I'm a few days late on this, but Warner Bros. has decided to blackout their artsy sidearms Warner Independent Pictures and Picturehouse. Now, I've always felt that the words Warner and independent combined on the same logo was a little contradiction-y, but they did manage to squeek out some pretty good flicks under the Warner Bros. stranglehold. Some of the films they put out include Paradise Now, A Scanner Darkly, Duck Season, Before Sunset, We Don't Live Here Anymore, The Science of Sleep, and that cute little penguin movie (March of the Penguins). Picturehouse also had it's fair share of respectable ammo in it's canon, including The King of Kong, La Vie En Rose, and Rocket Science (although I will forgive them for that Jennifer Lopez/Marc Anthony dance-off they put out).

Alan Horn, president and COO of Warner said because of New Line Cinema's (also under the Warner umbrella) increasing influence and reach, they have folded both W.I. and Picturehouse in order for New Line to become their main "indie" output.

One thing is for sure, the last shred of hope the studios were giving folks for an alternative to the endless sequels and remakes being forced down our throats in the big leagues is gone. Yes, Warner Independent wasn't really independent to begin with, but at least we could see some originality with our eleven bucks. But hey, I'm sure The Love Guru and You Don't Mess with the Zohan will save the studios, right?