Fall is the time for changing leaves, Halloween, back-to-school, pumpkins (and pumpkin lattes), and sweaters (or, if you're in the South, a slightly heavier t-shirt). Grab some hot chocolate and settle in. Here are some good movie choices to put you in the autumnal mood.
The Heiress and the Handyman (2024, Hallmark Channel)
Jodie Sweetin is June Waltshire of the International Waltshire Hotel chain. She is an heiress who flits from place to place on her private jet.
When her fortune flops and she is left a pauper, she learns her aunt left her her farm in Greenville, a small country village. June always spends the fall in Greece, but she is soon on her way to the country, where she must find a way to a new life and lifestyle.
June googles “how to make a sandwich.” That’s how inept she is at everything. Enter Bart Hudson (Corey Sevier), the owner of the adjacent farm. With his help she learns to collect eggs, take care of the chickens and Jillian, the pig, and she actually finds enjoyment in being a farm girl.
June even enters the Fall Festival with her newly found talent of baking apple pies. She comes a long way from googling sandwiches to being a fully-fledged country gal. And she does it with style.
Premieres Saturday, Sept. 14, on Hallmark Channel.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966, Apple TV+)
An all-time favorite Halloween show for families is It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The Peanuts gang is at its best in this one.
Linus is convinced the mythical Great Pumpkin is real. While writing his letter to the Great Pumpkin, he realizes there are three things you shouldn’t talk about with other people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.
While the others are out trick-or-treating, Sally joins Linus in the pumpkin patch to wait for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin. The other kids are getting their bags of candy, except Charlie Brown, who always gets a rock.
Afterward, they have fun at Violet’s party. This is the first party to which good ol’ Charlie Brown has ever been invited.
Sally finally gives up and berates Linus for making her miss out on the trick-or-treating. She loves him, but not getting candy is too much!
The sweetest part of this story is when Lucy wakes up at four in the morning, goes out to the pumpkin patch, brings back her brother, puts him in bed and covers up his cold little body. That shows the strong bond between siblings.
Falling Together (2024, Hallmark Channel)
Ashley Williams and Paul Campbell star in this film about new relationships and big changes. Natalie (Williams) relocates to Pittsburgh for her job, where she is anxious to experience a real fall and make plenty of new friends, especially amongst her neighbors.
Her apartment building in Miami was filled with happy people, but her new condo in Pittsburgh is filled with people who hate each other. Natalie tries desperately to mend their differences, bring them all together, and make them friends.
The building superintendent, Mark (Campbell), advises her to leave everyone alone. Natalie is steadfast in trying to get to know her neighbors and fit into her new surroundings.
The two come to an agreement. He will help her with their neighbors, if she will try to find time to do things just for herself and forget about always worrying about others. Let’s face it, she’s outgoing, a buttinsky, and a Type A personality.
The film brings together all the elements of the season: falling leaves, leaf peeping, crisp air, football, apple pie, and pumpkin muffins. As Natalie discovers, life is short and she realizes every minute counts, and that includes her new relationship with Mark.
Premieres Saturday, Sept. 21, on Hallmark Channel.
Coco (2017, Disney+)
Coco is a sentimental story of family. Miguel is a sweet little boy who loves to play the guitar. The problem is his family has forbade music ever since his great-grandfather, a musician, left his great-grandmother and never returned. No one knows what happened to him. But Miguel soon finds out.
This story centers around the inspirational Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead, aka Dia de los Muertos, which takes place on November 2, and focuses on family members who have passed away.
Every year families make an altar, where they place photos of their departed loved ones. If a person's photo is placed on the altar, the departed is allowed to visit his or her living relatives for one day. It’s a heartwarming idea.
Miguel gets sucked into the world of the dead and tries to find his music idol, but he discovers more to the story of his great-grandfather. In the end, little Miguel is responsible for reuniting his fractured family.
This animated film has inspired a sequel, however no date has been announced for this. It also inspired a soon-to-be ride in Disneyland Resort.
Rudy (1993, rent from Prime Video and other places; stream free on The Roku Channel and BYUtv.com -- but it's leaving BYUtv in mid-September)
Fall means football, especially in South Bend, Indiana, home to the University of Notre Dame (founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, the same order as Family Theater Productions' founder, Venerable Patrick Peyton, who also attended the school).
Sean Astin (Sam from The Lord of the Rings films) stars as a working-class Catholic kid in Indiana who dreams of playing for the Fighting Irish football team at Notre Dame. But financially, scholastically and athletically, his chances seem slim.
But with determination, hard work, faith and prayer, he just might make it.
Image: (L-R) Corey Sevier, Jodie Sweetin, The Heiress and the Handyman/Hallmark Channel
Francine Brokaw is a longtime journalist, covering entertainment, product reviews and travel, and is the host of Beyond the Red Carpet on Village Television and YouTube.
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