Eight movies that go great with turkey

What will you do Thursday when you recover from that tryptophan-fueled coma on the couch? Try popping a classic Thanksgiving flick into the DVD player.

I'll confess that only two of these took place in our beloved '80s, but are you really gonna hold my feet to the fire on that? (My personal fave is 1995's Home for the Holidays anyway.)

And if you think Christmas has the monopoly on traditional holiday movies, you're just talking turkey. Here are the great eight Thanksgiving movies to stuff yourself with this weekend:

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986)
The players: Woody Allen, Barbara Hershey, Michael Caine
The plot: Between two Thanksgivings, the love lives of a Manhattan family go in dramatically different directions.
One memorable line: "I had a great evening; it was like the Nuremberg Trials."

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES (1987)
The players: Steve Martin, John Candy
The plot: Saddled with an obnoxious slob as a travel mate, a family man fights bad weather and even worse luck to get home for Thanksgiving.
Memorable line: "You know, when you're telling these little stories? Here's a good idea — have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!"

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (1995)
The players: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr.
The plot: A single mom is fired, makes out with her boss, finds out her daughter plans to lose her virginity -- and now faces spending the holiday with her aging parents.
Memorable line: "Nobody means what they say on Thanksgiving, Mom. You know that. That's what the day's supposed to be all about, right? Torture."

THE ICE STORM (1997)
The players: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen
The plot: A family finds their lives spinning out of control as Thanksgiving -- and a nasty storm -- approaches.
Memorable line: "Dear Lord, thank you for this Thanksgiving holiday. And for all the material possessions we have and enjoy. And for letting us white people kill all the Indians and steal their tribal lands. And stuff ourselves like pigs, even though children in Asia are being napalmed."

PIECES OF APRIL (2003)
The players: Katie Holmes, Oliver Platt
The plot: A daughter and her boyfriend invite her estranged family, including her dying mother, to their tiny apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
Memorable line: "Please give me my stupid #&%*& turkey!"

DUTCH (1991)
The players: Ed O’Neill, Ethan Embry
The plot: A man volunteers to pick up his girlfriend's son from prep school and drive him home for the holiday, only to find out he's a stuck-up brat.
Memorable line: "You might be the toughest little whacker at the junior high but in my world, you’re about as worrisome as a cloudy day."

SON-IN-LAW (1993)
The players: Pauly Shore, Carla Gugino
The plot: A once-reserved college freshman brings her party-animal best friend back to her South Dakota town for the holidays.
Memorable line: "Mr. Morgan if you’re edged 'cuz I'm weezing on your grindage just chill 'cuz if I had the whole Brady Bunch thing going over at my pad I'd go grind over there so don't tax my gig so hard-core cruster."

SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992)
The players: Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell
The plot: A poor prep school student spends the holiday with a blind man, who drags him on an unplanned trip to New York.
Memorable line: "You’ve got integrity Charlie. I don't know whether to shoot you or adopt ya."

Comments

[wholesale jewelry]

The plot was simple but moving. Also, every scene in the movie looked very realistic.

wholesale jewelry

[dougal chestnutt]

I haven't seen many of these movies ,though i would have too to go with Scent of Woman ,on account of my crush on Gabrielle Anwar!

Happy Thanks giving everyone !though we dont celebrate here in good olde england

[Marissa]

Hey Chase, buuuuuh-dy! We'll all be munchin' on some grindage.

C'mon everybody! Join me in a Pauly Shore rendition of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"

[Neil]

Hey Spears are you going to do another podcast with the VGF? I hope so, she rocked last time...well Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

[chase]

Pauly Shore must die.

.... happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[Milly]

Thanks Eric S, sometimes I doubt myself... sometimes with good reason!

[Miguel]

Oh OK Cat,thanks! So it`s tomorrow.We use the poor turkeys at Christmas.I`m not the biggest turkey fan but have to eat it on that day.When i was a kid i would usually eat roasted wild boar.True and delicious!

[Cat]

Miguel,

Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the 4th Thursday in November, that would be tomorrow, Nov 27th.

I love turkey and all the trimmings!

[Eric S]

I too am not a fan of Home for the Holidays. I wouldn't say that it sucked, but it just didn't connect for me. Pieces of April was pretty good. Planes, Trains and Automobiles was a classic. It is a shame that John Hughes hasn't directed a movie in a million years. Almost everything he touched in the 80s was pretty good.

MIlly is right. That quote is from Encino Man and not Son-In-Law.

[MIlly]

Ummm.... I'm pretty sure the quote you have from Son in Law is actually from Encino Man! I know, how sad am I that I actually know that, I'll go hang my head in shame now.

have a happy Turkey Day!

[Miguel]

I meant have a good time you all.

[Miguel]

No Cat we don`t. But a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.I don`t exactly know in what day it is,but have a good time with you all.

[Cat]

Everybody Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

You too, Miguel, altho I don't know if you celebrate the turkey in Portugal?

[Miguel]

The Ice Storm is the best one ( a true masterpiece) followed by Hannah and Her Sisters.But i don`t know if those are the right movies to watch in your holiday,specially The Ice Storm,one of the coldest and most caustic movies we`ve seen about family in a long time.
Pieces of April is a good movie too,but Home For The Holidays sucks,sorry Steve.I`m a Downey Jr. fan,but that`s a bad,bad movie.

A brilliant line from The Ice Storm (Kevin Kline,the father to Tobey Maguire,the son):
"On the self-abuse front,and this is important,i don`t think it`s advisable to do it in the shower.It wastes water and electricity and because we all expecting you to be doing it there in any case.Well..if you`re worried about anything at all,just feel free to ask and we`ll look it up."

Another brilliant one,that actually happened with me and a girl when i was a kid was said by Christina Ricci:

"I`ll show you mine if you show me yours."

And no,she wasn`t talking about the turkey.

[jo & joe]

BIRD ... BIRD ... BIRD

BIRD IS DA WORD!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY SPEARSY, SEAN, & EVERYBODY!

Jo & Joe

[Anne]

Pieces of April is definitely worth catching, but I must admit I LOVE Son-In-Law! It is the only Pauly Shore film I can stand, and I do love it so...

[Bassnote]

HOOO-AAH! Pacino was great in Scent of a Woman.

[12Grain]

Totally recommend Pieces of April. Not a huge Katie Holmes fan, but she does a great job in this one.

[12Grain]

Totally endorse Pieces of April! Not a huge Katie Holmes fan, but this is one of her better attempts at acting.