Since 2001, “The Fast and the Furious” has evolved from a B-movie about street racing in Los Angeles into one of Hollywood’s biggest global franchises, complete with parachuting cars and Arctic submarine...

Muscles. Cars. Muscle cars. Flaming muscle cars. A wrecking ball the size of a house. A demolition derby on Fifth Avenue. A nuclear submarine. “I will admit, there were a lot of toys,” said director...

By Los Angeles Times Film Staff Los Angeles Times (TNS) From the first flurries of franchises in January through the last gasp at Oscar-qualifying runs in December, there will be, conservatively, around...