The Pride Before The Fall: Some Seasonal Cinema

Did you have a Very Heavy Metal All Hallows' Evening, or did you curate your own flavor? I mean no need to follow our lead - if you listen to that Top 40 shit that's your business, as long as all your Wicker Men got burnt. 

We've reached that time of year again: the second stretch of Autumn that has no thematic relation to the first; it's like the Full Metal Jacket of seasons. And frankly I'm low-key comfortable with it this year; I'm burnt out on blood & headbangin' for the time being and I'm ready for the real Fall Vibes - the Glengarry Vibes, the moody limbo that lingers between the cheap loudness of the mandated festivities. I love the Hallmark Holidays, but sometimes I just wanna be alone for a minute and admire the passage of time without the rigidness of a calendar, and every November bestows this impregnable period that sometimes allows a chance for reflection or relaxation, or like in the case of this November, presents an opportunity to plunge my hands into the muck and take care of some business. In the Northeastern United States (and throughout much of the country) it's a cold, brown month with early nights and unpredictable weather; the candy corn sweetness of October still lingers on my tongue and the rainbow glow of December looms large, so the atmosphere isn't really ripe for napping but there is a pronounced urgency to take it easy. At the very least we can kick back and watch some old favorites. 

I brought a list - mostly to justify my sinister urge to talk a bit about the month we're in, but the list itself actually isn't without its value. Two years ago I posted a holiday-heavy inventory of mostly Thanksgiving essentials that I habitually view under some level of obligation. This supplemental list, though not quite as immutable, consists largely of stuff I don't have to watch right now, but I unquestionably ain't gonna watch 'em any other time of year. So I have options - and not without reason, and as sure as eggs is eggs, I'm gonna share those reasons, however brief or esoteric they may be. 

- Paul

Silent Fall (1994)

It's right there in its punny title, and it follows through in a literal way: it opens on Halloween Day and picks up from there with plenty of legitimate Fall foliage to assure it's the real deal.  

Uncle Buck (1989)

With no mention of holidays, it could be late winter (like a lotta these). But just having the Candy/Culkin/Hughes presence is enough to feel like midway merriment. 

The Master (2012)

This is just one of those situations where the movie was released in the Fall and I bought the soundtrack in the Fall so it's just linked to the Fall. Also, Happy 10th Anniversary(!). 

Desperate Hours (1990)

Some mild set dress presents a few dead leaves on the dirty ground, but really it's more about the cabin fever coziness of captivity. Maybe that's just me.

A Civil Action (1998)

This is another one of those indeterminate seasons - but that's the joke here: this is what Massachusetts looks like from November to April, which is the perfect setting for kids dying of leukemia.  

Far From Heaven (2003)

This one's a bit of a cheat as it aggressively pays homage to the aggressively Autumnal All That Heaven Allows. Both are pretty on-the-nose, so don't lemme catch you watching them any other time of year.

Big (1988)

This movie has the most intellectual approach to the true meaning of seasonal and annual finality; young children playing in dead vegetation, the futility of time, the contrast of responsibility, the symbolism of the harvest. Or, Josh just wants to be a kid again. 

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

I watched it obsessively for an entire Fall when I was 14, and now it just belongs there. If you have an argument for some other time of year, I'd love to hear it. 

American Beauty (1999)

I usually don't watch this movie. Actually I haven't watched it in nearly 20 years. And I probably don't plan to watch it any time soon. But boy howdy, if I were to watch it, you'd better believe I'd have a ton of reasons for doing it exclusively in this month. 

The Stepfather (1987)

After watching it 20 times per every Halloween Season, it occurs to me, "This really is kind of a Thanksgiving movie and I'm tired of pretending it's not." Either that or I need an excuse for Jill Schoelen to spill over into the next month.