Alexander’s 2018 Entertainment Roundup

December 31, 2018 Alexander Rodriguez 8 min read

Not only was this a crazy year socially and politically, but 2018 certainly had some surprises from the entertainment world from even more Hollywood sexual allegations, minority led box office surprises, a trend of female driven action films, to LGBT driven roles becoming a hot button in the A-list world.

Here are some of the highs and lows from TV & Film:

TV

A reboot of Roseanne caused controversy and suffered a cancellation, the reboots of Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy were extremely well received, while a reboot of Murphy Brown premiered to a yawn.

This year we finally saw an American Horror Story season that was good again, A-List Hollywood actresses from Sandra Bullock to Julia Roberts and the return of Jessica Lange made a splash on TV rather than the big screen, Sandra Oh became the first actress of Asian decent to be nominated for an Emmy, and trans characters played by trans actors were featured in the hit series Pose.

Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are quickly becoming lead players in the market, while network TV may become a thing of the past.

Here are the top viewed TV shows of 2018 (Nielsen ratings do not include platforms such as Hulu and Netflix):

1. Roseanne – the show premiered with over 27 million viewers! Shout out to Ambien for getting free publicity without being an official sponsor

2. Sunday Night Football – I am a huge fan of football and actually follow the teams… and the spandex clad booties

3. The Big Bang Theory – currently in its final season, the 12^thto be exact, this little show that could surprised many critics, I can’t even watch a full episode its so stupid

4. NCIS – crime/detective shows are always a hit with viewers; in its 16^thseason, this is NBC’s most watched drama (sorry Law and Order!)

5. This Is Us – I may have no soul because I am the only person in the world who thinks this show is so over the top and over acted, boringggg!

6. Young Sheldon – WHAT? I wouldn’t have invested $20 into this show. Who knew?

7. Manifest – this show covers that “what if?” scenario of what if a flight disappeared for years only to suddenly reappear? Almost like what if a show’s plot was shaky at most and then kept disappearing and reappearing at will?

8. The Good Doctor – audiences like their true crime dramas, but they also love their medical dramas; The Good Doctor has taken over the decline of Grey’s Anatomy

9. America’s Got Weirdos, I mean Talent – I actually don’t know any of my friends who watch this, do you?

10. Bull – I declare bullshit, I didn’t even remember this show was on the air

TV Show Losers:

The Walking Dead – viewers have become zombies themselves bored with plot lines and actor exits

Marvel’s Iron Fist – Marvel TV’s least popular show, cancelled by Netflix

Lethal Weapon – Sean William Scott came in as a replacement but Damon Wayans is out, and so are the viewers

Dancing With the Stars – the word “Stars” is now a joke

Murphy Brown – yikes

Megyn Kelly Today – bye, bitch

Emmy Awards – lowest ratings ever

Film

Hollywood’s sexual allegations continued to make headlines through the year, which affected jobs and box office throughout the film industry – even major producers, directors and actors had to answer to alleged actions. As the momentum of allegations continued, there seemed to be a guilty until proven innocent approach as media and fans came to their own conclusions.

In addition to Hollywood finally being held accountable for its actions, we saw a rise in the power of women in film with a fight for equal pay and an increased presence as major players behind the camera.

Sci-fi and comic book films took center stage, as minority led and animation films also ruled at the box office. The success of Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians has started a new confidence in Hollywood, and more projects that feature minorities are being green lit. Animation hits like Incredibles 2, Ralph Wrecks the Internet and even The Grinch faired very well.

Box Office Winners:

Black Panther – rooooarrr
Avengers: Infinity War – if I didn’t like the film, can I still write this column?
Incredibles 2 – even after so many years from the original
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – BORING, I like the porn parody better
Deadpool 2 – who knew?
The Grinch – yet another film I wouldn’t have invested money in, you never know
Mission: Impossible Fallout – I wish Henry Cavill would have fallen out of his pants
Ant-Man and the Wasp – I’m sure it would have been a good film if I wouldn’t have fallen asleep
Solo: A Star Wars Film – Okay, ok… This is my problem with overexposure of a franchise – and this includes comic book films, less care is spent on substance and rather to make things louder and quicker so that we don’t realize how shitty a film really is
Venom – this is a GOD AWFUL movie
A Star is Boring, I mean Born
A Quiet Place – Bird Box before Bird Box was Bird Box
Bohemian Rhapsody – tight pants and music, I’m sold
Crazy Rich Asians – I’ll be in the spin off – Drunk Broke Gays
Ralph Breaks the Internet – broke the box office!
Hotel Transylvania 3 – WHAT?
Halloween – well received by critics and audiences
Fantastic Beasts 2 – not so fantastic

So, I’m looking at the top box office and I enjoyed maybe 3 of them. Am I getting cranky in my old age, or are movies just not that great anymore?

Biggest Box Office Fails:

A Wrinkle in Time – the film seemed over blown, over sold and its leads (Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon) distracted from, rather than contributed to, the film’s marketing

Billionaire Boy’s Club – led by Kevin Spacey, enough said

The Happytime Murders – no one is talking about the fact that Melissa McCarthy films just don’t do well and aren’t that good; this was some weird demented Sesame Street mashup that didn’t seem to make any sense.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms – more like the Nutcracker and the LSD Christmas Trip.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web – the reboot of sorts of The Girl with Dragon Tattoo; the film’s star, Claire Foy, suffered from two other major box office fails (Unsane, First Man)

Robin Hood – starring hotties Taron Egerton and Jaime Foxx, this suffered the same fate as Jude Law’s King Arthur movie; Hollywood just doesn’t seem to know what to do with classic stories to bring them to a modern audience.

Mortal Engines – the Peter Jackson produced debacle is the biggest, big budget box office blunder.

Welcome to Marwen – worst opening box office weekend for a major studio; gaining early Oscar buzz and then quickly thrown to the flames by critics for being too boring and schmaltzy – also, no one cared that the disabled characters were not played by disabled actors… ohhhhhh

Holmes & Watson – even though the Will Farrell/John C. Reilly comedy just opened, it is already being considered a huge fail, earning one of the worst Rotten Tomatoes scores of the year

Gotti – starring John Travolta and his toupee; not even John Travolta’s mom watched this piece of garbage