In his films, Steve McQueen asks audiences to judge where we are now in relation to what's happened before — particularly with his new WWII film, "Blitz." (Marcus Ubungen/Los Angeles Times) For ...

For British director Steve McQueen, the past isn’t worth dramatizing unless it can illuminate the present, so when he makes films steeped in history — whether it’s “12 Years a Slave” or his World War ...