We are in the last moments of 2014 and I have to say that overall it has been a pretty good year for pop culture. There have of course been some low water marks – I’m still annoyed by the How I Met Your Mother finale – but overall there have been plenty of great shows, movies, music, webseries and books to consume in the last 365 days. Thank goodness for that or I’d be out of business.
I’m not doing a traditional end of the year post – there are plenty of those out there to be found – but since the links are a little light this week because of the holidays, I thought I’d pause to highlight some of my favorite pop culture of 2014.
Favorite movie – Guardians of the Galaxy. Considering I have not one but two Groot bobbleheads in my office and the Guardians of the Galaxy mixtape had been in heavy rotation much of 2014, this was a no-brainier. There were better and more important movies that came out in 2014, but Guardians is the movie that was the most fun that I had in a theater all year. I’m so happy for all of Chris Pratt’s success; couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Honorable mention: Birdman, Wild, 22 Jump Street, The LEGO Movie, Chef, Gone Girl, The Imitation Game
Dishonorable mention: Let’s Be Cops, Sex Tape, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Bad Words.
Favorite TV Show – Game of Thrones
Honorable mention: The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Colbert Report, An Honorable Woman, Mad Men, Orange is the New Black, True Detective, The Americans
Favorite Concert – Beyoncé and Jay Z
Honorable mention: Bruno Mars, Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the Deep Canyon Rangers, Boston Calling (which I meant to blog about but never got around to)
Favorite Stand-Up Show: Jim Jefferies
Honorable mention: Comics Come Home, Kids in the Hall
Favorite Pop Culture Experience: The Wire Reunion
Honorable mention: Central Perk, Kevin Smith, Serial
Favorite Blog Posts: Peter Pan Live, Drinking Songs, American Horror Story: Freak Show, Robin Williams, Your Cheating Heart
Thank you for following my pop culture adventures with me this year; I am truly appreciative of all the support the blog receives. And now….on to the pop culture roundup……..
- John Oliver’s show will return next year, but he popped by with a video to remind us why New Year’s Eve is the worst (he’s not wrong):
- Got nothing to do tonight? Here are the movies disappearing from Netflix in January.
- Parents – Netflix has got your back if you want your kids to go to bed early tonight.
- A Baltimore Sun reporter is taking photos of The Wire’s filming locations to see how they’ve changed.
- Michael Imperioli is headed to Hawaii Five-0.
- Take Vulture’s Beyoncé SAT exam.
- Serial fans – key player Jay finally is talking out about the case.
- Could Aaron Paul play Hans Solo in a Star Wars spin-off movie? That’s probably the only way to get me to see it.
- Jennifer Lawrence visited some sick children on Christmas Eve.
- Matthew McConaughey has a new Lincoln commercial.
- Dustin “Screech” Diamond as arrested for reckless behavior after stabbing a guy.
- A new John Steinbeck short story was published.
- Meet the new characters (and the actors that portray them) for season 5 of Game of Thrones.
- How popular is Game of Thrones? The Queen mentioned the show in her Christmas message.
- Expect to see more Jenna Coleman on Doctor Who.
- Christmas is over, but it’s never too late to enjoy The Rock doing Christmas karaoke in a onesie:
- Actually, Maury Povich pretty much won Christmas:
- Some New Jersey pranksters were inspired by Christmas Vacation:
- Save the date – Star Trek 3 will be released July 2016.
- Here’s what it looks like when Nick Offerman RSVPs to your wedding (and uses the word shenanigans).
- Theatergoers got patriotic before the first showing of The Interview at Alamo Drafthouse.
- Seth Rogen and James Franco live-tweeted The Interview.
- Idris Elba responded to rumors about him playing James Bond.
- Splitsider looks at the most memorable late night moments from 2104.
- Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut will not get a theatrical release in the U.S.
- Richard Linklater’s next film is a “thematic continuation” of Boyhood.
- Exodus: Gods and Kings has been banned in Egypt and Morocco.
- Pharrell and N.E.R.D. have reunited for a song for the new SpongeBob Squarepants movie.
- Ed Sheeran wants Taylor Swift to date Orlando Bloom.
- Before he was killing zombies walkers, Daryl Dixon was in a Radiohead video:
- Entertainment Weekly pours some out for the TV characters we lost in 2014 (spoilers, obvs)
- Simon Pegg gave his blessing for a touring Shaun of the Dead stage show.
- Paul Rudd will reprise his role on Parks and Recreation.
- Jessie J could pay her rent for three years after writing “Party in the U.S.A.” for Miley Cyrus.
- 7 things you probably didn’t know about Goodfellas.
Trailers
- The Longest Ride, yet another Nicolas Sparks movie:
- Kevin Costner in McFarland, USA:
- A promo for the Oscars:
- A look at the second season of Penny Dreadful:
- Kat Dennings in To Write Love on Her Arms:
- Jackie Chan in Dragon Blade:
- Here’s a trailer for Wolf Hall:
- Selma Hayek and some guns in the trailer for Everly:
- Paul Feig says that his Ghostbusters reboot will be scarier than the original.
- LEGO is making a Jurassic World themed set.
- Expect to see some cast changes on Extant next season.
- Concept art for Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur.
- Michael Stipe was a surprise opening act for Patti Smith.
- A Wheel of Fortune contestant solved a puzzle with one letter and won $91,000.
- There was a mini-Scrubs reunion:
- Beyoncé’s dad had a garage sale and sold a bunch of her memorabilia.
- You can now purchase the white Ferrari from Miami Vice.
- Reasons to look forward to 2015 – Hulk Hogan is training rapper RiFF Raff to be a wrestler.
- A guy named Jack Daniels named his son Jim Beam.
- The Today Show cast did a mini-musical.
- The New Yorker did a profile of “the king of clickbait.”
- See Nicki Minaj in her high school acting class:
- Christina Aguilera, like many a toddler, reportedly threw a tantrum at Disneyland.
- Sylvester Stallone has confirmed that the next Rambo movie will be titled Last Blood.
- Chris Klein is engaged.
- Phillip Phillips proposed to his girlfriend over the holidays.
- Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter have separated.
- Also splitting – Chris Rock and his wife.
- Jeremy Renner’s wife wants out after 10 months of marriage.
- Voice actress Christine Cavanaugh, the voice of Babe the pig and Chuckie on Rugrats, has died.
- In case you were concerned, Hugh Hefner is still alive.
- Alicia Keyes and Swizz Beatz welcomed their second child.
- Possibly the world’s hottest couple, Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara, have gotten engaged.
As always, we end with the mashups and supercuts:
- Here’s a Miami Vice cocaine supercut:
- The best news bloopers of 2014:
- A supercut of movie explosions:
- Taylor Swift is apparently “obsessed” with this mashup of two of her songs:
- And finally, The Big Lebowski meets True Detective:
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and pop culture filled 2015!