What to Watch This Thanksgiving: Feasts, Family, and Festivities Films

It's Thanksgiving in America and families all over are gathering for big meals and awkward drama!  Here are some suggestions for Thanksgiving / Family related movies to entertain you in between the awkward small talk.  

The Humans (Theaters, Showtime)
Some interesting family drama around Thanksgiving time leads to some new secrets from a dysfunctional family, in this cinematic experience.  

A Christmas Feast / Feast of the Seven Fishes (Digital, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Tubi)
This wonderful holiday movie involves family, drama, and a big feast at the end.  Although it is Christmas related, it is a great choice to scratch that family feasting itch. For more information, check out our review!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (Digital, AMC+)
The quintessential Thanksgiving movie, this classic follows someone trying to get home to the family for Thanksgiving, and all the roadblocks and obstacles that happen along the way.  It is available to stream on Amazon Prime with AMC+, which has a 30-day free trial if you just want to watch this today!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Apple TV+)
A classic kids Thanksgiving film that you can stream for free on Apple TV+.  This is another classic and one for the kids to enjoy while you are putting the finishing touches on your Thanksgiving meal.

The Binge (Hulu)
On a night when families eat excessive amounts of food, a movie about excessive indulgences seems fitting.  It also is a very funny film that should raise your spirits on a somewhat lonelier Thanksgiving!  For more information, check out our review!

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 (Netflix)
A movie about giant, alive food seems like a fitting way to celebrate Thanksgiving. It helps that it is a surprisingly good movie for kids and adults to enjoy!  For more information, check out our review!

Spirited Away (HBO Max)
One of the best animated films of all time also starts with a massive feast and has several prominent instances of gluttony.  It is also an imaginative and heartfelt journey that will rekindle your sense of wonder. 

Broil (Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube)
A film about a large meal and family issues, with a decidedly darker take on it all, Broil is the perfect Thanksgiving movie for someone looking for a more horror-themed night.  It also has some wonderful performances, great music, and some delicious food.  For more information, check out our review!

What to Watch This Thanksgiving: Feast of the Seven Fishes, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Charlie Brown, The Binge, Cloudy 2, Broil

 

It's Thanksgiving in America and this will be a different one due to the COVID epidemic.  With many people not traveling or opting for smaller gatherings, here is a list of movies to give you the Thanksgiving family spirit without the non-socially distanced interactions!

A Christmas Feast / Feast of the Seven Fishes (Digital, Amazon Prime, Tubi)
This wonderful holiday movie involves family, drama, and a big feast at the end.  Although it is Christmas related, it is a great choice to scratch that family feasting itch. For more information, check out our review!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (Digital, Amazon Prime)
The quintessential Thanksgiving movie, this classic follows someone trying to get home to the family for Thanksgiving, and all the roadblocks and obstacles that happen along the way.  It is available to stream on Amazon Prime with AMC+, which has a 30-day free trial if you just want to watch this today!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Apple TV+)
A classic kids Thanksgiving film that you can stream for free on Apple TV+.  This is another classic and one for the kids to enjoy while you are putting the finishing touches on your Thanksgiving meal.

The Binge (Hulu)
On a night when families eat excessive amounts of food, a movie about excessive indulgences seems fitting.  It also is a very funny film that should raise your spirits on a somewhat lonelier Thanksgiving!  For more information, check out our review!

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 (Netflix)
A movie about giant, alive food seems like a fitting way to celebrate Thanksgiving. It helps that it is a surprisingly good movie for kids and adults to enjoy!  For more information, check out our review!

Broil (Digital)
A film about a large meal and family issues, with a decidedly darker take on it all, Broil is the perfect Thanksgiving movie for someone looking for a more horror-themed night.  It also has some wonderful performances, great music, and some delicious food.  For more information, check out our review!

What to Watch This Weekend: January 31, 2014

Here are a few movies you can watch before (or during, if football isn't your thing) the Super Bowl.

DVD: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

The first Cloudy was only loosely based upon the book of the same name. The sequel's premise—food-based creatures are discovered on an island—is unrelated to the books and seems inspired by Jurassic Park and King Kong. Cloudy 2 received a slightly cooler reception than the first, but offers more of the imaginative animation and wacky humor.

DVD: Rush

I'm not fond of most sports movies, but Rush's performances and races make it better than most. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl are great as dueling racers battling to become Formula One champions. Like most "true stories", it's been criticized for inaccuracies (like their duel being exaggerated), but the tale that's been crafted is pretty captivating.

Streaming (Netflix): Day of the Dead (1985)

Within an underground bunker, soldiers and scientists struggle to solve the problem of the world being overrun with zombies. George Romero's favorite of his original Living Dead trilogy received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Many praised the special effects, makeup and the story's ambition but thought it was slower and more depressing than its predecessors. 

Netflix link

Streaming (Netflix): Mitt

Director Greg Whiteley followed presidential candidate Mitt Romney from 2006 and 2012 as he embarked on two failed runs for President. Interestingly, his documentary places greater emphasis upon the ways that the stressful campaigns affected his life and family rather than the campaigns themselves. It's an intimate portrait of a memorable politician's home life, but may dissatisfy those hoping for greater examination of his campaigns' controversial moments.

Netflix link

Box office estimates for September 27 - 29; Cloudy eats competition

Sony's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and its $35 million debut beat the original's $30.3 million. It won't be significantly more successful than the first in America, but should do much better overseas. (See Despicable Me 2, which beat DM's American total by $110 million and its overseas total by over $200 million.) Sony should be glad that it won't disappoint like Smurfs 2. Prisoners beat the expanding Rush. The weekend's two new romantic comedies placed fourth and fifth. Baggage Claim and Don Jon only made $9.2 million and $8.8 million, but those grosses are already ahead of their low budgets. Metallica Through the Never's $1.7 million is much lower than other concert film debuts, but it stars a much less mainstream artist and will expand to more theaters next weekend. See how other movies performed here.

Weekend box office estimates for September 27 - 29, 2013:
(title; weekend gross; total gross; weekend #)

1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; $35.0 million; opening weekend

2. Prisoners; $11.27 million; $38.95 million total; 2nd weekend

3. Rush (2013); $10.3 million; $10.57 million total; 2nd weekend

4. Baggage Claim; $9.3 million; opening weekend

5. Don Jon;  $9.0 million; opening weekend

6. Insidious: Chapter 2; $6.75 million; $69.54 million total; 3rd weekend

7. The Family (2013); $3.67 million; $31.7 million total; 3rd weekend

8. Instructions Not Included; $3.38 million; $38.57 million; 5th weekend 

9. We're the Millers; $2.87 million; $142.42 million; 8th weekend

10. Lee Daniels' The Butler; $2.42 million; $110.28 million; 7th weekend

What to Watch This Weekend: September 27, 2013

In Theaters: Don Jon

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s writing and directorial debut is a confident, smart, and, most importantly, genuine romantic comedy. The content will probably be too explicit for many viewers, but those that stick around will find that between the cringes and laughs, there is a touching story. It was also one of David's top 5 movies of this year!

In Theaters: Rush

Rush is a surprisingly good sports drama that follows two Formula 1 racers as they dominate their sport despite their utterly different styles of living and driving. The central rivalry brings uncommon amounts of fun and action to the biography genre while still making time for drama.

In Theaters: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

CWACOM 2 is imaginative, has a clever premise, and is a fun movie for both viewers who were hungry for a CWACOM sequel and those who are having the sequel as their first taste of this franchise.  

On DVD: Kings of Summer

Another one of David's favorite movies of the year, this genuinely great indie coming of age movie was my surprise hit of the summer. This summer had multiple indie coming of age movies come out, but Kings of Summer was my favorite.

Streaming (Netflix): Side Effects

What initially seems like a drama exploring the side effects of antidepressants becomes a complicated psychological thriller. Toward the end, the plot twists start seeming a bit silly but, overall, it's a suspenseful and surprising movie with another great performance by Dragon Tattoo actress Rooney Mara. 

Streaming (Netflix): Upside Down

This movie has an imaginative premise and some great performances, but it was hampered by some cheesy dialog and plot twists. Still, it is an interesting movie with some beautiful visuals and you should definitely check it out on Netflix!

Review: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Release date: September 27, 2013
Running time: 95 minutes
Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris
Who to see it with: Your hungry friend or child

David:

Full disclosure here, I didn't see the first Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs because I didn't like the idea of a movie that was *very* loosely based on one of my favorite children's books. However, after hearing good things about the first one, I decided to check out the sequel. And I am sure glad that I did. The film follows the group of unlikely heroes from the first movie as they have to explore more consequences from Inventor Flint Lockwood's FLDSMDFR. The friends travel to a mysterious island that is inhabited by living food animals. The movie has a very Jurassic Park or King Kong feel to it as the group delves deeper into this bizarre world. 

The interesting premise is enough to wet your appetite, but the real meat of this movie is the beautiful animation and great voice acting. The characters and art style have a very fluid motion that is tough to explain but really fun to watch. The aforementioned food animals, in addition to being imaginative, are beautifully animated. They are all very expressive with clever uses of food to portray a variety of wildlife. From taco-diles to shrimp-anzees to hi-potato-muses, all the food-related animals are cleverly designed and fun to see. The voice acting is really good with characters brought to life by believable performances. CWACOM 2 requires some pretty expressive and varied voices and it's all done wonderfully. NPH is especially good as Lockwood's monkey friend Steve. He doesn't have many lines but they're all perfectly executed. In addition to the great voice acting, the writing is sharp and clever. Although it's an animated movie, there are plenty of jokes that adults will laugh at and pop-culture references that will keep the parents entertained. CWACOM 2 is imaginative, has a clever premise, and is a fun movie for both viewers who were hungry for a CWACOM sequel and those who are having the sequel as their first taste of this franchise. 

See it.

PS - There are some very funny stingers after the movie ends and at the start of the credits. Make sure to stay for them! 

3D Note - The 3D is beautiful. If you can afford it, see it in 3D.