Friday’s openings: Dogs and raising the dead

While we're still waiting for some of 2018's most critically acclaimed films to open in this part of the Inland Northwest ("If Beale Street Could Talk," "Cold War," "Shoplifters," "Burning," et al), the new year continues to offer popular entertainment — even if all of them seem a bit derivative.

According to the national-release schedule, three films will open on Friday:

"A Dog's Way Home": Following in the tradition of "Lassie Come Home" and "The Incredible Journey," this canine melodrama focuses on a dog that loses its way and has to travel some 400 miles to get back home. Arf, arf!

"Replicas": This straight from the IMDB: "A scientist becomes obsessed with bringing back his family members who died in a traffic accident." That doesn't seem like such a good idea.

"The Upside": Based on the French film "Les Intouchables," this comedy-drama stars Bryan Cranston as a quadriplegic who hires a character played by Kevin Hart to be his personal aide. Oh la la.

Anyway, that's all for the moment. I'll update when the area theaters finalize their bookings.