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Filmmaker J.A. Bayona remembers the first time a movie changed his life.

The year was 1978. The movie was “Superman,” from director Richard Donner. Bayona was 3 years old. One image in particular etched itself into his young consciousness by bringing the impossible so vividly to life.

In his first three films, “Metropolitan,” “Barcelona” and “The Last Days of Disco,” writer-director Whit Stillman established himself as the clear-eyed, sharp-witted chronicler of young people of a certain class.

Movie recommendations from critics Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan.

American Animals This based-on-fact story of how a quartet of bored college kids looking for kicks and meaning in their lives plan a rare book robbery is one of the summer's freshest, most entertaining films.

The director’s chairs on movie sets have not changed all that much when it comes to gender and ethnic diversity, according to a new study from the Directors Guild of America.

The study, which was released Thursday, found that women and minority directors remain a relative rarity.

It’s no great leap to cast Isabelle Huppert as a teacher — her performances as an ivory-tickling dominatrix in “The Piano Teacher” (2001) and a more mild-mannered philosophy professor in “Things to Come” (2016) rank among her greatest — but it takes a certain amount of nerve to cast her as an ineffectual one.

In “Mrs.

Most road movies span states, but in “Izzy Gets … Across Town,” the trip is merely from Santa Monica to Los Feliz. But carless, hungover and desperate to stop an engagement party, Izzy’s journey is nevertheless epic.

Writer-director Christian Papierniak makes his feature directorial debut with this punk-tinged day-in-the-life flick.