These Thanksgiving movies certainly aren't turkeys

Three Thanksgiving dinners serve as the framework for the plot of Woody… (Orion Pictures, Orion Pictures )

November 07, 2013|By Mike Holtzclaw, mholtzclaw@dailypress.com

Meaning no disrespect at all to any local residents who have already begun putting up Christmas decorations, but hey, you're skipping a holiday.

Thanksgiving is drawing near – otherwise known as Black Friday Eve to the Christmas-centric crowd – and in an attempt to give that wonderful holiday its fair shake, we present this list of great Thanksgiving movies. Of course, you can always go out to the theaters and see the time-traveling turkeys in "Free Birds," but we would recommend these older titles.

You've got almost three weeks to squeeze a few of these into your schedule. You won't regret it.

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles": Writer-director John Hughes' story of two strangers – a snob and a slob – who must travel together in order to make it home for Thanksgiving. This is a truly wonderful film, in which the hilarious comedy and the heartfelt sentimentality complement each other perfectly. Steve Martin and John Candy are priceless together. Originally marketed as a slapstick farce ("Instead of Thanksgiving with the family, he's getting three days with the turkey!"), this film delivered so much more. It belongs alongside "It's a Wonderful Life" atop the list of the great holiday movies.

"Hannah and Her Sisters": Woody Allen's ensemble mosaic covering two years in the lives of interlocking families, all framed around three Thanksgiving dinners – one at the beginning, one in the middle, one at the end. It won the Academy Award in the Original Screenplay category, and Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest won for their supporting roles. It has comedy, melodrama and romance – a masterpiece.

"The Last Waltz": Martin Scorsese's documentary of the star-studded farewell concert by The Band. What does this have to do with the holiday? Duh. The concert took place on Thanksgiving Day, 1976, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. You want something to be thankful for? Check out the music being delivered on this stage.

"Home for the Holidays": Jodie Foster directs a comedy about a woman (Holly Hunter) trying to make sense of her dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving. The cast also includes Claire Danes, Robert Downey Jr. and Anne Bancroft.

"Pieces of April": Another dysfunctional family. Katie Holmes plays the outcast daughter, trying to prepare a holiday feast for her terminally ill mother and the rest of the clan. It's funny and sweet at the same time.

"Thankskilling": Very funny low-budget horror film about a psychotic turkey that goes on a bloody killing spree. We'd mention the turkey's catchphrase, but this is a family newspaper. (Think of Bruce Willis' catchphrase from "Die Hard," and then replace "Yippy-ki-yay" with "Gobble gobble.")

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