Thanksgiving is always rated high (if not the highest) in polls asking Americans what their favorite holiday is. You’ve got the 3 “F”s going on here: Food, Family, and football.
Then throw in some drinky poo’s, your football team losing, and you go straight from a peaceful Hallmark Holiday to The Jerry Springer Show real quick.
If you know me, you know I LOVE the holidays. I’m like Clark W. Griswald Jr. with my level of excitement. Which also means, I love holiday movies. They put you in the holiday spirit, make you feel good, and help give you hope for humanity!
Even though Hollywood treats Thanksgiving like a red-headed stepchild and rarely makes movies about Thanksgiving, there are some absolute GEMS out there. I present to you, my Top 3 Thanksgiving movies!
3) Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Paul Blart may be the butt of the Mall jokes, but he has a big heart! Blart roams the shopping mall on his trusty Segway making sure the happy shoppers are safe and sound. That is, until a gang of robbers take over the mall and the only man to stop them is Paul Blart. A pathetic story about a pathetic man, but it works. There’s also a cringeworthy love interest, the whole thing about making his daughter proud, and a killer karaoke scene.
A Thanksgiving must.
2) Son-in-Law
A classic. This Thanksgiving feature shows a small farm town girl heading off to the big city for college, only to return home for Thanksgiving a completely different girl after meeting Pauly Shore (Crawl) in the dorm rooms. She brings him back home to meet the family and all hell breaks loose. Will the parents accept her new choices? Will they welcome Pauly Shore in with open arms? A charming masterpiece featuring Pauly Shore, the chubby kid from The Sandlot, a catchy square dance song, and the girl who played Kelly Kapowski in Saved By The Bell. What’s not to like here? Oh, that’s right, nothing.
3) Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
This is probably an obvious one. Not a single human can argue that this isn’t thee best Thanksgiving movie to ever be created. Starring icons Steve Martin and the gone-too-soon John Candy, PT&A has a ton of hilarious laughs and unforgettable moments. The best part about this film is the ending. It ties together great and actually makes you feel emotions and crap. An absolute can-not-miss movie for the holidays.
