Biggest winners and losers of 2013???

What Went Right and Wrong in 2013: When he got the job as director of "Star Wars Episode VII," it seemed like the right time to go ahead and crown Abrams the new franchise king of Nerdville, but that was before the release of "Star Trek Into Darkness." As much as he got right on the 2009 reboot, he seemed to get wrong this time out. There is an obvious need to keep secrets on big giant films like these, but so much time and energy was spent keeping the most obvious secret in recent history (of course Khan is the bad guy… what other "Star Trek" villain has that much name value?) that it hurt the actual film, and even Abrams seems to be aware of that now.

What's Ahead in 2014: It's going to be a long year of small announcements as filming gets underway for "Star Wars," and Abrams is going to spend the year focused on delivering what may well be the single most under-the-microscope event film ever made. It's not going to be an easy job, but his various TV projects and producing gigs on films like "Star Trek 3," "Mission: Impossible 5," and film versions of both "Portal" and "Half-Life," should keep this ridiculously busy guy even busier.

WINNER: Beyonce

 In a year where millions were spent to promote an effort like Lady Gaga's "Artpop," or high-end deals were struck with tech companies like with Jay Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" or a lead single needs to hit like on Katy Perry's "Prism," Beyonce just showed up to the party with a surprise self-titled effort in the middle of December like NBD. Selling more than 600,000 copies with none of the above, she even managed to make 17 music videos in total secrecy to boot. Even better? The album was good, and she became the first female artist in history to have her first five efforts go to No. 1.


WINNER: Everyone associated with 'Breaking Bad'

 

WINNER: Mark Burnett

After the success of "The Bible," Burnett jumped ship to take the sequel, "A.D.," to NBC, where he's also developing a miniseries project about the Mayflower. And then Burnett also has follow-up seasons for all of those reality hits.

LOSER: Jim Carrey

This was supposed to be Carrey's big comeback year, what with his roles in two high-profile films: magician comedy "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" co-starring Steve Carell and the ultra-violent comic-book sequel "Kick-Ass 2." Unfortunately for the former box-office powerhouse, both films floundered commercially and drew largely negative reviews, dumping water on Carrey's would-be return to form. The latter film's performance certainly wasn't helped by the star's  refusal to promote it owing to concerns of screen violence in the wake of the Newtown school shootings.

WINNER: Alfonso Cuaron

What Went Right and Wrong in 2013: When he got the job as director of "Star Wars Episode VII," it seemed like the right time to go ahead and crown Abrams the new franchise king of Nerdville, but that was before the release of "Star Trek Into Darkness." As much as he got right on the 2009 reboot, he seemed to get wrong this time out. There is an obvious need to keep secrets on big giant films like these, but so much time and energy was spent keeping the most obvious secret in recent history (of course Khan is the bad guy… what other "Star Trek" villain has that much name value?) that it hurt the actual film, and even Abrams seems to be aware of that now.
What's Ahead in 2014: It's going to be a long year of small announcements as filming gets underway for "Star Wars," and Abrams is going to spend the year focused on delivering what may well be the single most under-the-microscope event film ever made. It's not going to be an easy job, but his various TV projects and producing gigs on films like "Star Trek 3," "Mission: Impossible 5," and film versions of both "Portal" and "Half-Life," should keep this ridiculously busy guy even busier.
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