Shannon Kelley pays tribute to Liza Minnelli and analyzes her unshakeable appeal.

Gina Marchetti on the various ways in which China marks Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland”.

Linnéa J. Hussein on the ethical meaning and significance of masks on screen.

Marc Francis offers a mock-treatment of a mockumentary about Barr and Trump’s faux investigation.

Christina N. Baker on the rare phenomenon of Black characters finding love on screen.

Eugene “Joey” Albin and Julie A. Ward on the parallels between the imagined Viking past of “Midsommar” and the racist, nationalist myths held up by neo-Confederates in the USA.

Marc Francis on the resurgence of drive-ins, and the possibilities they hold.

Maggie Hennefeld analyzes the Oscars’ new diversity criteria, and finds them to be largely a publicity stunt.

Elizabeth Alsop on expressions of solidarity in recent TV.

Emma Wilson’s experience of returning to recently reopened cinemas in Paris.