monsters and the new possibilities

My review of Monsters is on the Brattle Theatre's blog. One of the remarkable things about the movie is that it was made for less than $500,000 and with only a handful of people (according to an interview with the stars in a podcast by Creative Screenwriting Magazine). The movie looks so good -- and its visual effects are so credible -- that it makes you wonder why more aren't made at that price, when so many blockbusters that cost $100 million and frequently more fall flat.