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  3. Winners and Losers of Summer 2014

Winners and Losers of Summer 2014

Our MVPs and disappointments from the season in movies, TV, music, and books

By Kyle Anderson,  Lindsey Bahr,  James Hibberd and Stephan Lee September 02, 2014 at 02:00 PM EDT
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The complex, unique females we saw on screen, like Scarlett Johansson's superpowered Lucy, Angelina Jolie's vengeful Maleficent, and Tilda Swinton's menacing, hilarious Minister Mason inÂ…
Credit: Universal Pictures

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MOVIES LOSER: Overextended Franchises

Pack up those machine guns, propellers, and dancing shoes, Hollywood—and please consider the latest Expendables , Planes , and Step Up installments your last.
Credit: Phil Bray

Pack up those machine guns, propellers, and dancing shoes, Hollywood—and please consider the latest Expendables, Planes, and Step Up installments your last.

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TV WINNER: The Apocalypse

Global catastrophe? Count us in! Once again this year, annihilation drew a crowd on TV, led by TNT's virus thriller The Last Ship and FX'sÂ…
Credit: Maarten de Boer/TNT

Global catastrophe? Count us in! Once again this year, annihilation drew a crowd on TV, led by TNT's virus thriller The Last Ship and FX's gross neo-vamp horror series The Strain. Even HBO's post-Rapture bummer The Leftovers got renewed for a second season of bleak and violent moping.

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TV LOSER: ''Revamped'' Reality TV

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Credit: VH1

ABC's Rising Star flogged the singing-competition dead horse, ABC's The Quest misfired at trying to merge fantasy and reality (ahem), and VH1's Dating Naked didn't exactly reinvigorate the dating game. (Okay, we admit it—we're still watching that one.)

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MUSIC WINNER: Butts

Anaconda

Nicki Minaj's ''Anaconda,'' Jason Derulo's ''Wiggle,'' and Meghan Trainor's ''All About That Bass'' filled the hottest months with booty-centric blasts of bum-positive funk.

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MUSIC LOSER: The Phrase ''Song of Summer''

With a dull logjam in the top 10 and no consensus for a champ, the song of summer was whatever you thought it was—congratulations, ActionÂ…

With a dull logjam in the top 10 and no consensus for a champ, the song of summer was whatever you thought it was—congratulations, Action Bronson's ''Easy Rider''!

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BOOKS WINNER: Guilt-Free Beach Reads

Light enough for a beach bag but by no means literary lightweights, Emma Straub's The Vacationers , Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies , and JojoÂ…

Light enough for a beach bag but by no means literary lightweights, Emma Straub's The Vacationers, Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, and Jojo Moyes' One Plus One hit the spot this summer.

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BOOKS LOSER: Amazon

The Internet retailer took a major hit to its reputation this year when it engaged in a pricing stand-off with publisher Hachette. The most painfulÂ…

Sure, the e-commerce giant is laughing all the way to the bank, but with its war on Hachette this summer, the ''Everything Store'' has made enemies of book publishers, the German government, George Orwell's estate, and Stephen Colbert—to name a few.

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MOVIES WINNER: Reptiles

Thirty years after their debut, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are bigger, fiercer, and tail-free—just in time for a new CG-heavy movie outing. From detailsÂ…

Who knew a franchise (re)born out of the 1980s sewers (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and another spawned from a 60-year-old idea (Godzilla) would be runaway hits?

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MOVIES LOSER: Charlie's Angels Stars

Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz both belly flopped with their soul-crushingly formulaic and wholly unfunny comedy efforts in Blended and Sex Tape .

Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz both belly flopped with their soul-crushingly formulaic and wholly unfunny comedy efforts in Blended and Sex Tape.

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TV WINNER: Underdog Networks

WTW The Knick
Credit: Mary Cybulski/Cinemax

Watch out, HBO and Showtime: Cinemax (The Knick), Starz (Outlander), and Pivot (Please Like Me) stole your spotlight with some unconventional critic faves.

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TV LOSER: Faux Royalty

Fox viewers didn't Wanna Marry ''Harry'' , Bravo fans rejected the aristocracy-crazed Ladies of London , and even U.S. ''royals'' took a tumble: Ratings forÂ…
Credit: Chris Raphael/Fox

Fox viewers didn't Wanna Marry ''Harry'', Bravo fans rejected the aristocracy-crazed Ladies of London, and even U.S. ''royals'' took a tumble: Ratings for the Kardashians' signature E! series are sinking.

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MUSIC WINNER: Tag-Team Tours

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Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The hip accessory for superstars looking to fill venues was a like-minded pal. The hot-selling runs from Jay Z and Beyoncé, Eminem and Rihanna, Drake and Lil Wayne, and even Kiss and Def Leppard provided more hits for your concert dollar.

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MUSIC LOSER: The Divas

They're both legends—and onetime American Idol judges—but Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey each dropped albums ( A.K.A. and Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse ,Â…

They're both legends—and onetime American Idol judges—but Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey each dropped albums (A.K.A. and Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse, respectively) with deeply underwhelming sales.

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BOOKS WINNER: Brainy Fiction

PAINTING A PLOT Author Donna Tartt's new novel, The Goldfinch , is heavy on exposition but light on gripping drama

It's heartening when epic, beautifully crafted novels burn up the best-seller list, such as The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. We predict similar success for Matthew Thomas' late-summer debut, We Are Not Ourselves.

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BOOKS LOSER: The Embarrassing New Cover for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This British repackaging of the 1964 classic has Roald Dahl fans all over the world wondering why a whimsical tale about Willy Wonka's candy dreamlandÂ…

This British repackaging of the 1964 classic has Roald Dahl fans all over the world wondering why a whimsical tale about Willy Wonka's candy dreamland looks more like a novelization of Toddlers & Tiaras.

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MOVIES WINNER: Authentic Teenage Drama

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Credit: James Bridges

A movie chronicling a child's growth over the course of 12 years (Boyhood) and another about terminally ill teens falling in love (The Fault in Our Stars) might seem like box office poison. But in the hands of loving filmmakers? Magic.

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MOVIES LOSER: ''Sure Thing'' Directors

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Credit: Keith Bernstein

Clint Eastwood has won Oscars, Seth MacFarlane made one of the highest-grossing comedies ever (Ted), and Doug Liman helped define modern action flicks. But they can still make movies that are tone-deaf (Jersey Boys), tepid (A Million Ways to Die in the West), or just...baffling (Edge of Tomorrow).

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TV WINNER: Kacy Catanzaro's Forearms

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Credit: NBC

NBC's American Ninja Warrior is the only broadcast show to jump in the ratings this summer—and much of the credit goes to the ferocious five-foot-tall contestant who became an online sensation.

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TV LOSER: '90s Stars

Mystery Girls
Credit: Tony Rivetti/ABC Family

Kirstie Alley's Kirstie (TV Land) was axed, while Martin Lawrence and Kelsey Grammer's dreadful comedy Partners (FX) is headed in that direction, as is the Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling sitcom Mystery Girls (ABC Family), a bomb watched by roughly 90,210 viewers.

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MUSIC WINNER: Everybody in Iggy Azalea's Orbit

The Australian MC's ''Fancy'' sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, and she had long, nattily tailored coattails: Her guest rap lifted ArianaÂ…

The Australian MC's ''Fancy'' sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, and she had long, nattily tailored coattails: Her guest rap lifted Ariana Grande's ''Problem'' into heavy rotation, and ''Fancy'' hook crooner Charli XCX made her own splash with ''Boom Clap.''

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MUSIC LOSER: Rock Fans

Magic The Band
Credit: CHAPMAN BAEHLER

Do you love good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll? This summer had nothing for you, then, unless you count the lukewarm wikka-wikka of Magic!'s ''Rude'' as rock. (Excepting Paramore's ''Ain't It Fun,'' guitars were on milk cartons this summer, not on pop radio.)

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BOOKS WINNER: Books Your Dad Will Like

THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE Rick Perlstein

New titles by John W. Dean (The Nixon Defense), Rick Perlstein (The Invisible Bridge), and Ben Macintyre (A Spy Among Friends) were winning bets for bookish bros.

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BOOKS LOSER: Hard Choices

Her presidential aspirations may be poised for a 2015 upswing, but Clinton's 2014 account of her tenure as Secretary of State didn't wow critics, andÂ…

Hillary Clinton's account of her tenure as Secretary of State didn't wow critics, and its sales underdelivered on her rumored eight-figure advance.

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    Everything in This Slideshow

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    1 of 24 1
    2 of 24 MOVIES LOSER: Overextended Franchises
    3 of 24 TV WINNER: The Apocalypse
    4 of 24 TV LOSER: ''Revamped'' Reality TV
    5 of 24 MUSIC WINNER: Butts
    6 of 24 MUSIC LOSER: The Phrase ''Song of Summer''
    7 of 24 BOOKS WINNER: Guilt-Free Beach Reads
    8 of 24 BOOKS LOSER: Amazon
    9 of 24 MOVIES WINNER: Reptiles
    10 of 24 MOVIES LOSER: Charlie's Angels Stars
    11 of 24 TV WINNER: Underdog Networks
    12 of 24 TV LOSER: Faux Royalty
    13 of 24 MUSIC WINNER: Tag-Team Tours
    14 of 24 MUSIC LOSER: The Divas
    15 of 24 BOOKS WINNER: Brainy Fiction
    16 of 24 BOOKS LOSER: The Embarrassing New Cover for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    17 of 24 MOVIES WINNER: Authentic Teenage Drama
    18 of 24 MOVIES LOSER: ''Sure Thing'' Directors
    19 of 24 TV WINNER: Kacy Catanzaro's Forearms
    20 of 24 TV LOSER: '90s Stars
    21 of 24 MUSIC WINNER: Everybody in Iggy Azalea's Orbit
    22 of 24 MUSIC LOSER: Rock Fans
    23 of 24 BOOKS WINNER: Books Your Dad Will Like
    24 of 24 BOOKS LOSER: Hard Choices

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