60 Fun Facts About Fall Movie

Who directed the 1989 autumn romance 'When Harry Met Sally...'?

Rob Reiner directed from Nora Ephron's script; his own mother, Estelle Reiner, delivered the film's most famous line as the customer in the deli scene.

At which Manhattan deli was the 'I'll have what she's having' scene in 'When Harry Met Sally...' filmed?

Katz's Delicatessen on East Houston Street hosted the scene; the deli hung a sign over the table reading 'Where Harry met Sally... hope you have what she had!'

'Dead Poets Society' is set in 1959 at which fictional boarding school?

Welton Academy, the stuffy Vermont prep school the boys nickname 'Hellton', was played by St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware.

Who won the Oscar for writing 'Dead Poets Society'?

Tom Schulman took Best Original Screenplay at the 1990 ceremony; Robin Williams (Best Actor) and Peter Weir (Best Director) were nominated but went home empty-handed.

What Latin phrase does John Keating teach his students in 'Dead Poets Society'?

'Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary' was ranked 95th on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes.

In 'Good Will Hunting', Will works as a janitor at which institution?

Will mops floors at MIT, where Professor Gerald Lambeau spots his genius after he anonymously solves a problem left on a hallway blackboard.

Which two friends wrote 'Good Will Hunting' and won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for it?

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, childhood friends from Cambridge, took Best Original Screenplay at the 1998 ceremony, where Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor; the film had nine nominations.

Who directed 'Good Will Hunting'?

Gus Van Sant directed it for about $10 million; it grossed roughly $226 million worldwide and earned him a Best Director nomination.

In which Massachusetts town is 'Hocus Pocus' set?

The Sanderson sisters haunt Salem, where the film shot exteriors at Pioneer Village and the Ropes Mansion; Max, a newcomer from Los Angeles, wakes them on Halloween night.

Which director of 'Hocus Pocus' later made the 'High School Musical' films?

Kenny Ortega, a choreographer turned director, opened Hocus Pocus in July 1993 to weak box office; it became a Halloween staple through TV reruns, and he later directed all three High School Musical films.

What object must be lit by a virgin to bring the Sanderson sisters back in 'Hocus Pocus'?

Lighting the Black Flame Candle on All Hallows' Eve summons the sisters for one night; the film's rules require a virgin to light it, and the trio had been dead 300 years, since 1693.

'Hocus Pocus 2' arrived in 2022 on which streaming service?

Disney+ released the sequel on 30 September 2022, 29 years after the original, reuniting Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters.

'You've Got Mail' takes its title from the greeting used by which online service?

The title is AOL's mailbox greeting, voiced by Elwood Edwards; it was Nora Ephron's highest-grossing film, taking about $250 million worldwide.

In 'You've Got Mail', what is the name of Kathleen Kelly's independent children's bookstore?

The Shop Around the Corner is named for Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 film the story remakes, itself adapted from Miklós László's Hungarian play Parfumerie.

Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' adapts a 1970 novel by which author?

Roald Dahl published Fantastic Mr Fox in 1970; George Clooney voices the fox, and the film picked up Oscar nominations for animated feature and score.

What are the names of the three farmers who hunt the title character in 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'?

Boggis, Bunce and Bean are 'one fat, one short, one lean' in Dahl's rhyme, which the animals repeat in the film; they run chicken, duck-and-goose, and turkey-and-apple farms.

What is the surname of the witch family played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in 'Practical Magic'?

The Owens sisters, Sally and Gillian, come from Alice Hoffman's 1995 novel about a family of witches whose men die under a centuries-old curse.

'Practical Magic' was shot in Coupeville, Washington, on which Puget Sound island?

Coupeville's waterfront on Whidbey Island stood in for the film's Massachusetts town; the famous seaside house was a shell built on nearby San Juan Island and torn down after filming.

Which detective does Daniel Craig play in 'Knives Out'?

Benoit Blanc, the drawling Southern sleuth, was created by writer-director Rian Johnson, whose script earned an Oscar nomination for original screenplay.

Who plays the crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, whose death sets 'Knives Out' in motion?

Christopher Plummer plays the 85-year-old patriarch found with his throat cut after his birthday party; Ana de Armas is his nurse Marta, who cannot lie without vomiting.

In 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles', Neal Page is trying to get home to which city for Thanksgiving?

Neal, a Chicago advertising executive, is trying to get from New York back home to Chicago for Thanksgiving; John Hughes wrote, produced and directed the 1987 comedy.

What does John Candy's character Del Griffith sell in 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'?

Del is a travelling salesman for the shower curtain rings division of American Light and Fixture; at a bus station he hawks the rings as earrings to raise cash for the trip.

Wes Anderson's 'Rushmore' was co-written with which actor, who also appears in most of his films?

Owen Wilson co-wrote Rushmore with Anderson, as he had Bottle Rocket and would The Royal Tenenbaums; the prep school was played by St. John's School in Houston, Anderson's own alma mater.

Who plays the precocious student Max Fischer in 'Rushmore'?

Jason Schwartzman, then 17 and a nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, made his film debut as Max; Bill Murray plays the industrialist Herman Blume who becomes his rival in love.

Which company's first feature film was 'Coraline' (2009)?

Laika, the Oregon studio backed by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, debuted with Henry Selick's stop-motion adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novella, which earned a Best Animated Feature nomination.

In 'Coraline', what does the Other Mother want to sew onto Coraline's eyes?

The Other Mother's people all have buttons for eyes, and she offers Coraline the chance to stay forever if she lets them be sewn on; the family has just moved to the Pink Palace in Ashland, Oregon.

Which Peanuts character waits in the pumpkin patch in 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'?

Linus spends Halloween night in the pumpkin patch with Sally, convinced the Great Pumpkin will rise; the 1966 show was only the third Peanuts TV special, with music by Vince Guaraldi.

What does Charlie Brown get instead of candy while trick-or-treating in the Great Pumpkin special?

At every house Charlie Brown opens his bag to report 'I got a rock', ending the night with only rocks; meanwhile Snoopy, as the World War I Flying Ace, battles the Red Baron.

Who provides Jack Skellington's singing voice in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'?

Danny Elfman sings every one of Jack's numbers and wrote the songs; Chris Sarandon handles the spoken lines, and the two voices were matched so closely most viewers never notice.

'The Nightmare Before Christmas' was the first animated film nominated for which Oscar?

Its 1994 nomination for Best Visual Effects was the first for an animated feature; Disney released the film under its Touchstone label, worried the Gothic look was too scary for children.

Who plays the Headless Horseman, seen with his head, in Tim Burton's 'Sleepy Hollow'?

Christopher Walken plays the Hessian mercenary, with filed-down teeth, in the flashbacks that show the Horseman alive; Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane is a squeamish New York constable sent upstate in 1799.

Which Academy Award did 'Sleepy Hollow' (1999) win?

Rick Heinrichs and Peter Young won Best Art Direction for the film's fog-bound village and interiors, shot largely on English sets and soundstages rather than in New York.

Who plays Jo March in Greta Gerwig's 2019 'Little Women'?

Saoirse Ronan plays Jo, her second lead for Gerwig after Lady Bird, and earned a Best Actress nomination; filming was based around Harvard and Concord, Massachusetts, near the Alcotts' real home.

The 2019 'Little Women' won its only Oscar in which category?

Jacqueline Durran won Best Costume Design for the March sisters' period wardrobe; the film's five other nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, went unrewarded.

Which real Alexandria, Virginia school's team does Denzel Washington's coach integrate in 'Remember the Titans'?

Herman Boone's 1971 T. C. Williams Titans went undefeated and won the Virginia state title; Jerry Bruckheimer's production grossed around $137 million.

'Rudy' (1993) was the first film allowed to shoot on the Notre Dame campus since which 1940 picture?

Knute Rockne, All American, with Ronald Reagan as George Gipp, was the 1940 film; Sean Astin plays the undersized walk-on who finally gets on the field for one play in 1975.

Who composed the score for 'Rudy'?

Jerry Goldsmith's main theme became a fixture of sports montages and trailers; he had also scored Hoosiers for the same director, David Anspaugh, earning an Oscar nomination for it.

Michael Myers's mask in John Carpenter's 'Halloween' (1978) was adapted from a mask of which character?

Production designer Tommy Lee Wallace bought a William Shatner Captain Kirk mask for $1.98, widened the eye holes and spray-painted it a bluish white.

Roughly what was the budget of 'Halloween' (1978), which went on to gross about $70 million?

Shot in around three weeks for about $300,000, it became one of the most profitable independent films ever; Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut as Laurie Strode in fictional Haddonfield, Illinois.

Wes Craven's 'Scream' was written by Kevin Williamson under what working title?

Williamson's spec script was titled Scary Movie until Dimension renamed it after the Michael Jackson song; the Wayans brothers later used Scary Movie for their 2000 spoof of it.

Which novelty company created the mask that became Ghostface in 'Scream'?

Fun World designer Brigitte Sleiertin created the mask in 1991 as 'The Peanut-Eyed Ghost'; producer Marianne Maddalena spotted one in a house while scouting locations, and Dimension licensed it.

In which fictional Connecticut town do the Maitlands haunt their own house in 'Beetlejuice'?

Adam and Barbara Maitland die in a covered-bridge crash in Winter River and return to haunt their farmhouse; the 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, brought the story back to the same town.

Which Oscar did 'Beetlejuice' win?

Ve Neill, Steve La Porte and Robert Short won Best Makeup for the ghoul's mouldering look; Michael Keaton is on screen for only about 17 minutes, yet the film carries his character's name.

Which real New York firehouse served as the Ghostbusters' headquarters in the 1984 film?

Hook & Ladder Company 8, at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca, provided the exteriors; interior scenes were shot at a decommissioned fire station in downtown Los Angeles.

Who wrote 'Ghostbusters' (1984)?

Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote it, Aykroyd having first conceived the story for himself and John Belushi; Ivan Reitman directed, and Ray Parker Jr.'s theme went to number one.

The 1999 film 'October Sky' is based on Homer Hickam's memoir of what title?

Homer Hickam's 1998 memoir Rocket Boys, its title an anagram of the film's, recounts his teenage rocketry in Coalwood, West Virginia, after Sputnik's 1957 launch; Jake Gyllenhaal plays him.

Which candy did Hershey allow into 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' after Mars refused to lend M&M's?

Hershey agreed to a promotional tie-in for Reese's Pieces after Mars declined M&M's, and sales of the candy jumped; the film's Halloween sequence has E.T. trick-or-treating under a sheet.

Who directed 2001's 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'?

Chris Columbus, who had made Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire, directed the first two Potter films; this one was 2001's highest-grossing film and earned three Oscar nominations.

'Casper' (1995) is credited as the first feature film with what?

Casper is cited as the first feature with a fully CGI lead character, animated by Industrial Light & Magic; Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman move into Whipstaff Manor in Friendship, Maine.

Which screen legend plays grandmother Aggie Cromwell in the 1998 TV movie 'Halloweentown'?

Debbie Reynolds, the Singin' in the Rain star, played Aggie in all four Halloweentown films; the 1998 original was only the fourth Disney Channel Original Movie and was shot in St. Helens, Oregon.

'Legends of the Fall' won its only Oscar for which craft?

John Toll won Best Cinematography for the Montana-set epic, shot largely in Alberta and British Columbia; the film's two other nominations went unrewarded.

Which future star made his film debut with a tiny part in the 1988 Connecticut romance 'Mystic Pizza'?

Matt Damon, then 17, has a single line as Steamer, younger brother of Adam Storke's character; the film, set in Mystic, Connecticut, is better remembered as Julia Roberts's breakthrough.

Georgetown refused to let 'St. Elmo's Fire' shoot on campus, so which university stood in?

The University of Maryland's College Park campus, about ten miles away, stood in after Georgetown's administrators objected to the script's drinking and premarital sex.

Who directed 'Autumn in New York' (2000), starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder?

Joan Chen, the actress from The Last Emperor and Twin Peaks, directed it as her second feature after Xiu Xiu; MGM skipped press screenings, yet it made about $90 million worldwide.

The 2001 Keanu Reeves/Charlize Theron romance 'Sweet November' remakes a film from which year?

The 1968 original, written by Herman Raucher, starred Sandy Dennis and Anthony Newley; the remake earned three Razzie nominations, including worst actor and actress for its leads.

David Fincher's 'Fight Club' (1999) adapts a 1996 novel by which author?

Chuck Palahniuk published Fight Club in 1996 as his first novel; Edward Norton's character is never named and is credited only as the Narrator.

Which Hollywood legend, in her final film role, starred as the pianist mother in 'Autumn Sonata' (1978)?

Ingrid Bergman played the concert pianist Charlotte opposite Liv Ullmann, earning her seventh Oscar nomination; the two Bergmans were unrelated, and it was her last theatrical film.

Todd Haynes's autumnal 1950s melodrama 'Far from Heaven' pays homage to which director's films?

Douglas Sirk's Technicolor melodramas, above all All That Heaven Allows and Imitation of Life, are the model; Julianne Moore won the Volpi Cup at Venice as the Connecticut housewife.

In 'Pieces of April' (2003), Katie Holmes plays a young woman trying to cook what for her estranged family?

April is cooking Thanksgiving dinner in her Lower East Side apartment for her dying mother and family driving in from Pennsylvania; Patricia Clarkson earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination as the mother.

What is the name of the pajama-clad demon who links the four Halloween stories in 'Trick 'r Treat' (2007)?

Sam, short for Samhain, wears orange footie pajamas with a burlap sack over his head and appears whenever someone breaks a Halloween tradition in Warren Valley, Ohio.