Nightcrawler

A small-time thief (Gyllenhaal) uses the proceeds of his crimes to buy a camcorder and radio scanner, which he uses to shoot the aftermath of a grizzly crime scene. When his footage is bought by the news director at a local TV station (Russo), he tumbles deeper into the city's criminal underbelly and draws the attention of police as he begins altering crime scenes to maximize his impact -- and his profit. With the police growing increasingly suspicious of his activities at crime scenes and the news director's job dependent on his footage, he's soon walking a delicate tightrope in his unrelenting drive to film the next big crime.

Director: Dan Gilroy. Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Paxton, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed. 2014. 117 min. Crime.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander Cooper (Oxenbould) is having a terrible day. With everyone in his family seemingly having a great one -- and with all of them having no time for Alexander, despite his 12th birthday landing on the following day -- he makes an early birthday wish that they experience the same frequent misfortunes that he does. Unfortunately for his family, the wish seems to come true and Alexander's birthday turns into a day of misfortune after misfortune for his unfortunate loved ones.

Director: Miguel Arteta. Stars: Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould, Dylan Minnette, Kerris Dorsey. 2014. 81 min. Family.

Laggies

In a relationship with her high school sweetheart and surrounded by a great group of friends, Megan (Knightley) seemingly has it all. When her boyfriend (Webber) unexpectedly proposes to her at a friend's wedding, and after she witnesses her father cheating on her mother, she's launched into a quarter-life crisis. She ends up befriending a high school student (Moretz) and moving in with her for a few days to sort out her head. Soon, though, she finds herself in a physical relationship with the girl's handsome single father (Rockwell) and she realizes that her picture-perfect life was actually anything but.

Director: Lynn Shelton. Stars: Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Mark Webber, Sam Rockwell. 2014. 99 min. Comedy.