This Thanksgiving I am thankful for many things. I'm thankful for my family, friends, and cake, but, most importantly (sorry family), I'm thankful for movies. Comedies, dramas, teen movies, thrillers, musicals — I'm grateful for them all. So, I don't need to tell you what I'll be doing this Thanksgiving: settling down with a huge plate of food and watching a good Thanksgiving movie. And my guess is that this holiday, in the wake of this most awful election, even those people reuniting with their families for the holiday will want a little escape. If you're looking for something to take you away from the dinner table as a family, here are 13 Thanksgiving movies you can watch.
A big chunk of Thanksgiving movies, like Christmas movies, are family-oriented dramas, but that doesn't mean there aren't some comedies, fantasy and horror movies (yes, horror movies) that can be appropriate for the occasion. Whether you want to watch a movie as a family bonding experience or just to get your Trump supporting family members to stop talking about making America great again, odds are you'll be able to pick the perfect movie to fit your needs in this list of 13 movies to watch this Thanksgiving.
1. Pieces Of April
Katie Holmes stars as a black sheep daughter who invites her dying mother and two siblings to her apartment for a Thanksgiving dinner she has no idea how to cook. Get ready to appreciate whoever cooks your turkey every year a whole lot more.
2. Planes, Trains And Automobiles
John Hughes' classic comedy about an odd couple of travelers trying to get home for Thanksgiving is pretty standard family Thanksgiving fare. If your family can't agree to enjoy Steve Martin, then I don't know what you can agree on.
3. Stepmom
Stepmom is a pretty depressing/uplifting holiday movie about a mother of two who finds out she's dying of cancer as her ex husband marries another woman. Thanksgiving doesn't feature immensely in the film, but the conflict surrounding the holidays as a whole certainly does. And, the movie includes a scene with the cutest Thanksgiving kids' play ever.
4. Home For The Holidays
Thanksgiving is pure torture for the Larson family, so if nothing else, Home for the Holidays will make you thankful you don't have more family drama. The movie, from director Jodie Foster, stars Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr. and Anne Bancroft, so, your parents shouldn't have anything to complain about.
5. Hannah And Her Sisters
If your family is still pro-Woody Allen, then Hannah and Her Sisters is worth a shot. A complicated family drama about sisters and their various love affairs (warning: it gets very messy, very fast), Hannah and Her Sisters doesn't exactly paint a happy picture of Thanksgiving, but it does paint a pretty honest one.
6. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Because Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving definitely has a better soundtrack than yours.
7. You've Got Mail
If you're in the mood for a little romantic comedy this Thanksgiving, You've Got Mail is perfect. There's a key scene that happens over the holiday and it stars Tom Hanks, who is basically a Thanksgiving of celebrities (i.e. beloved by all).
8. Scent Of A Woman
Over Thanksgiving break, a student takes a job babysitting a blind man and ends up going on an adventure instead. It's a coming of age story about a prep school white boy in 1992, so, make of that what you will.
9. Funny People
Comedy meets depression meets holidays meets Adam Sandler. What could be better?
10. The Addams Family Values
It's worth whatever family awkwardness to hear Wednesday Addams tell the story of Thanksgiving, trust me.
11. Dutch
A grumpy and immature man must travel across the country with his girlfriend's brooding, tween son. Thanksgiving hijinks ensue.
12. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
No, they don't have Thanksgiving at Hogwarts, but they do have a pretty stunning Halloween feast that might as well be Thanksgiving.
13. Kristy
Kristy is everyone's worst nightmare: a college student is alone on campus for Thanksgiving and ends up terrorized by a crazed group of murderers. So, yeah, don't watch this if you're home alone or sitting by yourself in your dorm room.
So, grab your turkey, your hot apple cider and all the pie in the world, I believe you have some Thanksgiving movies to watch.
Images: United Feature Syndicate
