On Labor Day pay tribute to workers, especially those who have worked for better conditions for everyone. These movies can help us understand their challenges and their contributions. This year in particular these stories have even more resonance as the very people who make the movies, the writers and performers are on strike to oppose shrinking writers rooms, wage theft, and the use of AI to undermine their current contracts.

Sally Field won an Oscar for “Norma Rae,” a real-life story about a courageous woman who helped mill workers form a union. It was inspired by Crystal Lee Sutton, a courageous advocate for workers’ rights.

Doris Day plays a union worker who falls for a new guy in management but doesn’t lose sight of the seven and a half cent raise the workers are bargaining for in the rollicking musical, “The Pajama Game.”

“Made in Dagenham” stars Sally Hawkins and and Rosamund Pike in the true and very heartwarming story of the British women who went on strike when they found that they were being paid far less by Ford Motor Company than the men.

“Pride”

I love this true story, about a group of LGBTQ activists who support the 1984 miners’ strike in Wales.

“10PM-Midnight: Working the Night Shift” is the story of the people who keep things going while the rest of us are asleep.

“Lifelines in the Lockdown” is a CBS News documentary from the early days of the pandemic about essential workers.

John Sayles’ “Matewan” tells the story of mine workers fighting for safer conditions.

“Harlan County USA” is a documentary about a strike by mine workers.

“Bread and Roses” is based on the real-life story of a strike by undocumented janitorial workers, with Adrian Brody as their lawyer.

“Salt of the Earth” was inspired by an actual miners’ strike against the Empire Zinc Co. and the cast includes real-life miners who were involved in the strike

In “The Devil and Miss Jones,” a big boss goes undercover as an employee in his department store and learns some lessons about the workforce. The terrific cast includes Charles Coburn, Spring Byington, and Jean Arthur.

I’m excited at the possibility we might be getting a sequel to the classic “9 to 5,” starring the iconic Jane Fonda, Lili Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. Is there a better bad boss than Dabney Coleman? Or a better song than this film’s title sung by Parton?

Happy fall! The season of superheroes and car chases is over, and it’s time for some of the movies we will probably see at awards time. A few films, including “Dune 2,” have been delayed due to the continuing SAG-AFTRA/WAG strike. But there is still plenty to look forward to. Here are some of the films I’m most excited about.

September

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”

The Portokalos family is back and this time they’re going to Greece to connect with their roots. Nia Vardelos wrote and directed what looks like another heartwarming comedy.

“Dumb Money”

There was this company called GameStop. They were in shopping malls and they sold video games. A bunch of ultra- rich Wall Street guys shorted the stock, meaning that if the company went bankrupt, they would make more billions of dollars. Normally, that would work. But “a bunch of millennial misfits” (according to the excellent documentary, “Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga“), with new access to both technology (an options trading app) and time (the pandemic), decided it was Opposite Day, and they would invest not because of what market indicators were pointing to, but just to mess with the billionaires. This film has a powerhouse cast, including Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen, America Ferrera, Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan, Nick Offerman, and Vincent D’Onofrio.

“A Haunting in Venice”

Sir Kenneth Branagh is back as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, with Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh as a medium who Jamie Dornan and his “Belfast” co-star Jude Hill, Kelly Reilly, Camille Cottin, and Tina Fey as Adrienne Oliver, the mystery novelist character Agatha Christie based on herself.

“A Million Miles Away”

The story of NASA flight engineer José Hernández inspired this film about a family of proud migrant farm workers on a decades-long journey, from a rural village in Michoacán, Mexico, to the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, to more than 200 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station.

“She Came to Me”

Peter Dinklage stars as an opera composer struggling to create his next piece. His wife, played by Anne Hathaway, is a therapist who loves to clean. He meets a tugboat captain played by Marisa Tomei, and that gives him an idea for the opera…and a possible stalker. Plus, a new song from Bruce Springsteen!

“My Animal”

This is a supernatural romance with Bobbi Salvör Menuez (“Euphoria”) as a secluded young woman living with an inherited curse Amandla Stenberg (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”) as the rebellious love interest who will discover how dangerous the relationship will be.

“Flora and Son”

I’m a huge fan of filmmaker John Carney (“Once,” “Begin Again,” “Sing Street”), whose movies always have a deep love for music and musicians. I am really looking forward to this one, with Eve Hewson as a young mother of a sulky teenager who find a way to connect through music. “Sing Street’s” Jack Reynor plays the boy’s father, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is her online guitar tutor. Hewson knows something about the world of musicians; her father is Bono.

“The Pigeon Tunnel”

Spy-turned spy novelist John le Carré (real name David John Moore Cornwall) is interviewed by legendary documentarian Errol Morris, a perfect fit, as they are two men who have spent their lives thinking about secrets.

“The Creator”

Worried about AI? This will make you worry even more. In the apocalyptic future of this story, AI has gone rogue and is on the way to wiping out humanity. If anyone can save us, I’d bet on John David Washington.

“Dicks: The Musical”

Yes, that is really the title. And the director is Larry Charles, of “Seinfeld” and the Borat and Brüno movies. And it stars Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Megan Thee Stallion, and Bowen Yang. And it’s something about…a kind of “Parent Trap”-type story? With puppets called The Sewer Boys.

October

“FOE”

Two of the world’s most talented and charismatic performers, Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, star in a movie about a couple who live quietly on land that has been in his father’s family for generations until a stranger arrives with a shocking offer in a “Black Mirror”-style tale of technology and identity.

“Freelance”

Fall may be for serious movies, but hey, there’s always room for action, especially if it stars John Cena. In “Freelance” he is a divorced dad in a boring law job, but of course he’s also ex-special ops, and he agrees to keep a journalist (Alison Brie) safe on a reporting trip to interview a dictator.

“Ordinary Angels”

Two-time Oscar-winner Hillary Swank plays a self-described mess who decides that she has a purpose in life — to help a family she’s never met get the transplant their little girl desperately needs.

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

One of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year is Martin Scorsese’s 3 1/2-hour epic adaptation of David Grann’s book about the real-life murder of Osage Indians in the early 1920s. No one paid much attention to the Osage until they discovered oil on their land and a lot of money was going to to to them or to anyone who got them out of the way. The cast includes Scorsese favorites Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as John Lithgow, Yancey Red Corn, Jesse Clemons, Brendan Fraser, and Tantoo Cardinal.

“What Happens Later”

Meg Ryan directs and stars with David Duchovny in a bittersweet story of exes to find themselves stuck at the airport.

“The Holdovers”

Alexander Payne reunites with his “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti for this story of an autocratic and disliked boarding school teacher stuck with the unhappy students who have nowhere else to go for the winter holidays.

NOVEMBER

“Rustin”

Producer Barack Obama (yes, that Obama) is behind this biopic about one of the key figures of the Civil Rights Movement, Bayard Rustin, played by Colman Domingo. Rustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the 1941 March on Washington Movement to press for an end to racial discrimination in employment. He later organized Freedom Rides, and helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He advocated for civil rights, workers’ rights, gay rights, and the rights of Soviet Jews. “Rustin’s” director is George C. Wolfe (director of many Broadway plays and films including “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and the cast includes Aml Ameen as the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., Glynn Turman as A. Philip Randolph, Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Mahalia Jackson, Jeffrey Wright (who played MLK in “Boycott”) as Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, and Chris Rock as Roy Wilkins, along with CCH Pounder and Audra McDonald. Obama posthumously awarded Bayard Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and this movie is sure to be a meaningful tribute.

“Quiz Lady”

Awkwafina and Sandra Oh star as a gameshow-obsessed woman and her estranged sister, who have to work together to help cover their mother’s gambling debts. What better way to make some money than a game show? And what better actor to play a game show host than Will Ferrell?

“The Marvels”

Brie Larson is just one of the Marvels in this superhero story bringing together Carol Danvers with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (the adorable Iman Vellani). Of course Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the Flerken named Goose that looks like a cat are there to provide back-up. What do I always say about the villain being the key to a good superhero movie? Well, we’ve got Zawe Ashton as Dar-Ben. Sisters are doin’ it for themselves!

“May December”

Director Todd Haynes always has a provocative take on the gaps between our public and private personas. In “May/December,” Julianne Moore plays a woman who had sex with her 13-year-old student. That was years ago, they are still together, living in a lovely home financed by their appearances on tabloid news shows. Their child is about to graduate from high school as an actress (Natalie Portman) has arrived because she is going to play Moore’s character in a movie based on the story.

“Next Goal Wins”

Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarock,” “Jojo Rabbit”) is not going to give us the usual underdog sports story. And it’s not “Ted Lasso.” This is based on the real-life Samoan team known for a brutal 2001 FIFA match they lost 31-0. Michael Fassbender plays the coach brought in to get them to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, or just to get one goal. To learn more, watch the documentary of the same name.

“Showdown at the Grand”

A movie theater owner (Terrence Howard) and an action star (Dolph Lundgren) join forces to save the business from developers in this commentary on and love letter to action movies.

“Maestro”

The last time Bradley Cooper wrote, directed, and starred in a film, it was the smash remake “A Star is Born.” The triple threat is back with “Maestro,” the story of musical genius Leonard Bernstein, a brilliant conductor and composer. Carey Mulligan co-stars as his wife Felicia.

“Napoleon”

Ridley Scott directs this epic story of an epic life, with Joaquin Phoenix as the emperor turned exile and Vanessa Kirby as his wife, Josephine.

“Wish”

No one knows more about wishes and magic than Disney, and after a couple of less-than-great films, this one looks like a return to the classic era, with a terrific voice cast: Chris Pine as the evil king, Oscar-winner Ariana Dubs as the heroine, and Alan Tudyk, as, I’m guessing, the goat?

“Bottoms” is a cheerfully deranged take on the classic high school underdog story and I mean that in the nicest possible way. It’s a twisted take on the classic story of teenagers who want to have sex and be popular. Usually, that story is about boys. Almost always, it is about heterosexuals. This time, in a film written by director Emma Seligman and star Rachel Sennott, it is about two queer BFFs, not romantic partners, and the title comes from their status at the bottom of the ultra-hierarchy of their school. It is not because they are gay; lots of gay kids are popular. It is because they are “gay, ugly, and untalented,” at least from the narrow perspective of high school.

They both have impossible crushes. PJ (Sennott) yearns for Brittany (Kaia Gerber, with the supermodel bearing of her mother, Cindy Crawford). Josie (breakout star Ayo Edebiri) longs for the lovely Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), who is the girlfriend of the school’s star quarterback, Jeff (breakout star Nicholas Galitzine).

No one is even pretending to care about them or their education, including their principal (Wayne Pére) and their teacher, Mr. G. (a hilarious performance by football star Marshawn Lynch). The girls decide to start a self-defense fight club, despite having no ability or qualifications, because they think it might attract and impress Brittany and Isabel. Shockingly, Mr. G. agrees to be their sponsor. Even more shockingly, Brittany and Isabel show up. And most shocking of all, the girls in the group beat each other up and somehow feel empowered by it.

The girls have lied, though, about more than their intentions and skills. They said they learned to be tough when they were in juvie. They are so thrilled with how well the club is working, especially after Josie gets to comfort Isabel after she finds out Jeff has been cheating on her, that they do not think about what will happen when they are exposed.

Sennott, Galitzine, and Edebiri are a decade older than the characters they are playing, but this is not a movie that is going for realism. It is also not a movie that, like “PEN15” wants you to know that adults are playing teenagers. It just invites us into a world where somehow this all makes sense, and we are happy to follow along because the characters and situations are completely crazy but very funny. Heightened, even bizarre tones work well in stories of adolescence because that is a heightened, bizarre time of life. Every emotion and especially every humiliation seems so vitally important and earth-shaking, and the family support system that has been there all your life (if you are lucky) suddenly seems useless and incapable of understanding.

Galitzine could not be further from the elegant, refined, British prince he plays in “Red, White & Royal Blue.” His Jeff is an arrogant idiot and very funny. Edebiri (also in “The Bear” and “Theater Camp”) is a non-stop delight, with the most expressive face you will see on screen this year and a knock-out sense of timing. Needless to say, this movie is not for everyone, but those who appreciate subversive and transgressive humor will have a blast.

Parents should know that this movie has non-stop strong and crude language, a reference to suicide of a teenager, violence that becomes lethal, disturbing and graphic images, explicit sexual references and non-explicit sexual situations.

Family discussion: Is there anything in this movie that resembles your high school experience? What will happen next?

If you like this, try: “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” “Book Smart,” “Heathers,” and “Polite Society”

Imagine a Cinderella story, but instead of a fairy godmother there’s a huge multi-national corporation and instead of a glass slipper there’s a race car, and instead of a prince there’s a trophy. We do love our underdog stories, and “Gran Turismo” is a doozy because, unlike Cinderella, it is based on a true story. The millions of teenagers locked in their bedrooms all day and night playing games on their computers can now respond to the parents who urge them to get outside, get a job, and get a life by directing them to this one-in-a-million story about a guy who turned his hours in front of a computer into a career as a professional race car driver.

That guy is Jann (pronounced Yann) Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), who lives in Cardiff, Wales, with his parents, Lesley (former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell Horner), and Steve (Djimon Hounsou), a former athlete, now a rail yard worker.

Before the dreams of the teenager at the console, there was the dream of the program itself. It’s not a game, we are reminded in the film; it’s a sim (simulation). Developer Kazunori Yamauchi, an amateur race car driver, was determined to make the most authentically detailed sim in the world so that people like Jann could share the experience of driving 200 miles an hour in the most realistic cars and on the most realistic tracks in the world.

And then there was another dream. Orlando Bloom plays Danny Moore, based on the real-life executive Darren Cox. Moore goes to meet with the top Nissan executives in Tokyo to sell them on his idea: a competition among the 80 million sim players worldwide to get the best of the best, train them, and find one who can really race. It will make car buyers “associate their cars with adventure.” This is like Willy Wonka having a video candy-making competition to pick the next master chocolatier. But Nissan agrees, provided there is a master engineer to keep these competition winners safe. As that engineer, Jack Salter (David Harbour) points out, in a game when you crash, you hit reset. In real life, you could die. (Salter is a composite character, based on some real people and also, apparently, on Yoda and on Burgess Meredith, Clint Eastwood, and every crusty old character actor who has played a young boxer’s grumpy cornerman.)

The lanky Madekwe is an appealing hero, one might say an avatar for us in the audience. And director Neill Blomkamp does a terrific job of making Jann’s time at the console seem “real” and the real racetrack align with the sim. In a funny moment, Jann, who has hardly ever been behind the wheel of any car, uses what he learned in the sim to evade police after a minor fender bender. The racing scenes are dynamic and exciting. And the film parallels a game, with each goal and hazard set out clearly. And then, when the goal is achieved, the next level is unlocked and a new set of more difficult goals and hazards are in place. Most fun, we learn at the end that the real-life Jann, now a veteran of hundreds of races, is the film’s co-producer and stunt driver, a new level-up for him.

Parents should know that this film includes a scary crash with injuries and an off-screen death, other crashes, collisions, and cars repeatedly rolled over. Characters use some strong language and social drinking.

Family discussion: What did Jann learn from his crash? What would you want to create an accurate sim for?

If you like this, try: “Rock Star” and “The Last Straighter”

Each August, if we’re lucky, we get to see breakthrough talent in the August movie releases, where the indie darlings and festival hits make it to theaters. This month there are two actors making sensational appearances in two different films and I can’t wait to see more of them.

Here’s a glimpse of both of them in “Bottoms.”

It’s hard to imagine a bigger chasm between the two roles played by Nicholas Galiztne this month. In “Red, White & Royal Blue” he plays a prince, the grandson of the King of England and the brother of the heir to the throne. In his bespoke suits (made by the same firm that does the suits for the real royals), he is an elegant exemplar of discretion and diplomacy. The movie shifts from a rom-com vibe to a more serious romantic drama, and Galitzine gracefully shifts with it, showing us how the prince yearns for what his duty tells him he cannot have.

In “Bottoms,” he plays Jeff, an American small-town high school quarterback who is dumb, arrogant, obnoxious, and constantly unfaithful to his girlfriend. Galitzine perfectly nails not just the character but the heightened tone of the film. The film is wildly funny, mostly very dark, satiric comedy, and again he is tonally perfect every bit of the way.

Ayo Edebiri is one of the leads in “Bottoms,” a high school student who starts an all-women fight club with her best friend. Her supremely expressive face and perfectly calibrated dialogue are a highlight of the film. You can also see her in the hit series about the Chicago restaurant, “The Bear.”

She has a small but vital part in one of my favorites of the year, “Theater Camp,” as a counselor brought in at the last minute who has no idea what she is doing. She shows enormous range and understanding of tone in each of these very different works. For a treat, try some of her stand-up clips on YouTube, showing us she is adorable as herself.

Can’t wait to see more of them!