Keke Palmer’s One of Them Days and seven other roles defined a career that made its own path.

Zach Piatt covers high school sports at The News-Gazette. His email is zpiatt@news-gazette.com.

I am struck by how many good movies that I’ve already seen this year, and by how many were aimed at mainstream-minded audiences. Tired of every well-received movie being a niche what’s-it that you ...