what's the independent clause in this sentence. I wanted to watch a movie, but bill wanted to skareboard.

"I wanted to watch a movie" is the independent clause because it can stand alone as a simple sentence. In order for "but bill wanted to skateboard" to make sense, you need the context built in the independent clause which makes it the dependent clause. Unlike the independent clause, the dependent clause cannot stand alone since it adds additional information to the subject of the independent clause.