The Top Arts and Entertainment Stories of 2014

The Details: JANUARY: Young makes headlines protesting the effects of the Alberta oil sands development on the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the environment as a whole. APRIL: Young surprises fans with the unexpected release of cover album A Letter Home, recorded in Voice-o-Graph recording booth. JUNE: Chrissie Hynde employs Young on her first solo album, Stockholm. JULY: Jimmy Fallon parodies Young in reunion with Crosby, Stills, and Nash on The Tonight Show; Young files for divorce from wife Pegi after 36 years of marriage. SEPTEMBER: The director’s cut of Young’s 1982 film Human Highway screens at TIFF; three separate versions of new Young song “Who’s Going to Stand Up?” are released. OCTOBER: Two books about Young are released – Young Neil: The Sugar Mountain Years, by Sharry Wilson, and Special Deluxe, by Young himself; Young appears/performs on The Colbert Report and declares U.S. President Obama should be impeached for fracking; Young’s ground-breaking music player, Pono, available for download. NOVEMBER: Young releases Storytone, his latest album, as both a solo effort and an orchestral album.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Irish rockers U2 raised the ire of music fans around the world by releasing their latest album, Songs of Innocence, to Apple iTunes users, with the music automatically appearing in their song libraries. The good news: the ill-conceived PR stunt only affected iTunes users, who resented having a whole album automatically downloaded without their permission. The bad news: it’s estimated that more than half a billion people use iTunes.
Why It’s Relevant: Musicians in the future can learn from this. DO expand your creative horizons and challenge yourself artistically. DON’T take the results of all that work and download it to people’s electronic devices without their permission.

But lost in the story of the late night shuffle is the surge of new, and younger viewers flocking to late night TV. Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, which features celebs playing games or performing with the host after some back-and-forth banter, has proven particularly popular with the 18-49 demo, who routinely propel clips from the show to viral video status online.

However, as The Hollywood Reporter noted in June, “the most compelling part of the post-Jay Leno story is how Fallon hasn’t really hurt the competition. He’s brought new younger viewers, in that coveted 18-49 demographic, to late night. His wide margin of victory hasn’t taken away any considerable portion of David Letterman’s or Jimmy Kimmel’s audiences.”

That means that not only are older, long time viewers still tuning in, but a whole new generation is also discovering late night.

Crazy thought: Johnny Carson was 37 when he debuted as host of The Tonight Show. Fallon, who arguably resembles Carson’s style more than any previous Tonight Show host, took over the show at age 39. Carson’s show re-defined late night. Fallon is showing signs of doing the same. In 30 years, will Fallon be this generation’s Johnny Carson?

Katie Couric and John Molner

Melissa Etheridge and Linda Wallem

Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon

Willard Scott and Paris Keena

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg

Why It’s Relevant: If you can’t count on the pure, binding, and lasting love of a Hollywood marriage, then your heart must be made of stone.

Unfortunately, Bale’s staff couldn’t halt the flood of negative reviews from critics. Meanwhile, theatregoers ensured a string of superhero flicks and franchise favourites topped the worldwide box office rankings this year. The top 10 grossing films (worldwide) of 2014 were:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction ($1,087,404,499)
2. Guardians of the Galaxy ($772,152,345)
3. Maleficent ($757,752,378)
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past ($746,045,700)
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714,083,572)
6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($708,982,323)
7. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($708,279,489)
8. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 ($644,458,000)
9. Interstellar ($635,433,000)
10. How to Train Your Dragon 2 ($618,909,935)

Why it’s Relevant: The next time you wonder why seemingly every major Hollywood film has to either be part of a trilogy, feature superheroes in capes and tights, or both, take a glance at the box office numbers above.

Fiction: Thomas King, The Back of the Turtle
Andrée A. Michaud, Bondrée

Non-Fiction: Michael Harris, The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We’ve Lost in a World of Constant Connection
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, Tenir tête

Drama: Jordan Tannahill, Age of Minority: Three Solo Plays
Carole Fréchette, Small Talk

Poetry: Arleen Paré, Lake of Two Mountains
José Acquelin, Anarchie de la lumière

Children’s Literature, Text: Raziel Reid, When Everything Feels like the Movies
Linda Amyot, Le jardin d’Amsterdam

Children’s Literature, Illustration: Jillian Tamaki, This One Summer
Marianne Dubuc, Le lion et l’oiseau

French to English Translation: Peter Feldstein, Paul-Émile Borduas: A Critical Biography

English to French Translation: Daniel Poliquin, L’Indien malcommode : un portrait inattendu des Autochtones d’Amérique du Nord

Hollywood’s other major hack attack came in November, when alleged North Korean cyber-terrorists broke into Sony Pictures’ computer system, shutting down operations and releasing everything from confidential information belonging to employees and celebs, to embarrassing email conversations between Sony personnel trashing stars such as Adam Sandler and Angelina Jolie. The hackers also released five Sony films online (four of which hadn’t hit theatres yet).

Why It’s Relevant: In the case of the nude leaks, it brought the conversation about privacy rights and security to the forefront of public consciousness. As for the Sony situation, the hacks came in retaliation to the company’s upcoming comedy The Interview, starring Seth Rogan and James Franco, the plot of which centres around the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sony subsequently cancelled the film’s release, though they agreed to release it in some theatres and on Youtube after overwhelming criticism for bowing to North Korean threats, including from U.S. President Barack Obama.

Also in October, CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi took a leave of absence from his job hosting the popular interview program Q – presumed by many to be due to a period of mourning over the recent passing of his beloved father. A few days later, the CBC announced it was cutting ties with Ghomeshi, followed by a lawsuit by the host against his former employer and an open letter to the public detailing his distorted opinion that he was fired due to “the risk of my private sex life being made public as a result of a campaign of false allegations pursued by a jilted ex girlfriend and a freelance writer.”

In reality, Ghomeshi was fired after CBC received a video reportedly showing a woman with a cracked rib caused by the host. Professional representatives and cultural institutions severed relations with Ghomeshi as more and more women came forward with accusations of abuse and sexual assault. Ghomeshi hired high-profile lawyer Marie Henein, dropped his lawsuit and eventually surrendered to police, where he was charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “overcoming resistance by choking.” The CBC also came under fire for failing to act appropriately when employees reported mistreatment at the hands of Ghomeshi.

Why It’s Relevant: Like with the nude leaks, these events brought a very important conversation to the forefront of public consciousness. In this case, it’s the treatment of victims of abuse, and how difficult it is for them to come forward when faced with scepticism, disbelief, and even blame for the actions of their accuser.

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo also ended this year, but that show belongs on our list of “Shows We Never Watched and Lost This Year.”

Why It’s Relevant: Honey Boo Boo is never relevant.

P.D. James, 94

Casey Kasem, 82

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 87

Juanita Moore, 99

Mike Nichols, 83

John Pinette, 50

Harold Ramis, 69

Tommy Ramone, 65

Joan Rivers, 81

Mickey Rooney, 93

L’Wren Scott, 49

Pete Seeger, 94

Elaine Stritch, 89

Shirley Temple, 85

Eli Wallach, 98

Robin Williams, 63