Marybel Sacramento ’26
Staff Writer
As a Wisconsinite that has lived in the Midwest all her life, there are pros and cons to living and experiencing the fall season. The bright and beautiful trees that grow and change during this time of the year can take your breath away. What is different about the Midwest compared to the East Coast is the bipolar weather that occurs during the fall. One of my favorite things to do during the fall is to stay in and watch movies. In this list, you will see my movie recommendations that are fit to watch during the fall season and fit the fall aesthetic.
Scent of A Woman (1992)
Scent of A Woman, starring Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell, James Rebbhorn.
Personally, this movie has been a favorite of mine for quite some time and it’s not a movie that would make you think at first about the fall at all. The movie is filmed in the fall and you can feel and see the beautiful Connecticut scenery. Al Pacino has a “Je a sais quoi” that makes him great in this movie. He has charisma, he’s humorous yet serious, and is committed to his role. You can feel the tension when he’s mad or loses his temper in this movie. All in all, this movie is a bit sad but makes you feel good at the same time. It’s a good movie to watch with family and friends if you just want to stay in and do nothing.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox, starring George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray. This movie was adapted from Roal Dahl’s children’s book Fantastic Mr. Fox. Given the fact that Roal Dahl wrote children’s books and is known for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach to name a few, but Fantastic Mr. Fox had adult humor and had quite scary and dark scenes. Then again, Wes Anderson is known to associate and trademark his movies with bright colors to compose the mise-en-scene of the movie, but his movies are mostly comedies with adventure with a touch of dark scenes. I love the casting in this movie and how this movie was made. Truly, I feel like this movie fits perfectly in the fall aesthetic theme with the colors and the warm feeling you gain from start to finish. It’s not a feel-good movie per se, but it will have you on the edge of your seat and laugh out loud with its smart humor. I give credit to Wes Anderson, art director Francesca Berlingieri Maxwell, and co-writer Noah Baumbach who were quite imaginative when writing the screenplay and designing the set of this film. If you just want to watch a simple kids’ movie and nothing serious, this is your movie.
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
When Harry Met Sally, starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Bruno Kirby. Granted, this movie doesn’t necessarily talk about fall, but the movie shows how time goes by. This is a good movie to create discussion about sociology, how love is organic, and how a key ingredient for love is friendship. This movie, for what I think, is beautifully written that way. Billy Crystal is funny as always. Every time Crystal is in a scene with Meg Ryan, you can feel their chemistry. It’s a laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that anybody could watch. If you love romantic comedies and the fall season, this is a movie for you.
Knives Out (2019)
Knives Out starring Daniel Craig, Ana De Armas, Chris Evans. It’s compelling, suspenseful, funny, has shocking twists, and is a classic whodunit. Whodunit murder/mystery crimes are hard to pull off, but this modern mystery movie is amazing. It has a good story and the characters are very well-written, and each actor selected to play each character was spot on. This movie you can watch with anybody and would be a good movie to watch by the fire on a cold day. It feels nostalgic a bit because it has the feel of watching the movie Clue, but better. Plus, Chris Evans’s iconic white sweater makes you want to bundle up for the cold temperatures and wear your nice fall clothes.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, and Ethan Hawke. Before Robin Williams won his Oscar in Good Will Hunting, he was proclaimed for playing the new English teacher that encouraged his students to “seize the day” and break out of their shells. The movie takes place at a boarding school on the East Coast which was supposed to be in Vermont, and you can see the leaves changing in the background as the movie goes on, giving you that nice Autumn feel. What I did like about this movie was how one teacher could inspire his students to be great and make them stand for what they believed—literally! If you are a fan of Robin Williams or Ethan Hawke, this is a movie for you.
Little Women (2019)
Greta Gerwig’s 2019 version of Little Women is the sixth remake of this movie with five previous versions, going back from casting big stars such as Katherine Hepburn to all the way to Winona Ryder. This film stars Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Emma Watson. The 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott is a timeless piece of literature that has been a favorite classic for many. In this movie, the costumes and acting were spot-on and beautiful to look at on the big screen. It has been nominated for many Oscars in 2020 including Best Picture, Best Actress in a leading and supporting role, Best Music, and of course, Best Costume Design. The background and production design of this movie is a piece of what makes it a modern-day classic to watch.
Halloween 1978
Halloween is an all-time classic, a must-watch movie during the Halloween and fall season. The music soundtrack and the theme gives a spooky and heart-pounding fright in this movie. Definitely makes you feel uneasy and certainly inspired many filmmakers and a whole franchise to continue making more movies with the same characters. If you are into the horror genre, this movie is for you.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
In this version of Sleepy Hollow, director Tim Burton took on the project of adapting the famous goth legend “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” into a movie starring a young Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. It does have a very Tim Burton feel with a dark mise-en-scene and slightly scary scenes of a headless horseman decapitating people in upstate New York. Johnny Depp is good to look at in this movie and the costumes, makeup, wardrobe, and CGI, are exquisitely made and done right. Sleepy Hollow is worth watching on a cold, fall day.
Coco (2017)
The animation in this Pixar movie is beautiful. So many colors were used in this movie, and the cultural references were spot on and made me feel represented. I loved how they used famous Latino actors to voice the character and to sing in English and in Spanish. The songs are cheesy and make you feel sad, but want to sing along as well. It’s a sad, laugh-out-loud, and terrific movie to watch with anyone. It’s perfect to watch in early November and I would recommend this movie to anyone if they want to learn anything about Mexican culture and the holiday itself. It’s a fictional Disney Pixar movie, but as a Mexican, it feels nice that a movie finally represented my culture in a non-racist and respectful way.
