Violet Newton
No single attribute can define a movie that fits the fall season. While many will turn to a horror film or perhaps a feel-good animated film like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” my favorites for the season are unconventional.
The following movies saturate the viewer’s screen with symbolism, color palettes and scenery that immerse the viewer into an autumnal atmosphere.
Dead Poets Society
As the seasons are changing, so are the attitudes of the Welton Academy boys. For the deep thinkers of the world, I suggest the 1989 film “Dead Poets Society.”The film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard, takes place in the late ‘50s and centers around Todd Anderson, a young high school junior starting his first year at an all-boys boarding school called Welton Academy.
Rooming with one of the academy’s brightest students, Neil Perry, Anderson builds a bond with his roommate and the school as he navigates the unfamiliar environment. Together, they’re enrolled in an English course taught by their eccentric teacher, John Keating. Throughout the movie, Anderson, Perry and their classmates are taught by Keating to “Seize the Day.”
Consequently, this leads the boys to make unorthodox decisions, which puts their families’ reputations on the line. The boys learn that it is occasionally acceptable not to stand in a straight line and that there is not just one way to look at the world. Their exploration of a new way of thinking fits this film into the fall scene almost perfectly. While “Dead Poets Society” is fun, warm and inquisitive, the contents will leave you in a pensive mood as the credits roll.
School of Rock
“School of Rock” is a lighthearted 2003 comedy starring Jack Black. The movie followsDewey Finn, a former musician, still craving the band environment. Instead of applying for jobs that match his resume, Finn steals a substitute teaching position at Horace Green Prep School from his roommate.
Finn tries to convince his fifth-grade class to form a band so they can perform at the Battle of the Bands, figuring that if they won, he could use the winnings to pay his rent.
This movie embodies childhood enthusiasm and is a perfect way to introduce the fall season. It has the principles of comedy, yet it lightly covers serious topics of change and self-realization. While most college students don’t find themselves in the position to form a band with elementary school children, they could learn a thing or two about putting themselves out there by exploring different venues of creativity.
10 Things I Hate About You
With autumnal scenery and a typical back-to-school fashion, “10 Things I Hate About You” is at the top of my rewatch list this fall. Starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Larisa Oleynik, it is a true fall romance. The film, composed by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, takes place in a late ‘90s high school setting and is exactly what you would expect from a heart-throb teen romance movie, but in the best way.
What started as a gambler’s challenge, chalked with playful banter, morphs into a real love story. With a heavily protective father, the main characters, Kat and Bianca Stratford, navigate high school differently than a typical teen would. With relentless insistence from Bianca Stratford, Kat Stratford began to experience teen love for the first time ever.
Good Will Hunting
While endlessly entertaining with comedic lines, the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting” has one of the most heart-wrenching story lines of the ‘90s. If you’re seeking a more mature palate, this dialogue-driven film, directed by Gus Van Sant, has exactly what you’re looking for.
Starring Matt Damon and Robin Williams, the film focuses on Will Hunting, a young delinquent boy with a genius-level IQ who grew up in South Boston. While working as a janitor at MIT, an advanced mathematics professor, Gerald Lambeau, seeks out his profound mind. Pulling him from his dangerous lifestyle, Lambeau encourages Hunting to go through therapy.
Hunting manages to wiggle his way out of five therapists, but his wits are no match for Dr. Sean Maguire. The relationship between Hunting and Maguire digs up bottled emotions from both the patient and therapist. “Good Will Hunting” is timeless. It will have you desperate to throw on a leather jacket and travel back to ‘90s Boston.
Rudy
If you need a bit more encouragement as the weather gets colder, you may find yourself fixated on a screen, rooting for an underdog. With dreams bigger than himself, this next film shows that with a little determination, anything is possible.
Filmed in 1993 and directed by David Anspaugh, “Rudy” accounts for the life of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, a small yet mighty fan of Notre Dame football. Rudy, no matter the obstacles, never dropped his dream to play on the football team at Notre Dame. Even though he neither physically nor intellectually fit the standards of the university and its athletic program, Rudy had a will and wasn’t going to stop until he found a way.
College is all about pushing your limits and building your future. If the five-foot-six Ruettiger can wiggle his way into playing defensive end for a Division I school, college students can take the leaps to make their dreams a reality.
While their plots may not incorporate pumpkins and fall festivities, these classic movies scream fall fashion and mentality. Ironically, every movie I’ve chosen is centered around a school setting, which proves that even if you’re stuck in your room studying for your next big exam, it can’t stop you from living your fall season to its fullest potential.
Edited by Mikalah Owens | [email protected]
Copy edited by Savannah Church and Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]