Critic’s Notebook

"The Imitation Game," while rousing, does Alan Turing, and history, no favors.

When cornered, J.C. Chandor's alpha men don't grow wild with rage. They turn inward.

Dan Gilroy's "Nighcrawler" offers up an credibly amoral character, but it's ugliness that wins out.

Having three brothers gives a movie like Richard Licklater's "Boyhood" an added dimension.

"Predestination," the Spierig Brothers' adaptation of a Heinlein story, is a work of talismanic power.

Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" brims with self-awe but never decides what it's about.

Andrea Segre's debut feature is a meditation on the complications of immigration.

"Shattered Glass" gets to the underbelly of journalism, while "The Hill" is the underbelly of life itself.

The 1970 music documentary "Gimme Shelter" almost inadvertently captured rock's sudden souring.

Bergman's 1968 "Shame" made it clear there was no civilian shelter from war's storm.

Victor Nuñez and Harmony Korine took very different directions in dealing with Florida girls.