Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Release date: Nov. 25, 1987
This movie's great. It's funny, sweet, sad and has several memorable scenes (Steve Martin yelling at Edie McClurg; their rental car catching on fire; "Those aren't pillows!"; etc.). It also wraps up in Chicago (because John Hughes), and, as any Chicagoan will tell you, that automatically makes the movie 12 percent more watchable. In fact, I'm pretty sure Chicagoans (myself and Erika included) are the only ones watching Boss on Starz. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is probably the single-most referenced Thanksgiving movie out there, and, if nothing else, it makes me long for the days when more comedies were made for adults. No, not "adult" comedies, because there's only so much Big Bang Theory: A XXX Parody I can take. If Planes, Trains and Automobiles doesn't get you in the Thanksgiving spirit, you, my friend, have no heart.
Home for the Holidays
Release date: Nov. 3, 1995
Honestly, this was the only other movie I could think of off the top of my head that was overtly about Thanksgiving. The next trailer (you're welcome) required about four seconds of Googling (sooo worth it). I feel like I saw Home for the Holidays the month it opened (I'm sure Patrick can verify/discredit this [Patrick's note: Yep!]), and I actually remember liking it. Of course, I haven't seen it in over 15 years, so I have no idea how it holds up. My guess: not well. But who knows? Maybe it's still PERFECT. This is only the second of three movies (not counting an episode of "Tales from the Darkside" on TV) that Jodie Foster directed, and it is the OBVIOUS precursor to The Beaver. If Home for the Holidays is Thanksgiving, then The Beaver is definitely Christmas. That means Little Man Tate is Groundhog Day. And Groundhog Day, while NOT directed by Jodie Foster, is most certainly Easter. What are we talking about again?
The New World
Release date: Jan. 20, 2006
So, Terrence Malick is, like, legitimately nuts, right? I know there are diehard Malick fans out there who would rip me a new one (Q: a new what? A: a new a-hole) if they found out I like Saving Private Ryan more than The Thin Red Line (blasphemy!). These insufferables worship in the Badlands near the Tree of Life for more Days of Heaven (see what I did there? You see what I did there [sorry!]). Honestly, I'm not crazy about his style, but I am convinced that he's a visionary, and that nearly every one of his frames can stand alone as a piece of fine art. His composition is lush and colorful; I just wish he told stories better. The New World looks like yet another ponderous entry into the filmic catalog that is Terrence Malick's rambling philosophical prose (NOW who's the douche?). Only, instead of Sean Penn contemplating the nature of man at war in a foreign land, it's Colin Farrell doing copious amounts of blow off the body of a very naked Pocahontas. At least, that's what I've gleaned from the trailer.
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