The holidays have arrived. For the next six weeks or so, people will be getting together; presents will be exchanged and meals will be eaten – most likely around a dining room table, where gloves tend to come off, too much alcohol results in loose lips, and words are exchanged and grudges established.
Or, it can be lovely time.
And when the dust settles and the tryptophan kicks in, it’s time to switch on a movie and hibernate on the couch until after the new year.
Here are some picks for your viewing pleasure. They range from the funny to the dramatic to the kid-friendly (You can’t go wrong with Charlie Brown and Garfield), to the probably-not-anybody-friendly (ThanksKilling).
Enjoy!
Home for the Holidays
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, drama, kids & family
Directed by: Jodie Foster
Written by: W.D. Richter, Chris Radant
Runtime: 1 hr. 43 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 63%
Synopsis: An eccentric extended family members gathers for their annual Thanksgiving feast and bring with them their many problems and personal quirks. Claudia flies from Chicago to Boston to visit her parents for the holidays, who immediately start treating her like a child.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Animation, drama, kids & family
Directed by: Bill Melendez, Phil Roman
Written by: Charles M. Schulz
Runtime: 25 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 100%
Synopsis: Charlie Brown and the gang learn the true meaning of Thanksgiving after Peppermint Patty boldly arranges for everyone to celebrate the holiday at Charlie’s house. The story originally aired on television and like the other animated Peanuts specials, features a toe-tapping, wistful score by Vince Guaraldi and his trio.
The Big Chill
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, drama, musical & performing arts
Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
Written by: Barbara Benedek, Lawrence Kasdan
Runtime: 1 hr. 43 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 68%
Synopsis: A group of seven former college friends gather for a weekend reunion at a South Carolina vacation home after the funeral of another of their college friends.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Directed by: John Hughes
Written by: John Hughes
Runtime: 1 hr. 32 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 93%
Synopsis: A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with an obnoxious slob of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.
ThanksKilling
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, horror, mystery & suspense
Directed by: Jordan Downey
Written by: Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart
Runtime: 1 hr. 10 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: Not available
Synopsis: While on their way home for Thanksgiving break, five college kids run “afowl” of a homicidal turkey that wants them dead. As the cursed bird hunts them down one by one, the survivors scramble to find a way to defeat the possessed creature. Will the bloodthirsty turkey make this their last Thanksgiving feast ever?
Garfield’s Thanksgiving
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Animation, comedy, kids & family, television
Directed by: Phil Roman
Runtime: 30 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: Not available
Synopsis: On Thanksgiving, according to Garfield, people “celebrate food by eating as much of it as possible. It’s a tradition, I love tradition.” But that tradition is history following a checkup from veterinarian Liz Wilson.
Alice’s Restaurant
Rating: R
Genre: Classics, comedy,science fiction & fantasy
Directed by: Arthur Penn
Written by: Venable Herndon, Arthur Penn, Venabel Herndon
Runtime: 1 hr. 51 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 63%
Synopsis: This uneven film is based on Arlo Guthrie’s popular song “The Massacre At Alice’s Restaurant.” Arlo, son of famous folksinger Woody Guthrie, wrote the almost 19-minute song after being arrested for littering when he threw out some food. He visits his dying father in the film, and Pete Seeger also makes an appearance. Arlo sings three songs including the title track, and Joni Mitchell’s “Songs To Aging Children” is played during a funeral scene. Pat Quinn plays Alice, with James Broderick as her husband Ray. Arlo’s criminal past is exposed when he is rejected for a tour in the U.S. Army because he is a “degenerate.”
Hannah and Her Sisters
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, drama, romance
Directed by: Woody Allen
Written by: Woody Allen
Runtime: 1 hr. 43 min.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 91%
Synopsis: A Woody Allen Manhattan mosaic, Hannah and Her Sisters concerns the lives, loves and infidelities among a tightly-knit artistic clan. Hannah regularly meets with her sisters Holly and Lee to discuss the week’s events. It’s what they don’t always tell each other that forms the film’s various subplots. Hannah is married to accountant and financial planner Elliot, who carries a torch for Lee, who in turn lives with pompous Soho artist Frederick. Meanwhile, Holly, a neurotic actress and eternal loser in love, dates TV producer Mickey, who used to be married to Hannah and spends most of the film convinced that he’s about to die. The film begins and ends during the family’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
