Independent Movies

At Cinema Libre, a small new film studio and production house in Canoga Park, the decor sets the counterculture tone. From beneath his ever-present baseball cap, muckraker Michael Moore grins down from a poster for his "Bowling for Columbine" documentary. Studio offices are named for film revolutionaries -- the production office for Costa-Gavras, the special effects suite for Jean-Luc Godard.

One story depicts girls coming of age in India. Another follows a group of seniors as they compete in an international pingpong championship in Mongolia. Closer to home is the portrait of local priest Father Greg Boyle and his work with ex-gang members. Then there's a look at "fruit detectives" from around the world in search of exotic varieties. Those are among eight documentaries that will be shown on designated nights at two dozen theaters nationwide this spring as part of the Docurama series.

One story depicts girls coming of age in India. Another follows a group of seniors as they compete in an international pingpong championship in Mongolia. Closer to home is the portrait of local priest Father Greg Boyle and his work with ex-gang members. Then there's a look at "fruit detectives" from around the world in search of exotic varieties. Those are among eight documentaries that will be shown on designated nights at two dozen theaters nationwide this spring as part of the Docurama series.

After the coffee. Before figuring out why the Vatican didn't call me. The Skinny: I like "Mad Men. " I hate all the hype around it. I don't need to analyze a new poster for the show. Tuesday's headlines include a look at the challenges facing the new boss at NBC News and who may be the next FCC chairman.  Daily Dose: Week 2 ratings for History's "The Bible" were still strong but not as huge as Week 1. According to Nielsen, 10.8 million viewers watched Sunday's episode, down from 13.1 million the first week.

Hoping to cash in on the increasing popularity of so-called specialty films, the country's second-largest theater circuit is about to start showcasing independent films in theaters in markets where art house viewers are believed to reside. AMC Theatres will announce today that it has designated 72 theaters as AMC Select venues.

Astrange thing happens in "Frida," Julie Taymor's new film about painter Frida Kahlo, when she has a nightmare after a near-death experience. It also occurs in the middle of "Bowling for Columbine," Michael Moore's documentary salvo against America's gun culture. It happens as well in this fall's black comedy "Just a Kiss" whenever a character on screen steps into dangerous territory.

Generally, the tortoise doesn't beat the hare in Hollywood. No matter what Aesop's fable suggests, show business winners are deemed to be films like "The Dark Knight," "Iron Man," "Transformers" -- blockbusters that start off at a sprint and never slow down. There's only one small corner for patience in the film world, and you can find it at the Cannes Film Festival. This year's festival gathering opened Wednesday without many U.S.

Struggling to compete with big-budget movies at the box office, indie films are increasingly finding a lucrative niche in one of Hollywood's fastest-growing markets: video on demand. The number of films released in theaters and video on demand at the same time nearly doubled from 2009 to 2011 and is projected to jump about 30% this year, to 68. The dark comedy "Bachelorette" exemplifies the trend: It has grossed about $5.5 million from video-on-demand (or VOD) rentals since premiering in August, compared with a paltry $418,000 earned in theaters.

Bullying is not just an epidemic in American schools, but an increasingly brutal worldwide phenomenon that can result in damaged psyches and death, as the headlines too often reveal. That's what led to the making of "Ben X," an award-winning drama from Belgium opening Friday at the Nuart Theatre.

Bert Schneider, the iconoclastic producer behind a trio of influential movies — "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Picture Show" — that captured the rootlessness and discontent of the late 1960s and '70s and became symbols of a new era in Hollywood, has died. He was 78. Schneider had been in failing health and died of natural causes Monday at Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his daughter, Audrey Simon. The son of a Hollywood power broker — his father, Abraham, ran Columbia Pictures in the late 1960s — Schneider helped revitalize moviemaking in the "New Hollywood" movement in which directors, not studios, held the creative reins and made movies that embraced the sensibilities of the emerging counterculture.

Struggling to compete with big-budget movies at the box office, indie films are increasingly finding a lucrative niche in one of Hollywood's fastest-growing markets: video on demand. The number of films released in theaters and video on demand at the same time nearly doubled from 2009 to 2011 and is projected to jump about 30% this year, to 68. The dark comedy "Bachelorette" exemplifies the trend: It has grossed about $5.5 million from video-on-demand (or VOD) rentals since premiering in August, compared with a paltry $418,000 earned in theaters.

On Tuesday morning, there was a moment of silence in New York City and Washington, D.C., to honor the people who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The moment, which had the participation of the New York Police Department, the New York Fire Department and President Obama and the first lady, was covered live by all the cable news channels, CBS and ABC. But at 8:46 a.m., NBC's "Today" show was airing an interview with Kris Jenner, matriarch of the Kardashian clan. Jenner spoke with "Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie about the new season of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and about her breast-implant surgery.

With the end of summer rapidly approaching, it seems there aren't many people who want to spend their final no school or work days at the movie theater. The four new pictures hitting multiplexes this weekend aren't generating much interest among potential audiences. As a result, last weekend's No. 1 film "The Expendables 2" is expected to top the box office yet again, collecting at least $10 million more after its $28.6-million debut. Of the new offerings, the action chase film "Premium Rush" may fare best.

Combining Hollywood's two biggest independent film studios and the blockbuster young adult franchises "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games" into one powerful entity, Lions Gate Entertainment has agreed to acquire Summit Entertainment for $412.5 million in cash and stock. The two Santa Monica companies have engaged in on-and-off merger talks since late 2008 as Lions Gate sought to bolster its library of film and TV properties and Summit's investors tried to cash in on the lightning-in-a-bottle success of the "Twilight" movie series, which has grossed $2.5 billion worldwide over four films.

Billionaire Ron Burkle has added movie production and concert promotion to the arenas he wants to play in. The man who made his fortune bagging supermarket chains and selling them off for billions went into the live music business Thursday by purchasing Artist Group International, a New York agency that books concerts for Billy Joel, Metallica and others. He concurrently invested in the movie business by taking a stake in independent movie studio Relativity Media. Y Entertainment group, a newly formed subsidiary of Burkle's investment firm Yucaipa Cos., made the two deals separately for undisclosed sums of money.

Bert Schneider, the iconoclastic producer behind a trio of influential movies — "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Last Picture Show" — that captured the rootlessness and discontent of the late 1960s and '70s and became symbols of a new era in Hollywood, has died. He was 78. Schneider had been in failing health and died of natural causes Monday at Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his daughter, Audrey Simon. The son of a Hollywood power broker — his father, Abraham, ran Columbia Pictures in the late 1960s — Schneider helped revitalize moviemaking in the "New Hollywood" movement in which directors, not studios, held the creative reins and made movies that embraced the sensibilities of the emerging counterculture.

JOHN SLOSS has been called independent filmmaking's consigliere. He's part lawyer, part salesman, part problem-solver who became an avid film buff watching a movie a day as a projectionist and usher while attending the University of Michigan. Honored films he's been involved with include "Boys Don't Cry," which won Hilary Swank her first acting Academy Award, best documentary Oscar winner "The Fog of War" and current best picture nominee "Little Miss Sunshine."

"The Art of Getting By," about a high school slacker more interested in a girl than in his homework, barely lived up to its name this weekend at the box office. The film, which stars young actors Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts, had what even distributor Fox Searchlight acknowledged was a "disappointing" opening. According to a studio estimate, the movie collected only $700,000 from 610 theaters for a dismal per-theater average of $1,148. "The Art of Getting By" — previously titled "Homework" when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January — did worse than two other independent movies that opened this weekend and also played at the Utah event.

It's not uncommon for independent movies to debut on video-on-demand the same day they are released in theaters. Most of the time, however, such low-budget films are playing in only about half a dozen theaters nationwide. That wasn't the case, however, with "Margin Call. " The Wall Street drama debuted in 56 theaters three weeks ago and simultaneously became available to cable subscribers who wanted to watch the picture from the comfort of their own homes. The movie has since expanded to 178 theaters and has brought in $2.5 million since its opening, according to an estimate from distributor Roadside Attractions.

These days Saadi Kadafi is on the run, presumably somewhere in North Africa, dodging the rebels who ended his father's 42-year-long dictatorship in Libya. But just two years ago this month, the 38-year-old third son of Moammar Kadafi was perched on a couch surrounded by Champagne bottles, holding court at a glittering rooftop party at the Toronto International Film Festival. As rapper 50 Cent performed and guests sampled Beluga caviar, Kadafi and his American partner, Matty Beckerman, schmoozed with agents to promote themselves as the newest players in the world of independent filmmaking.