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.