I don’t know about you, but after the holiday celebration, I’m ready to kick back with a good movie. Here are two of my Thanksgiving favorites plus my new favorite that’s completely unrelated to anything Thanksgiving.
My favorite Thanksgiving movie that you’ve never heard of.
Pieces of April is a gritty dramedy centered around a dysfunctional family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Katie Holmes plays April, who persuades her family to drive in from the suburbs to her rundown shoebox of an NYC apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.
The family’s a mess. But April’s mom (the always-fabulous Patricia Clarkson) is dying of cancer, and April is hell-bent on having a decent last Thanksgiving dinner as a family.
I’m sure many of you will hate this movie. (Feel free to leave a question in comments or email me if you’re wondering if it’s for you.) Pieces of April is not for kids or young teens. (There’s a little sex, some language, and her mom is dying of cancer.) But I love it for its themes of hope and forgiveness, and some of you will, too
Rent Pieces of April here from Amazon for $0.99.
 A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: A fun family tradition at my house.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving doesn’t dive deep into the meaning of Thanksgiving, but it’s silly and engaging (for all ages) and a fun family tradition for us.
My kids love to see Snoopy serve up Thanksgiving dinner to the Peanuts gang, who feast on buttered toast, pretzels, popcorn, and jelly beans. And of course, we get to see Lucy yank the football away from Charlie Brown once again.
This special airs every Thanksgiving evening on ABC, but we’ve gotten our money’s worth out of the Peanuts Holiday Collection, which includes the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials.
My new web crush that has nothing to do with Thanksgiving: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
I’ve fallen hard for this modernized adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, published to youtube in 5-ish minute videos twice a week. It’s clever and funny and surprising, and some of you are going to love it.
(Also? I had no idea that professionally acted and produced serials like the LBD were a thing on youtube. Am I the only one in the dark on this?)
Check out episode 1 (below) and tell me what you think in comments.
(Thanks to Tim for introducing me to Lizzie Bennet!)
What movies do you like to watch during the holidays?Â
20 comments
I saw Pieces of April years ago and really liked it. It is indeed gritty but it’s good to experience movies that are more true to life.
I came across the Lizzie Bennett Diaries awhile back and couldn’t get into it but I agree they are well done.
OH my word, I had never heard of the Lizzie Bennett Diaries, but I loved the first one! Thanks so much for sharing.
My husband agreed to watch the Colin Firth version of P&P with me this holiday season. Can’t wait!! I used to watch it every New Years Eve when I was single, and I miss it. 🙂
Glad to have found a new way to get my P&P fix!
“My husband agreed to watch the Colin Firth version of P&P with me this holiday season.”
Oh my goodness, I LOVE that this is something you all have already negotiated prior to Thanksgiving! I hope you both enjoy watching it!
Pieces of April is my favorite holiday movie and possibly my favorite movie, hands-down. I love it’s authentic, raw message of redemption in the midst of family craziness. And that final scene…FLAWLESS. It really IS too bad more people have not heard of it. I’m planning to dig it out again this week.
I am stoked that you like LBD as much as I do, Anne. For added bonus along the way, they will do some side ventures with Charlotte videos, a few from her sister Maria, and Lydia Bennett even gets in on the vlogging. So so good!
If you go to http://www.lizziebennet.com/story/ you can follow along with everyone’s contributions across all platforms. If you’re just now starting out this may make it take even longer to catch up, but it makes for a richer experience of the story overall!
Thanks for the tip for those wanting to catch up, Jessica. I’m actually the one who turned Anne on to LBD. I’ve been following Lizzie and company from episode one. Lydia is fast becoming my favorite in this modern adaptation.
From Episode One? How did you even know?
The web series was co-created by Hank Green, of vlogbrothers fame. I’ve been watching vlogbrothers since 2007. Hank announced the LBD project when it was first starting and got a lot of viewers from the very beginning that way.
Someone at The Republic of Pemberley clued us RoP members in from the get go.
Jessica, thanks for sharing that link!
Um… Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for introducing LBD! Its fantastic!
I was just thinking this morning that maybe I should give Alias a break for the weekend and keep some holidayish movies on the tv.
Maybe. 😉
I’m interested in LBD. Will check it out!
Definitely checking out the LBD. Thanks for the tip!
Happy turkey day.
I always skip A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and go straight to A Charlie Brown Christmas as soon as Thanksgiving’s done. I want to take a trip to the movies to see Lincoln this weekend. Should be a good palate cleanser between all the family and turkey that’ll be going on.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
i love the Charlie Brown holiday movies!
Chris tracked down a Redbox that had Brave, which was our “holiday” movie last night. My brothers and I used to have a tradition to go to the theater to see a movie every Thanksgiving evening, so renting a new release is the closest thing I have now.
I also did not know you could find professional series on youtube. It’s still quiet time in the house. I’ll have to check it out later. Thanks!
I love the Lizzie Bennet Diaries! Thanks for spreading the word 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lizzie Bennett Diaries are AMAZING!!!
It is so good to see them linked here!
Watch my good people, watch!
– And NO skipping ahead to Darcy Day! 😛
the movie on amazon was 3.99. not .99