Best Thanksgiving Movies

In October we have plenty of well known Halloween themed movies ("The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Hocus Pocus", "Halloween" series, "Sleepy Hollow", "Casper"). And of course there are hundreds of Christmas themed movies. The animated "Free Birds" is out now to help represent Thanksgiving some more, but Thanksgiving tends to get passed over on the big screen. However, there are plenty of good movies that feature the holiday.

Pieces of April (2003) - "Pieces of April" is one of the best Thanksgiving movie of the bunch. Part comedy, part drama, this indie flick stars Katie Holmes, Patricia Clark, Oliver Platt & Alison Pill. April (Holmes) is the older, rebellious daughter of a highly dysfunctional family, and she's never gotten along with her cancer-stricken mother (Clark). She decides to have Thanksgiving in her apartment on the lower east side of Manhattan. Of course, her stove breaks among other obstacles. It's a quick moving film that has a satisfying ending.

Addams Family Values (1993) - The movie is set during the summer, but one of the best moments of the film comes when the summer camp that Wednesday (Christina Ricci) & Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) were sent to. They are forced to act in a play about the first Thanksgiving. Wednesday doesn't take this lightly, and concocts a devious plan to turn the production upside down, as her and her fellow misfits acting as Native Americans burn the pilgrim village to the ground and take back their land. Joan Cusack also delivers an outstanding performance as the villain you just can't help but laugh with, Debbie.

Tower Heist (2011) - Well you can tell from the title that the film includes a heist. The people who work in a high-rise apartment building find out a wealthy tenant was operating a ponzi scheme and their money is gone. They decide to break into his apartment during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since that is when his hearing is. The comedy stars Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, Gabourey Sidibe, & Tea Leoni.

The Ice Storm (1997) - Set across Thanksgiving weekend of 1973, 'The Ice Storm' is a drama that takes a look at life in the affluent suburbs of New York City, taking a look at the political climate as well as the sexual revolution of the early 1970s. Yes, that means a Key Party. It all happens during a pretty nasty ice storm (which, is what much of the country may experience this year). It features Christina Ricci (Queen of 90s movies), Sigourney Weaver, Joan Allen, Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Elijah Wood, Allison Janney & Katie Holmes. Holmes was also in the Thanksgiving themed bomb 'Jack & Jill' in 2011, making that 3 Thanksgiving set films.

Home For The Holidays (1995) - Jodie Foster directed this film that deals with a woman who was just fired from her job that decides to spend Thanksgiving at her parents. Its a Dramedy in the same vein as "Pieces of April", while also packing quite the cast that features Claire Danes, Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Charles Dunning, Anne Bancroft, Steve Guttenberg & Dylan McDermott.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) - This comedy classic directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin & John Candy tackles Holiday travel as Neal Page (Martin) trying to get home to his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving, which is complicated by a run-in with Gel Griffith (Candy).

And don't forget these favorites: 'Grumpy Old Men', 'Hannah & Her Sisters', 'Alice's Restaurant', 'Funny People', and 'The House of Yes'.

'Toy Story of TERROR!' Thrills

Pixar is known for their outstanding feature films and award winning shorts, but they finally hit the realm of TV with 'Toy Story of TERROR' on ABC. The Halloween special, Pixar's first, was a nice Television debut for the studio and a great supplement to the 'Toy Story' film series. There were plenty of callbacks to the films throughout the half hour special to please fans, which helped form the basis of the story rather than just be throwaway moments.

The biggest of these callbacks was the addition of Combat Carl (voiced by Carl Weathers), who showed up to help Jessie save the day. If you forgot, a Combat Carl was blown up by that douche Sid in the first 'Toy Story' movie back in 1995. He was missing his hand for most of this special. Poor guy can't catch a break (until the end, of course!) 

Jessie (Joan Cusack) was the star here, facing her fear of being trapped inside an enclosed space in order to save Woody (Tom Hanks). The origin of her fear is referenced by Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) from when she was abandoned in a box of old things by her original owner Emily in 'Toy Story 2'. No depressing Sarah McLachlan song this time around. 

Other characters featured were Rex (Wallace Shawn), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Trixie (Kristen Schaal), and Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton). The group get stuck at a motel after Bonnie's mom's car breaks down. They are then picked off one by one courtesy of an iguana, who brings them back to the motel owners office. He apparently is a creep who steals toys and sells them online. It seemed like a variation of the 'Toy Story 2' plot, but it works for this as well. My favorite scene was when the cat shaped Pex dispenser threw up a pez when Jessie stuck her hand in the Iguana's mouth to retrieve Potato Head's missing arm.

Here's to hoping Pixar gives us a Thanksgiving and/or Christmas special! And you can expect 'Toy Story of Terror' to air every year around Halloween just like 'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'. 

Satisfying Finale For 'The Office'

The Office has now shut its doors with a satisfying series finale that picked up one year after the penultimate episode, "A.A.R.M". The Finale was directed by Ken Kwapis, who directed the pilot episode and last directed the Season 5 episode "Company Picnic".

It all started out with a one hour retrospective featuring a look back at the history of the Emmy Award winning show since development in 2004 (premiering in 2005) as well as interviews with the cast & crew, and a look at the series finale party that was held in Scranton, PA. NBC also did this with another hit show, Friends, in 2004 before that series finale.

Then came the emotional series finale. With the help of fansite OfficeTally (major props to the great Jennie Tan!), the episode was thankfully extended an extra 15 minutes in order to incorporate as much as possible into such a well done episode. Angela (Angela Kinsey) & Dwight (Rainn Wilson) have their anticipated wedding that stands up along with Jim & Pam's (John Krasinski & Jenna Fischer) and Phyllis' (Phillis Smith) wedding episodes. Dwight & Angela, or Dwangela, first started their back & forth relationship way back in Season 2's "E-mail Surveillance" when Pam suspects they have a secret relationship. We've come a long way since then, and it was great to see them finally have their big moment together. The highlights include:

- Michael Scott (Steve Carell) returned and gave the best, most joyous, "That's What She Said!" yet. Dwight: "Michael! I can't believe you came!" Michael: "That's what she said!"
Jim was Dwight's best man, but concocted a typical Jim scheme to surprise Dwight and make Michael his best man at the last minute.

- Kelly (Mindy Kaling) & Ryan (BJ Novak) returned and finally hooked up at the reception, in typical Kelly & Ryan fashion. Ryan left his baby with Kelly's boyfriend and the two ran off together. Nellie (Catherine Tate) got the baby, so it all worked out.

-There were a few other fun cameos that recalled the early seasons. It's revealed Dwight re-hired Devon, who was fired in the Season 2 episode "Halloween". Elizabeth the stripper (Jackie Debatin) from Season 3's "Ben Franklin" was the stripper hired for Dwight's bachelor party. And the stripper hired for Angela's? In one of the funniest moments from the episode, it was Meredith's (Kate Flannery) now adult son Jake (Spencer Daniels)! Carol (Nancy Carell) was also back to sell Jim & Pam's house.

- Everyone brings a cat for wedding gifts. Sprinkles may be gone, but Angela will always have some new cats for her collection. And throughout the years we've seen Angela berate and get frustrated with Phyllis, but as the show has done so well, the two showed they still have a bond. As Angela's feet hurt, Phyllis carried her down the aisle piggyback style to the tune of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine".

- We find out that Pam has secretly been showing the house to people to sell it so Jim can move to Austin, TX to join Athlead (now Athleap). She figured he bought it without telling her, so she could sell it without telling him. She wanted Jim to live his dream now as they finish this chapter of their life. Dwight fires them before they could quit, but he does that so they can get their severance pay.

- The characters give their final talking head interviews, and this is the moment that made the tears start flowing big time for me, especially when Dwight talks about what each one of them means to him, calling Pam his best friend.

- After a post-wedding celebration in the warehouse, and after Pam unveils her mural that features the entire cast (which they take a picture in front of with the actual real life crew from The Office), our favorites return to the Dunder Mifflin Scranton office one last time together. Pam answers the reception phone for the first time in years, with her famous "Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam" before telling whoever it is that Jim no longer works there. They all celebrate and then head outside, with Pam taking the picture of the building she drew with her.

- Erin (Ellie Kemper) finally met her birth parents at the PBS documentary fan Q&A earlier in the episode, played by Joan Cusack and Ed Begley Jr. This is another moment that brought the tears, and it was fun watching the rest of the cast realize who they were with Erin finally doing so in the end.

-Favorite line of the night, besides "That's what she said" goes to Andy (Ed Helms) for: "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them."

There are just so many more that writing about them can't do it justice. If you for some reason missed this series finale, which was one of the best of all time, go and watch it OnDemand, iTunes, Amazon, NBC's website. However you can do it, just watch it.