Three to remind us that better times lay ahead

I wrote reviews of three of the six movies that are opening in Spokane/Coeur d’Alene this weekend. “Thirteen” was a big hit at Sundance, winning the Director’s Award for Catherine Hardwicke, which was deserved. It lost out on the Grand Jury Prize (“American Splendor” won), which also was deserved. “The Fighting Temptations” is the splash caused by a grain of sand in the grand expanse of the Hollywood beach. And “Secondhand Lions” isn’t exactly a waste its talented cast. But it’s close.