2014 was a great year in entertainment. There were many chart-topping songs that were released under a variety of different genres, the film industry saw high-grossing sequels and movies based off books, and sports teams and players from California proved victorious over the year. El Cid has an entertainment review for you and a preview of what’s to come in 2015!

2014 was kicked off with the successes of Eminem, Katy Perry, Pharell Williams, Jason Derulo, and John Legend. Sam Smith also made his debut with the hit song “Stay With Me.” By summertime, the music scene exploded and changed entirely with the releases of mega-hits “Fancy” by hip hop/rap artist Iggy Azalea featuring Charlie XCX and “Rude” by Canadian-reggae band MAGIC!. According to Billboard, “Fancy” would continue to stay on the charts for seven consecutive weeks, and “Rude” would stay on for six consecutive weeks.

Within the latter half of the year, Iggy Azalea would appear in a number of top-charting singles like “Problem” by Ariana Grande and “Black Widow” featuring Rita Ora to name a few. Charlie XCX’s career was heavily acknowledged after Iggy Azalea featured her on “Fancy”, and Charlie XCX went on to release the summer single “Boom Clap”.

Singers Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor each took up the number one position on the hot 100 chart from September 6th all the way until the end of the year. Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” appeared on charts for four weeks while her other single “Blank Space” made its way to the charts during the week of November 29th and is still currently number one. Taylor Swift’s 1989 went on to become the most successful album of 2014, selling over 3.6 million albums. By the end of the year, Taylor Swift became the female artist with the second-most weeks at number one with a total of thirty-one weeks.

Meghan Trainor’s single “All About That Bass” stayed in the number-one position for eight weeks between September and November and is currently nominated for “song of the year” in the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. “All About That Bass” went on to top the charts in fifty-eight countries. Meghan Trainor released another single “Lips are Movin” before turning twenty-one years old on December 22nd.

Freshman Isabella Cataquiz gave her opinion on the musical releases of 2014 by saying,”I think 2014 was one of the most interesting years in music. Iggy Azalea created a whole different rap scene while Taylor Swift changed her usual country sound and created a new pop sound… I think both artists will release more songs in 2015.”

Not only was music an important focal point in 2014, but movies were as well. According to boxofficemojo.com, the ten highest grossing films of 2014 were Transformers: Age of Extinction, Guardians of the Galaxy, Maleficent, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and Interstellar.

Seven out of the ten highest grossing films of 2014 were sequels to previous films, and every film earned over 500 million dollars. Transformers: Age of Extinction made almost 1.1 billion dollars and became the nineteenth film in history to make over a billion dollars. It became the highest grossing film worldwide in 2014. Despite all the money it made, Transformers: Age of Extinction received a 19% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.9/10 rating from IMDB.

The August release of Guardians of the Galaxy became the highest grossing film of the summer and received a 90% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.3/10 rating from IMDB. Guardians of the Galaxy stayed at the number-one spot in theaters for four weekends and became the highest grossing film in America by the end of the year. A sequel to the movie is in the works and is expected to be released in 2017.

The Interview ended the year off by finally being released after threats were made by North Korean hackers towards Sony starting in the summer of 2014. It was made available through online purchase by December 24th and through a limited number of chosen theaters on December 25th. The film was given a rating of 54% by Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 7.4/10 by IMDB.

According to vox.com, The Interview has since grossed over 3 million dollars in theaters and over 15 million dollars online, a long stretch from its 44 million dollar budget. The film’s 15 million dollar online profit makes The Interview the highest grossing online movie produced by Sony.

The most recent movies to be released are Leviafan, Selma, The Gambler, American Sniper, Big Eyes, Unbroken, and Into the Woods. All of these films were released either on Christmas day or on New Year’s Eve, and they were the first movies to be played in theaters in 2015 along with other movies.

Sophomore Anthony Balsano explained his thoughts on the movie releases of 2014. “Over the year, I was able to see a few movies and I didn’t think 2014 was the greatest year in film. I didn’t like many of the films I saw that were released, but I didn’t get the chance to see the more ‘successful’ movies like Guardians of the Galaxy which many people said was good. I’m hoping that 2015 will be a better year in film,” said Anthony.

Although movies offered a lot in entertainment in 2014, some of the best entertainment came from sports specifically in California. During the World Series, the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals by just one game. The overall score of the games totaled to be 4-3. During the Stanley Cup Finals, the L.A. Kings beat the New York Rangers by winning four games against the Rangers’ one game win. This was the second time within the decade and within the team’s history that the L.A. Kings won the Stanley Cup.

In horse racing, California Chrome won the 2014 Kentucky Derby and went on to win the 2014 Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland. Despite losing the Triple Crown, California Chrome earned over a million dollars at the Kentucky Derby according to ibtimes.com and has made over four-million dollars since 2011.

Kevin Harvick, born in Bakersfield, California, won the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, and Meb Keflezighi, who lives in San Diego, won the Boston Marathon.

In other sports, the Seattle Seahawks conquered the Denver Broncos 43 to 8 during Super Bowl XLVIII making it the Seahawks’ second Super Bowl win. During the 2014 Fifa World Cup, the United States men’s national soccer team progressed to round sixteen before losing to Belgium 2-1 in overtime. During the game, goalkeeper Tim Howard made a World Cup record of fifteen saves in one game.

During the 2014 football season, all California teams were knocked out of the NFC and AFC playoffs according to ESPN. The San Diego Chargers’ last chance to make it in the wild card was on December 28th when they faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chargers lost to the Chiefs 18-7. Even though the Chiefs won, they did not make it into the playoffs this year either.

Sophomore Daniel Arca commented on how the Chargers played this season. “The Chargers started off well and fluctuated later on in the season. I don’t think Philip Rivers played to his full potential and the players didn’t work well with Rivers this year. They did a lot better last year, and they need more practice so they can do better next year,” said Daniel.

So now that the year is over and 2015 has just begun, what is in store for this year that is possibly better than last year?

2015 will see album releases from many older artists who have been producing music for a long time amongst a few new artists. January will see the releases of Meghan Trainor’s Title, Marilyn Manson’s The Pale Emperor, Fall Out Boy’s American Beauty/American Psycho, Lupe Fiasco’s Tetsuo and Youth, Ne-Yo’s Non-Fiction, Mark Ronson’s Uptown Special, and Papa Roach’s F.E.A.R. (Face Everything and Rise). To be announced in January are albums by Pierce the Vail and Rita Ora.

February will see the releases of Imagine Dragons’ Smoke + Mirrors, Scorpions’ Return to Forever, and Kid Rock’s First Kiss. March will see the releases of Modest Mouse’s Strangers to Ourselves, Madonna’s Rebel Heart, and Ludacris’ Ludaversal. There are a few albums recorded by new artists that are scheduled to be released in April, and Def Leppard will be releasing an album that is to be announced in May. So far, the only months that albums have been scheduled to release in are between January to May.

Artists who will be releasing albums throughout the year that are to be announced include 50 Cent, Adele, Björk, Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Britney Spears, Christina Agulera, Coldplay, Collective Soul, Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, Ellie Goulding, Fleetwood Mac, Guns N’ Roses, Gwen Stefani, Iggy Azalea, Kelly Clarkson, Kid Cudi, Limp Bizkit, Megadeath, Metallica, Motörhead, Muse, No Doubt, The Offspring, Raekwon, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Victoria Justice amongst others.

There may seem like a lot of albums that will be released this year, but there are even more movies that are scheduled for release. Many of the movies that are on schedule are sequels to previous movies much like the successful sequels that were released in 2014.

According to movieinsider.com, the sequels that are scheduled to be released in January through June of this year are [REC] 4: Apocalypse, Taken 3, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, Spongebob: Sponge Out of Water, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Furious 7, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2, Mad Max: Fury Road, Insidious: Chapter 3, Jurassic World, The Transporter Legacy, and Ted 2.

Many of the sequels that will be released between January and June of 2015 are highly anticipated and long awaited comedy or horror movies. Such is the case with Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension and Spongebob: Sponge Out of Water, for example. Some sequels will even be released decades after the first movie came out. Jurassic World is the sequel to the fantasy-thriller Jurassic Park that came out twenty-two years ago and Mad Max: Fury Road is the first Mad Max film to be released in thirty years.

Scheduled sequels for July through December include Magic Mike XXL, Sinister 2, Crouching Dragon Hidden Tiger II: The Green Destiny, Hotel Transylvania 2, London has Fallen, Vacation, Spectre, Friday the 13th Sequal, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip, and Mission: Impossible V.

There are a major amount of scheduled films that have a very pricey budget. Spectre, the twenty-forth James Bond movie, cost 300 million dollars to make according to deadline.com. Star Wars: The Force Awakens cost 200 million dollars, and according to Fandango, it is the most highly anticipated movie of 2015. Many believe that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will make over 2 billion dollars. If this is achieved, it will become the third film in history to do so.

Junior Adam Stocker gave his thoughts on long-awaited movie sequels. “It’s nice to see movies following though with their franchises, but some movies are a little hard to follow through with especially if they are being released some time after the first films came out. The second Spongebob movie is a great example of this. The original movie came out ten years ago and the sequel looks completely different from the first. It might not be so good because of this change,” said Adam.

The music and film industries offer a lot this year, but there is also a lot to offer in sports. Super Bowl XLIX will occur on February 1st at the University of Phoenix Stadium, and the 2015 football season will start on September 10th. The 2015 MLB season will kick off on April 5th and will end on October 4th. The 2014-2015 NBA season will end on April 15th with the playoffs beginning on April 18th, and the NHL regular season will end on April 11th.

In overview, 2014 was a highly interesting year in entertainment. Musical artists switched the mainstream pop soundscape of songs into a soundscape consisting of a variety of different genres. Movie sequels gained both fan-based and critical attention, and the majority of the films made millions. California-based sports teams and players dominated their competitors and entertained their viewers and fans as well. So how will 2015 be in comparison to 2014? That is entirely up to opinion.