James Gray wrote and directed the adventure movie “The Lost City of Z,” based on Percy Fawcett, the real-life explorer who inspired fictional characters from Indiana Jones to the swashbuckling heroes of books by Arthur Conan Doyle and H. Rider Haggard. The movie stars Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, and Sienna Miller. Gray and his crew …

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One of the highlights of my year is Ebertfest, founded by Roger Ebert as the Underlooked Film Festival in his hometown of Champaign/Urbana Illinois, the home of the University of Illinois. What I love about the festival is the community it creates, because there is just one venue, the magnificent Virginia Theater, so everyone sees …

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Mckenna Grace is the star of “Gifted,” playing Mary, a first grader with extraordinary mathematics ability, living with her Uncle Frank, played by Chris Evans. In an interview, she talked about what she and Evans did off camera, crying on cue, and what might be difficult for someone who is gifted. What did you and …

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The new film from Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow is “Detroit,” set in one of the most tense and violent moments of civil unrest in US history, Detroit in the summer of 1967. The cast includes some of my favorite actors: John Boyega, Will Poulter,Jason Mitchell, Jack Reynor, Laz Alonzo, John Krasinski, and Anthony Mackie.

New York Magazine has a fascinating article about Danny Rubin, screenwriter of comedy classic “Groundhog Day,” who is now adapting the story into a Broadway musical. This is the story of how Danny Rubin wrote Groundhog Day not once but twice — maybe more times than that, but who’s counting. It’s unusual for any artist …

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