Did Beyonce break the Super Bowl? Who knows, since a few minutes after her halftime show—which included her outshining a Destiny’s Child reunion and making it clear that the group would have been nothing without her—the power failed at the Superdome. Yup, Beyonce broke the Super Bowl.
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Oscars ought to be awarded for voice-over acting, and in this case Johansson, playing Samantha, a Siri-like voice-command operating system that falls in love with humans, should even be considered for the Academy Award for best actress.
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What else did you expect from Kanye? On his Yeezus Tour, Kanye brought out the Son of God to join him on stage. “White Jesus, is that you?” he would say. An absolutely over-the-top and quintessentially Kanye moment.
The song of the summer was not “Get Lucky” but “What Does the Fox Say,” a perfectly assembled satire of the mindless, wordless, very catchy dance hits (like “Get Lucky”) that dominate the music scene today.
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Weiner could have won “worst performance” for his mayoral campaign, but he wins our respect for coming up with the most memorable alter ego since Borat.
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Many people were divided about Woody Allen’s offering in 2013, but everyone agreed that Blanchett’s execution of a woman’s complete breakdown was magnificent.
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Acid Rap was only a mixtape, but Chance the Rapper’s eccentric and trippy emceeing was so good that the album wound up on many yearend best-of lists.
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He nearly destroyed a city, but the crack-smoking Toronto mayor’s real-life Chris Farley impersonation entertained us during a slow autumn. So thanks, Rob Ford.
Mark Rylance has been superhuman in repertory at the Belasco Theater in New York in Richard III and Twelfth Night, playing the murderous king by day and grieving damsel in distress Olivia by night, in full, spectacular drag.
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No. 1-ranked Alabama was tied 28-28 against fourth-ranked Auburn, with one second left on the Auburn 38-yard line, when Bama opted to try a game-winning 57-yard field goal. Except the kick fell short, and Auburn Chris Davis caught it in the end zone and returned it 109 yards for a touchdown to win the game and end Bama’s hopes for a national title hat trick.
David E. Klutho
It was either the nadir of western civilization or the moment that broke pop culture, but she singlehandedly put the word “twerking” in the Oxford Dictionaries, and can you seriously say she didn’t accomplish what she set out to do?
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Some of us bought it at the time, when we saw “Caitlin Heller” twerk and catch fire. Only later was she revealed to be a hoax, a stuntwoman doing a viral video for Jimmy Kimmel. You got us.
He did a fantastic job filling in for Jon Stewart during his sabbatical to direct his first movie, Rosewater, and his farewell (he’s getting his own show on HBO) was one of the most moving TV moments in recent memory.
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Do you still remember the Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax? Reporters Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey of Deadspin revealed in January that Te’o’s “girlfriend” Lennay Kekua did not exist, and Te’o was the victim of a hoax perpetrated by family friend Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. I’m not sure if the best performance award ought to go to Deadspin, Tuiasosopo, or Te’o, but this was a hell of a bizarre tale.
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It took incredible courage for Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards to come out as gay, becoming the first active American male professional athlete in a major sport to do so. Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay player to join Major League Soccer when he signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy in May.
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Some 10 characters, all different, but they look the same because they are revealed to be clones, and played by Maslany with varying levels of subtlety and finesse. In the hands of another actress this might be a weak gimmick, but for Maslany this is a star-making turn.
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Even if the NFL reviews a lateral pass that could take away Manning’s single-season yardage record, it was still by all standards one of the greatest quarterback seasons of all time, as he broke Tom Brady’s record for most touchdowns in the season.
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Goodbye, Walter White. We turned to you on some Sunday nights to witness the most gripping transformation of a human being since Macbeth, but now you’re gone, and we’ll remember your name.
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Kim broke the Internet with this Instagram shot of her postnatal booty. You go girl.
And Seth Rogen and James Franco broke the Internet with this parody of Kimye’s video for “Bound 2.” Good job guys.
