You'll notice that there's a tie for number six. I narrowed it down to Autumn in New York and Stepmom but you can't ask me to choose between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Also, they were similar enough to make picking a favourite impossible.
Let's do this...
Wondra's Top 10 Movies for Autumn
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1. Dead Poets Society
This is one of my favourite films, period. It also appears 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. |
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2. Good Will Hunting
Autumn is a magical time because it's about beginnings and endings at the same time. A new school year is starting, while all the plants are dying. Good Will Hunting captures that feeling perfectly. There's a sense of loss, balanced against the hope of brighter things to come. |
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3. Practical Magic
Autumn is a very witchy time. You can almost see the magic in the air. Practical Magic does a brilliant job of visualising that magic for everyone to see. It also explores the relationship between family, love, friendship, community, and identity. |
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4. Needful Things
If you want to know what autumn on the East Coast looks like, watch a Stephen King film. Needful Things does this - but it also plays on the darker side of autumn: the decay, the uncertainty, the growing darkness. It peels away the sense of community that we show outsiders to reveal the seething hatred lurking beneath. |
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5. Scent of a Woman
Scent of a Woman isn't just the typical school days, young-person-finding-themselves kind of movie that you expect to find on these kinds of lists. 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? In this film, he goes from raging asshat, to absolutely outrageous, to a heartbreaking old man. It's a powerful performance. |
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6. Autumn in New York A tragic love story, set against the striking backdrop of - you guessed it - autumn in New York. You've got that guy-in-the-autumn-of-his-life thing going on with Gere and the start of a new relationship with Ryder. Young and old, dying and learning to live again. A great pick for snuggling under the blankets with your partner. |
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6. Stepmom Stepmom is another one that'll kick you in the feels. It has more humour and angst, though, which made it almost beat Autumn in New York. The ending was maybe not as good because it got a little too saccharine. Even though it's sad, I'd still consider this a great family movie for autumn. |
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7. The Others
The Others is one of those movies that captures the stark feeling of autumn as it draws to a close. The nights creep ever closer; the trees are bare; there's an oppressive air of worse things to come. The darkness, the isolation, and the suspense of The Others make it a perfect film for a late autumn frightfest. |
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8. You've Got Mail
Most people name When Harry Met Sally when you ask them for a favourite fall movie but I really didn't care for it much. And hardly any of it takes place in autumn. I thought You've Got Mail was a much, much better love story. The imagery was fantastic and, hey, how autumnal are books? Autumn is definitely a time for reading! |
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9. Children of the Corn
Ah... autumn... time of the harvest - and freaky little kids killing all their parents. Yup, I'm talking about Children of the Corn. One of my favourite things about Michigan in the autumn is the sun rising over rows and rows of corn. It's a very autumnal image for me. And, if you don't think cornfields can be scary, you've never lived next to one. |
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10. October Sky
This is one of those movies I was certain I wouldn't like and fell in love with. October Sky is a back-to-school movie about discovery and finding your own path. It doesn't have the bold autumn imagery that some of these movies do, though, which is why it ended up at the bottom of the list. |
