Strange and fantastic fall films

The up-and-running fall film season offers a smorgasbord of tempting cinematic tidbits through Nov. 18. Here are 10 movies that have piqued my curiosity.

<b>1. “The Birth of a Nation” (Oct. 7) -</b> It's not just a dramatization about Nat Turner's 1831 southern slave rebellion.

It's a referendum on how the personal actions of filmmakers might affect the box office and critical evaluation of their motion pictures.

Writer/director Nate Parker's bold use of the title from D.W. Griffith's 1915 silent cinematic masterpiece turned out to be more prescient than anyone could imagine.

For 100 years, critics have asked if Griffith's pro-Ku-Klux-Klan movie can be considered great art even if it spreads racist propaganda designed to incite hatred and violence? Should the “thought” of drama (Aristotle's term) be considered when evaluating the craftsmanship of a movie?

Now, Parker's movie raises a similar issue: Will audiences support this drama after finding out its two principal creators were charged with raping a coed at Penn State University in 1999?

Parker was acquitted in 2001. Jean Celestin, Parker's “Birth of a Nation” co-writer and college roommate back then, was found guilty, but successfully appealed four years later when the plaintiff refused to go to trial again. She committed suicide in 2012.

Films by Woody Allen and Roman Polanski have survived scandals involving their filmmakers, but Parker doesn't have their fan base and track records.

So, will 2016 audiences judge “The Birth of a Nation” on its own merits? Or on the filmmakers' perceived demerits?

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2. “Queen of Katwe” (Sept. 23) - </b>Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair stands to stage a major comeback with an inspirational, fact-based sports underdog drama.

Except the game is chess, not football or basketball.

This Walt Disney release tells the story of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga), a poor Ugandan girl who dreams of becoming a grandmaster of chess, with help and encouragement from her coach (“Selma” star David Oyelowo).

The best part: The story isn't told through a white narrator or fictional white main character.

<b>3. “The Girl on the Train” (Oct. 7) - </b>Emily Blunt, who kicked major thespian booty in last year's drug cartel thriller “Sicario,” plays an alcoholic divorcee who, after a night of drinking, wakes up covered in blood and can't remember anything.

But the unknown woman she's been watching for a long time during her daily train rides has mysteriously vanished. The movie comes from Tate Taylor.

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4. “Arrival” Nov. 14) - </b>Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve's “Prisoners” made my top-10 list for 2013. His “Sicario” made my top-10 list for 2015. In his new science-fiction tale, Amy Adams stars as an expert linguist recruited to help communicate with extraterrestrials who have landed around the globe.

But why wouldn't aliens think to use their own linguists to handle interfacing with humanoids? Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker co-star.

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5. “Doctor Strange” (Nov. 4) -</b> During the early '60s, I would devour the Marvel Comics' tales of super-wizard/magician Doctor Strange, a middle-aged neurosurgeon-turned-Sorcerer-Supreme created by super illustrator Steve Ditko.

Chameleonic British actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays the enigmatic comic book character. Scott Derrickson directs. So, will “Doctor Strange” be more like his frightful “Sinister” or his uninspired remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”?

<b>6. “For the Love of Spock” (Sept. 23) - </b>What better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the “Star Trek” TV series? Adam Nimoy directs and writes a documentary not just about his famous father, actor/director Leonard Nimoy, but about the iconic Vulcan character he created.

With logic and reasoning waning on the national political and journalistic fronts, this could be a necessary movie for our time.

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7. “Godzilla Resurgence” (Oct. 11) -</b> Seriously, someone someday has got to make a really good Godzilla movie.

This marks the 31st film in the Godzilla franchise, the 29th Godzilla movie produced by Japan's venerable Toho company, and Toho's third reboot to star the fire-breathing prehistoric monster. (Godzilla may be unkillable, but he did receive a major drubbing from a giant ape in “King Kong vs. Godzilla.”)

Hideaki Anno's remake of the 1954 original movie “introduces” Godzilla to the world once again. That begs a question: How can the creature experience a “resurgence” if he hasn't first surged?

<b>8. “The Accountant” (Oct. 14) - </b>As best as I can make out, Gavin O'Connor's thriller stars Ben Affleck as socially inept numbers genius Christian Wolff, whose talent for cooking the books wins him many shady clients from around the world.

Then he becomes a hitman utilizing the same skills - cold logic and numerical precision - he employs as an accountant, which come in handy after he discovers some surprises at a robotics company he's working for.

The great J.K. Simmons plays a Treasury agent on his tail. What's not to love?

<b>9. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Nov. 18) - </b>First, it stars the always amazing Eddie Redmayne as magizoologist Newt Scamander, member of the magical Congress of the United States of America in 1926.

Second, J.K, Rowling writes it, and it's her first screenplay, adapted from her book of the same title, a prequel to her “Harry Potter” novels.

Third, David Yates directs it, as he did the last four well-wrought movies out of eight in the “Harry Potter” series.

Fourth, the story's political bent - about an extremist organization pushing the buttons of fear and violence between two factions - might be an allegorical warning.

As Albus Dumbledore says, “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.”

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10. “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children” (Sept. 30) - </b>Tim Burton was born to direct this dark fantasy based on Ransom Riggs' best-seller about a peculiar teen Jacob (Asa Butterfield), who stumbles upon an orphanage caught in a “time loop” created by Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), a peculiar Ymbrynes that can create time loops.

Throw in some time travelers, an invisible boy and some hollowgasts (tentacle-mouthed humanoids that killed Jacob's grandfather), we've got the ingredients for a Burtonesque comeback.