Writer-director Dan Gilroy’s “Nightcrawler” is the sort of absurdist thriller that presents uncomfortable truths in an entertaining, but undeniably disturbing, manner. The focus is on Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a shifty hustler who makes his living by any means possible. One day, he stumbles upon an auto accident and learns that freelance TV crews make good money selling crash footage to local news outlets. So, Louis gets a cheap video camera and launches his career. 

There’s nothing inventive about director Antoine Fuqua’s big-screen adaptation of the 1980s TV drama “The Equalizer,” but it is plenty entertaining. Most of the credit goes to Denzel Washington, an actor who can take any role to unexpected heights. In “The Equalizer,” he plays Robert McCall, a former special-forces officer who has retired to a quiet life working at a retail store. 

Canadian director Philippe Falardeau’s feature film about the Lost Boys of Sudan is a predictable yet thoroughly enjoyable tale about perseverance, love and humanity’s odd bilateral nature. The movie starts in Sudan where a number of youth are displaced after their parents are murdered during the second Sudanese civil war. Alone and desperate to survive, they begin a long and dangerous march to Kenya. 

Time travel movies are tricky, but director Doug Liman has delivered a science-fiction gem with “Edge of Tomorrow,” a fast-paced, action-heavy affair that plays like a mash up of “Groundhog Day” and “War of the Worlds.”  The picture is set in a near future where frightening, tentacular creatures have launched an all-out assault on Earth. Just when it looks like the alien beings are invincible, Sgt. Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) leads humanity to an impressive victory using a heavily armed exoskeleton.  

In recent years, Michael Bay has focused nearly all his directorial energy on the “Transformers” franchise, reinforcing his reputation as the go-to guy for effects-driven spectacles. Bay may not be Hollywood’s best storyteller, but he knows how to blow things up, and he has an uncanny knack for seamlessly blending practical footage with breathtaking digital imagery. These skills are put to good use in “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the fourth film in a series that’s made oodles of money despite an astonishing lack of imagination. 

Nicholas Stoller’s work as a director has been on a steady decline since he helmed the surprising and wonderful 2008 comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” That film, written by star Jason Segel, was funny, original and anchored by great performances. For “Neighbors,” Stoller assembled another terrific cast, but the players are saddled with a schizophrenic screenplay that wants to be edgy yet refuses to take risks. 

The plotting of the book and movie centers on Beatrice “Tris” Prior (Shailene Woodley), a teenager who must choose her place in society. In her world, it is customary for youth to be tested for various personality traits, then asked to devote themselves to one of five related factions. When Tris’ test indicates that she could fit into several of these groupings, she is warned to keep quiet. 

Jason Bateman makes his feature film directing debut with an eclectic comedy that scores points for originality despite minor problems with consistency and tone. The movie, written by Andrew Dodge, tells the story of Guy Trilby (Bateman), a jaded 40-something who exploits a technicality in the rules of the Golden Quill national spelling bee and ruthlessly competes against grammar school children. 

Although there are many great writers and directors working in cinema today, few have voices as distinct and pleasurable as Wes Anderson’s. With films ranging from “Bottle Rocket” (1996) to “Moonrise Kingdom” (2012), Anderson has introduced moviegoers to unusual worlds, fantastical characters and bizarre settings that entertain while provoking thought. He is a manufacturer of fairytales for our modern age and, as such, his projects should be widely celebrated. 

The film does, however, mean well, and it focuses on an underreported piece of history. Loosely based on Robert M. Edsel’s nonfiction book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, it centers on the efforts of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program set up during the later stages of the war. The goal of the program was to preserve works of art as Allied forces marched toward victory.