Aaron Cole: Five films that would have been better as INDIE FLICKS

Sometimes gritty indie flicks just feel better. There’s a hunger with independent film that Hollywood could never understand. (Hunger like a drunk chubby kid lusting after pancakes after a long night of drinking. Thank you Denny’s.)
Anyway, remember Pi? Can you imagine how much yam-sack that would have sucked if they casted Edward Norton instead of Sean Gullette?Here’s five that should have gone the other way in no discernible order:

5) Shutter Island. Sorry Marty, we saw this one coming a mile away. Put it in the hands of a fresh-out-film-school grad and something tells me Leo figures the whole thing out in a 25-minute continuous one-shot in front of a mirror whilst opening up a vein.

4) Avatar. Put makeup skills to the test. And if it fails miserably, at least you end up with something close to Showgirls — not a total loss.

3) Transformers. Actually they already did is one low-budget in the 1980s and it featured Orson Welles as the voice of Omicron. Better than Michael Bay could ever do. You’re welcome.

2) Terminator: Salvation. Only because I like Christian Bale and had this been an indie/student film he wouldn’t have sounded like such a miserable jerk calling someone a “f-ing amateur.”

1) Step Up 3D. Only because real filmmakers would have benched it from word one.

-Aaron Cole aaron@festivusfilmfestival.com

The opinions above are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Festivus Film Festival.