- 📚 Books
- 🎞️ Film
- 🎵 Music
- 📺 Television
- 🎭 Theatre and performance
- 🦸 The heroes of 2020
What we're looking forward to in 2021
Books
Although most brick-and-mortar bookstores might not yet reopen in the early days of 2021, there are more than enough reasons to keep those stores’ online ordering systems in healthy business over the next few months. Here are five Canadian books we can’t wait to read in 2021.
2020 in review
Illustration by Salini Perera
- The Globe 100: Our favourite books of 2020
- Authors, publishers and booksellers reflect on how 2020 has changed the book industry – for the better
- Podcast: The books that shaped 2020
- Four of the best book debuts of 2020
Film
With Warner Bros. sending all of its 2021 films to streaming service HBO Max the same day that they open in theatres, we at least know the upcoming year will have some movies coming out, including a new Dune, a new Matrix, and a new Conjuring. But what about movies that HBO Max-less Canadians can look forward to, whether theatres remain shuttered or not? Here are five 2021 movies that won’t require theatres to be open, or Canadians to turn into VPN experts and/or pirates. And we preview 21 movies coming in 2021, for all tastes and viewing preferences.
2020 in review
Handout
- The top 10 (okay, 20) films of 2020, and how to watch them right now
- The 10 most overlooked, underrated and unfairly dismissed movies of 2020, and how to watch them
- The Top 10 Canadian Films of 2020, a year without rules
- The worst movies of the worst year: 2020′s biggest film failures
- Full Stream Ahead: Top picks from 2020′s best under-the-radar streaming services
Music
No adage had a tougher 2020 than “The show must go on.” Festivals, major tours and dive-bar gigs were wiped away by COVID-19, replaced by a smattering of socially distanced concerts and countless live events streamed online. Yet shows, such as they were, went on. So what will the music scene look like in 2021?
2020 in review
Handout
- The top 10 musical moments of 2020, from The Weeknd’s touchdown year to Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s renaissance
- Fifteen music books that struck a chord in 2020
- Spotify’s list of your top songs of the year shines a light on the real you
Television
The pandemic’s impact on TV production will be illuminated in the early going in 2021. That’s not a bad thing, as some titles, forced to arrive late, might have been ignored in the usual avalanche of fall TV. Now they can emerge new and fresh. Here’s what’s coming to television in 2021.
2020 in review
Handout
- The top 10 television series of 2020, a year when TV was a sanctuary and escape
- Third-annual holiday binge-watching guide: More than 30 series and specials to help you feel better this season
- Great Canadian TV performances of 2020
- The defining TV shows of the Trump era: lying, sexism and greed
Theatre and performance
Making predictions about live theatre is a tricky business at the best of times – and 2020 turned out to be the worst of times. Looking ahead to 2021, at least, we know what we don’t know. Only a very few brave or foolish Canadian theatre companies have announced shows. Here are six theatrical experiences coming up in 2021 that will happen one way or another.
2020 in review
The heroes of 2020
Illustration by Antony Hare
- The Globe and Mail’s Canadian arts heroes of 2020
- Our favourite TV shows, albums, films and arts performances that got us through 2020, our least favourite year
- The books, music and art of 2020 that predicted a pandemic
- 2020 delivered many pandemic-made masterpieces (though no No King Lears yet)
- The top 10 artworks of 2020: the most stunning and startling exhibitions at Canadian galleries and online this year
