The challenge was simple: Tell us about your Turkey Day movie-watching tradition (or a film with a memorable Thanksgiving scene), get a free rental. And plenty of customers stepped up to the plate with some fantastic film choices and some well-stated endorsements. Here’s a round-up of all the submissions, along with a few of our favorite testimonials — thanks again to everyone who sent in a suggestion! And in case you’re curious about the votes stacked up, the most popular submissions were Home For the Holidays, followed by Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Ice Storm and Alice’s Restaurant…
Alice’s Restaurant (1969) – [imdb]
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) - [imdb]
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) – [imdb]
Dutch (1991) – [imdb]
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) – [imdb]
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) – [imdb]
Holiday Inn (1942) – [imdb]
“I know there won’t be a CROWD joining me, but I still love Holiday Inn, where Bing Crosgy sings “I’ve Got a Lot to be Thankful For”. I know we Americans love to complain about our terrible obesity problem while half of the world is starving, but all I see in my town of Boulder is magic and plenty. We surely do have a lot to be thankful for!” – G.S.
Home for the Holidays (1995) – [imdb]
“Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter and Robert Downey, Jr. is our very favorite Thanksgiving film. In fact, we don’t wait for Turkey Day to view it. Whenever we need a good laugh paired with a great display of family dysfunction, we turn to this one.” – S.H.
The Ice Storm (1997) – [imdb]
The March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934) – [imdb]
The Myth of Fingerprints (1997) – [imdb]
Pieces of April (2003) – [imdb]
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) – [imdb]
Plymouth Adventure (1952) – [imdb]
“For real sanctimonious bliss, there’s Clarence Brown’s 1952 Plymouth Adventure. It’s dull and serious, but hey, there’s Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney and Van Johnson! Oh those wacky Pilgrims.” – B.W.
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) – [imdb]
“To me, Thanksgiving and the Holidays are a time to appreciate my family… for putting up with me through my adolescence and still talking to me after the hormones passed. This movie reminds that I cherish my family for still loving me.” – S.E.
Son-in-Law (1993) – [imdb]
Squanto – A Warrior’s Tale (1994) – [imdb]
Tadpole (2002) – [imdb]
The Ultimate Gift (2006) – [imdb]
“One of our faves for the season is The Ultimate Gift, starring Drew Fuller. The movie is not a “coming of age movie” as it is touted, but a “coming to one’s better senses” movie. The plot echoes the device in Noel Coward’s I’ll Leave It To You, in which a supposedly rich uncle tells his wastrel relatives he’ll leave his wealth to the one who makes good, and the nieces and nephews begin working for the rewards, but then find they enjoy their work and don’t want his money after all. In this movie, a spoiled young man with potential for better character is challenged through the will of his deceased grandfather to make something of himself before he can inherit the balance of the old fellow’s businesses and estate. Thinking he’ll inherit a pile of money, he begins the journey of trials and actual work, and continuing to be surprised with finding out the completion of one task is not the full completion of his requirements for gaining the estate. Along the way, he learns tough lessons about himself, about life, about overcoming obstacles through determination, the value of giving, the benefits of becoming a fully-realized human being, how to know a true friend, and the overarching and deeper value of something beyond that which can be seen, touched, tasted, and felt. More than heartwarming, the story is a kind of soul-nourishment.” – D.L.
What’s Cooking (2000) – [imdb]
“Thanksgiving is the one day of the year I know I have several hours to spare. So all those “long movies” that I had been meaning to see get watched on Thanksgiving days. Some highlights over the years:
Shoah (9 1/2 hours), a methodical documentary about the holocaust from those who remembered it first-hand
Roots (9 1/2 hours), an uneven but usually powerful miniseries about the slave experience in the United States
Gettysburg (4 1/2 hours), an elaborately staged enactment of a small part of the Civil War
The Samurai Trilogy (5 hours), with Toshiro Mifune, but not Kurosawa” – M.M.