Friday’s openings: Back to Benghazi and short jokes

As I sit here this morning listening to David Bowie sing “Ashes to Ashes,” which is totally fitting, I ponder the films that will be opening on Friday — none of which, I might add, is likely to be as good as “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.”

Anyway, the week’s scheduled mainstream movie openings are as follows:

“Ride Along 2” : Kevin Hart and Ice Cube return as soon-to-be brothers in law who head for Miami to tackle some big-time drug dealers. Expect some short jokes.

“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” : The story of the military contractors who struggle to survive on a night when the U.S. ambassador in Libya is killed. Michael Bay gets serious but still blows things up real good.

“Norm of the North” : A polar bear become an unwitting marketing tool for a shady corporation. Animated ecology lesson for the kids.

I’ll have the official list, along with the Magic Lantern openings, when they become available.

Note : The above films are indeed opening, along with a second run of “Room.”