2014 List Part Two--Underwhelming Film/TV/Music of the year.

OVERRATED-TO-WILDLY-OVERRATED FILMS OF 2014:
BIRDMAN, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, NIGHTCRAWLER
the first is a well-acted sorrow-and-pity wankfest with jazz drum score which overinflates an interesting idea about a movie star seeking credibility on the Broadway stage;  its success is apparently due to pandering to above-it-all audience members who moan about superhero product crowding out smarter films while refusing to seek out and champion the latter; terrific monologue about two-thirds of the way through from Lindsay Duncan playing a stereotypical I-will-destroy-you critic
re GRAND BUDAPEST: Wes Anderson doing a NATIONAL LAMPOON version of 30s-era Ernst Lubitsch films few people in the audience probably saw--but partially saved by brilliant seriocomic performance from Ralph Fiennes; a big step backwards from the excellence of MOONRISE KINGDOM
as for NIGHTCRAWLER: Dan Gilroy thinks he's doing a more profound exploration of the overobvious subject matter of violent, superficial local TV news than he actually is; Jake Gyllenhaal does his best with a two-dimensional cartoon Amoral Nowhere Man, while the real acting comes from Rene Russo, Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed
WILDLY OVERRATED BY ROLLING STONE:
HIGH HOPES--an album released by Bruce Springsteen apparently to fill a Sony/Columbia Records contractual obligation; better that Springsteen had just released his versions of the title track and "Dream Baby Dream" as what used to be known as a Double-A side single online
DISAPPOINTMENT FROM A TALENTED DIRECTOR:
Terry Gilliam's mostly-seen-on-VOD THE ZERO THEOREM best serves its viewers by making them want to see BRAZIL again
BEST COMMENT ON CABLE NEWS IN 2014:
Larry King discussing missing-plane coverage of his former employer CNN by referring to its use of the term "Breaking News" as synonym for "Breaking Supposition" and "Breaking Speculation."
MILDLY OVERRATED FILMS OF 2014:
TOP FIVE--not quite Chris Rock's GOOD MORNING VIETNAM
INHERENT VICE--Paul Thomas Anderson's latest (adapted from Thomas Pynchon's novel) is better than most of what's out there in the marketplace, but a slight slide downhill after his twin masterpieces THERE WILL BE BLOOD and THE MASTER

Eulogizing Piers Morgan's CNN career.

Most Americans are still contentedly unaware of Piers Morgan's UK tabloid past (including being questioned about phone hacking that occurred with Rupert Murdoch publications).

Instead they may remember his US television breakout as  Omarosa's blustering nemesis on THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE, followed by a judging stint on Simon Cowell's AMERICA'S GOT TALENT.

Morgan came to CNN prior to Jeff Zucker's current "trivia is News too" regime.  The apparent reason for the hiring of Piers was that he would be a younger, more vibrant alternative to Larry King.

Essentially, Piers Morgan was obsequious, Tory-leaning and not too probing an interviewer.

The exception was his post-Newtown advocacy of gun control--something that caused CNN executives to reach for smelling salts.  Unfortunately, Morgan tossed some of this goodwill away by giving airtime to the kind of pro-gun advocates he could engage with via cartoonish confrontation. But, as CNN/HLN viewers know, outsized guests and panel "experts" are considered "good television."

Apparently former NIGHTLINE host Bill Weir is being considered for Morgan's CNN slot.

And recently, CNN tried some pilot shows tailored for Don Lemon's new social conservative persona.

 Regardless of its flaws, we'll now be looking at LARRY KING LIVE as part of an era in CNN history where news was treated with the relative sobriety of, say, Edward R. Murrow's SEE IT NOW.

WHAT HENRY FONDA SAID