Fall is such a short season these past few years, but as if right on cue, the weather in North Carolina has briefly shifted to the 60s just after the equinox earlier in the week. How perfect. It makes me want to curl up and queue up one of these magical movies. In no particular order…
1. Knives Out (2019)
One of Netflix’s best original films, Knives Out is a whodoneit comedy caper has everything: A recently deceased wealthy mystery writer patriarch, a very Foghorn Leghorn-accented detective (Daniel Craig), and a messy family scrambling to protect their stakes in the estate. Deep in the era of Captain America, it was fun to see Chris Evans playing a smarmy creep… and cause a run on fisherman’s sweaters the likes of which we hadn’t seen since the late ‘90s.
Trigger warning: Lots of barfing.
P.S. There’s more to love: The second film in the franchise left me scratching my head, but the third is quite good!
2. Arsenic and Old Lace (1941)
I post this screen grab every year when I’m rewatching, and no one ever knows where it’s from. Well…
What The Criterion Collection lovingly calls, “one of the finest farces ever filmed,” Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace is a black comedy starring Cary Grant, straining his hardest to survive and help others survive his insane (murderous) family.
It’s quick, it’s classic, it’s hilarious. And Schitt’s Creek’s David Rose would’ve loved Cary Grant’s facial expressions.
3. Clue (1985)
The best board game film adaptation (are there that many? probably not but still), Clue gathers six blackmailed strangers for an evening of confrontation and desperation in a secluded mansion. As a string of murders unfold over the course of the dark and stormy night, they must interrogate each other and reveal their secrets to find the killer.
The late Tim Curry plays butler Wadsworth, who acts as a kind of sensei for the whole ordeal. RIP, good sir.
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
One of director Wes Anderson’s best forays into stop motion animation, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a charming retelling of Roald Dahl’s 1970 novel. With characters voiced by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson, there’s familiarity and warmth built right in.
The premise: A reformed criminal fox supports a comfortable life for his young family via a secret hobby of thieving, but when he goes a little too far with the local farmers, the chaos unleashed sends waves through the entire animal community.
This film so stinking beautiful, clever, and funny—suitable for older kids and full-grown adults alike. I made my parents watch it for the first time last year and they loved it.
5. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
We are soon to be faced with yet another remake (a mini series on Netflix), but let’s take it back to one of the best and most beautiful Jane Austen film adaptations to date: Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice . I think you all know the story… At least I hope you do: With five daughters nearing adulthood, the boisterous Bennett family is faces financial and societal pressures, learns to navigate social graces or lack thereof, doesn’t quite sidestep the temptations of a f*ck boy, and overcomes undue judgement of a very hot rich man’s resting bitch face and sardonic nature. And boy does Kiera Knightly get her steps in. All leading to: an imperfect but happy ending.
Can we just take a moment to praise the score and the scenery? The whole movie is like a painting.
6. Stepmom (1998)
Stepmom may not be high on many people’s lists, but it’s become a comfort to me. I also think it’s when modern fashion photography and advertising really registered as a career possibility. (Is this where my interest came from? Why I worked at Ralph Lauren? Maybe!)
It’s the story of a type-A mom (Susan Sarandon) navigating shared custody with her husband’s new partner (Julia Roberts), and takes place between New York City and the Hudson Valley during a very busy fall and holiday season. The scenery is lovely throughout (those cars! That house!).
P.S. The John Williams-scored classical soundtrack is so so good. I’ve listened to it when I’m working on a deadline since college. I’m not kidding.
7. Big (1988)
I suppose a little magic is my true Achilles heel for fall storytelling... It gets me every time. In this adventure comedy, young Josh Baskin (David Moscow) makes a wish on a carnival machine to be “big” enough to join his friends on a ride. The next morning, he awakes in his bunk bed as a fully grown adult man (Tom Hanks). Kicked out of the house by a screaming, terrified mother, Josh flees to the city, where he stumbles into a job at toy company (he is a subject matter expert), secures a sick SoHo loft, and a girlfriend (Elizabeth Perkins), before ultimately taking it all back and wishing to be a kid again. But oh, the adventure that is had.
One of my biggest regrets in life to date: I’ve never played chopsticks on a giant piano keyboard. Maybe one day.
8. Hocus Pocus (1993)
How could I resist? While the sequel is offensively bad, this cult classic is an instant comfort. It’s essentially the story of a big brother trying to get a date gone very wrong. After lighting a cursed candle to impress a girl, three evil witch sisters (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) are brought back to life for only one night—unless they can cast a spell to stick around longer. The challenge becomes keeping them separated from their spell book long enough for the sun to rise and send them back to hell.
A very 1990s Disney Halloween classic!
9. Remember the Titans (2000)
And speaking of Disney, you can’t do fall without some football. This is a very tidy Hollywood take on desegregation in the south, but it will get you in the feels nonetheless. Loosely based on a true story, Denzel Washington stars as Herman Boone, the newly appointed coach of a formerly entirely white T. C. Williams High School football team. Tasked with integrating and uniting a mixed band of players, his persistence pays off while their friends, families, and the entire Commonwealth of Virginia seethes around them.
The casting director deserves a lot of credit for early exposure to Ryan Gosling, Donald Faison, and the late Hayden Panettiere, who plays the spitfire, football-obsessed young daughter of the former team coach (Will Patton).
And who doesn’t love boys putting aside their qualms and just dancing? The amount of singing and dancing in this sports movie is sensational, as are needle drops by Creedence Clearwater, The Temptations, Bob Dylan, and more. It’s a soundtrack I come back to often.
10. You’ve Got Mail (1998)
The final boss of fall movie core: You’ve Got Mail follows two people in an AOL-fueled online pen pal relationship, who are blissfully unaware that they are also real life business rivals. An independent bookstore owner, Kathleen (Meg Ryan), thinks she hates Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and his Big Box bookstore empire, but we all know you can’t fight true love. Or capitalism.
Ah, Nora Ephron, you are so missed. And we thank you for these charming little vignettes of New York as a autumnal wonderland. It certainly can be—with the right attitude.
That’s it! I hope you find something new (to you) to watch, or at least the reminder to revisit an old favorite.. And please share your own picks, I’d love to hear them.
Thank you for being here,
