Letters to the Editor
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I think I can! I think I can!
Another interesting phenomenon; tangential to the actual Oscar race, is the rise of the so-called "little indie that could". This goes back to at least 2004 when "Sideways" became a hit with a certain critical mass of moviegoers (and Merlot haters). Since then, we've had "Crash", "Little Miss Sunshine", and "Juno" assume the same mantle. This is always billed as a surprise marriage between the little-known indie and the blockbuster-weary public. But is this phenomenon really so serendipitous?
All of these films are born on the film festival circuit, and you can bet that the studios have their fingers to the wind at those initial screenings in Telluride and Toronto. When, and only when, a "Sideways" or "Juno" generates a certain amount of street buzz, the studio bidding machines come out in full force. As such, these festivals allow studios to test market before they actually invest a single $.01 on the films themselves. Furthermore, when it comes time to release these films in the theatres, there's a pretty high probability that they'll become "sleeper" hits. Of course, this approach will occasionally backfire. The Iraq war-themed drama "Grace is Gone" was a huge audience hit at last year's Sundance Festival, and was the beneficiary of an intense bidding war, but it failed to catch on with critics and ultimately became a box office dud. Still, when you consider the economics, it makes overwhelming sense for studios to go shopping for indies rather than try to make these films on their own.
On an entirely different note, what in tarnation is a $5000 "mumblecore" film? Could it finally be that Andrew Bujalski is getting some love from the mainstream press?