#explain to me why she went on to honor her parents by becoming space robin hood

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no. you don't understand. i need all those metas you have on River. but not the she's the Doctor's rebound girl kind of meta because gurl(?!!) that is factually incorrect and may your honor rest in peace

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Top Autumn Films

I watch certain films to compliment the seasons. Holiday movies in early winter, westerns and teen ‘90s flicks during the summer, and horror films or those with a fall aesthetic during this time of year. Autumn is a nostalgic swoon of leaf-dappled weeks and also one rich with visual splendor. That’s probably why I’ve assembled a combination of nostalgia picks and those with striking cinematography. Because, as Jessica Kiang of theplaylist.net feature “15 Visually Stunning Horror Films” says:

Through meticulous production design and foreboding cinematography, the imagery in a horror film illuminates the fear of the unknown and the psychological tremors felt by the humans (or non-humans) to a level that can make us whimper just that bit louder or feel our blood run just that bit colder. At its core, an effective image reflects the narrative’s message and externalizes characters’ innermost demons. Perhaps more than any other genre, horror films rely on these techniques to create the atmosphere that animates these movies. Without them, no amount of spooky music and scary sound effects will do the experience justice.

Many of these titles were released outside of the fall but, in their orbit around my life, each settled on a recurrence during the weeks from late September to just before Thanksgiving. This list isn’t etched in (a grave)stone. In fact, my 2017 titles changed from those appearing on a similar list last year.

Familiar but different. Much like the return of this season itself.

5. “The Lost Boys” (1987) & “The Monster Squad” (1987)

Despite asking us to take characters with hall-of-fame mullets (somewhat) seriously, The Lost Boys remains absurdly watchable. Once, on a road trip, my father recited the entire plot like a human audiobook. I want to say it was in the early 90’s and the fall. I heard a story of adolescents fighting vampires and had to see it. Like, begging-your-parents-into-a-nervous-breakdown “had to see it”. When my brother and I finally convinced him to rent if for us (on VHS from a video store—sigh), the thrill was akin to eating a quart of cookie dough before dinner. There’s a young Kiefer Sutherland with the most glorious of said mullets, a famous final line from grandpa, and the Frog Brothers. But it was a surprise to me to learn as an adult that cinematographer Michael Chapman was Oscar nominated for his work on “Raging Bull” and photographed “Taxi Driver”. This explains the dolly zoom shot of a driveway, its leaves spiraling in wind and foreboding the coming of night with eeriness that no shot of a driveway has any right have. Also there’s, “Death by stereo.”

On a gloomy fall day, I will turn to The Monster Squad and take a vacation back several decades. Perhaps no other VHS tape found its way into my childhood rental history more than this movie. It captures the 80s vibe because it was a product of that decade (something stories like Stranger Things work to emulate). While time has revealed to me the film’s senseless plot mechanics regarding the villains, the script as co-written by Shane Black is noteworthy for the small moments, like the pilots on the plane discussing their jobs before Dracula escapes, that other films wouldn’t consider, and the jokes still land. It also uses visuals and editing to give us exposition in an admirably economical way. No over-reliance on CGI here.

All the faux-intellectualizing aside, “Wolfman has nards!” still makes me giggle.

4.  “Scream” (1996)

Ah, that vestige of American cinema known as the Drive-In Theater. The last time I went to a Drive-In was on a balmy October night in high school, and Scream played as part of a double-feature. While I wasn’t yet educated in the slasher film genre it takes to task, and the phrase “subversive deconstruction” was not within light years of my lexicon as a teenager, Kevin Williamson’s clever script still achieved a balance between mocking itself and providing the very thrill more serious-minded movies of its ilk often blunder. Director Wes Craven doesn’t get enough credit for his subtle use of camera movement, especially in the opening scene, one that narratively announces a shredding of the rule book. 

3.  “Good Will Hunting” (1997)

Nostalgia and golden photography commingle to elevate some of the better written and performed dialogue of the 90’s, an era known for affected cinematic talking. The theme of healing from past trauma becomes shrewdly symbolized by the season of autumn in the backdrop. And even though watching Robin Williams doing career best work now results in a little heartbreak, the film thankfully remains hopeful in its raw honesty.

2.  “Se7en” (1995)

David Fincher’s misanthropic inheritor to The Silence of the Lambs looks like it was shot on the most advanced camera in use today despite being over twenty years old. The timelessness is achieved because Fincher’s production design used purposefully anachronistic items for a mythological sense of human frailty repeating in a tragic endless cycle. Cinematographer Darius Kohdnji makes flashlights in dark spaces evoke dread and awe at their beauty, which becomes an appropriate way of viewing the film. Each damn frame is ripe with decay, as is the society it depicts. Its horror isn’t fun, and the film not for everyone, but the craft is a delight to admire. (Note: this may be the first time the word “delight” has been used in reference to this picture).

1.  “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

I don’t employ the label “masterpiece” often and even when I do it feels hyperbolic. But Jonathan Demme’s invention of the modern serial killer film strides into capital “M” territory. Lecter, as played by Hopkins, is impossible to label or understand for the morally sane, yet at turns is likeable in a way that causes me to question my perspective. Foster is just as strong while carrying the female empowerment theme with vulnerability and strength. She provides us with the empathy Dr. Lecter cannot. Demme’s technique throughout, most poignantly in his close-ups and the camera sliding toward Clarice after she first visits Lecter, its perceptible but elegant transition into her flashbacks, is supreme craft. So good as to be near invisible. There’s also that opening shot telling us all that we need but demanding intelligence in order to arrive at our own interpretations. Much like Clarice herself.

Honorable Mentions

Catch me on another day and most of these could end up on the list above:

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Prisoners

The Thing

Sleepy Hollow

The Shining

Halloween

From Hell

Crimson Peak

Signs

The Village

Donnie Darko

Paranorman