There is no doubt about it that the highlight of thanksgiving is gathering around those delicious plates of delectable dishes. Those lucky enough to get to share them with their loved ones only make this special occasion all that much more enjoyable. There truly is something to be said about good company and good eats.

While there is plenty to discuss and get caught up on at the dinner table, nothing beats today’s greatest entertainment. Whether viewers are looking for a comedy to will away the hours as the turkey roasts or a drama to dull the awkward silence between the in-laws, these are the 2022 thanksgiving shows and movies delicious enough to gobble up!

 

Planes, Trains, And Automobiles (1987)

Before there was Adam Sandler before there was Dave Chappelle, and even before Louis CK there were Steve Martin and John Candy! Many might remember the duo teaming up in a little hit called “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”. An instant classic for the ages and that’s why it is the first mentionable.

This flick is the epitome of holiday movies, with its quintessential holiday stresses and worries that every family faces. Traveling these days is by no means easy, but it’s even worse during the holidays. Watching Steve and John as this hapless duo doing desperately anything and everything to make it home for Turkey Day will make viewers’ own travel woes melt away like fresh butter on grandma’s homemade rolls.

Many of today’s most modernly popular holiday movies like “Are We There Yet” could be said to be based around the entire plot and premises of this 80s classic. Although the struggles of holiday commuting are so omnipresent it isn’t hard for any filmmaker to justify creating a story around it. That said, this Martin and Candy classic honestly set the bar for the genre. And despite its age, few can stand toe-to-toe with this classic.

 

Planes, Trains, And Automobiles Cast

• Steve Martin – Neal Page
• Laila Robins – Susan page
• Dylan Baker – Owen
• John Candy – Del Griffith
• Joy – Carol Bruce
• Diana Douglas – Peg
• Olivia Burnette – Marti
• Larry Hankin – Doobie
• George Petrie – Martin
• Charles Tyner – Gus
• Richard Herd – Walt

 

Pieces Of April (2003)

Viewers looking for something a bit more modern can find solace in “Pieces of April”. While being filmed and released nearly 20 years ago, it offers a much more modern quintessential Thanksgiving atmosphere than what you’d expect from many made today.

This one also features the common nightmarish scenarios that can come along with holiday commuting, but they are more in the form of road-tripping as opposed to commercial commuting.

In addition to this, the bigger focus of the tale is based on the very real struggles of getting that meal on the table. Anyone that’s has ever cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal for a family of 4 or more knows how difficult this task can be. It takes more planning and responsibility to deliver a delicious Thanksgiving meal, and in many opinions, that’s April’s entire premises for getting the family together in her small New York apartment.

This is not something she’ll easily accomplish without a lot of ensuing complications. Although the young 21-year-old April (Katie Holmes) is lucky enough to have a doting beau more than willing to lend a hand, she’s out to prove her capabilities and has banished him from the complex until the meal is done. That said, she’s not above turning to her quirky neighbors for help.

With a 15-pound uncooked turkey and the Burn family headed from suburban Pennsylvania to the rougher lower east side of New York, most viewers can already imagine the potential woes just waiting to happen, especially when the oven fails.

The plot’s not quite as basic as it seems once viewers get into the meat and potatoes. Ultimately, it’s a tale of redemption between one of the most dysfunctional families you’ll find, but there are tons of other important avenues to explore.

The writers and director deliver a really well-written film that explores the lower end of poverty, gang violence, the use of medical marijuana, the struggles of cancers, interracial relations, and even touches a bit on religion.

 

Pieces of April Cast

• Patricia Clarkson – Joy Burns
• Oliver Platt – Jim Burns
• Katie Holmes – April Burns
• Alice Drummond – Grandma Dottie
• Lillias White – Evette
• Derek Luke – Bobby
• John Gallagher Jr. – Timmy Burns
• Isiah Witlock – Eugene
• Alison Pill – Beth Burns
• Sean Hayes – Wayne
• Armando Riesco – Tyrone

 

Friendsgiving (2020)

Even more modern is this 2020 American comedy/drama steered by Nicol Paone. In her directorial debut, Nicol does an excellent job of meshing dysfunction with comedy and chaos. The flick does many great things, but it really excels in keeping things fresh and exciting. Viewers will constantly find themselves probing at the ensuing plot.

The concept of Friendsgiving has grown more and more popular since the release of this movie. Whether or not that can be contributed to the movie or not is questionable, but it could have very well introduced many to the concept.

It’s simply just about keeping things simple. A low-key Thanksgiving, if you will, and that’s what Molly (Malin Akerman) and Abbey (Kat Dennings) strive to deliver to a small group of their closest friends this Thanksgiving.

Molly, like many modern single mothers, probably feels like life is already hectic enough during normal times. Along with being a single mother to a five-month-old boy, she’s carefully navigating a budding career as an actress.

Hustling from audition to audition while rambling up a babysitter here and there could not be an easy task. Abby, on the other hand, is fresh out of the closet as a lesbian who just recently experienced a whole emo year after breaking it off with her girlfriend.

As you can imagine, what’s supposed to be a low-key event goes wrong right from the arrival of the first guests. Molly’s on-again/off-again fling Jeff (Jack Donnelly) is invited to the event along with Abby’s mutual friend, Lauren (Aisha Tyler), her husband, and her children. Although more than welcome, these guests alone were almost more than the roomies wanted. Unfortunately, the table only grows more and more crowded as the day goes on.

It starts with Lauren trying to play a matchmaker for Abby. She wants to use the gathering as a means to introduce her to a new love interest, and the two roomies just don’t seem to have the heart to come out and tell her no.

To make matters even worse, Helen (Jane Seymour) shows up unannounced fresh from Sweden with the hopes of acquainting herself with her grandchild for the first time, while also mending fences with her estranged daughter, Molly. Viewers can likely already see the potential awkwardness budding from this point.

Assuming that they’ve been invited to a party, the lesbians that don’t come with friends in tow end up making invitations later on. Personality after personality shows up and before anyone knows what’s going on, there is a whole small apartment filled with egos and personalities too big to contain.

Helen like Lauren feels inspired to play matchmaker and invites one of Molly’s former flames, Gunnar (Ryan Hansen. The movie is loaded with plenty of today’s top comedic acts, but some of the more memorable roles go to Wanda Sykes, Chelsea Peretti, Christine Taylor, Mike Rose, Margaret Cho, and Fortune Feimster.

 

Friendsgiving Cast

• Jack Donnelly – Jeff
• Jane Seymour – Helen
• Malin Akerman – Molly
• Aisha Tyler – Lauren
• Deon Cole – Dan
• Kat Dennings – Abby
• Chelsea Peretti – Claire
• Andrew Santino – Rick
• Ryan Hansen – Gunnar
• Christine Taylor – Brianne
• Rose Abdoo – Linda
• Mike Rose – Gus

 

The Blind Side (2009)

It doesn’t matter how one feels about football, Thanksgiving simply would not be Thanksgiving without the games. There will be plenty of live gridiron action to hold the viewer’s attention. However, those looking for a different throwback to their favorite pastime should sink their teeth into “The Blind Side”.

Thanksgiving is all about family, good for, thankfulness, and emotions. There is simply no better way to get the waterworks going than by tuning into this remarkable true-life story.

The movie follows professional football star, Michael Oher. From his struggles in the foster system to his ultimate rise as a future Hall of Famer, Michael’s life story will play out like one of Hollywood’s most well-crafted plots.

It would go beyond all explanation for someone to tune into this movie and not be moved. There is a reason this movie grossed nearly $300 million and Sandra Bullock won several Oscars.

Not to take anything away from the Super Bowl champ or his victories over his struggles, but it is truly hard to outshine the gorgeous and talented Sandra Bullock. Even more interesting is the time in which this movie played out.

It is the mid-80s, right smack in the middle of the crack/cocaine epidemic that blew through the United States’ inner cities. It was an incredible time for many with history-making events.

Michael was one of 12 kids born to a mother that would become the epitome of a crack fiend. The father no doubt faced his own struggles but was never around long enough to learn much more about him.

The broken household and oversaturation of home life were just the start of Michael’s troubles. Barley fresh out of the first grade, Oher would go on to learn about the foster system. A system that is not without its own flaws, despite its design to do good.

With little supervision and even more problems, Michael would bounce around, sleep on whoever’s couch he felt safe, and struggle until his early teenage days.

At 11 he did end up in government housing known as Hurt Village, which was his most stable home environment until he met the Tuohys. The husband and wife team of Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw soon learn about Oher’s problems and bring him into their home to be raised alongside their young son and daughter.

The rest is pretty much history, but given the time, the racial differences, and Michael’s story, it doesn’t take a creative imagination to figure out all the potential struggles that might ensue between this time and Michael’s becoming an All-American football star and first-round NFL draft. The Tuohys shaped Michael and gave him as normal a home life as they could.

Under the guise of the talented director, John Lee Hancock, the movie does a decent job of playing out many of the struggles and emotions that followed the future sports star. The touching story along with the stacked and talented cast makes this a must-see 2022 Thanksgiving flick.

 

The Blind Side Cast

• Tim McGraw – Sean Tuohy
• Quinton Aaron – Michael Oher
• Ray McKinnon – Coach Cotton
• Jae Head – S.J. Tuohy
• Sandra Bullock – Leigh Anne Tuohy
• Kim Dickens – Mrs. Boswell
• Lily Collins – Collins Tuohy
• Kathy Bates – Miss Sue
• Andrew Stahl – Principal Sandstrom
• Catherine Dyer – Mrs. Smith
• Adriane Lenox – Denise Oher
• Omar Dorsey – Big Tony Hamilton

 

Addams Family Values (1993)

All the years later and everybody’s favorite eccentric, kooky, and eerily satisfying family is still going at it strong. However, most of today’s younger generation has been introduced to the family via cartoons or animations. Most of all the Adams Family content released today is animation-inspired. That’s just one of the reasons that this early 90s hit will be perfect this Thanksgiving. It’ll give viewers a whole new eye-opening look into the family. Along with that, the plot isn’t displeasing at all.

The movie offers many great lessons and entertainment, but the thing it does exceptionally well is reminding viewers of some of the truer, darker natures of the holiday. Thanksgiving is no doubt a time for gratitude, family bonding, and thankfulness. However, there is also the darker, underlying truth of how this day celebrates Europeans profiting from ill-gotten land.

This movie addresses this very real issue in a summer camp Thanksgiving play. It is the young, female of the family, Wednesday that points this out. She does so with a comedic throwback while playing Pocahontas.

She tells the Europeans that she and her people cannot break bread with them because they’ve illegally taken their land. She goes on to point out the long-term effects this will have on her entire civilization. The Europeans will go on to wear cardigans and drink expensive highballs, while her people struggle in mobile homes on gifted reservation land.

The Euros will enjoy golf while the Indians barely make ends meet, peddling their homemade bracelets on the side of the road. Pain and degradation will follow the Indigenous throughout their entire existence because of this one event. Wednesday says, “It is for these reasons, I have decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground.”

This film was a sequel written by Paul Rudnick and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld that featured an excellent cast depicting the original members of the kooky family. Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci, along with the newcomer Joan Cusack (Debbie Jellinsky) are just three of the big names that modern viewers will probably recognize. While Lloyd and Ricci reappraise their regular roles, Cusack takes on the unexpected role of a female serial killer. She plans to wed the lonely Fester Adams (Lloyd) and murder him for his inheritance.

The gold-digging, black widow brings an intriguing addition to the overall story arch, while there are still many avenues to explore. The film is rated PG-13, making it nearly viewable for all ages. With that in mind, it should be noted that nothing was cut from the film. This is extremely rare for any film! The elaborate pranks, morbid jokes, sexual innuendos, and the guillotine play, nothing was cut.

 

Addams Family Values Cast

• Raul Julia – Gomez Addams
• Joan Cusack – Debbie Jellinsky
• Anjelica Huston – Morticia Addams
• Christopher Lloyd – Uncle Fester Addams
• Christina Ricci – Wednesday Addams
• Jimmy Workman – Pugsley Addams
• Carol Kane – Granny
• Carel Struycken – Lurch
• Christopher Hart – Thing