Are you a fall person or a Halloween person? Yes, there's a difference. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the perfect movies to watch on those chilly October nights, whether you call it fall or spooky season.
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00:00Well, I guess we're not gonna be friends then.
00:02Guess not.
00:02Welcome to MsMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the perfect movies to watch
00:09on those chilly October nights, whether you call it fall or spooky season.
00:14Happy Halloween!
00:16Screw you!
00:18Number 5.
00:19Fall.
00:20Knives Out.
00:21I anticipate the terminus of Gravity's Rainbow.
00:26Gravity's Rainbow?
00:27It's a novel.
00:29Yeah, I know.
00:31I haven't read it, though.
00:32Neither have I. Nobody has.
00:34But I like the title.
00:36A revival and a modern reinvention of the classic whodunit genre,
00:40Knives Out is a hilarious and visually stunning movie with a stacked cast.
00:45Can we ask why?
00:46Has something changed?
00:47No.
00:48No, it hasn't changed, or no, we can't ask?
00:50The premise is fairly simple at first.
00:52A detective with a thick southern accent and a nurse who can't lie without throwing up
00:57investigate the presumed murder of a mystery writer.
01:01Of course, things get very complicated very fast.
01:14If the threat of murder and the country manor setting weren't season-appropriate enough,
01:20the movie also outfits its cast and locations with many rich browns, oranges,
01:25and other autumnal colours.
01:35Jake Gyllenhaal plays the disillusioned and emotionally disturbed teenager
01:40whose enigmatic friend, a demented person in a rabbit suit,
01:44puts him on a collision course with fate.
01:55Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
01:58Set in October 1988, the movie is brimmed with a cynical 80s anti-nostalgia.
02:05Fear and love are the deepest of human emotions.
02:08Okay, but you're not listening to me.
02:11There are other things that need to be taken into account here,
02:13like the whole spectrum of human emotion.
02:16It's paced like a dream and full of wistful montages.
02:20It also has some deliciously creepy moments,
02:24with a major scene taking place at a Halloween party.
02:28While it didn't exactly set the box office on fire,
02:32the years have been kind to this psychological thriller.
02:35The dedicated cult fandom surrounding Donnie Darko speaks for itself.
02:47If you doubt this movie's full credentials,
02:50just know that its main villain is a turkey and apple farmer who's a heavy cider drinker.
02:56He's as skinny as a pencil, as smart as a whip,
02:58and possibly the scariest man currently living.
03:01Every frame of this stop-motion movie is pure fall vibes.
03:06From a story by Roald Dahl, writer of Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
03:11it's about an erudite fox who has turned his back on a career as a burglar to raise his family.
03:17What are you wearing?
03:19Why a cape with the pants tucked into your socks?
03:26Well, I guess he's just different.
03:31His last big heist puts him and his entire community of talking animals in the crosshairs
03:36of three ruthless farmers.
03:38You got a credit card?
03:39Sure.
03:40See, this is what I was saying about how good you are just being available for a titanium card.
03:45How the cuss did you qualify for this?
03:47I pay my bills on time.
03:49I've always had good credit.
03:50As funny and entertaining as it is, Fantastic Mr Fox also just looks incredible.
03:55Its detailed miniatures and orange-soaked sets are a feast for the eyes.
04:00I'm not different.
04:02Am I?
04:04We all are.
04:05Him especially.
04:07But there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?
04:10Number four, Halloween Beetlejuice.
04:13Tim Burton and his Victorian gothic aesthetic
04:16has had a chokehold on Halloween for nearly 40 years.
04:20Ah, well, I attended Juilliard.
04:22I'm a graduate of the Harvard Business School.
04:24I travel quite extensively.
04:25I lived through the Black Plague and I had a pretty good time during that.
04:27I've seen The Exorcist about 167 times and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it.
04:34Beetlejuice was the movie that put him on the map.
04:37If the 2024 sequel weren't enough to recommend a watch,
04:41Beetlejuice has become essential Halloween viewing.
04:44He told me that if I let him out, he would take me to the other side to find you.
04:48No, Lydia, we're dead.
04:52I want to be dead, too.
04:53In a reversal of the traditional haunted house story setup,
04:57two freshly dead ghosts hire Beetlejuice to
05:00terrorize the new-living family that's just moved into their house.
05:06With Marla-minute laughs and gross-outs in equal measure,
05:10the movie and its rambunctious titular character are timeless.
05:14That is why I won't do two shows a night anymore, babe.
05:18I won't.
05:19But if it's jump scares you're after, it has a few of those, too.
05:23What do you think of this?
05:26You like it?
05:26Number three, fall, you've got mail.
05:29Don't you just love New York in the fall?
05:33You will after seeing this incredibly 90s rom-com where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks
05:38play two pen pals who meet in a chat room and fall for each other
05:42despite not exchanging their real names.
05:46If only you could help.
05:52Is it about love?
05:54Then things get complicated when one of them realizes they actually do know each other.
05:59They're actually professional rivals in the bookstore business.
06:03Will you be mean to him, too?
06:05No, I will not.
06:07Because the man who is coming here tonight is completely unlike you.
06:10Even if you're a true love skeptic,
06:12You've Got Mail has some great images of bookstores, pumpkin stands,
06:17and autumnal cityscapes to look at.
06:19It's a great flick to get you excited for the season.
06:23What are you waiting for?
06:27I don't actually know him.
06:29Number three, Halloween, the nightmare before Christmas.
06:32Look, we can argue all day about whether it's a Halloween or a Christmas movie.
06:37We can just settle this right now and say it's both.
06:41What's this?
06:41I can't believe my eyes.
06:43I must be dreaming.
06:43Wake up, Jack.
06:44This isn't fair.
06:45Jack Skellington rules over Halloween Town,
06:48a village full of the creepiest, crawliest creatures you can think of.
06:52When Jack accidentally stumbles upon a door to Christmas Town,
06:56he becomes infatuated with the holiday and plots to kidnap Santa Claus.
07:00Job I have for you is top secret.
07:03It requires craft, cunning, this.
07:06And we thought you didn't like us.
07:09Despite its premise, it's actually a rollicking good time for fans of both holidays.
07:14It's okay, Zero. Head higher!
07:18With its ghostly visuals and music,
07:20this stop-motion fantasy musical is a Halloween-themed treat for the whole family.
07:25For the first time since I don't remember when,
07:29I felt just like my old bony self again.
07:33Number 2.
07:34Fool – Practical Magic
07:36In this fantasy flick, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play sisters
07:41who don't just share the gift of magic.
07:43They also have inherited a curse on their bloodline
07:46that ensures any man who falls in love with them will suffer a grisly fate.
07:52Jillian, Sally.
07:56You know the only curse in this family?
07:58Sitting right down there at the end of the table.
08:01Your Aunt Fanny.
08:02To say this complicates their love lives is an understatement.
08:06Although it's about witches and revenge, Practical Magic is not really a horror movie.
08:11Instead, it's about the power of sisterhood and solidarity.
08:14Do you forgive our mother?
08:19Sometimes.
08:20Paying attention to the romantic elements of the story,
08:23as well as the sisters' relationship,
08:25making the movie a lot more cozy and approachable,
08:29Practical Magic is chock-full of incredible autumnal aesthetics
08:34and a fun, witchy vibe that its stars wear well.
08:37What would you do, Julie?
08:41What wouldn't I do for the right guy?
08:44Number 2.
08:45Halloween – Hocus Pocus
08:47The citizens of Salem, Massachusetts,
08:50burned the Sanderson sisters for their witchcraft in the 17th century.
08:55But you can't keep a good diva down.
08:58We shall be back, and the lives of all the children shall be mine!
09:05Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy form the wickedest
09:10and simultaneously dumbest trio of witches you've ever seen in this nostalgic Disney hit.
09:17We shall start collecting children.
09:19Why?
09:20Because, you great buffoon, we want to live forever, not just until tomorrow.
09:27The more children's lives we snatch, the longer we shall live!
09:30Right!
09:31Once they're resurrected on Halloween night,
09:33they set about plotting to steal children's souls
09:36and dazzle us all with spectacular musical numbers.
09:47If they could figure out the public transit system,
09:50they'd be unstoppable.
09:52Hocus Pocus is the great Halloween movie for the more faint-hearted among us.
10:16Number 1.
10:17Fool – When Harry Met Sally
10:20What's he look like?
10:22I don't know, he's just kind of faceless.
10:24Faceless guy, okay, then what?
10:26It's the quintessential rom-com.
10:28Director Rob Reiner and writer Nora Ephron based the title couple on themselves,
10:34and it's set the standard for intelligent movies about relationships ever since.
10:39You're together, what, three weeks?
10:42A month.
10:43How did you know that?
10:44It takes someone to the airport, it's clearly the beginning of a relationship.
10:47That's why I have never taken anyone to the airport at the beginning of a relationship.
10:51This screenplay is crackling with wit and genuine emotion.
10:55What's more, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are outfitted
10:58in some of the best-looking sweaters ever.
11:01Harry, I think this takes a long time.
11:03It might be months before we're actually able to enjoy going out with someone new.
11:08Yeah.
11:09And maybe longer before we're actually able to go to bed with someone new.
11:12Oh, I went to bed with her.
11:13What makes it a Thor movie is its warmer tone and colours,
11:18jazzy score, and absolutely stunning shots of New York covered in leaves.
11:23It's the kind of story you want to cuddle up with as the temperature drops.
11:27I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody,
11:32you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
11:35Number 1, Halloween, Halloween
11:38A horror movie set on Halloween seems like a no-brainer.
11:42Even the makers of this movie pointed out that no one had done it before.
11:46You know, it's Halloween. I guess everyone's entitled to one good scare, huh?
11:51Yes, sir.
11:51When this slasher flick was released on unsuspecting audiences in 1978,
11:57it invented a genre and launched careers.
12:00Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as the babysitter who faces off against Michael Myers,
12:06the escaped murderer who returns to his hometown on Halloween night.
12:10I spent eight years trying to reach him and then another seven trying to keep him locked up
12:16because I realised that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil.
12:22What makes it so scary is how sparse it is.
12:24There's little gore to speak of and very little in the way of explanation.
12:29That tinkling piano music, the tricks of light and shadow, and the killer's relentless but
12:36slow pursuit of every victim makes this Halloween a night to remember.
12:52What movie do you always watch when fall comes? Tell us in the comments.
13:06And as always, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.