What is it with Thanksgiving, and Movies? — Part 2

About a dozen years ago, I posted on today’s holiday and its relationship to the movies in my life.

It seems as soon as Halloween ends, with its gala of ghoulish costume delight, then we step into the realm of a holiday that seems to grow less in importance each year. Please don’t take this wrong. Personally, I love this holiday. Back when I was a teen, centuries ago…, I gravitated away from the Christmas holiday as my favorite, naturally, to Thanksgiving.

Getting together on the fourth Thursday in November at my grandmother’s home with family, stuffing my face with the traditional fare still is a very sweet memory.

Today though, Thanksgiving is all but ignored by certain groups — namely, retailers and filmmakers. In recent years, Halloween has grown in importance with store owners for the costumes, candy, and decorations that can be marketed to the masses. Not to mention the horror films in theaters, DVDs and Blu-rays scheduled to be released way ahead of time.

Plus…

Now only that, the holiday rarely lands on the same date from the previous year. While it’s always a Thursday, it’s that fluidity which marks it as something different entirely from its year-end holiday brethren and their fixed dates. Burned early into every kid’s memory, by the way. That property yields easily to external pressure, too. Perhaps, that is why each Thanksgiving is so varying for its participants.

It is with this simple but dynamic fact: families change. Over the course of time, it’s inevitable. Siblings grow older (or more sour), the oldest and sickest succumb, members move away, and your children mature at an alarming rate. It is its own Twilight Zone Marathon. Even the rhyme “Monday’s child is fair of face…” somewhat speaks to this day.

In the years since this blog post, the movies I’ll now screen in the run-up to Thanksgiving have morphed somewhat. Perhaps, because I’ve made it to my seventies, it’s skewed my perspective. Less holiday-like and more seasonal in its fare, but definitely with an underlying theme. So, I’ve modified what had been a short list to one that now holds more of an edge for them. Some hit harder (literally) than what came before, but still keep family close — for good and bad.

Thursday’s child has far to go

The first of those that uses the Cold War, starting in East Berlin, and the ’60s, to set the tone for the new Thanksgiving fare. Guy Ritchie‘s take on an old American TV espionage series, previously highlighted here, is a romp that fathoms the frenemy dynamic to stylish perfection, but still gets why the countries involved remain adversaries to this day. And why these two will always reach for the same drumstick every time.

Outside of Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction, the other Quentin Tarantino flick I keep coming to is this one¹. Explosive and, to a fair extent, bloody, but always keeping you in the characters’ heads throughout. It’s a contemplative World War II thriller that’s also revisionist to the extreme, while also deep and well thought out. So, if you want to…”End the war tonight”…or on Thanksgiving, you have to make a deal. 

And if you want something rousing, go no further than Richard Brooks‘ 1966 western. By this time, the “oater” was changing. The rise of the spaghetti western made that clearer and grittier than anything Hollywood had said of the old west. Especially what was seen in John Wayne’s movies. While this one still traces a familiar path, it leans into the new direction that the genre was taking. Pumpkin hummus, anyone?

We again return to a Guy Ritchie classic, in a genre that really made him a fan favorite. The direct follow-up to his Long, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels debut, it only proves that the sophomore effort is what truly makes a career in this industry. Cleverly intertwined plotlines, the hilarious dialogue, and intimidating and comedic London villains, this one has it all. It’s that exciting new friend your cousin brought to the holiday meal.

Another thriller to add to the list, but corporate malfeasance isn’t the only thing being showcased in Tom Tykwer‘s underrated film. An espionage and high-stakes international (natch) drama with guns, deceit, and a pair of good guys having their values tested while going up against a bank (boo). Completely enjoyable, slick, and with some beautifully filmed architecture throughout. For me, it’s my Aunt Olivia² hosting the holiday.

Okay, the first of two disaster movies to make the list, though both are highly undervalued, and this one was mentioned some years back. Director Roger Donaldson crafted something that does follow the Hollywood formula for this “genre movie”, but it’s fast-flowing and full of action entertainment. Yes, it’s cheesy at times and but not too far-fetched, much like the Cheese Soufflé another aunt brought once, yet both were enjoyed.

Something that was unexpected from Director David Cronenberg twenty years ago, an adaptation from a graphic novel, though some of his own telltale graphic tendencies are on full display. It’s a thought-provoking film that can strike a nerve or sever a spinal column, along with a family, at the same time. A tale told in three acts of love, deceit, and redemption. It’s just about the most perfect movie for Thanksgiving!

In the last few years, this is the newest movie to have joined my autumn regulars. Director-writer Rian Johnson did a lot with the vintage Who-Done-It storyline by merrily twisting it on itself. Revealing the hole in the donut, which lies in another donut hole of its conventions. In all, he managed to get most of the bad taste out of my mouth for that The Last Jedi travesty — like my uncle giving this kid that shot of bourbon one year.

Moving on to the second Cold War feature (again in East Berlin!) in this catalog. It is another adaptation from a graphic novel, this time helmed by David Leitch. A film that turned a conventional story of espionage, one that James Bond would have wished for, on its head, and gave the intrigue something surprising. You know, like when one of your relatives decides to give away a deep, dark secret³ at the annual family gathering.

Director Rob Cohen‘s is the other underestimated disaster flick, remembered here, that gets me in the holiday spirit. Filled with some breathtaking special effects and some not in the cards developments we know are coming, that still hit way too close to home. Spotlights an all too human hero who doesn’t have all the answers but makes it through because those around don’t give up. It’s why we still make it to holiday events.

Okay, Stanley Donen‘s enjoyable thriller is one that Alfred Hitchcock wished he had made, and an annual viewing for me. Natch, since it has two of my all-time favorite actors in the lead roles. So? It’s in Paris, in the Fall, with a clever plot and backed by a marvelous romantic score from Henry Mancini. It’s a ravishing and wonderful rom-com staged in a city I wish to be in for the holiday, and have a French waiter sneer at me.

The only sci-fi film you’ll find on this festivity list, but there’s a good reason Ridley Scott‘s film lands here. Expertly adapted from author Andy Weir’s stellar novel, it has so many great things to enjoy about it. A top-notch soundtrack, beautiful imagery, and charismatic characters trying to make it a day at a time. And with 549 sols spent on Mars, Mark Watney had at least one Thanksgiving he had to get through, so there!

Do I really need to explain why my all-time favorite film by Michael Curtiz would land here? It has way too many reasons for it not to be on this post. One musical interlude noted a few years back, in fact. Plus, any movie with Americans and Europeans opposing and beating the Fascists, well, that never gets old! With acting second to none, and dialogue to die for, I’ll argue up and down for it to be screened at whoever’s home is hosting this year.

To complete my triumvirate for Cold War ’60s espionage juxtaposed with Thanksgiving, we’ll look to a recent film by Steven Spielberg hitting its 10th year anniversary. It’s the last film of his that really struck home with me for the history and subtle heroism it portrayed. At first, it seems pretty straightforward, maybe a little too restrained, but when you look upon again, it just glistens and you see it for what it is. One of the filmmaker’s best.

As I’ve said before, “This likely the most odd match-up of my entire list, but it does play to sheer perfection. The only “buddy film” here, yet it works as a moving character piece, too, within its action movie stylings, and with a rich cast. It’s my all-time favorite Martin Brest film…” Its loud, profane people trying to make do the best and only way they can. And without too much more, that’s just my side of the family on the holiday.

Well, here’s the last of corporate malfeasance for Thanksgiving, but that’s only the byproduct. Tony Gilroy‘s debut feature film really points to the futility in regretting life’s choices and to family, whether it is to its causes, or ironically, to its solutions. Maybe that’s why it resonates with me ever since I first saw the film back in the Fall of 2007, along with living within that dynamic. Love or hate them, “Family is the only real wealth.”⁴

But before I (re)-list the film, my grown children and I will rewatch on Thanksgiving Day; the underlying theme here, if you hadn’t already guessed it, is just one thing: survival. And if you’re lucky to have family, no matter the frustration, anxiety, or irritation that may arise from time to time with them, they will be the key that gets you through the door or tough times. And if you don’t have one, then create your own ménage.

“And for some, it’s not the air travel that’s gets them upset. It’s knowing that they have to deal with their family when they arrive. Unfortunately, between my family and the one I married into, I’ve loads of ammo regarding this one. See director Jodie Foster‘s thoroughly under-appreciated 1995 Home for the Holidays film for a good primer on this feast day issue, and J.D.’s spot-on review.”

“Lastly, I cannot tell you how much Wes Anderson‘s Fantastic Mr. Fox from 2009 means to me. Its detail and heartfelt sentiment toward what it means to be a family, in all its trials and tribulations, really hits home. That it pulled it all off through stop motion animation was just the joyous capper. The film has become our holiday treat when all has been said and done.

With that, to all who have become regular readers, or those who have stopped by this one time, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.”