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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Friday’s openings: DJs, mountain climbers and adolescent angst

Nathan Weinbender

We’re now in that weird in-between period all serial moviegoers dread: Summer tent-pole season has waned, Oscar season is still a month or so away and Hollywood’s output has slowed to a trickle. This week’s new releases include an odd mix of movies, but there are some small, more independent titles worth checking out. Here’s what you have to choose from:

Wednesday:

“No Escape” – Owen Wilson stars as the American ambassador to a crooked U.S. company who moves his family to an unnamed Southeast Asian country just as a military coup breaks out.

Friday:

“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” – Set in San Francisco in the 1970s, this bittersweet coming-of-age story follows a sexually curious 15-year-old named Minnie (relative newcomer Bel Powley) as she documents her ascension to adulthood. Based on the acclaimed novel by Phoebe Gloeckner, the trailer gives me serious “Welcome to the Dollhouse”-meets-“American Splendor” vibes. And I mean that as a compliment.

“We Are Your Friends” – A sort of “Saturday Night Fever” for the Paradiso Festival set, the directorial debut of MTV personality Max Joseph stars Zac Efron as a young dreamer who just wants to be a celebrity DJ with a supermodel girlfriend. Ah, career goals.

“War Room” – The “war” of the title is a domestic one, as a seemingly perfect couple turns to (per the film’s publicity) “an older, wiser woman” about using prayer for transformative purposes. A Christian-themed film from the director of “Fireproof” and “Courageous.”

At the Magic Lantern:

“Meru” – A documentary about the 2008 attempt by three mountain climbers to scale a legendary Himalayan peak known as the Shark’s Fin. Harrowing, to say the least.

Below: The trailer for “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.”