By Milan Flagler, Staff Writer
Fall is here and we are well into October. Students attending Post seem to favor the crisp air, flavorful drinks, heavy sweaters, but most importantly, Halloween movies. Bingeing old movies on movie-streaming sites like Netflix or Hulu has become a past-time for college students. With the stress of midterms, projects and homework, nostalgic Halloween movies are the perfect mid-semester getaway for students.
Being confined to their dorm room, bedroom, or computer during the semester trying to pass classes, attend clubs, or work can be stressful. Around this time of year, movies are a college student plane ticket to temporary paradise. “It’s the middle of the semester. There’s always work to be done which is why I don’t stray too far from my computer. But that doesn’t stop me from finishing up early so I can catch up on some of my favorite seasonal movies. It’s a cool temporary escape until I realize I have another assignment due,” senior public relations major Vijay Chandool said. A majority of these movies stem from well-known favorites like Tim Burton, Disney, and Cartoon Network.
Senior fashion merchandising major Steffan Rowe shared his favorite movie along with his favorite time to watch it. ““The Perks of Being A Wallflower” is literally one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s almost habitual, the way I only watch this movie when it’s cold outside, when I can sit in my house under the blankets with a hoodie, warm flavorful drinks, and the food. The movie literally tops everything off. Maybe because it was set to take place in the fall, I just resonate with it so much. Even their outfits, I love them. The trucker jackets, windbreakers, oversized sweaters, platform boots, and the trench coats. Some scenes make me just want to get dressed and take a walk to Starbucks for my generic, but favorite, pumpkin spice latte. I just get this warm feeling when the setting is right, my blanket is on, my hot chocolate sweetens the air of the room, and my heavy blanket laying on top of me is like the cherry on top.”
Some students like to spend the whole day preparing for their Halloween movie night. “When I have days to myself with no class or work, I like to really prepare my space for the time I spend with myself. I even have my own favorite snacks I like to make on days like this. So here goes. I like to make snickerdoodles from scratch and have them with either eggnog or lactaid milk. Then, I’ll run to Walmart and buy the most fall smelling candle I can find, none of that sweet food stuff because I hate it. After I spark up my vanilla spice candle, it’s time for the movie. I love Hocus Pocus. It’s my favorite Halloween movie of all time. The magic of the movie makes me feel like I am seven again, laying around believing in every spell I see,” senior business major Stacey Francis said.
Students at Post take their movie binging seriously, some take it as an initiative to get their homework done early. “Last week I found myself in the library doing work for the next week, so I have extra time to catch up on my movies. It’s funny how a movie can make me get my work done faster but a deadline can’t,” Chandool said. This season of essential movies gives some students the push to dig through their clutter of work in order to have more time for their nostalgic movie binging.
Francis often likes to get together with her friends for movie nights. “It’s basic I know, but me and my friends actually still get together and have movie night sleepovers. We’ll all bring a pillow, blanket, and favorite drink of choice. We usually watch about three to four movies depending on how early we start. Everybody gets to play their favorite movie of choice while we either do homework or just laugh in each other’s faces for hours. It’s cheesy but it’s our own little tradition,” Francis said.
A few essential movies to name, according to Stacey and Steffan, are Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Hocus Pocus,” “Hocus Pocus 2,” “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower,” “My Scary Godmother”, “Twitches,” “Twitches Too,” “Haunted Mansion,” Tim Burton’s “The Corpse Bride,” “Coraline,” and “Halloweentown.” Although these may be older titles, they seem to captivate the constant on-the-go college student.
Virtual movie nights have become a past-time between friends at home, in dorms, or away in their home countries. Zoom and Facetime have replaced the in-person activities to reinforce those feelings of mutual interest for some essential movies. The warm drinks, heavy blankets, and warm candles are still in effect through the virtual movie sessions. “Me and my friends just learned how to use the share screen feature on zoom recently, whenever we have time or a night to ourselves, we try to get cozy and watch some movies together. The pandemic has us spread so far, but our movie sessions keep us tied together,” Rowe said.
Essential movies for this season is the new late-night hangout amongst college students. The changing seasons, Halloween time, flavorful drinks, and warm-sweet scents seem to entrance college students into nostalgia or laziness. The option to lay in bed and watch movies on end is a happy escape for students keeping up with homework, exams and projects.
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