Critic’s Notebook

In reconfiguring humans, director Alexander Payne has more than sci-fi comedy on his mind.

Frances McDormand helps Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" hit a rural nerve.

In a sabre-rattling age, Richard Linklater's "Last Flag Flying" may be as close as the U.S. can come to an anti-war film.

Fans of the original "Blade Runner" will find much to like in Denis Villeneuve challenging sequel.

Steven Soderbergh's return to the movies is a misfire, above all because it flunks American cultural geography.

Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" successfully conveys a chaotic World War II's fiasco that turned into a heroic moment.

In "Berlin Syndrome," Australian director Cate Shortland tugs at Patty Hearst's cape, with mixed results.

Olivier Assayas' "Personal Shopper" has lots of clothes, but the people beneath them are murky.

Haitian director Raoul Peck takes risks by reviving James Baldwin's racial views.

Jordan Peele's sly "Get Out" uses horror to get to the core of American race relations.

Ashgar Farhadi deservedly picks up a second Oscar for "The Salesman," a taught marriage drama.

In Paul Verhoeven's psychological thriller, Isabelle Huppert's Michèle Leblanc is the sum of violence and lies.