What is the difference between a religious artifact and an action figure? In some ways, they share many attributes: people blanket them with levels of importance, sometimes attributing them with levels of power and significance that speak more about the observers of these objects than about the objects themselves.
Today, The Criterion Collection released a new DVD and Blu-ray edition of John Hughes’ 1985 feature “The Breakfast Club.” While many fans of this film were happy to see its inclusion in The Criterion Collection’s line-up, there were also many movie lovers who were displeased that this film was selected for re-release, especially since it has been widely available for home entertainment viewing for years and it saw a 30th anniversary release in 2015.
(DIS) Honorable Mention: The Boss Baby
It was a lot tougher to find bad films this year than it was in previous years, and I think of that as a good sign. That said, 2017 did produce some stinkers, some of which I didn’t get to see in time for the list’s completion, and some films that I just could not muster up the stomach to sit through. That said, these are ten of the worst movies I saw in 2017.
As with every single year, we try to cover as much indies as possible, but we just never have the time to see them all, sadly. As with previous years, this top five comprises five of the best indies I saw all year. It’s not to say the films that didn’t make the list are terrible films, or that the films the other writers on Cinema Crazed enjoyed aren’t good, either. This is merely my own subjective list of five independent films I highly recommend to you that I saw this year. It’s good to remember this is opinion, and not gospel.
If you want to see what films the Cinema Crazed collective consider A+ Indies, visit the link included!
Also, be sure to let us know some of the best indie films you saw all year!
For the most part, “Popstar” is a funny and often raucous satire of the pop star life and modern music business. A mix of “This is Spinal Tap” and “Zoolander,” Andy Samberg creates an engaging enough character to where we want to see where he ends up in the finale. The problem with the film is it completely loses steam in the final half hour, leading up to the big performance. The writers spend a good portion of time anxiously trying to keep the momentum from the first hour.
I vividly remember watching “Rockin’ with the Chipmunks”back in the very early nineties where I recall loving the scenes of Alvin dancing along with Michael Jackson to “Beat It” and “Smooth Criminal.” Mostly a cash grab for the fans, “Rockin with the Chipmunks” is a brief history of the novelty group, spliced in with comedy skits and the members singing vintage rock and roll in their modern animation. The animation for the most part is dicey and fuzzy at best, allowing for a hazy series of music videos, but back then if you were a Chipmunks fanatic, you didn’t care.
The only reason to watch “Go, Johnny, Go!” is if you want to see some of the best rock and roll artists of all time do their thing on the big screen. Other than that, “Go, Johnny, Go!” is the story of the boring, milquetoast Johnny Melody, a bright eyed, blond white boy who rose from the slums as an orphan to become a rock and roll singer. It’s surprising that a movie featuring Ritchie Valens, and Chuck Berry would only focus on the most uninteresting individual, as when the movie stops to spread its paper thin premise with performances, it ironically becomes worth sitting through.