Best & Worst of 2019 — from TikTok to scrunchies
Hugh Jackman will perform July 11-12, 2019, at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows the characters Lucy/Wyldstyle, voiced by Elizabeth Banks, left, and Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part."
In this Sunday, June 4, 2017, handout photo provided by Dave Hogan for One Love Manchester, singers Ariana Grande, left, and Miley Cyrus perform at the One Love Manchester tribute concert in Manchester, north western England, Sunday, June 4, 2017. One Love Manchester is raising money for those affected by the bombing at the end of Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester on May 22, 2017. (Dave Hogan via AP)
Arielle Jacobs as Jasmine in "Aladdin."
The year 2019 is on its last legs and we can’t help but look back at some of its highs and lows.
For our annual TX. Best & Worst survey, some of our staff members voted on the things they liked the most and the least in this year’s movies, trends, music, TV shows and news events.
We don’t claim to do a scientific survey, just a tally of opinions by some of our writers. And since the things that some of us love are the things others cannot stand, a few items show up in both the “best” and “worst” categories.
Look over our results and see how they compare to your memories of 2019.
MOVIES
Best overall film
Runner up: A tie between “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and “Jumanji: The Next Level”
Worst overall film
“Aladdin”
Runner up: “Charlie’s Angels” and ”Frozen II”
Best comedy
Runner up: A tie between “The Secret Life of Pets 2” and “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part”
Worst comedy
Runner up: It’s a toss-up between “Hustlers” and “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.”
Of the “Dora” movie, Kaia McClure of Syracuse High says, “I expected more out of this than just the average film, considering the actors chosen. It was kind of a letdown overall in quality.”
Best dramatic film
A tie between “Glass” and “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
Worst dramatic film
“Rocket Man”
Best sequel
A tie between “Avengers: End Game” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home”
Runner up: “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
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Worst sequel
“Frozen II”
Best movie trailer
“Frozen II”
Runner up: ”Knives Out”
“The (‘Knives Out’) trailer is seriously intense, and it makes the movie seem amazing,” McClure said. “It isn’t misleading at all, and the movie seems even more interesting once you see the trailer!”
Worst movie trailer
“Sonic the Hedgehog”
Runner up: “Bombshell”
TELEVISION
Best TV show
Our favorites are “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Good Place,” This Is Us,” “The Mandalorian” and “Seinfeld.”
Worst TV show
A tie between “Dance Moms” and “Stranger Things”
Runner up: “Fuller House”
Best reality show
Runner up: “America’s Got Talent” and “Wipe Out”
Honorable mention: “Survivor,” “The Masked Singer,” “Nailed It!,” “The Voice” and “The Amazing Race.”
Worst reality show
A tie between “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and “Love Island”
Runner up: “Dance Moms,” “Chrisley Knows Best” and “Sister Wives.”
Favorite binge-watching series
“The Office”
Runner up: “The Mindy Project” and “Jack Reacher”
ACTORS
Best movie actor
A tie between Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland
Runner up: Hugh Jackman and Will Smith
Honorable mention: Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez, Seth Rogan, Kevin Hart and Tom Hanks.
Worst movie actor
Nasim Pedrad
Runner up: Adam Scott and Vin Diesel
Best supporting actor
Keanu Reeves
Runner up: Zendaya
Actor we’d most like to have dinner with
The “Chris Trio” — Chris Pratt/Chris Evans/Chris Hemsworth
Runner up: Tom Holland, Andy Samberg
Most annoying/irritating celebrity
James Charles
Runner up: Justin Bieber, Jeffree Star, Jojo Siwa
Of Bieiber, McClure says, “Ever since he wrote his first song, he has always been a nuisance to me. I hate hearing him on the radio, and his voice is just as annoying as it was the first time.”
MUSIC
Best artist
Runner up: Rihanna, The Beatles and Ariana Grande
Grande has a “beautiful” vocal range, McClure says. “Though some of her songs can be inappropriate, you can always listen to the clean version,” she adds.
Worst artist
A tie between Troye Sivan, Billie Eilish, Halsey and Cardi B
Best artist no one else has heard of
Marina and the Diamonds
Runner up: Alexander 23 and Ray LaMontagne
Best new song
“100 Bad Days” by AJR
Runner up: “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, and “You Make Every Day Feel Like It’s Christmas” by the Jonas Brothers
Worst new song
A tie between “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I, and “Cheating on You” by Charlie Puth
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Most overplayed song
A tie between “Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande and ”Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X
Runner up: “Senorita”
Best new album
“Pray for the Wicked” by Panic! at the Disco
Runner up: A tie between “Jaime” by Brittany Howard and “Happiness Begins” by the Jonas Brothers
Worst new album
“Lover” by Taylor Swift
“While there are some good tracks on this album, there are very few good quality songs,” McClure says. “If you hear Taylor Swift in person, you will also realize that she is heavily auto-tuned in recordings.”
Best Pandora station
AJR
Honorable mention: Motley Crew, Disney and Christmas
TRENDS
Best fashion trend
Scrunchies
Honorable mention: rolled jeans, athleisure and spiral hair elastics
Worst fashion trend
Bell bottoms
Runner up: Cropped jackets and mom jeans
Best hairstyle
Either guys with curly hair or wavy/curly hair in general
Worst hairstyle
Mullets
Honorable mention: perms and man buns
Best Twitter trend
A tie between Baby Yoda and President Donald Trump’s tweets.
Best YouTube personality
Runner up: A tie between Nicole Tv and Do it yourself Bri
McClure says she likes Bri: “He is a local YouTube personality, and his videos always help me get better acquainted with my car, and he has helped me learn to fix things that I wouldn’t have known how to fix otherwise!”
Worst YouTube personality
James Charles
Best YouTube challenge
“Anything You Can Carry, I’ll Pay For”
Runner up: A tie between “Letting The Person in Front of Me Decide What I Eat” and The Ice Bucket Challenge
Worst YouTube challenge
The Pause Challenge
Runner up: The Zoom Challenge
Best new app
TikTok
Runner up: YouTube Red
Best new trend that got old fast
Area 51
Runner up: Man buns
Best date activity
Skiing
Runner up: Trampoline park
Worst date activity
Hiking
Honorable mention: going to movies or to The Rush
Best eatery
Chick-fil-A
Runner up: Bella’s, In-N-Out Burger, Taco Time and Pace’s Drive-In
Best place to buy clothes
TJ Maxx
Runner up: Ross, Kohl’s and Amazon
Best snack food
Chips
Honorable mention: popcorn, pizza and Ding Dongs.
Worst snack food
Vegetables, Cool Ranch Doritos and raw broccoli
BOOKS
Best new book
A tie between ”Steelheart,” “Unwind” and “The Trials of Apollo”
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Best book we had to read in English class
“The Great Gatsby”
Runner up: Tie between “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Lord of the Flies,” “Ceremony” and “The Count of Monte Cristo”
Of the latter, McClure says, “I was bored at first, just like how any book reading for an assignment begins, but it really grew on me, and now I can see why my family likes this book so much! It is so interesting and invites new perspectives that you may not get from any other book!”
Worst book we had to read in English class
“Romeo and Juliet”
Runner up: “Lord of the Flies”
Favorite book to reread
A tie between “Steelheart”, “Unwind,” “The Hate U Give,” the Percy Jackson books and “Doon”
“(Doon) was seriously captivating. From start to finish I was so into the book, I quite literally could not put it down and stayed up all night reading it,” McClure says.
NEWS
Biggest national/world news story
A tie between the fires in the Amazon rainforest and the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Biggest Utah news story
A tie between medical marijuana legislation and allegations of the misuse of $100 billion of investments in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Most heartwarming/’feel-good’ news story
A report that terrorism is on the decline.
Silliest/least important news story
A tie between a survey recommending Santa be gender-neutral and Trump’s impeachment inquiry.