My Pop Culture Wishes For 2012

Well my little Popettes, we made it.  It's a whole new year!  I don't know about you, but I wasn't a big fan of 2011.  After a bunch of resolutions and some high hopes for change, I feel almost certain that 2012 has to be a better year.  And I'm hoping its a much better year in Pop Culture-land too.  Here is what I'm crossing my fingers to see in entertainment in the next twelve months:

Movies:

• Great films that are actually great films.  When the world raved about Like Crazy or The Descendants this year, I was hoping they would actually be good.  But I pretty much learned that the world had just been drinking the Kool Aid.  I hated almost every film that I was supposed to love, which left me with very little fulfillment at the cinema this past year.  I'm hoping that when the next little Sundance darling or Oscar film comes out, there is legitimate quality in every sense of the word and that I walk out of the theater with a little faith left in the people who make movies.
• Good sequels.  A lot of lighter fare from years past are bringing our favorite characters back this year for another go at the big screen.  I'm hoping that American Reunion is actually funny and doesn't just make us all feel old.  And after not being a fan of the second film, I have my fingers crossed that Men in Black III can restore the franchise to its former glory.
• James Cameron proves that a post 3D conversion can be done.  I mean, I was a twelve year old girl when Titanic came out, so there is no way that I'm not going to see the 3D version this year.  But I'm hoping Cameron actually makes it worth my while in a new and exciting way.
• Big blockbusters are also good films.  I really do have my doubts about The Hunger Games based on everything I have seen so far (most people I know do not share my concern) but I REALLY want it to be just as good as the source material.  Similarly The Amazing Spider-Man will do well at the box office, but due to my undying love of Andrew Garfield and general fondness for the rest of the cast I'd like it to be a critical success as well.  Can we get some quality moneymakers please?
• I'd like Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter to do well enough, but can it please not make Benjamin Walker a star?  Broadway would like him back please.
• Please don't ruin The Lorax.  This was always my favorite Suess book, probably because it is dreary and dark and a big warning about taking your natural resources for granted.  The film?  Looks peppy and colorful, adventurous and bright.  I hate it.  I'm hoping this is only really the first act of the film and that it in some way stays faithful to the soul of what The Lorax is about.
• Let there be too many choices for Christmas films this year.  After the slim pickings in 2011, I'd like a plethora of quality to choose from this year.  As long as Les Miserables or The Great Gatsby don't get postponed or panned, I have a feeling that this is the wish most likely to come true.

Music:

• We get some quality "best new artist" contenders who weren't manufactured by a record label.  It seems as though the one fun indie band seems to take the prize come awards season, so wouldn't it be great if we had several authentic and quality acts to choose from?
• Chris Brown's new album, Fortune is a disaster and he goes away forever, like he should have done ages ago.
• Justin Bieber proves that he has legitimate staying power by coming out with a song that the over 30 (or hell, even 20) set really likes.  This does not include doing Beatles covers with Stevie Wonder, Beibs.
• The late 90s/Early2000s has a comeback.  With the likes of Eve 6, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind and The Cranberries all dropping albums this year we could have a fun little retro year that brings me back to Junior High.
• Green Day's new album is awesome.  I suspect this won't be hard.
• Actual new music tops the charts way more often than Glee covers do.

Theater:

• It becomes cool to be a theater geek.  I've been wishing for this every year since I was little, but with Glee and Book of Mormon and now the potential that Smash brings, 2012 is the year it can happen.
• Newsies gets better.  I saw the regional production of this show at The Papermill Playhouse and was a little disappointed.  Sure the concept is ripe for the stage but it needed a bigger ensemble and a little more showing coupled with a little less telling.  I'd like to see it made a little more polished before hitting Broadway this year.  Also, now that he's available, they should do this thing with Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly one again.  Just announce it already.
• Yank finally happens.  This show had so much buzz Off-Broadway but has yet to make the previously announced transition to the big stage.  Fingers crossed that this is the year as I have been dying to see this show.
• Death of A Salesman is actually good.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Linda Emond and Andrew Garfield in this classic Arthur Miller play directed by Mike Nichols.  There is no reason this should be anything short of brilliant.  So I really hope it is.
• Porgy And Bess proves Sondheim wrong.
• We get the next Rent/Spring Awakening/Next To Normal, a little rock musical that ends up being kind of epic and changes the way we think about theater.

Television:

• There is finally a network show that is both high in quality and gets decent ratings.  This is crazy, but I dare to dream.
• Smash is as good as everyone says it is.  Also, it stays true to producing a quality television show and doesn't get Glee-itis
• Mid season shows like Awake, G.C.B. and Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23 leave the 2011-12 season with more hits than misses
• AMC goes back to making more shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad and less like The Killing and The Walking Dead
• Season two of American Horror Story somehow proves all of us naysayers wrong
• Dan and Blair get together on Gossip Girl.  Plllleeeeeaaaasssseeeeeee.
• The powers that be gets over reality television and we are left with a lone few high quality competition shows and far less "let's follow rich people" shows.  In a related wish, The Kardashians go away for good.
• General Hospital does not get cancelled.  Instead, it reinvents itself and the daytime drama is saved.
• Parks and Recreation gets a lot of Emmy love.
• The Newsroom proves that you don't need a lot of money and crazy production value to be a hit show on HBO.  You just need Aaron Sorkin.  Also, the world does not fall too much in love with John Gallagher Jr. and steal him from the theater community.
• We get some new cute actors to love and adore.  Quality is great, but pretty is damn important too.

That's all folks!  What do you want to happen in the world of Film/Music/Theater/TV this year?