Ellar Coltrane uses a flip phone. The star of “Boyhood,” whose entire maturation process is seen on screen by each person who contributed to its $21,808,498-and-counting box office take, had to search...

Legend has it that Richard Linklater was once challenged to make a film around a conversation. The film was “Before Sunrise,” whose restricted single-night setting and honest intensity vaulted Linklater...