Life During Wartime

IMDb Link

Here's what you need to make an indie film...

- Actors people recognize, but wonder where they've seen them before ('Oh, isn't that the girl from The West Wing?' 'Oh, that's Omar, isn't it?' 'He looks like Pee-Wee!' 'Oh, fuck, is that CHARLOTTE RAMPLING?!?!?!' 'I remember him from Barton Fink!' 'Wasn't she one of the Breakfast Club ones?'), but don't know their names (well, except for Charlotte -who still has really nice breasts).
- A lot of static shots.
- A shot of a man walking alone, in profile.
- A shot of a man sitting on a motel bed, alone.
- Show a book that you like, that'll make people go "shiii, I love that book." ('Naked Lunch' in this case. And I don't like it anyway).
- Profane language where unexpected. Throw in a 'cunt' here, a 'fuck you' there, a 'faggot' here.
- Some semite element (if you want your film produced. - Oh, no he didn't!)
- Sad people.
- Quirky humor (that will only make YOU laugh).
- Static and self-conscious acting.
- Many characters who all connect eventually.
- Unnecessary sex scenes.
- Characters who talk on and on and on over a table.
- Endless conversations 'with a message.'
- End abruptly.

So it's just like a Hollywood film, without the production value.

At the end of the day, be as boring as possible and make it so that people will pretend to like your film in order to look sophisticated. They will laugh loud at jokes that aren't funny, to show the rest of the cinema that THEY get it.

Hey! It just occurred to me: Indie films are just like French films!

Nowadays, people think they can be like Welles, or eventually Soderbergh. Or maybe DiCillo. But they're not. Their screenplays are stale, the acting is sub-par (even when you have good actors. Which shows how important a good director is).
Solondz is overrated is what I'm saying. He wastes the talent of his actors. And he wastes the time of audiences.