Friday’s openings: Spider-Man and the good stuff

As we gear up for the upcoming summer blockbuster season, Friday's movie opening will feature an expanded, CGI-driven reinvention of a Marvel superhero, a couple of films aimed at older audiences and an intriguing documentary investigation into the soul of a mysterious purveyor of photographic art.

The openings are as follows:

"The Amazing Spider-Man 2": Andrew Garfield returns for his second run as the spider-bit boy who fights crime. This time we get to watch Spidey fly in the format of our choice, including IMAX 3-D, for 142 minutes. Think of it as "The Godfather" of superhero flicks. 

"The Railway Man": Colin Firth stars as a man, married to a woman played by Nicole Kidman, who is still tormented by the horrors he endured as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II. Not one but two Oscar-winning actors. Beat that, Spidey.

And at the Magic Lantern:

"Le Week-End": Fresh off a short run at AMC, this British import stars Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as an aging couple who spend the weekend in Paris, attempting to relive their long-ago honeymoon. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "French kiss."

"Finding Vivian Maier": A young amateur historian finds a treasure trove of photographic negatives in a box he buys at auction and, in the process, discovers the work of a talented photographer no one had ever heard of. This is MY choice of the weekend.

Update: The Lantern will also feature two one-night screenings. On Sunday at 7 p.m., the theater will screen Canada's Winnipeg Ballet version of "Moulin Rouge," followed on Thursday (May 8) at 7 p.m. a screening of "Super Duper Alice Cooper" (described by IMDB as "the first ever 'doc opera' - a dizzying blend of documentary archive footage, animation and rock opera.")