Friday’s openings: The holidays are approaching

It's already November, which means that the holiday movie season is approaching. Which also means that the chances of good movies coming our way are increasing. Finally. And Friday just may be the start.

Friday's scheduled openings are as follows:

"Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk": Ang Lee directed this adaptation of Ben Fountain's novel about a 19-year-old war veteran who, following a harrowing combat experience, finds himself caught up in a patriotic celebration he finds as strange as it is surreal. Kind of an everyday experience at a Dallas Cowboys game.

"Almost Christmas": Writer-director David E. Talbert explores an extended family's attempts to enjoy the first Thanksgiving following their matriarch's death. Do they eat turkey, or is that just the movie itself?

"Arrival": Amy Adams stars as a linguist whom the army recruits to communicate with extraterrestrials. ET may just want to phone home.

"Shut In": Naomi Watts stars as child psychologist, living a lonely life in New England, who thinks she is being haunted by the ghost of a little boy. No, she doesn't live on Elm Sreet. (Or does she?)

That's the available lineup. I'll update when the local theaters finalize what they plan to screen.