Awards probably fill the basement of J.K. Rowling’s abode; this is another to add to the pile. With the Harry Potter book series all wrapped up, I think this is a fair title to bestow on the lady that spun fables till she became wealthier than the Queen. We get the following quote from EW about their selection via Sci Fi Wire:
The magazine said the author—who has sold nearly 400 million copies of her series, which has also been adapted into a hit movie franchise—deserved the honor for getting “people to tote around her big, old-fashioned printed-on-paper books as if they were the hottest new entertainment devices on the planet.”
Rowling was in a class by herself on the magazine’s list of the year’s top entertainers, which was separated by editors into five other categories: prodigies, class clowns, most popular, most buzzed-about and valedictorians, the wire service reported.
Rowling deserves this honor. Her story from modesty to majesty is a fairy tale that rivals anything she has written. She has put books in the hands of countless children and has ignited in them a desire to read. I cannot remember in my lived experience another author that has demanded such a following from children and adults alike. This lady is the Mohammed Ali of children’s literature.
Time will tell if these books are elevated to the cannon of classics. Perhaps children 200 years from now will be able to join the throngs before them in reading these tales. The only benefit future readers will have is the knowledge that Dumbledore is gay. It is the timeless nature of a good book that makes it such a rewarding art-form. As a people we love to communicate through story, and we tend to keep the good ones close to us as we pass from one age to the next. I have a feeling J.K. Rowling has created stories that will live on for many generations to come. This award is certainly appropriate, and good on EW for giving credit where it is due.
The reason I never mentioned Shia was because EW already had him listed…and I completely agree. He’s had a Helluva year.
Crowe also has had a good year (no pun intended to his shitty 2006 film), but still nowhere near the year that Casey Affleck and Josh Brolin have had, “BeerChug” Charlie.
Just because you’re a headline-maker doesn’t automatically make you a great entertainer. At this point, people don’t give a shit about Angelina Jolie and her films. They simply want to hear about her adopting another dozen or so kids with Brad Pitt. That does NOT make her an entertainer!
OH GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK.
You say Brolin and Affleck.
Russell Crowe had a great year too.
Film “nerd” Jaime, if you want to talk about a breakout year then you HAVE TO MENTION Shia Lebeouf. I don’t give a fuck if you liked Transformers or not. And I don’t care if “Gone Baby Gone” was a great movie. You are overlooking the one person that has made more headlines than any actor this year.
I gotta agree with FilmNerdJamie here. The Affleck and Brolin omissions are just fucking atrocious. Both had amazing performances in not one but two films! Gone Baby Gone and especially Assassination of Jesse James for Affleck; Gangster and No Country for Old Men for Brolin.
These don’t even deserve mention this year:
The Sopranos (c’mon, even the last episode sucked)
Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart = FLOP. Beowulf = didn’t do big numbers)
Will Smith (how many movies did he have that came out this year before December? ZERO.)
Johnny Depp (his breakthrough came in 2003!)
The Simpsons (as much as I love them, 1 movie doesn’t make them entertainers of the year in my book and their current seasons of Simpsons still stink)
I hope they make her books into movies directed by Peter Jackson :)
I have to say I completely agree with Rowling as the Top Entertainer of 2007. However, EW always finds a way to fuck up this list…and they have yet again.
Casey Affleck and Josh Brolin are both absent. If any actors have had a great year, it’s them. GONE BABY GONE, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, AMERICAN GANGSTER, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, OCEAN’S 13 and PLANET TERROR.
So what actors are listed instead? Will Smith and Angelina Jolie?!?! How have they had a bigger year than Affleck and Brolin? A MIGHTY HEART bombed and BEOWULF isnt doing that awesome (to be fair, it is doing good business just no “blockbuster” numbers!) And all Smith’s had in 2007 was his Oscar-nod for THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS…and we’ve yet to see how I AM LEGEND will be received.
Seriously…what the fuck?!?