Film fans head into fall with restored faith, much to see

Ten picks most worthy of your time from now until U.S. Thanksgiving

- PETER HOWELL

"Moana 2"

What a difference a season makes.

When this year’s crop of summer films began rolling out a few short months ago, there were fears of a shortage of quality cinema and interested moviegoers due to last year’s Hollywood strikes and lingering COVID concerns.

A pair of billion-dollar blockbusters later — “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2” — plus other big-screen successes, film fans are heading into the fall season with restored faith in the seventh art and a lot to look forward to.

Here are my 10 picks for the movies most worthy of seeing from Labour Day weekend to U.S. Thanksgiving. As always, release dates are subject to change:

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Sept. 6)

It’s been so long — 36 years — since Michael Keaton played the smartass title spectre you’d expect him to be even more of a walking corpse. Keaton’s crypt escapee actually looks pretty much as he did in the 1980s, when he was trying to scare the Deetz family out of their home while also making moves on their daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). Director Tim Burton picks up where he left off, with Beetlejuice still haunting the house, bugging the Deetzes and generally rocking the afterlife. Ryder and Catherine O’Hara return from the first movie. New cast members include Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s teen goth daughter plus Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe and Justin Theroux.

See it if you like The first “Beetlejuice” and other Burton films, Keaton comedies, Ortega’s withering glances and possessed lipsynching to famous pop tunes.

Wolfs (Sept. 20)