First day, and I already have something to say. I was recently lamenting the death of the independent film. Lo and behold, it's not just me. It seems recently that apart from foreign films, there there have been scant few "small" films. This niche has been taken over by divisions of the big studios. I have not seen the recent batch of big-studio "art-house" films ("Adaptation," "The Pianist," "About Schmidt," etc.) so I can't comment on these directly, but other such films have lately seemed to fall short. This seems to come from too much studio involvement. There are notable exceptions of course, films from the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, Christopher Guest and a few others. But these are almost a gimmie. I miss the unexpected, unknown gems. Where are the "Walking and Talkings," "Trees Lounges" and "Stranger than Paradises?" I'm sure they are out there, but why don't I hear about them?

Many people say that the independent films started to die with "Pulp Fiction." I disagree. There have been a great number since then. When it really started, I think, was with "American Beauty." This also marked the end of great Kevin Spacey roles. If anyone has some recommendations, let me know.