In a world of entertainment chock full of options all vying for your eyes and ears, some choice nuggets — whether they be albums, movies or TV shows — are bound to fall through the cracks. And 2024 had plenty of them. Consider these 13 rescued.
TV
Chimp Crazy
From Eric Goode, the director of “Tiger King,” comes yet another engrossing documentary about extreme animal attraction — in this case, the story of a woman who kidnaps a beloved monkey from a private facility before PETA can take it away. Unlike his earlier wackadoo doc, this four-part series on Crave wrings a twisted kind of pathos from Tonia Haddix, an eccentric exotic-animal broker straight out of a John Waters movie, who admittedly cared more about Tonka than for her own offspring. And what’s impish actor Alan Cumming got to with all this? Watch and be riveted. —Doug Brod
Expats
Last January, into a TV ecosystem still hobbled by the previous year’s actor and writer strikes came “Expats.” The limited series on Prime Video had prestige TV bona fides with A-lister Nicole Kidman leading the cast and Lulu Wang, much lauded for her 2019 film “The Farewell,” directing. It’s one of the better things Kidman has done on TV lately, yet despite its nuanced handling of the tales of three unhappy women in Hong Kong, it made barely a ripple with viewers. —Debra Yeo
Mr. McMahon
Even if you have zero interest in the inner workings of the so-called squared circle, this fascinating six-part Netflix docuseries on the rise and fall and rise of Vince McMahon, the scandal-scarred head of World Wrestling Entertainment, will have you jonesing for the next jaw-dropping episode. Eye-opening and cringe-inducing on-camera interviews with the titular blowhard himself highlight this bruising portrait, which goes a long way to illustrate just where Donald Trump poached his body-slamming political playbook. —Doug Brod
We Are Lady Parts
In the stampede of A-listers to streaming TV — see “Kidman, Nicole” and plenty of others — it’s easy to miss a comedy like “We Are Lady Parts.” Its British and Indian stars aren’t terribly well known on this side of the pond, and there was a three-year gap between its first and second six-episode seasons. But the return was joyful for those of us who fell in love with the fictional all-female Muslim band of the title. The new episodes, available on StackTV, maintained the show’s quick-witted humour and kick-ass rock ’n’ roll, while delving deeper into the ladies’ struggles with identity as modern, Muslim women. —Debra Yeo
Bad Monkey
Vince Vaughn is the best thing about Apple TV Plus’s very good adaptation of novelist Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 sunny Florida noir, playing a former detective seeking the previous owner of a severed arm fished off the coast of Key West. The actor is in full “Swingers” and “Wedding Crashers” motormouth mode, cracking wise and oozing insincerity, while his investigation leads him to the Bahamas for some occultic goings-on. Though, tonally, the show’s a bit wobbly — and like so many limited series, at 10 episodes it isn’t nearly limited enough — it’s still a fun trip featuring acres of gorgeous scenery. —Doug Brod
Movies
Janet Planet
Playwright Annie Baker made her feature debut this year with this critically acclaimed but little-seen mother-daughter drama that wasn’t even released theatrically in Canada. The film is about the way-too-interdependent relationship between 11-year-old Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) and her mom, Janet (Julianne Nicholson). Set in the lush wooded areas of western Massachusetts and within the very hippie-ish communities there in the early-‘90s, the film is slowly paced like a serene summer afternoon, while difficult emotions of youth and middle age collide underneath. —Corey Atad
Bird
British filmmaker Andrea Arnold is used to being off the radar; it’s her natural domain. Her Cannes-lauded life studies, including “Fish Tank” and “American Honey,” are as scruffy as a door mat, populated by hard-luck citizens whom society prefers to ignore. This year’s “Bird” is another undervalued gem. Meet preteen trouble magnet Bailey (sensational newcomer Nykiya Adams), who is struggling with impending adulthood and the antics of her boyish dad (Barry Keoghan). Enter the title character (Franz Rogowski), an avian figure who nudges the social realism toward magic realism with sublime grace. —Peter Howell
Late Night With the Devil
A struggling 1970s TV talk show host (David Dastmalchian) risks his soul — and a possessed girl’s life — to challenge Johnny Carson’s ratings. The decade of “Sybil” and “The Exorcist” is convincingly presented, as is the desperation of Dastmalchian’s Jack Delroy, a grieving widower whose dallying with the occult during a live Halloween broadcast takes an all-too-realistic supernatural turn. This low-budget eye-popper by writers-directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes would make a cool Aussie-horror double bill with “Talk to Me.” —Peter Howell
Albums
Various artists: Transa
A deeply personal new Sade track, her first in nearly six years, dedicated to her son Izaak, a trans man. Moses Sumney and Anohni covering the late pioneering electronic artist Sophie. A reinterpretation of a Beverly Glenn-Copeland classic featuring the legendary Canadian singer alongside Sam Smith. A 26-minute neo-jazz song from André 3000. “Transa” — the sprawling, 46-song compilation album put together by the Red Hot Organization to celebrate the trans community — is a treasure trove of magical moments. It’s impossible to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, but you’re bound to find something miraculous each time you dig in. —Richie Assaly
Anti-Spectacular: Psychogeography
I nearly spat out my coffee after hitting play on “Psychogeography,” a blistering rock ‘n’ roll flare-up by Anti-Spectacular, the musical moniker of Toronto-based comics artist Alex Hood. Like Ween on uppers, the 10-track album bounces wildly between jittery post-punk, bluesy alt-country and funk, all held together by Hood’s frantically inventive guitar work. If you like your music weird and you like your music fun, don’t skip this one. (“Psychogeography” is not streaming, but you can check it out on Bandcamp.) —Richie Assaly
Ombiigizi: Shame
The sophomore album from Ombiigizi — an alt-rock band led by Daniel Monkman and Adam Sturgeon — is a reverb- and distortion-drenched expression of Anishnaabe revival and resurgence. Produced by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, “Shame” is also a study in chemistry and contrast, its 10 tracks swinging between the lush “moccasin-gaze” of Monkman solo project Zoon and the crunchy rawness of Sturgeon’s band Status/Non-Status. But “Shame” really takes flight when the artists slip into harmony on tracks like “Ziibi,” which sounds as mighty and timeless as the Red River that inspired it. —Richie Assaly
Allie X: Girl With No Face
This has been a landmark year for female-fronted pop, and Toronto’s Allie X deserves to have her face carved into the genre’s end-of-year Mount Rushmore. “Girl With No Face” is an addictive, 43-minute descent into synth-fueled horror pop with hooks so catchy you’ll pull a muscle from excessive hair-flipping. When it comes to camp and melodrama, Allie X goes all in where other artists can only muster a wink. —Emilie Hanskamp
Vera Sola: Peacemaker
If you’re into Lana Del Rey, Weyes Blood and pretending you’re the star of a dark contemporary Western, Vera Sola’s album is for you. Her ethereal vocals will grab you first, but the ornate production, the grand orchestration and sweeping strings, will have you coming back for more. Vera Sola masters the art of the atmosphere on “Peacemaker.” Hit play and allow yourself to get swept up. —Emilie Hanskamp
