Illustration by Jillian Tamaki
And you thought the beat slowed down? Come on, our favourite 100 things about 2005…
1. Strange Love. Romeo and Juliet with hip-hop beats and way too much alcohol. In a year when reality TV lost much of its zing, this show — documenting the unlikely romantic alliance between Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav and the statuesque, straight-to-video icon Brigitte Nielsen — goosed the genre. Pathetic, touching, frightening. Only in America.
2. Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company. As he did with Dying at Grace, his 2003 masterpiece about a palliative-care ward, Canadian documentarian Allan King continued to find grace, dignity and humour in the human condition. Here, he followed several elderly men and women suffering from dementia and memory loss. Beautiful and unforgettable.
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. This literary non pareil returned with a 9/11 novel that’s both a masterful fiction experiment and a poignant meditation on loss.
4. The Michael Jackson Trial. E!’s daily re-enactment of Jacko’s sex crimes trial featured the following cast members: as assistant DA, a “television infomercial host [who] has been the spokesperson for many corporate promotional, training and sales videos;” a judge whose bio boasts that he is “widely recognized by Trekkies as Romulan Tal in the original TV series Star Trek;” and, playing Jackson, a man who has made his living impersonating the deposed king of pop since 1996 (see his transformation here). A new depth was plumbed. Does this pit have any bottom?
5. Junebug. Director Phil Morrison’s stately paced debut delivered an intelligent and complex look at an over-played subject: a dysfunctional Southern family. In Morrison’s assured hands, the result was sharply funny and unexpectedly affecting.
6. R. Kelly, Trapped In the Closet. You can’t spell hubris without R. Nor, apparently, can you create the best long-form music video since Thriller without including the lyric “Oh my God, a rubber!” as a key plot twist.
7. M.I.A. From the Congo to Colombo… to Calgary? Believe it: Arular, Maya Arulpragasam’s big-bang debut, smashed dancefloors (and MP3 blogs) all over the world.
8. Munich. The only thing more awe-inspiring than Steven Spielberg’s political thriller is the fact that it was his second film this year.
9. The Gates of Central Park. Christo’s 7,500 slalom-type gates (bedecked with “saffron” — not orange — nylon flags) drew attention to the almost sculptural masterpiece where the poles were planted: New York City’s Central Park. Christo demonstrated his usual mastery of his true artistic medium: the generation of hype.
10. The end of Star Wars. Yay.
11. The Squid and the Whale. Noah Baumbach’s wrenching dark comedy about an upper-class Brooklyn couple’s divorce — and its fallout for their two precocious sons — was devastating in its details, from the exquisitely awful 1980s fashions to the parents’ self-involvement.
12. Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall in A History of Violence. Closely followed by Maria Bello as Edie Stall in A History of Violence, Ed Harris as Carl Fogarty in A History of Violence…
13. David Rakoff. This Canadian expat may well be the funniest, most socially astute essayist on the circuit. For proof, flip to any page in his second collection, Don’t Get Too Comfortable.
14. Concert For Bangladesh (DVD reissue). 1971. Madison Square Garden. Riding high on his post-Beatles solo smash, All Things Must Pass, George Harrison used his immense clout to stage the first all-star rock benefit concert. Dylan, a chemically altered Clapton and Ringo (natch) showed up to support their pal’s cause. This year, the turning point in the development of rock’s social conscience got the luxe DVD treatment it deserved.
15. Dave Navarro on Rock Star: INXS. This summer’s guiltiest pleasure. Navarro (ex-Jane’s Addiction, ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers) served as a multi-purpose judge/moderator/leering guitar god while Aussie rockers INXS decided to replace Michael Hutchence in the most public manner possible — on a Mark (Survivor) Burnett reality show. Each week, you could almost hear Navarro saying to himself, “They’re paying me to do this?” Truly, one of life’s lottery winners.
16. Kevin Bacon as Lanny Morris in Where The Truth Lies. A chilling yet sympathetic performance in an unfairly maligned film. Further proof, after his roles in JFK and The River Wild, that no one plays creepy as well as Bacon.
17. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor*. Madge returned with a scintillating set of disco scorchers. The asterisk, however, denotes our regret that the album included Hung Up.
18. Annie, Heartbeat. Kylie Minogue + the Cardigans = pop perfection.
19. Arthur Miller. The legendary playwright left the stage this year, passing away in February. His legacy includes two standout plays, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. Their words remain eternal: “Willy was a salesman,” a Miller character eulogizes after Willy Loman’s suicide. “He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. But when they start not smiling back — that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.”
Zac Beaulieu (Marc-André Grondin) is confronted by brother Antoine (Alex Gravel). From the film C.R.A.Z.Y. Courtesy TVA Films.
20. C.R.A.Z.Y. Set in 1970s Quebec, with period-perfect design and a stellar soundtrack featuring Patsy Cline and Pink Floyd, Jean-Marc Vallée’s inspired coming-of-age story was a sheer delight.
21. Jennifer Beals as Bette on The L Word. Playing a tightly wound art gallery director, Beals stole the entire second season of this guilty-pleasure, pulpy drama about a gorgeous, bed-hopping group of Los Angeles lesbians. Dumped by her pregnant girlfriend after she was caught cheating, Beals let perfectionist Bette fall apart with magnificent messiness.
22. The Colbert Report. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a hard act to follow, but Comedy Central’s fake-news spinoff was a gutbuster from its first episode, when Colbert interviewed the journalist — NBC anchor Stone Phillips — who inspired his over-the-top newsman shtick. Colbert: “If you were interviewing Stone Phillips tonight, what would you ask him?” Phillips: “Wow, uh… Why is he here this evening?”
23. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang. Not to be construed as a diss, Chang’s rap tome focuses less on the music than on the political and cultural forces that shaped it.
24. Nancy Grace. “Tonight, breaking news. She went missing at six months pregnant in two degrees below zero. The search for Christine Rudy, last seen on a Wisconsin roadside, ends tonight.” A typical intro from CNN’s vigilante, ex-DA host captures the tabloidy, jugular-seeking style that makes a return after the break inevitable. “Welcome back. Stunning developments today in the case of David Ludwig, the 18-year-old now accused in the murders of his 14-year-old girlfriend’s mother and father.”
25. The Russian Futurists, Our Thickness. Goosebump-inducing electronica from Toronto’s Matthew Adam Hart (aka the Russian Futurists). The catchiest pop melodies produced in Canada this year. In a just world, Hart — along with his computer-savvy compatriots Caribou and Junior Boys — would be selling CDs by the truckload.
26. Arrested Development. Melding Monty Python absurdity with Seinfeld’s misanthropic wit, Fox’s Arrested Development is (was?) the best sitcom ever. The almost-cancelled show is hoping for a stay of execution with the news that both ABC and Showtime are considering picking it up from Fox. Fans weep with wary relief.
27. Toro. Dare we say, Canada’s best magazine? Yeah, we just did.
28. Rachel McAdams. As the meanest of the girls in 2003’s Mean Girls, this London, Ont., native proved she had looks and legitimate acting chops. In 2005, she showed similar meddle in three middling mainstream pics: Wedding Crashers, Red Eye and The Family Stone.
29. Degrassi turned 25. The Canadian TV franchise celebrated its silver anniversary with a Teen Choice Award, a glossy book and CD release and a primetime slot (and the highest ratings) on the U.S. teen network Noggin. The show remains an odd combination of envelope pushing (episodes on abortion and oral sex were censored stateside) and conventional teen melodrama (cheerleading and zits also feature prominently).
30. Shaun Majumder as Raj Binder on This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The always-perspiring South Asian sports reporter had a consistently insightful, unique take on Canuck athletic pursuits. To curler Shawn Adams: “Apparently, you’re like the Tiger Woods of curling, only you’re white and nobody really knows who you are.”
31. Murderball. One of the best sports films ever made, this documentary follows the U.S. quad rugby team for two-and-a-half years in the lead-up to the 2004 Paralympic Games, where they encounter their hated rivals, Canada. Co-directors Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry Alex Rubin present the wheelchair athletes warts and all; by refusing to condescend to their subjects, they produced an utterly inspiring film. And the cinematography astounds.
32. Seymour Hersh’s war stories in the New Yorker. Every article, every word.
33. It’s All Gone Pete Tong. Just when you thought mockumentaries were played out, along came Canadian director Mike Dowse (Fubar) to deride DJ culture. Deviously funny, thanks in no small part to Paul Kaye’s marble-mouthed performance as turntable hero/zero Frankie Wilde.
34. Yanna McIntosh’s Hedda Gabler. OK, Judith Thompson’s adaptation of the Ibsen classic (staged this spring at Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) was lousy; all right, Ross Manson’s direction was uninspired. But no bushel could hide Yanna McIntosh’s incandescent light.
35. Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and Brilliance of the Brill Building Era by Ken Emerson. Emerson, an American music critic, created the definitive history of the birth of assembly-line pop with this masterful exploration of Manhattan’s Brill Building in the late ’50s and early ’60s. During that period, a group of 14 songwriters — including Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Neil Sedaka — created the soundtrack for America. A delightful look at a golden age in pop songcraft.
36. Grey’s Anatomy. This admittedly soapy, sexy-doctors-in-scrubs series was compulsively watchable for three reasons: its unselfconscious, colour-blind casting; its fantastic, female characters (all hail Sandra Oh’s Dr. Yang and Chandra Wilson’s Dr. Bailey); and its fascinating, oddball medical cases (like the pregnant man and the guy with priapism).
37. Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Hated 50 Cent’s movie, love its soundtrack.
38. Water. Deepa Mehta’s rumination on Indian widowhood was nearly thwarted in 2000, when religious protests in India forced the Toronto-based director to cancel film production. She relocated the set in 2004 — and ended up crafting one of 2005’s most powerful films.
39. Bigger Than Jesus. Rick Miller’s multimedia, one-man show, staged in Calgary and Toronto this year, re-enacted the Last Supper using a Homer Simpson Pez dispenser (Judas) and Star Wars action figurines. And it worked, both as a laugh-getter and as a dramatic climax.
Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin in Weeds. Courtesy Showcase Television.
40. Weeds. Starring Mary-Louise Parker as a suburban widow and mother who deals pot to maintain her SUV-driving lifestyle, Weeds worked as both an unflinching study of grief and a very astute satire of American Dream conformity.
41. Saturday by Ian McEwan. Set against a London protest of the Iraq War, McEwan’s masterful, thrillerish novel (with shades of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway) follows a middle-aged neurosurgeon through one life-altering day.
42. Sirius Canada, Canadian Satellite Radio/XM Radio Canada (tie). This could be about satellite radio freeing listeners from FM doldrums, but the praise is for what Canada’s competing satellite services left off our airwaves: so far, neither has offered the sophomoric gurgles of Howard Stern.
43. Maximo Park, Apply Some Pressure. The Brits can keep Franz Ferdinand, who only wish they could craft a post-punk single as cunningly clever as this...
44. Bloc Party, Banquet. ...or this.
45. Extras. Not quite as bleak or sublime as his first series, The Office, but British comedy genius Ricky Gervais came pretty darn close with this six-episode riff on the quiet, desperate lives of those people who populate the background and margins of TV and film productions. A transcendent comic study of muted rage.
46. Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. The mischievously funny Hornby digs deeper with each book. This one centres on a motley group of depressives who agree to an anti-suicide pact in order to keep each other from jumping off a building.
47. Katie Holmes in W magazine. Tom Cruise vs. Oprah’s couch prompted good times at the water cooler, but Robert Haskell’s bizarro Holmes profile was the don’t-drink-the-Kool-Aid moment of the year.
48. Brokeback Mountain. Is there anything director Ang Lee can’t do?
49. Birds. First the penguins came marching in, followed by a flock of squawking parrots. In 2005, documentaries about birds (following on 2001’s flyaway success Winged Migration) waddled and winged their way onto screens around the world.
50. The return of Gordon Lightfoot. After suffering an abdominal aneurysm in 2002, Canada’s poet laureate returned to the stage this year, with triumphant performances at Toronto’s Massey Hall and Live 8 in Barrie, Ont. Welcome back, Gord.
51. On Beauty by Zadie Smith. After the misfire of The Autograph Man, Smith returned to her White Teeth form in this Howard’s End-inspired satire of race, academics, sex, marriage, family and the culture wars.
52. George & Rue by George Elliott Clarke. George and Rufus Hamilton were black brothers who murdered a white taxi driver in rural New Brunswick in 1949. Clarke, a former winner of the Governor General’s Award for poetry, is their cousin. His novel about their lives — and court-ordered deaths by hanging — established a new acme in “Africadian” literature. To this we say one thing: more please.
53. Sarah Silverman in The Aristocrats. The fearless comic managed to spin the meanest interpretation in this documentary about the world’s dirtiest joke.
54. Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Another coming-of-age masterwork by one of Japan’s — check that, the world’s — master novelists.
55. Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. A harrowing, richly detailed First World War epic with a twist: it’s about two Cree snipers in the trenches of France who are haunted by spirits both contemporary and ancient.
56. The Dark Hours. Canadian director Paul Fox had virtually no budget, but never mind — this is a taut, one-room thriller that will forever change your opinion about going to the cottage.
57. Candida Höfer’s interiors at Toronto’s Stephen Bulger Gallery. The German art photographer’s piece, Teylers Museum Haarlem II (exhibited last winter at Stephen Bulger Gallery), depicted curiosity-piquing objects arranged painstakingly against creamy white walls under the lofty ceilings of a lesser-known Dutch gallery. Serene, civilized, majestic — it looks like a photo of heaven.
58. Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala. The first novel by this Nigerian writer follows a boy in an unnamed African country into the world of guerrilla warfare. The content is harrowing, the prose urgent.
59. The Royal Conservatory Orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. This orchestra, drawn from the most talented students across Canada and many from abroad, is everything a young ensemble should be: vigorous, tireless, still a little erratic. At a Toronto concert to celebrate Adrienne Clarkson’s contribution to the arts as Governor General, the orchestra made this symphonic standard sound fresh.
Lil C (left) and Tight Eyez (right) in the film Rize. Photo David LaChapelle. Courtesy Lions Gate Productions.
60. “Krump, clown, break it on down!” Who would believe a documentary as 2005’s best action movie? Anyone who saw Rize, David LaChapelle’s body-shaking study of the clown dancers of South Central Los Angeles.
61. The Girls by Lori Lansens. A vivid, surprising novel about conjoined twin sisters growing up in a farming community outside Chatham, Ont.
62. Broken Social Scene, 7/4 (Shoreline). In the heat of summer, Canada’s favourite alt-rock collective signalled their return to form with a breakout single from their self-titled album. Welcome back, gang.
63. The World is a Heartbreaker by Sherwin Tjia. This Montreal poet took a 19th-century innovation — the haiku — and twisted it into the ultimate Info Age art form.
64. Paul McCartney, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. By hiring the strong-willed Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead, Travis) as producer, McCartney finally decided to have someone in the studio who would dare to say no to him. As a result, the lazy songwriting that characterizes so much of Macca’s solo career largely disappeared. This was his best album in 20 years — a collection of stark, melancholy tunes light years away from Silly Love Songs.
65. Terry by Douglas Coupland. A book-length photo essay that elevates day-to-day items (a running shoe, a pair of shorts, a waste basket) to the iconic, Terry is a heartfelt tribute to national hero Terry Fox.
66. Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley, Welcome to Jamrock. The hot song of the summer, and arguably reggae’s biggest mainstream moment since Daddy Marley was alive.
67. Portable Altamont by Brian Joseph Davis. Celebrity culture gets plenty of ink, but never has it been so devilishly deconstructed as in this collection of literary snippets by Toronto writer Brian Joseph Davis.
68. Jane does George Frideric. Back from a self-imposed exile in New York City for her first Canadian tour in several years, Jane Siberry delivered a killer version of Handel’s I Know that My Redeemer Liveth in the run-up to Christmas.
69. Robson Arms. This low-budget series out of Vancouver explored the lives of the odd sods inhabiting the apartment block named in the title. A dramedy (as is typical these days), the show drew strong performances from the likes of Megan Follows (a moody single mom), Mark McKinney (an anal widower), Margot Kidder (a fading beauty) and Jim Tai (a karaoke lover).
70. Jeff Garlin as Jeff Greene in Curb Your Enthusiasm. As Larry David’s manager, Jeff Greene, Garlin is the perfect comic sidekick: the consummate enabler, always indulging his friend’s neuroses. From seasons one through five, Curb has presented the most realistic depiction of adult male friendship in TV history.
71. Go Fug Yourself. Forget the one-note rants of howler-monkey Joan Rivers. Go Fug Yourself is the place to go for bitchy commentary on celebrity fashion — like Scarlett Johansson’s “mom jeans,” Luke Wilson’s growing bloat and Fergie’s mysterious pee stains.
72. Mos Def, live at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Brooklyn’s finest was late to his own party (the rapper-slash-actor was reportedly delayed at a nearby movie set), but TO’s lakefront crowd roared all the way to Buffalo when local fave K’naan joined him onstage. Their tag-teaming of the latter’s Until the Lion Learns to Speak transcended an already spectacular show.
73. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote. C’mon, Academy, the consensus is obvious. Just give the man his best actor Oscar now.
74. Karen Kain takes over the National Ballet. Longtime prima ballerina Kain embodies the esprit of the corps. She’s spent the last 10 years (since hanging up her tutu) working as an artistic associate at the company, learning the management ropes. So it was no grand jeté, but rather a safe little leap, for her to assume the company’s leadership.
75. Dean and Me by Jerry Lewis. Yeah, we all know the conventional wisdom — Lewis is only loved by the French; he’s a longstanding joke, an ungainly mix of dated shtick and hypersentimentality. But in post-war America, he was one-half of the biggest comedy team of all-time. Dean and Me is a huge surprise: a restrained memoir from Jerry Lewis. The best showbiz bio of the year.
76. Bookninja. This smart, chatty and nicely designed site about all things bookish is the brainchild of three Canadian writers. A daily must-read for the literary minded.
77. The Walrus’s charitable status. The country’s most earnest arts magazine won its three-year campaign to be recognized as a registered charity, and can now draw funds from the charitable foundation that was established to support its survival. Bravo. (But a sidenote to the big mammal: lighten up, already!)
78. In Good Company. This film’s incisive observations about age, ambition and office politics put it in rare company.
79. Seth. The hat-wearing, Guelph, Ont.-based graphic novelist had two hits this year: Wimbledon Green, the story of the world’s greatest comic book collector, and Christmas Days, his collaboration with novelist Derek McCormack, which depicts the joys (and pitfalls) of Canuck Noels. Seth’s growing popularity reflects the coming of age (aka mainstreaming) of the comic book/graphic novel genre, as did the Art Gallery of Ontario’s decision to feature his work in a summer exhibition.
William Hutt as Prospero in The Stratford Festival of Canada production of The Tempest. CP Photo/ho-David Hou.
80. William Hutt’s final bow. No surprise, the 85-year-old Stratford fixture had a good exit line. On closing night, his Prospero begged a crowd packed with dignitaries: “Let your indulgence set me free.” Even the usually po-faced anchorman Lloyd Robertson had his hankie out.
81. Seu Jorge, Life Aquatic Studio Sessions. Brazilian singer Seu Jorge’s performance as a David Bowie-loving deckhand in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou could have been a throwaway novelty. But Jorge’s charisma and unique voice (think Caetano Veloso with a deep rasp) made this album of Portuguese Bowie covers genuinely sweet.
82. Kano, Home Sweet Home. The vanguard of grime’s second wave, with a heavy dose of American hip hop thrown in for good measure. Kane Robinson is a 20-year-old rudebwoy from East London; his skull-shaking debut was the U.K.’s best urban album since Boy In Da Corner, Dizzee Rascal’s 2003 Mercury Prize winner.
83. Borat. For the past few years, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was primarily known for his work as wannabe hip-hop badass Ali G. But in 2005, another of his comic alter egos, Borat Sagdiyev from Kazakhstan, became ascendant. Seeing this incredibly crude character traipse around George W.’s America, taking cruel advantage of the kindness of strangers, well, it’s kind of irresistible.
84. A reputation grows in Brooklyn. Photographer Edward Burtynsky has traveled the world over to find his industrial landscapes: fluorescent tailings from mines in northern Ontario, ships being destroyed in India, apartment complexes arising overnight in post-Tiananmen China. Disturbingly beautiful, the images are now covering as many miles as their maker, getting exhibited at the well-regarded Brooklyn Museum of Art this year, as well as galleries in London, San Francisco, Bilbao and Amsterdam.
85. Oldboy. After winning the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2004, Korean director Park Chanwook’s Oldboy was finally released in North America this year. In an entertainment landscape where the word “shocking” is tossed around with abandon, this film actually deserves the adjective. This tale of a man kept prisoner in a seedy hotel room for 15 years without explanation contains some of the rawest emotional violence ever captured on film. And when was the last time you saw an actor eat a live octopus?
86. Common, Be. Not his most innovative or showy album, but easily one of the Chicago rapper’s best. Tight, focused and imbued with smooth, sexy 1970s soul.
87. Wonkette. The U.S. political website is a shining star of the blogosphere, mostly for its catty deconstructions of Washington shenanigans. We love it for the obsessive category devoted to the single greatest thing about the internet: PandaCam.
88. Sufjans Stevens, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Rendered with little more than a guitar and Stevens’ guileless voice, this might have been the most spine-chilling ballad of the year.
89. Syringa Tree. Pamela Gien’s one-woman play, produced this year at the Vancouver Playhouse and Halifax’s Neptune Theatre, tells the moving story of a white family and its black domestic employees in apartheid-era South Africa. Caroline Cave, one of Canada’s top young talents, adeptly played 24 characters in the Vancouver production.
90. The Grates, The Ouch, The Touch. If Brisbane, Australia’s the Grates haven’t achieved world indie-pop domination by the end of 2006, we will eat our computers. (Well, not really, but you know what we’re getting at.)
91. Sinead O’Connor, Throw Down Your Arms. All that spiritual day-tripping has paid off. O’Connor’s lovely Irish choir-girl lilt made a powerful fit with this collection of reggae classics.
92. Patti Smith, Horses/Horses. What’s better than Horses, Smith’s 1975 Mona Lisa of rock? A double-disc re-release including a live performance of the original album in full, recorded this year by Smith, Lenny Kaye (a founding member of her legendary band) and other rock ’n’ roll heroes (including Television’s Tom Verlaine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea). Simply wow.
93. “The Age of the Wuss,” Maclean’s, October 31. Finally, that git in the Canadian Tire ads got his comeuppance.
94. Condoville. In this 2005 hit at Montreal’s Centaur Theatre, David Fennario revisited the working-class neighbourhood he depicted so memorably in his 1979 play, Balconville.
95. Young Jeezy, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101. The would-be 50 Cent of the U.S. South, a behind-the-scenes label boss who stepped into the studio and delivered hard, brutal rhymes about making money hand over fist. His solo debut was certified platinum; his group project, Boyz N da Hood, debuted in Billboard’s top five. Better still, the remix of Thug Motivation’s Go Crazy, where Young Jeezy made Jay-Z sound, well, old. Aaaaayy!
96. Toronto’s extreme makeover. Some of architecture’s biggest names (Frank Gehry, Will Alsop, Diamond Schmitt and Daniel Libeskind) are currently transforming and (in some cases) building the city’s cultural institutions (the Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario College of Art and Design, Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre and Royal Ontario Museum, respectively). When the construction dust settles, the results promise to reinvigorate Toronto’s cityscape and the art it produces and celebrates.
97. Kanye’s courage. Followed, tragicomically, by Mike Myers’s dead-on impression of a deer in headlights.
98. Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis. In one of the most daring meta-fiction gambits in years, the American Psycho author concocted a mischievous fake memoir that turns into a Stephen King-type supernatural thriller. If it sounds calamitous, it reads like a dream.
99. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. The literary memoir continued its ascent this year, here represented by Didion’s book about her spouse’s death and their daughter’s mortal illness. The spare, unemotional prose packed more of an emotional wallop than a tearful account would have done.
100. Shawn Desman’s hair. At the same time that he released his new album, Back For More, Canadian dance-pop artist (well, he’s really a one-man boy band) Desman unveiled the most audacious hairstyle in recent memory: a crew cut augmented only by a diagonal Mohawk stripe, running about five inches long. Against the most remarkable odds, it almost worked.
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