“The Imitation Game”
PG-13, 114 minutes, The Weinstein Company/Anchor Bay
Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch brings vulnerability and warmth to a chilly, slightly off-putting intellectual oddball in this handsome, if gently smoothed-over portrait of World War II cryptanalyst Alan Turing. As the acknowledged grandfather of artificial intelligence, Turing helped create the modern-day computer. Even more important, his preternatural puzzle-solving and mathematical skills helped the Allies win World War II when, as part of a project run by Britain’s MI6, Turing invented a machine that cracked Germany’s seemingly unbreakable Enigma code. “The Imitation Game” chronicles Turing’s wartime efforts, its tale of brainy derring-do bookended by a postwar police investigation that revealed his homosexuality and, eventually, suicide. Extras include a making-of featurette, deleted scenes and commentary.
“Interstellar”
PG-13, 168 minutes, Paramount
Christopher Nolan’s science-fiction adventure story — starring a perfectly cast Matthew McConaughey as a space cowboy blessed with equal parts swagger and shamanistic depth — is many things: part outer-space epic rivaling “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Gravity” and part provocative, sometimes ponderous, meditation on environmental ruin, intellectual freedom and the demise of manifest destiny. Or mawkish daddy-needs-to-save-the-world-now melodrama. Extras include “The Science of Interstellar” extended cut; “Plotting an Interstellar Journey” featurette on the film’s origins, influences and narrative designs; “Celestial Landmarks” and other making-of featurettes on the film’s Oscar-winning visual effects; and more.
“Wild”
R, 120 minutes, Fox
In this adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir, Oscar-nominated Reese Witherspoon delivers an admirably restrained, un-glamorous performance as the author, who at age 26 hiked 1,110 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in a ritual of physical endurance, philosophical reflection and spiritual cleansing. Grieving the loss of her adored mother, guilt-ridden by the dissolution of her marriage and the indiscretions that preceded it, Strayed sets out impulsively and alone, her brand-new equipment so heavy that she can’t even stand under its weight. Relying on the kindness of strangers, Strayed seems to reenter the world even as she trudges along on a fruitless quest to leave it behind.
“The Rewrite”
unrated, 107 minutes, Image Entertainment
The fourth collaboration between Hugh Grant and writer-director Marc Lawrence (“Two Weeks Notice,” “Music and Lyrics”) had a U.S.limited release despite a strong cast, including Oscar winner J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney. Grant plays Keith Michaels, a once-heralded screenwriter struggling after a divorce and a string of duds; he takes a job at an upstate New York university, giving more thought to his next script than teaching. But he finds himself becoming invested in his students lives, particularly Holly (Marisa Tomei), a single mom looking to start her own new chapter.
Television Series: “VEEP: Third Season” (HBO), “Silicon Valley: Season 1” (HBO), “Case Histories Complete Collection” (BBC detective series starring Jason Isaacs, Acorn), “ESPN Films 30 for 30: The U Part 2” and “Lovejoy, Series 5” (humorous British whodunit, with Ian McShane, Acorn).
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