Like just about every successful scrappy independent studio bought up by a big studio, Miramax is going the way of the dodo. Considering that even a more mainstream oriented studio with a great track record of hits like New Line Cinema got crunched to death by Warner Brothers, and Dreamworks has been struggling to escape the Paramount bear hug, it's not too surprising that Miramax has been reduced to a bottle shop operating out of the Disney offices. Especially since with the departure of the Weinstein boys who made it a working proposition.

But some are suggesting that the death of Miramax is the death of the indie. This in a week when Paranormal Activity continues to make money hand over fist. Miramax didn't invent the indie, it only helped popularize and market it into an institution long enough for mainstream studios to commercialize and make the indie into an even more artificial creature than it already was. Paranormal Activity is also a case in point.

But there's also less room for the aimless indie, for the Gentleman Broncos and the Doubts. In 2009 Miramax tried to stick to more mainstream comedies with an indie feel like Extract and Adventureland. And both still failed. Is it any wonder that Miramax is done?