A year ago, in mid-January, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper expanded into wide release and became an instant phenomenon. It quickly assumed its position as the highest-grossing film of 2014 and picked up some major Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. So it makes complete sense that the very same ...

When a movie star decides to try his or her hand at directing, the results are not always a rousing success. For every Ben Affleck or Clint Eastwood or Robert Redford or Sarah Polley, there’s a Jason Bateman (whose Bad Words last year was terrible) or Ryan Gosling (this spring’s ...