CINEMA: THE INDIE 500

THAT'S HOW MANY LOW-BUDGET MOVIES THERE SEEM TO BE THIS SUMMER, AND A GOOD THING TOO

All right, now, have we had it with blockbusters? It's true, we paid only $6 or $8 to see the Judge Dreddfuls and the Waterworlds Without End, not the $80 million or $200 quillion the studios ponied up, but a lot of us still feel taken. All those tough-guy movies wore us down and knocked one another out. But now that the big boys have slunk away, adventurous viewers are seeking a late-summer tonic in independent cinema.

The films can be made for $7 million (Desperado) or less than a million (Living in Oblivion). They may be based on plays (Jeffrey,...

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