With Thanksgiving being tomorrow I though it would be fitting to give my Top 10 Thanksgiving Themed films. Now some of these films may not be completely about Thanksgiving but the have scenes that take place on Thanksgiving. So without further ado.....
10. Son-In-Law
Eventhough I don't particularly like Pauly Shore, this is one of his best films. Country girl Rebecca (played by Carla Gugino) begins college at UCLA, there she meets Crawl (played by Pauly Shore), a student who is crazy, unpredictable and wild. During the holidays she brings him home with her. Her parents have never seen anything like him and are shocked when Rebecca tells them that they are engaged to be married, and then all hell breaks loose. Son in Law has a rating of 22% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Home for The Holidays
This film is absolutely hilarious, has a masterful cast and is directed by Academy Award winning Actress Jodie Foster. Forty year old single Chicagoan Claudia Larson (played by Holly Hunter) gets a lot of bad news just before the Thanksgiving holidays. This news places her in an even worse mood in preparation for her Thanksgiving visit with her family in Baltimore at the home of her overbearing parents Henry and Adele Larson (played by Charles Durning and Anne Bancroft respectively). Others coming to the Thanksgiving dinner include Claudias her Aunt Glady (played by Geraldine Chaplin), her sister Joanne (played by Cynthia Stevenson) her mischevious gay brother Tommy (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and his boyfriend Leo Fish (played by Dylan McDermott). Home for the Holidays has a rating of 62% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Dutch
This is a very underrated film and is a film directed by the great John Hughes (which many people do not know). Volunteering to drive his girlfriends son home for Thanksgiving to Chicago from his boarding school in Georgia, construction worker Dutch (played by ed O'Neil) takes to the road with the snobby 12 year old Doyle (played by Ethan Randall) who doesn't approve of him in the least little bit. Dutch has a rating of 14% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. The War At Home
This film is very emotional and very dramatic with some very wonderful performances. Jeremy Collier (played by Emilio estevez) is an Army veteran who returns home after his harrowing experience in battle. His father Bob (played by Estevez's real life father Martin Sheen) is an emotionally detached parent who insists that Jeremy put his unpleasant memories behind him and get on with his life. His mother Maurine (played by Kathy Bates) is an unusually cheerful woman who pretends nothing is wrong . The troubled Jeremy finds almost as much fighting at home as he did in the military. The War at Home has a rating of 60% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The New World
This film is magnificent and is one of the best historical films that I have ever seen. Captain John Smith (played by colin Farrell) is spared his mutinous hanging sentence after Captain Newports (played by Christopher Plummer) ship arrives in 1607 to found Jamestown, an english colony in Virginia. The initially friendly natives, who have no personal property concept, turn hostile after a 'theft' is 'punished' violently on the spot. During an armed expedition, Smith is captured, but spared when the Chief' Powahatan (played by August Schellenberg) favorite daughter Pocahontas (played by Q'orianka Kilcher) pleads for the stranger (who would eventually become her lover). After his return to the fort both lovers are considered traitors and are both banished from the respective people. After believing Smith to be dead, Pocahontas heads to England and begins in a new relationship with John Rolfe (played by Christian Bale). The New world has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Hannah and Her Sisters
This is one of the top 20 films of all-time and it comes to us from the great comedic director Woody Allen. During a Thanksgiving Day party we make aquaintance with numerous and problomatic family. The lead characters are three sisters Hannah (played by Mia Farrow), Lee (played by Barbara Hershey) and Holly (played by Dianne West). The balance begins to break up when Hannah's husband Elliot (played by Michael Caine) falls in love with Lee. Holly goes through a deep crisis and meets Mickey (played by Woody Allen) Hannah's former husband. Hannah and Her Sisters was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Art Direction and Film Editing while winning 3 (Best Supporting Actor, Actress and Original Screenplay) and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Funny People
ike Pauly Shore I don't particularly like Adam Sandler, this is on of his performances I love. George Simmons (played by Adam Sandler), a comic superstar who learns in the movie's opening scene that he suffers from a rare blood disorder that will likely kill him within a year. This news gives him the impulse to go back out and work on his standup. something he hasn't done in years mainly due to the massive success of his movie career. At a club, he meets struggling comedian Ira Wright (played by Seth Rogen), takes a shine to him, and hires the young man both to write jokes and to be his personal assistant. Ira, who's been sleeping on a friends pull-out couch and working a day job at a deli, enjoys the glimpse into the superstar lifestyle, but soon the protege discovers how selfish and egocentric his mentor really is. Funny People has a rating of 68% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Grumpy Old Men
This film is hilarious and has some of the greatest actors of all-time. John Gustafson (played by Jack Lemmon), an ice-fishing Minnesota native who has been feuding with his neighbor and former best friend Max Goldman (played by Walter Matthau) for decades. The battle of wills between John and Max is characterized by crude name calling and harmless practical jokes. Max is unaware that John is having serious problems, chiefly that his daughter Melanie (played by Daryl Hannah) is experiencing marital woes and that his house is about to be confiscated by an officious IRS agent Elliot Snyder (played by Buck Henry). When it seems that john and Max may finally put aside their childish rivalry, however, sexy new neighbor Ariel (played by Ann-Margaret) arrives and dates both men, pitting them against each other more fiercely than ever before. Grumpy Old Men has a rating of 67% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
This is another hilarious film from John Hughes and one that everyone looks forward to during Thanksgiving. En route from New York City to Chicago to see his family for Thanksgiving, businessman Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) finds that his first-class ticket has been demoted to coach, and he must share his flight with obnoxious salesman Del Griffith (played by John Candy) who is eternally optimistic, overly talkative and very clumsy. Planes, Trains and Automobiles has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Scent of A Woman
This film is an absolute masterpiece and it also showcased one of the greatest actors of all-time (Al Pacino) in best performance and gave him his first and only Oscar Frank Slade (played by Al Pacino) is a blind, irascible and medically retired Army Colonel who hires Charlie Simms (played by Chris O'Donnell), a poor college student on the verge of expulsion, to take care of him over Thanksgiving weekend. Scent of a Woman was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Adapted Screenplay winning only 1 (Best Actor), and it has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of the list, what movies do you and your family like to watch at thanksgiving? let me know in the comments and let your voice be heard. I want to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving and I'll see you on Saturday.
Jonah Sparks
10. Son-In-Law
Eventhough I don't particularly like Pauly Shore, this is one of his best films. Country girl Rebecca (played by Carla Gugino) begins college at UCLA, there she meets Crawl (played by Pauly Shore), a student who is crazy, unpredictable and wild. During the holidays she brings him home with her. Her parents have never seen anything like him and are shocked when Rebecca tells them that they are engaged to be married, and then all hell breaks loose. Son in Law has a rating of 22% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Home for The Holidays
This film is absolutely hilarious, has a masterful cast and is directed by Academy Award winning Actress Jodie Foster. Forty year old single Chicagoan Claudia Larson (played by Holly Hunter) gets a lot of bad news just before the Thanksgiving holidays. This news places her in an even worse mood in preparation for her Thanksgiving visit with her family in Baltimore at the home of her overbearing parents Henry and Adele Larson (played by Charles Durning and Anne Bancroft respectively). Others coming to the Thanksgiving dinner include Claudias her Aunt Glady (played by Geraldine Chaplin), her sister Joanne (played by Cynthia Stevenson) her mischevious gay brother Tommy (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and his boyfriend Leo Fish (played by Dylan McDermott). Home for the Holidays has a rating of 62% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Dutch
This is a very underrated film and is a film directed by the great John Hughes (which many people do not know). Volunteering to drive his girlfriends son home for Thanksgiving to Chicago from his boarding school in Georgia, construction worker Dutch (played by ed O'Neil) takes to the road with the snobby 12 year old Doyle (played by Ethan Randall) who doesn't approve of him in the least little bit. Dutch has a rating of 14% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. The War At Home
This film is very emotional and very dramatic with some very wonderful performances. Jeremy Collier (played by Emilio estevez) is an Army veteran who returns home after his harrowing experience in battle. His father Bob (played by Estevez's real life father Martin Sheen) is an emotionally detached parent who insists that Jeremy put his unpleasant memories behind him and get on with his life. His mother Maurine (played by Kathy Bates) is an unusually cheerful woman who pretends nothing is wrong . The troubled Jeremy finds almost as much fighting at home as he did in the military. The War at Home has a rating of 60% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The New World
This film is magnificent and is one of the best historical films that I have ever seen. Captain John Smith (played by colin Farrell) is spared his mutinous hanging sentence after Captain Newports (played by Christopher Plummer) ship arrives in 1607 to found Jamestown, an english colony in Virginia. The initially friendly natives, who have no personal property concept, turn hostile after a 'theft' is 'punished' violently on the spot. During an armed expedition, Smith is captured, but spared when the Chief' Powahatan (played by August Schellenberg) favorite daughter Pocahontas (played by Q'orianka Kilcher) pleads for the stranger (who would eventually become her lover). After his return to the fort both lovers are considered traitors and are both banished from the respective people. After believing Smith to be dead, Pocahontas heads to England and begins in a new relationship with John Rolfe (played by Christian Bale). The New world has a rating of 61% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Hannah and Her Sisters
This is one of the top 20 films of all-time and it comes to us from the great comedic director Woody Allen. During a Thanksgiving Day party we make aquaintance with numerous and problomatic family. The lead characters are three sisters Hannah (played by Mia Farrow), Lee (played by Barbara Hershey) and Holly (played by Dianne West). The balance begins to break up when Hannah's husband Elliot (played by Michael Caine) falls in love with Lee. Holly goes through a deep crisis and meets Mickey (played by Woody Allen) Hannah's former husband. Hannah and Her Sisters was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Art Direction and Film Editing while winning 3 (Best Supporting Actor, Actress and Original Screenplay) and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Funny People
ike Pauly Shore I don't particularly like Adam Sandler, this is on of his performances I love. George Simmons (played by Adam Sandler), a comic superstar who learns in the movie's opening scene that he suffers from a rare blood disorder that will likely kill him within a year. This news gives him the impulse to go back out and work on his standup. something he hasn't done in years mainly due to the massive success of his movie career. At a club, he meets struggling comedian Ira Wright (played by Seth Rogen), takes a shine to him, and hires the young man both to write jokes and to be his personal assistant. Ira, who's been sleeping on a friends pull-out couch and working a day job at a deli, enjoys the glimpse into the superstar lifestyle, but soon the protege discovers how selfish and egocentric his mentor really is. Funny People has a rating of 68% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Grumpy Old Men
This film is hilarious and has some of the greatest actors of all-time. John Gustafson (played by Jack Lemmon), an ice-fishing Minnesota native who has been feuding with his neighbor and former best friend Max Goldman (played by Walter Matthau) for decades. The battle of wills between John and Max is characterized by crude name calling and harmless practical jokes. Max is unaware that John is having serious problems, chiefly that his daughter Melanie (played by Daryl Hannah) is experiencing marital woes and that his house is about to be confiscated by an officious IRS agent Elliot Snyder (played by Buck Henry). When it seems that john and Max may finally put aside their childish rivalry, however, sexy new neighbor Ariel (played by Ann-Margaret) arrives and dates both men, pitting them against each other more fiercely than ever before. Grumpy Old Men has a rating of 67% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
This is another hilarious film from John Hughes and one that everyone looks forward to during Thanksgiving. En route from New York City to Chicago to see his family for Thanksgiving, businessman Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) finds that his first-class ticket has been demoted to coach, and he must share his flight with obnoxious salesman Del Griffith (played by John Candy) who is eternally optimistic, overly talkative and very clumsy. Planes, Trains and Automobiles has a rating of 94% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Scent of A Woman
This film is an absolute masterpiece and it also showcased one of the greatest actors of all-time (Al Pacino) in best performance and gave him his first and only Oscar Frank Slade (played by Al Pacino) is a blind, irascible and medically retired Army Colonel who hires Charlie Simms (played by Chris O'Donnell), a poor college student on the verge of expulsion, to take care of him over Thanksgiving weekend. Scent of a Woman was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Adapted Screenplay winning only 1 (Best Actor), and it has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what do you think of the list, what movies do you and your family like to watch at thanksgiving? let me know in the comments and let your voice be heard. I want to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving and I'll see you on Saturday.
Jonah Sparks
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