It was the banner that no one understood at Comic Con 2010. Amidst the massive advertisements for Scott Pilgrim and RED was a building-sized image for Skyline – a movie that no one had ever heard of before. The reason for that lack of knowledge was simple. The film was an independent feature built under the radar and far under the normal budget of a film of its kind. Now with Universal distributing it, the press was on to make Skyline a household name. Greg and Colin Strause have directed an indie that doesn’t see a lot of people talking to each other about life and love in the middle class or how difficult it is to be a 20-something. They’ve made an alien invasion movie with over 1,000 effects shots, and they’ve done it without the help (or hindrance) of a studio. The Brothers Strause were gracious enough to speak with me about this new world of independent filmmaking, the problems with the studio system, and the need to shake things up.

Sometimes when you roll the independent movie dice you get a winner, other times you get Invasion: The Infection Begins.

What happens when a sweet, seemingly innocent French TV weather girl gets caught in a love triangle with two very different, yet equally dangerous men? She gets cut in two, that’s what.

Directed by newcomer Jason Connell, Strictly Background tells the story of the little people in Hollywood, the men and women who are the faces that we see, but the names we never hear.

A friend to the movie geek community and a member of said community are making a movie. And they are bringing Peter Jackson’s WETA team along for effects.

Red Princess Blues is a revenge film featuring an orphaned child who grows up with the goal of destroying the people who ruined her life. Ferrari has already captured the attention of Paula Garces, whom most will recognize as Officer Tina Hanlon in “The Shield” and the lovely Maria in the Harold and Kumar films.

Films that center around pregnant women, in this case a teenage girl, are nothing new, especially this year. Then how is it in 2007 the concept produces winner after winner? Damn good writing.

Enough with the superserious abortion movies, right?

It seems to be, at least to me, that Director Jason Reitman has found a very distinct formula for successfully entertaining us with sharp-witted, off-the-cuff comedies.