To continue in the spirit of cooler weather and even cooler sweaters, I collected WSUM's thoughts on the change from Summer to Fall and asked them to share their favorite Fall movies they love to watch around this time.

– Darion Allen, WSUM Talk Director

How do your Fall days differ from your Summer days? Which do you prefer?

Busy Busy Busy

The summertime is care-free. While I am busy in the summer, most of my days consist of things I like to do. With very few tasks to complete each day, I spend the rest of my time going with the flow and saying yes to everything. When the weather is nice and my friends are also available, the possibilities are endless. In the fall, especially during school, I am always busy. I must schedule in having fun. Anytime I have a little bit of downtime, I am automatically stressed because I feel like there is something else I must do. I love the mellowness and the spontaneity of summer, but the excitement of fall is hard to beat. I may be suffering during the fall semester, but at least I am suffering with everyone else. 

Taylor Heinicke

The Whirlwind of Fall

My fall days tend to be much busier than my summer days. During summer, I get to relax and move at my own pace. Whether I hang out with friends and family, hike, or go to the beach, summer days tend to move much more slowly than fall days. Maybe it is because the sun sets later, but summer days feel infinitely longer than fall. Fall feels like a whirlwind. With school, club activities, and much more, I feel like the days are extremely short. Even so, I always prefer my fall days over my summer days. Maybe it is the weather and the atmosphere of fall, but I always seem to feel more relaxed during the fall season. Even so, it is still nice to enjoy my summer days once in a while.

Saffron Mears

 Fall > Summer … Even with School

Is it weird that I'm probably outside more in the fall than I am in the summer? To me, fall holds the perfect temperatures. Not quite cold enough for a winter jacket yet, nor is it so hot that you feel like you're inhaling pure heat. It's sweatpants and sweatshirts (my favorite outfit) weather. Plus, the things to do in fall are plentiful. Playing football with friends. Going to the apple orchard, corn maze, or pumpkin patch. Watching football or the MLB playoffs. My summers are usually filled with tennis. I play and I also coach as well. That could be done during fall as well. As a result, fall is probably the one that I prefer. Even the return to school doesn't put a damper on it too much. It also doesn't hurt that fall holds one of my favorite holidays: Halloween! 

Anthony Winker

Powerful Fall

Summer is energetic, playful, and spontaneous. Fall is calm, carefree, and creative. During the Summer I use up and utilize all the daylight possible so I can savor the weather and time before the days become shorter and colder. I am active and I bike aimlessly, but mostly in the cooler air after the sun sets. My new super powerful bike light makes taking night rides feel safer and more adventurous – riding into a tunnel of light with darkness surrounding me on the bike paths around town. During the Fall, the days I prefer most, I lean into the spirit of change and reorganize myself. I often feel more creative and have the urge to start projects and spend time drawing while listening to music. Spending time outside during the day feels more refreshing, so I find myself taking leisurely walks.

Elias

Autumn Changes

I feel like I care a lot less about how I look in the fall, since I'm usually more tired, so that means my morning routine usually takes a lot less time. The types of activities I do during the day also slightly change. During the fall, I typically spend more time outside since it is not as humid or ungodly hot like it is in the summer. I'm just noticing this now, but the type of food that I eat also changes. In the fall I typically switch the type of fruit I eat, like switching from berries to apples and grapes. I also start eating soup more, which is one of the best fall meals. Personally, fall days are superior to summer days. I feel like I am at my peak in fall, even though I'm more tired and care less about my appearance. 

Halle Braun

What is your goto Fall movie you are looking forward to watch?

Good Ol' Charlie

Hands down my favorite fall movie that I wait all year to watch is It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. My dad raised my sisters and I on the revered triad of Charlie Brown holiday shows: It's a Great Pumpkin, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas. No matter how busy my family was with errands, sports, work, and school we always would carve out a night where we could all sit down and occupy ourselves with the magic and memories that came from that beloved film. When I found out my college roommates also grew up on this movie, I KNEW they were the right ones. All six of us huddled in a little bitty Witte box of a dorm, staring at the shoebox of a tv, watching poor Charlie Brown receive rock after rock in his sad little Halloween sack. So many good memories come from that movie and it will be a must watch this fall season. 

Emily Busch

Petrifying Films

My go to fall movie would have to be something scary as its near Halloween time. I like scary movies that are either extremely terrifying or very high quality (like The Shining). So if I were to have one go-to actually scare me out of my seat movie it would have to be Hereditary. That movie still haunts me to this day. I used to think The Ring was the scariest movie ever, but it was only because I saw it as a child. Hereditary has some great camera work and is actually the most horrifying messed up psychological terror I have experienced during a film. Don't watch it alone! Unless you never want to sleep again. 

Jack Abraham

Fall Filmology

Few cinematic masterpieces reflect the poignancy inherent to the fall season than the made-for-tv animated Peanuts specials. Yes, in its age, Charles Schulz's brainchild may be a tad corny at times, but very few other productions occupy as significant of a role within the Gen Z conscious. But before we fell in love with the Great Pumpkin, so did our parents and their families. Charlie Brown is a character transcending generational gaps to unite viewers of all ages in the “melancholy warmth” he and his buddies bring to the screen. Personally, I've found that all the Peanuts holiday specials, with particular emphasis on “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and the aforementioned “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” elicit tender memories of childhood briefly serving as reprieves from the bustle of college and adult life. It might just be a cartoon, but it's beautiful.

Cole Bayer

Blurring Fall Lines

While I love the classics of Halloween Town and any other Halloween-themed movie, I also love watching shows where the weather seems to always be fall and cozy. For example, a show like Gilmore Girls, where the plot is so happy and light, and everyone in that show seems to always be in a cozy sweater ready for the fall time (and somehow the leaves are also always changing year-round too…) is the most comforting show to watch during the season. But other than that, growing up my mom used to always have on the Charlie Brown special when I was younger and she would always leave a little bowl of Candy Corn out for us to snack on while we watched, and while I know that's a controversial candy, the fall vibes were immaculate!

Bridgette Ugarte

Spooky Fall

My go-to Fall movie is Tusk, which is a horror film written and directed by Kevin Smith. My brother and I are big on horror movies, and this one has been especially interesting to us because of how weird and unexpected it is. Usually we can wrangle at least one poor unsuspecting soul to watch it with us every Halloween season, and seeing their reaction as the disturbing and bizarre plot unfolds is priceless. I don't think people should know anything about Tusk before seeing it, but if you like Human-Centipede-type movies and you want to see Johnny Depp at his absolute jankiest, I would highly recommend this one. Is it good? NO. But it takes you for a ride. 

Lucas LoBreglio

Bloody Hell Harry!

I don't have a particular go-to fall movie, but one series of movies that I think has excellent fall vibes is the Harry Potter movie franchise. Every movie spans the entire schoolyear, so there are a lot of prime time fall scenes at the beginning of the movies when school is starting. One of my favorite scenes is from the third movie, Prisoner of Azkaban, where they are running in and out of Hagrid's cabin and you can see the pumpkin patch full of gigantic pumpkins that Hagrid was growing. I try to rewatch those movies at least every other year, and every fall is when I get the urge to start; they have such a cozy vibe and are some of the perfect movies to curl up in a sweater, light a candle, sit back, and enjoy.

Autumn P

Best Fall Show?

I hope a TV series counts because it is too good to pass up. Every Fall I look forward to rewatching Over The Garden Wall. The mini-series is 10 short episodes, but feels rich with details, characters, and unique settings and fairytale-like stories. It is both cute and creepy at the same time. The sibling duo Wirt and Greg traverse a strange and unknown universe and encounter different obstacles and meet funny characters along the way. Their big sibling/little sibling dynamic reminds me of how me and my little sister are together. This Fall I am watching it with someone who has never seen it before and that has been a fun experience. And of course, an aspect of the show that cannot be left out is the amazing soundtrack!

Elias