2006-08-16

cheap movies

Having just spent my second consecutive night appreciating Brick on DVD, I wanted to take a moment out of our usual foray into climate science to talk about movies. A few posts ago, I raved a little bit about Clerks II, which I still highly recommend, but today I want to do something different. I've always appreciated low budget, indie movies, but I've recently seen a few that really struck my fancy. These have also mostly been first efforts (or at least first feature films) from the writer/directors. These are movies that you watch, or at least I watch, and then I just have to wonder how they got it done for hardly any money, and unde adverse filmmaking conditions. My intention is not to review or analyze these films, but just to note them, marke them as different from most movies, even different from most "indie" movies. I'm no expert on this, of course, but I can name a couple off the top of my head. Please feel free to add/recommend movies I've missed.

  • El Mariachi (1992) - Robert Rodriguez - $7,000

  • Clerks (1994) - Kevin Smith - $27,000

  • Primer (2004) - Shane Carruth - $7,000

  • Brick (2005) - Rian Johnson - $500,000

  • Honorable mentions:

  • Slacker (1991) - Richard Linklater - $23,000

  • Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Tobe Hooper - $84,000

  • Roger & Me (1989) - Michael Moore - $160,000 (but it is a documentary)

  • THX 1138 (1971) - George Lucas - $777,000 (a little pricey)



UPDATE: I just realized that The Brothers McMullen (1995) by Ed Burns was made for just $23,800. I haven't actually seen it, but I know a lot of people swear by it.

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