Poor Time Management: A Film Watchlist

Fields Thomas ’29

Staff Writer

It’s hitting the season where classes are picking up and the temperature keeps dropping. Spirits are low when they are supposed to be high. As exam season begins to stir, the need for a token movie to play in the background is growing. Below, you will find a list of five films to watch during this exam season while your textbooks grow dust. They may not all be five stars, but all of them have a purpose.

“The Holdovers” (2023) directed by Alexander Payne
This dramedy follows the Christmas break of a young boarder, Angus Tully, while he’s stuck in school with recluse teacher Paul Hunham and grieving mother Mary Lamb. While stuck in your dorm on the tenth hour of looking at statistics, you’ll find yourself relating to the quarantine of Angus Tully. For you JOBs, this will be extra nostalgic given its setting — Boston during Christmastime.

“Saturday Night” (2024) directed by Jason Reitman
Set in early October NYC in 1975, this movie follows a group of young adults the night before creating possibly the most well-known live show to exist. Watching these twenty-something-year-olds set goals and achieve them before hitting thirty will surely get you to hit those books a little harder and appreciate the cold NYC we all know and love.

“Saltburn” (2023) Directed by Emerald Fennel
This movie follows a deranged Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) as he navigates his new life at Oxford and is drawn in by Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). We see Quick’s summer with Catton’s family quickly devolve into something more mysterious. This is a movie to remind you that things could be worse — at least that’s not your college experience (we hope).

“The Wiz” (1978) directed by Sidney Lumet
Released in 1978 this retelling of a cult classic follows Harlem teacher, Dorothy, as she is blown away to Oz and must return to Manhattan. It’s like the “Wizard Of Oz,” but better. A movie that captures nostalgia and the Thanksgiving spirit, “The Wiz” offers a sense of peace during the holidays before Biology 182. 

“Fandango” (1985) Director: Kevin Reynolds
After graduation, Texan Gardner Barnes and friends embark on a road trip to figure out what’s next in their lives. With the looming of the Vietnam War and adulthood, these young adults travel far with skydiving, relationships and chase sequences. A film to remind you of your classmates and friendships and proof that graduation exists.