There was a time, before social media and cell phones, when a scandal took hours or even days to break publicly, and when a politician’s fortunes were perhaps not decided within seconds of being captured in a compromising photograph. That was the case in 1987, when Gary Hart, a rising Democratic star, seemed all but poised to sail easily to his party’s nomination to face Ronald Reagan’s Republican successor

In “The Conjuring” Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga take the roles of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, a Nick and Nora of supernatural troubleshooting. The real-life Warrens are best known in some circles as investigators at Amityville. “The Conjuring” comes from a lesser known incident earlier in their career, a 1971 investigation at a 300-year-old Rhode Island farmhouse. The Perrons--husband, wife, and five daughters

Farmiga’s direction keeps the story moving while never tipping into melodrama. In other hands the film could have lost its focus on its protagonist’s journey and emphasized the cult-like church instead—but Farmiga maintains her concentration on her character, allowing everything else in the film to swirl around, but never obscure, her. Just for this, the film deserves praise; the fact that it’s also simply excellent is an added bonus.

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

I laughed all the way through the evil child thriller [...]