Zombies, docs and 3D mark the week’s releases

Looks like the fall season is beginning in earnest on Friday, what with zombies, a couple of interesting documentaries and the establishment of another 3D movie screen in Spokane.

Here’s what’s opening:

“Zombieland” : This zombie comedy features Woody Harrelson reverting to his redneck roots to play Tallahassee, “an AK-toting, zombie-slayin’ bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth.” He teams up with the ultimate wuss, played by Jesse Eisenberg (“Adventureland,” “The Squid and the Whale”). Both roles aren’t exactly stretches for the respective actors. But Ruben Fleischer’s film boasts zombies, so it’s got that much going for it.

“Capitalism: A Love Story” : By now we know what to expect from Michael Moore – unremitting progressive sensibilities, ambush journalism, laxity with the facts, courageous convictions, all resulting in movies that, depending on your respective political persuasion, cause you to cheer or jeer. Here, angered by the recent economic meltdown, Moore goes after today’s robber barons. And, as usual, he takes no prisoners.

“It Might Get Loud” : Three guitarists, Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, come together to talk about their music. Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) is there to record what happens.

“The Invention of Lying” : Ricky Gervais co-wrote/co-directed (with Matthew Robinson) this story of a man who, unable to cope with a world where lying doesn’t exist, discovers how much fun he can have when he, uh, stretches the truth.

“Whip It” : Drew Barrymore, working from Shauna Cross’ screenplay adaptation of her own novel, directed her first feature about a young women (Ellen Page) who trades her small-town travails for the life of a roller-derby queen.

“Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D” : This Pixar-Disney duo, converted to 3D format, will play as a double feature. It’s partly a marketing ploy for “Toy Story 3,” which is now scheduled for a summer 2010 opening. But AMC’s River Park Square Theatres will be using it to show off its new 3D capabilities, joining Regal Cinemas’ NorthTown Mall and Coeur d’Alene Riverstone as one of three 3D-ready theaters in the area.

Gee whiz. Spokane is finally joining the 21st century.

“Bright Star” : Meanwhile, over at the Magic Lantern, owner Joe Davis is continuing his efforts to bring in the best of art/independent/foreign cinema. Quality abounds in this Jane Campion film about the famously doomed British poet John Keats and his love, Fanny Brawne. Kenneth Turan, writing in the Los Angeles Times, calls Campion’s movie “an exquisitely done, emotional love story that marries heartbreaking passion to formidable filmmaking restraint, all in the service of an unapologetically romantic belief in ‘the holiness of the heart’s affections.’ ”

Hey, the Magic Lantern is $5 for all movies. It’s well worth a visit.

Happy viewing.