Friday’s openings: Asteroids and past loves

Above : Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” is scheduled to open on Friday: (Photo/Focus Features)

As I’ve noted in the past, Wes Anderson is an acquired taste. Or at least the films he makes are.

That’s just another way of saying that he makes a particular kind of film, one that is as quirky as it is recognizable. And that it appeals to some people.

And not to others. Even among critics.

Anderson’s latest film, “Asteroid City” is among the slate of widely diverse films scheduled to open around Spokane on Friday. And, as usual, the critics are divided about Anderson’s effort.

“Asteroid City” : When a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention gets stranded in a speck-on-the-highway town by world-changing events, lessons are learned all around – the Wes Anderson way.

Katie Walsh of Tribune News Service wrote, “Anderson hasn’t just delivered his best film in years, he’s also managed to capture the zeitgeist in his own unique way.”

Meanwhile, Michael O’Sullivan of the Washington Post wrote, “Maybe the whole endeavor is some kind of self-portrait of an artist who doesn’t know what he wants to say anymore.”

Let the arguments begin. The rest of the list should look something like this:

“Past Lives” : Sparks fly when a happily married woman encounters a close friend from her childhood in Korea.

“No Hard Feelings” : Jennifer Lawrence stars as a woman hired to bring an introverted young man out of his shell before he heads off to college.

“The Last Rider” : The true story of Greg Lemond, the American cyclist who overcame personal tragedies to win the 1980 Tour de France. Directed by documentary filmmaker Alex Holmes.

“God Is a Bullet” : Nick Cassavetes wrote and directed this action movie about a former cop who partners with a revenge-seeking woman to find his daughter who has been kidnapped by a murderous cult.

That’s it for the minute. I’ll update as the week progresses.