect to see a wonderful Pixar short before the film begins, Day & Night, which was a combination of 2D and 3D animation directed by Teddy Newton (came to Pixar in 2000).  Day & Night was the perfect compliment to Toy Story 3.  Honestly, I cannot say enough about this short it was fun, at times tender, and the message resonated with audience (the packed theatre was very vocal) and with this viewer.

Toy Story 3 was a fantastic surprise and I highly suggest checking this out in the theater.

9 out of 10 – K.L.