Newsday critic's top 10 songs of 2014

1. BEYONCÉ FEATURING NICKI MINAJ, 'FLAWLESS (REMIX)' (Columbia): In the frenzy to quote Beyoncé's first statement about ElevatorGate, the fact that this was a great song mostly got lost. While so many "reputable" journalistic outlets busied themselves with (completely wrong) proclamations about the imminent collapse of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Carter, Bey simply smiled knowingly, Instagrammed some well-chosen happy family photos and built this impressive remix with Nicki Minaj. They woke up like this! They woke up like this!


2. MIRANDA LAMBERT, 'BATHROOM SINK' (RCA Nashville): In a year filled with esteem anthems, Lambert offers the one that sounds most honest and rocks hardest.
3. MARY J. BLIGE, 'THERAPY' (Capitol): With help from Sam Smith, Blige upends a gospel spiritual to create a soulful ode to the healing powers of therapy that will immediately have you singing along.
4. FUTURE ISLANDS, 'SEASONS (WAITING ON YOU)' (4AD): Singer Samuel T. Herring's performance on "Letterman" wouldn't have gone viral if the song wasn't so majestic, if the idea of Herring's Elton John-esque croon over swooshing synth pop didn't play out oh-so-perfectly.

MusicBest albums of 2014

5. KATE TEMPEST, 'THE BEIGENESS' (Big Dada): The British rapper/poet packs so much story, so much insight into her rhymes that it takes multiple listenings to unpack it all, especially when you keep falling into the deep, deep groove.

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6. D'ANGELO AND THE VANGUARD, 'THE CHARADE' (RCA): The sweet harmonies and the sunny funk mask the cold, hard reality that D throws down in a simple couplet about American race relations: "All we wanted was a chance to talk, 'stead we only got outlined in chalk."
7. MEGHAN TRAINOR, 'ALL ABOUT THAT BASS' (Epic): Every inch of this is perfect, from the bottom to the top.
8. TAYLOR SWIFT, 'BLANK SPACE' (Big Machine): Tay twists her pal Lorde's "Royals" vibe and the persona the tabloids have crafted for her to create a fun showcase for her sense of humor and her ability to build an indestructible chorus.
9. SBTRKT FEAT. EZRA KOENIG, 'NEW DORP, NEW YORK' (XL): Brazen EDM that stretches the boundaries of musical storytelling and political imagery while maintaining a great dance groove and making Vampire Weekend's Koenig sound even more charming than usual.
10. TAKING BACK SUNDAY, 'STOOD A CHANCE' (Hopeless): Three minutes or so of jump-around-and-scream, guitar-driven fun and a passing worry about being "fat and happy, straight to hell."

HONORABLE MENTION: Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk" (RCA); Lykke Li, "Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone" (Atlantic); Mariah Carey feat. Wale, "You Don't Know What to Do" (Interscope); Spoon, "They Want My Soul" (Loma Vista/Republic); La Roux, "Kiss and Not Tell" (Interscope); Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne, "Rather Be" (Atlantic); RAC feat. Matthew Koma, "Cheap Sunglasses" (Interscope); Cloud Nothings, "I'm Not a Part of Me" (Carpark); Tinashe feat. Schoolboy Q, "2 On" (RCA); Gerard Way, "Action Cat" (Reprise)

Giada De Laurentiis, Husband Todd Thompson Divorcing After 11 Years of Marriage

 

Giada De Laurentiis now has one less place to set at the table. The Food Network chef, 44, has split from husband Todd Thompson after 11 years of marriage, she announced via her website on Monday, Dec. 29.

"After an amicable separation since July, Todd and I have decided to end our marriage," the Giada at Home host wrote in a statement, which she also posted to Facebook.

"Although our decision to separate comes with a great deal of sadness," she continued, "our focus on the future and overwhelming desire for our family's happiness has given us the strength to move forward on separate, yet always connected paths."

 De Laurentiis and her fashion designer spouse wed in May 2003. They welcomed their only child, Jade Marie, in March 2008.

 "Todd and I share a beautiful daughter and a lifetime of great memories that we both treasure more than anything," the celeb chef's statement read. "We are so thankful for our friends and family, and really appreciate the support in this time of change."

Who Was the Top-Grossing Actor of the Year?

As if we needed another reason to envy her, Jennifer Lawrence has been named the top-grossing actor of the year, according to Forbes.

Adding up her films' global grosses for 2014, the 24-year-old actress tops the list with $1.4 billion. Two of her movies, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and X-Men: Days of Future Past, were the year's biggest blockbusters.

Coming in at No. 2 is Chris Pratt with $1.2 billion. His breakout film Guardians of the Galaxy raked in $772 million at the global box office. (He also made TVGuide.com's list of the year's best performances.) His status on the list was also helped by the surprise hit The Lego Movie, which grossed $468 million worldwide.

Landing in at No. 4 is Mark Wahlberg with $1 billion for just one film Transformers: Age of Extinction. Chris Evans follows with $801 million, also thanks to Captain America.

Emma Stone, Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Jackman round out the Top 10.

In Memoriam: Remember the stars we lost in 2014

Aamir Khan’s ‘PK’ Is North America’s Biggest Foreign-Lingo Grosser Of 2014

 

 Bollywood star Aamir Khan has outdone himself, just about. His current release, the Rajkumar Hirani-directed comedy/drama PK, has become the highest-grossing foreign-language film of 2014 in North America with a cume to date of $7.91M after two frames. That sets it just below his mega-hit last December, Dhoom 3, which ultimately earned a touch over $8M at the North American box office — but PK could be on track to pass that. After opening last weekend to the biggest Bollywood bow of all time in North America with $3.57M at 272 locations, the UTV-released PK parlayed that into a $6.16M first week and added $1.75M this weekend at 264 dates. In a case of turnabout-is-fair-play, PK just leapfrogged Mexico’s Cantinflas, which was the foreign-language title holder before this weekend with $6.38M. Last year, it was Mexico’s Instructions Not Included which widely ended up the biggest foreign language title in North America, while Dhoom 3 came in 2nd.

PK now has an estimated cume in India of $51.6M and an overseas total of $17.8M (including North America). If the $51.6M cume at home holds after actuals are reported, and not taking currency fluctuations into account, that would catapult PK to the status of biggest Bollywood movie of all time at 327.6 crore — well beyond Dhoom 3‘s 284.27 crore, which at today’s exchange rate would equal $44.8M. It would also be the first time a Bollywood movie passes the 300 crore benchmark.

The story sees Khan as an alien who lands in the Rajasthan desert with a mission to study life on Earth. When the device that allows him to communicate with his spaceship is stolen, he sets out to find it while attempting to blend in. Ultimately, he heads to Delhi where the fish-out-of-water asks innocent questions that hold a deep and valuable meaning about the belief system that humans have created to reach God. There’s some controversy in India from religious groups against the film, but that hasn’t seemed to have dented box office at all.

It’s been a couple of very strong years for Bollywood globally including 2014’s Salman Khan-starrer Kick; Fox’s Hrithik Roshan vehicle, and Knight & Day remake, Bang Bang; and Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year. When PK kicked off last week, it entered the North American Top 10 at No. 9 becoming the third Bollywood title to do so in recent memory, following Dhoom 3 and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, both last year.