Illustration by Heidi Berton
Visual Arts
Crossing: Art, Heritage, and Personal JourneysChrystal Phan/Handout
From celebrating the giants of modern art to a show about the relationship between textile art and abstraction, there’s a lot on offer in visual arts in 2024.
Read more on the five exhibits Arts critic Kate Taylor is anticipating in 2024.
Film
A scene from Dune 2.Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.
If 2023 was the year that Hollywood shut down, then 2024 will be the year in which audiences truly feel the effects of the now-settled strikes. Aside from the pandemic-era desert of, um, just a few years ago, the next 12 months of big-screen releases looks to be the most barren in modern history. But wait, it’s not all bad! There are still a handful – maybe even two handfuls! – of big, juicy, genuinely interesting blockbusters that might just save the day. Here are Hollywood’s best big-budget hopes – guaranteed to be superhero-free.
Read more from Barry Hertz on the 10 most anticipated 2024 blockbusters that just might save movie-going.
Music
Nicki Minaj performs onstage on Dec. 14 in Atlanta, Georgia.Paras Griffin/Getty Images
Forget the unforgiving Canadian cold for a minute, because there’s something to look forward to as we head into 2024: plenty of new music. And whether you’re heading to a live show or more interested in exploring the newest albums, here’s what we’re looking forward to in the year ahead.
Read more from Josh O’Kane on the 5 albums that deliver everything from light funk to arena rock.
Read more from Brad Wheeler on the 10 live shows coming to Canada (before Taylor Swift lands).
Television
Kate Winslet in HBO’s forthcoming The Regime.HBO
Thirty-odd years ago, Bruce Springsteen sang despairingly about “57 channels and nothin’ on,” but the paradox of choice is even more pronounced for the contemporary clicker. With what seems like at least 57 streaming services out there these days, the anxiety of searching for a show is more acute than ever. It’s enough to make you turn to a good book – or back to basic cable, at least.
But before you resign yourself to Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (spring 2024 on Citytv), take a look at five impending shows that might be worth renewing a subscription or two.
Read more from J. Kelly Nestruck on the most promising TV shows of 2024.
Illustration by Heidi Berton
Theatre
After a relatively risk-taking 2023, Canada’s biggest theatre companies seem to be headed back toward the tried and true in 2024 – probably because of the long tail of the pandemic and the even greater precarity it introduced into the performing arts.
Read more from J. Kelly Nestruck on what looks most appetizing amid the classics and contemporary comfort fare.
Books
These titles are among the most-anticipated in early 2024.Handout
Given that many of us are engaged in a continuing Sisyphean battle with the piles of books on our bedside tables, the prospect of a bunch of big-name fiction and non-fiction titles – whose rhyming pairs include Heti and Ondaatje; Oyeyemi and Rushdie – coming out in 2024 may induce anxiety more than excitement. Still, it’s always good to know what’s on the immediate horizon, for purposes of strategy, so consider this your gentle heads-up.
Read more from Emily Donaldson on the most promising titles arriving in the first half of the new year.
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