CULTURE: The 50 Greatest Independent Films

I've seen 27/50.

Shameful, I know...

CULTURE: The 50 Greatest Independent Films: "Empire lists: 'The 50 Greatest Independent Films.' Intended to highlight movies made without big budgets and big stars in service of creating bolder and more creative films, Empire trots out what it deems to be cinema made with a truly independent spirit. Number 49 is 'Run Lola Run.' Number 38 is 'Grosse Point Blank.' Number 24 is 'Happiness.' Number 12 is 'Eraserhead.' And, Number One is:

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Some will bleat that this is an easy, obvious choice, while others will say… well, pretty much the same, but nominate differently. Our criteria for deciding the films were: firstly, the circumstances and spirit in which they were made, second, the quality of the result and, finally, its mark on the movie world. This is how Reservoir Dogs gained consensus as the winner. Consider firstly the film's creation: script written in two weeks while the author was in a dead-end day job, it barely changed from first draft to shooting script, and attracted attention by word of mouth. It garnered rave reviews, but Dogs' box office performance wasn't great - again, it had to wait for word of mouth. Most importantly, the magnitude of effect this one film has had on indie culture in the last 13 years is, to say the least, overwhelming. The fact is that more than one generation has had their eyes opened to the long-snubbed world of movie-making's outsiders, be it American mavericks, foreign actioners, or just plain old B-pictures. If it wasn't for Dogs, Hong Kong action cinema would still be a lot more marginal than it is today, and nobody would likely have got around to transferring blaxploitation titles onto DVD yet. You only have to look through the homages and ripoffs that have abounded - how many more films have suited gunmen, feature heists gone wrong, have people talking about pop culture, or 'boast' a fractured narrative? Love or hate it, Reservoir Dogs is the greatest independent movie ever made.

(Written by: susannah_breslin)

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(Purportedly Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)