The Best Movies of 2020

Plus: Trump’s bluster, the link between COVID-19 and preventable diseases, and a review of the new film “Mank.” View in browser | Update your preferences 2020 in Review The Best Movies of 2020 None of these thirty-six films has made a difference in this year’s crises—but truth of experience and authenticity of emotion are inherently cleansing to a defiled mediasphere. By Richard Brody The Political Scene Trump’s Election-Fraud Bluster Finds an Audience If his goal is to retain the Presidency, the effort is a historic failure. But Trump has proved able to build a significant following for his claims. By Peter Slevin Daily Comment Donald Trump, George Wallace, and the Influence of Losers Even as former loyalists distance themselves from the outgoing President, his ideological imprint on the G.O.P. is likely to remain. By Steve Coll Daily Comment COVID-19 and the Rise in Preventable Diseases For many of the world’s poorest children, the death and devastation have only begun. By Michael Specter Daily Comment William Barr’s Break with Donald Trump The Attorney General is, at long last, defending American democracy. By David Rohde PAID POST A revelatory new biography from the Bancroft Prize–winning historian “David S. Reynolds’s Lincoln is very much an Honest Abe . . . he is an updated Abe, fully woke and finely radical. . . . Even readers long marinated in the Lincoln literature will find revelation.”—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker Culture Fiction “Dietrologia” “He knew what she meant: All this furniture, all these books, the pictures, the vases, the house itself—dispose of it. Then proceed to the unit.” By Paul Theroux The Front Row “Mank”: David Fincher’s Dive Into Hollywood Politics The story of the “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz is a probing work of speculative historical psychology that shines a light on current events. By Richard Brody Humor from The New Yorker Daily Shouts Feeling Bugged Out I like to think of myself as a strong, independent person. By Suzanna Rodney Crossword The Weekend Puzzle How it all began, in cosmic theory: seven letters. By Caitlin Reid Daily Shouts The Most Misquoted Movie Lines of All Time Including “Lork, I am your father” and “Toto, I have a feeling my father’s damn car keys aren’t in Kansas anymore.” By Sean McGowan This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.