5 Autumn movies to get you into the coziest feel

Enjoy the cool weather by curling up on the sofa with a warm blanket, a hot toddy and a cinnamon roll fresh from the oven, and watch a classic autumn film. Every year, Netflix and Prime Video release new movies with actors trying to make it to the big screen. Some have phenomenal acting, while others are cringeworthy and hard to watch. Bad acting can ruin what should be a relaxing, cozy night in, leaving you flipping through the menu for something else. I've been enjoying movies from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when we had Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan, Tobey Maguire, Michael Caine and many other talented actors.

I find myself enjoying these classics more than what's released nowadays, and I think it's because they're quieter. Current movies and TV shows have so much background music that almost every transition has a different song. Older films and series often use far less, which makes them more enjoyable to watch. The quiet between scenes gives you a second to think about what you just watched or guess what will happen next. It also puts you in a calmer state of mind, which is the goal when winding down. While there's a time and place for music in a movie, there's something comforting about classic romances that came out more than 20 years ago. The storylines have deeper messages, the casts feel distinct and the aesthetic captures autumn in the best way possible.

We picked five movies that are perfect for this fall so you don't have to keep scrolling through the same titles on Netflix and Prime Video.

"While You Were Sleeping"

Sandra Bullock is the queen of '90s fall movies, starring in several of them. In "While You Were Sleeping," Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Bullock) rescues her longtime crush, Peter Callaghan (played by Peter Gallagher), from an oncoming train. When he is taken to the hospital, a misunderstanding leads the staff and his family to believe Lucy is his fiancée, and they welcome her into their home. While Peter lies in a coma, Lucy spends time with his family and ends up falling for his brother, Jack.

"You've Got Mail"

Meg Ryan is another queen of '90s films. Her role as Kathleen Kelly in "You've Got Mail" has every Pinterest girl looking to her for autumn outfit inspo. The film gives one of the best depictions of the season, with its lighting, yellow and orange trees and, of course, the outfits. In this enemies-to-lovers story, Kelly, the owner of a small bookstore, starts an anonymous online romance through email with Joe Fox, who runs a bookstore chain. She doesn't know he's the rival who opened a big store near hers. When Joe finds out who she is, he tries to go back to disliking her instead of accepting the love he feels.

"Practical Magic"

It's not fall without a bit of magic for the spooky season. "Practical Magic" is a must-watch, especially since the sequel came out Sept. 11, making it the perfect time to binge both movies. Bullock plays Sally Owens in this witchy story about two sisters living under a family curse: Anyone they fall in love with dies. The sisters vow never to fall in love, but as children living with their aunts, Sally casts a spell to conjure an ideal man. She marries him and has two children, but he later dies because of the curse. Her sister, Gillian, runs off to Los Angeles with her boyfriend and soon meets Jimmy Angelov. After he abuses her, she calls Sally to rescue her, but he tries to hold them hostage. The sisters accidentally kill him with a sedative, so they take him to their aunts' house to resurrect him. The spell backfires, and he returns to kill the sisters but ends up possessing Gillian's body. As Sally tries to figure out how to help her sister, she also has to fend off investigator Gary Hallet, who has come from Arizona to ask about Angelov's whereabouts. The sisters try to fix their mistakes before Hallet uncovers the truth. Along the way, Sally falls for Hallet, and the two try to make the relationship work before anything terrible happens to him.

"Inventing the Abbotts"

Take a trip to the 1950s with "Inventing the Abbotts," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Billy Crudup as brothers Doug and Jacey Holt. The brothers struggle financially to keep up with the wealth around them in their Midwestern town after their father drowns when his car crashes through a frozen lake. The crash followed a $20 bet with Lloyd Abbott, and Jacey blames Lloyd for his father's death. As they grow up, Jacey seeks revenge on the Abbott family while drawing Doug into his plans, and the brothers get involved with the Abbott sisters: Eleanor, Alice and Pamela. While Jacey goes back and forth between Eleanor and Alice, Doug starts a serious relationship with Pamela, which Jacey and Lloyd disapprove of. Jacey later learns things about his father that make him reconsider his revenge plan. 

"The Cider House Rules"

Tobey Maguire plays Homer Wells, an orphan growing up in a small-town orphanage. He learns medicine from Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine), who runs the orphanage, but his views clash with Larch's when a patient seeks an abortion. Homer leaves to seek freedom at Ocean View Orchards, an apple orchard and cider mill, where he learns the ropes of agriculture. After Lt. Wally Worthington drives him there, Homer discovers he loves tending the orchard. The more time he spends with Worthington's girlfriend, Candy Kendall, the more he falls for her. Homer refuses to perform abortions, but he changes his mind when a young woman seeks his help after her father sexually assaulted her and got her pregnant. Her story also makes him question everything Larch taught him, and he returns to the orphanage to take Larch's place after he dies.