The Best Movies of 2021

Plus: Pokémon and digital nostalgia; “PEN15”; and Steven Yeun. View in browser | Update your preferences Friday, December 3, 2021 In today’s newsletter: • Richard Brody’s list of the year’s best films • Pokémon and digital nostalgia • The pain of adolescence in “PEN15” The Best Movies of 2021 This year’s releases, augmented by movies postponed from last year, offer exceptional artistry amid the industry’s commercial difficulties. Illustration by Shira Inbar From an artistic perspective, 2021 has been an excellent cinematic vintage, yet the bounty is shadowed by an air of doom. The reopening of theatres has brought many great movies—some of which were postponed from last year—to the big screen, but fewer people to see them. The biggest successes, as usual, have been superhero and franchise films. As an avid moviegoer wary of the threat of contagion, I go to theatres cautiously, with careful attention to screenings where there are large numbers of empty seats around me. Yet each empty seat bodes ominously for the future of feature filmmaking over all. The cinema has weathered crises of many sorts, economic and political, but if movies themselves hold any lesson, a rebirth is as likely to resemble a zombie as a phoenix. —Richard Brody, from “The Best Movies of 2021” Read “The Best Movies of 2021.” Editor’s Picks Infinite Scroll Pokémon and the First Wave of Digital Nostalgia A pixel-art revival is pushing back against the dull slickness of social media and building a new Internet aesthetic from the old. By Kyle Chayka Daily Comment The Ultra-Nationalist Éric Zemmour Makes a Bizarre Bid for the French Presidency The far-right leader’s campaign carries alarming echoes of Vichy France. By Adam Gopnik Dept. of Teen Spirit Onward and Upward with the Arts The Women Behind the Thirteen-Year-Olds of “PEN15” How the show’s co-creators found comedy in the pain of revisiting adolescence. By Rachel Syme Culture Dept. Page-Turner Learning to Love the Bear That Attacked You In a new memoir, the anthropologist Nastassja Martin writes about her strange bond with the animal that maimed her. By Katy Waldman Tables for Two Jonathan Waxman’s Barbuto Lives On The adored restaurant has reopened, and the chef continues to serve dishes such as Insalata di Cavolo, pan-fried gnocchi, and Pollo al Forno. By Shauna Lyon The Pictures Steven Yeun: Patriarch, Outsider, Loyal Boyfriend, Sociopath, Producer Following “Minari” and “The Humans,” the Korean American actor will soon turn up in a horror movie directed by Jordan Peele. By Alex Barasch In Case You Missed It A collection of this week’s best reads, hand-picked for you. A Reporter at Large The Secretive Prisons That Keep Migrants Out of Europe Libya’s former Minister of Justice said the E.U.’s plan was to “Create a hellhole in Libya, with the idea of deterring people.” By Ian Urbina Annals of Technology The Science of Mind Reading How neuroscientists are learning to detect unspoken thoughts. By James Somers The New Yorker Interview Mel Brooks Writes It All Down An interview with the actor about comedy, sandwiches, and the truths he’s told sideways. By Michael Schulman 2021 in Review The Best Music of 2021 Snail Mail, Michael Hurley, and more. By Amanda Petrusich Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Matt Jackson Daily Shouts Existentialist Blonde Jokes What do you do when a blonde throws a grenade at you? Lament the absurdity of a world where science is used for war. By Alex Baia Blitt’s Kvetchbook Chris Cuomo’s Personal Journey The self-evaluation will be televised. By Barry Blitt Daily Cartoon Friday, December 3rd By Zoe Si P.S. Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” opened on Broadway on this day in 1947. Two days later, Wolcott Gibbs reviewed it for the magazine, writing that it was a “fine and deeply disturbing play, almost faultless in the physical details of its production and the quality of its acting.” But Gibbs had reservations about the play, too: “Not knowing much about the South, old or new, it was hard for me to visualize the girls’ ancestral home, except as something vaguely resembling the House of Usher.” Today’s newsletter was written by Jessie Li. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.