“John Wick: Chapter 4” opens with a series of bloody punches and then uses a direct homage to David Lean’s 1962 classic “Lawrence of Arabia” to take the audience into the wild world of the most resilient assassin ever to grace the screen.

Chad Stahelski’s original “John Wick” was wire-tight in its tale of a lone killer seeking revenge. The filmmaker used its violent

Some time ago I attended a screening of “A girl walks home alone at night” in Paris, where I'm based. The film felt novel and contrarian enough to warrant attention. Its diminutive director, Ana Lily Amirpour, present at the screening, appeared to me like one of independent cinema's great new hopes, a stentorian counterpoint to the languid cinema of Sofia Coppola. The Q&A afterward was a little perplexing, though. A squeamish Amirpour stood

Provoked by his cellmate’s (James Caan) dream lecture, Henry Smith […]