Best Films for the Autumn

The creation of this list started over a month ago when I started asking people what they thought the best movies for Autumn were. It was A LOT bigger then. I jotted down every idea - no matter how random they seemed - and, over the past few weeks, watched them each, one by one. Here are my favourites:

Wondra's Top 13 Films

For Autumn

	1. Dead Poets Society This is one of my favourite films, period. It also appeared on almost everyone's list of favourite movies for the fall. Why? Because it's about learning, because it's about friendship, because it's about finding yourself, because the actors are amazing and the story is heartbreaking, that's why.
	2. Varsity Blues I watch this film several times, every Autumn, without fail. Watching this movie takes me to another place, another time. I can smell hot chocolate and hear the voices of the crowd. I can see the glare of the floodlights and feel the bite of cold on my nose. It's Friday night in the stadium and I'm ten years younger. This isn't just an awesome movie with some of my favourite actors, it's 100 minutes of pure nostalgia.
	3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, if you want to get all American on me. It's back-to-school but chock full of magic. Really, this spot should encompass ALL of the HP films but it's pretty much a given that once you've seen this one again, you'll want to watch them all.
	4. Good Will Hunting This came pretty high on just about everyone's list - and for very good reason. (I don't have an obsession with Robin Williams, by the way, he just happens to be in some epic films.) Sometimes when people are making a list of movies to watch in the Autumn, they just include all the movies about school that they can think of. I didn't want that to happen with my list but I still ended up with a lot of them. Why? Because Autumn makes me (and everyone else, apparently) think of school.
	5. Scent of a Woman Okay, so there are a LOT of films about school of my list. Deal with it. Scent of a Woman isn't just your typical school days, young-person-finding-themselves kind of movie, though. It's about a man in the autumn of his life (see what I did there?) finding himself again. Also... Al Pacino is amazing, right?
	6. My Best Friend is a Vampire I'm pretty sure this didn't make it to anyone's list but mine. It made it so high on my list because yeah, it's about school again but it's also about vampires and the heroine plays a saxophone in the marching band. So there.
	7. October Sky I honestly didn't expect to like this film but I totally fell in love with it. I thought it would be really wishy washy but it wasn't at all. It really appealed to the geek in me.
	8. The Blind Side I enjoyed this movie a whole  heck of a lot more than I thought I would. The story is heartwarming without being so sentimental you want to puke. But... that wasn't REALLY Tim McGraw... right?
	9. You've Got Mail Most people go for When  Harry Met Sally but I thought that movie was more suited to Christmas or New Year since most of the main events took place around then. Also, I didn't really like it all that much. I thought You've Got Mail was a much, much better love story for Autumn than When Harry Met Sally was. The Autumn imagery was fantastic and, hey, how autumnal are books? Autumn is definitely a time for reading!
	10. Scream Those long Autumn nights are perfect for curling up on the sofa and watching horror movies. This is one of my picks because, with a ghost-faced killer, it hints at Halloween (but wouldn't make it to my Halloween Movie List) and is full of good little scares.
	11. The Breakfast Club This is one of those movies that people of a certain age (ahem, we won't mention WHAT age) were brought up on. I watched it again recently and it STILL makes me laugh out loud. Sure, it's another school flick, but it has a rebellious atmosphere that makes it worth including.
	12. Friday Night Lights I tried to avoid putting too many football movies on the list but I can't not include this one. There are so many football movies to choose from but this has always been one of my favourites. Why? Because that coach fucking pisses me off, that's why. You know you've got a good actor if the audience wants to punch him in the face.
	13. The Others This is a great horror movie for Autumn. It has that misty morning, chilly, dark atmosphere of the season. The whole movie, like Autumn, holds its breath for the big reveal at the end - and you will too.
	Honorable Mention: The Private Eyes This one didn't make it to the list because it's been so long since I've seen it. Sadly, it was the one film I couldn't find to watch while compiling this list. It has some really great comic moments and is what I can only call a humorous ghost story.
	Honorable Mention: The Cider House Rules This film could have been a lot more than it was. It felt rushed and kind of empty. I liked the story behind it, though, so much so that I borrowed the book from my local library.