autumn falls on me
2004-10-13, 8:16 p.m.

Halloween is coming. I do love me some Halloween. Then that's followed by Thanksgiving, if you're in America. The Autumn holidays. My favorite ones. Speaking of my favorites, here are some of my favorite pop culture entertainment options for both holidays:

HALLOWEEN MOVIES:

Nightmare Before Christmas
Halloween (and Halloween II)

HALLOWEEN SONGS:

Season of the Witch by Hole

Kiddies by Self (LA readers listen for this on KROQ, I think they play it every Halloween). Let's go trick or treatin' dressed up like Marilyn Manson, snatch up all the kiddies and hold them all for ransom.

THANKSGIVING FILMS:

The Ice Storm (The Thanksgiving scene uses the only warm colors in the whole film and has a funny bit where Christina Ricci's character is asked to say Grace and she goes off on a funny rant about stealing land from the Indians...)

Avalon ("You cut the turkey without me?")

Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen considers this "middlebrow" and it's not my favorite of his films, but it is Thanksgiving-y)

Home For The Holidays (Holly Hunter. Robert Downey, Jr. Dylan McDermott. Cynthia Stevenson. Claire Danes. Anne Bancroft. And directed by Jodie Foster.)

The Myth of Fingerprints (this movie has some deep flaws but it definitely "stayed with me" long after I watched it).

THANKSGIVING SONGS:

Well, there really aren't very many of these, are there? Besides that "Over the river and through the woods" song? Did you know that Jingle Bells was originally a Thanksgiving song, not a Christmas song? Also: Adam Sandler's Thanksgiving Song. Turkey for you, turkey for me; I like turkey with-a-cranberry.

FAVORITE AUTUMN MEMORY FROM CHILDHOOD:

Raking leaves into a pile and jumping in them.

FAVORITE AUTUMN FOOD:

Pumpkin and other winter squashes. Mmm.

RECOMMENDED READING:.

For Halloween: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Porkchop reads it every year on Oct. 31).

For Thanksgiving: The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote (The visitor is Truman's nemesis, the school bully: Odd Henderson).

Bounce forward for the winter holiday list ---->