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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Friday’s openings: Infinite choices, limited jests

Nathan Weinbender

Summer is starting to wind down, and the movies are following suit. That’s not to say the number of releases is dropping – there are six new titles scheduled to open this Friday – but the season of the blockbuster is more or less over. In fact, this week’s releases cover some pretty dark material – drugs, violence, depression and, uh, kidnapping ghosts. At least there’s a comedy in there to add a little levity. Here are the titles:

At the AMC:

“American Ultra” – Jesse Eisenberg stars as a perpetually stoned loser who discovers he’s a sleeper agent for the government, and the same people that programmed him to be a killing machine want him dead. Think “Pineapple Express” meets “The Bourne Identity.”

“The End of the Tour” – From director James Ponsoldt (“The Spectacular Now”), this film festival favorite documents the five days in 1996 when journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg, again) followed late writer David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) on his “Infinite Jest” book tour. Expect plenty of footnotes.

“Hitman: Agent 47” – A dead-eyed, genetically-engineered assassin must take down a top secret corporation that holds the key to his mysterious origins…or something. “American Ultra,” this ain’t. Based on a video game series, previously adapted into a long-forgotten 2007 feature.

“Sinister 2” – This sequel to the not-that-bad 2012 chiller continues the urban legend of a creepy specter that murders families and swipes the children. Not exactly an ideal bedtime story.

At the Magic Lantern:

“Cartel Land” – Documentarian Matthew Heineman explores the ins and outs of the meth trade, focusing on the cooks, smugglers and peddlers on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The Stanford Prison Experiment” – A certain-to-be-grim docudrama inspired by the notorious sociological experiment conducted in 1971, in which students were divided into groups of prisoners and guards in a makeshift prison. Things did not go very well.

Below: The trailer for “The Stanford Prison Experiment”: