In this GOAT comedy contender from the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team (Top Secret!, Naked Gun), an entire plane gets hit with food poisoning, forcing an ex-pilot who’s afraid of flying to take the helm. Chances are you’ve heard someone quoting this and had no idea; might as well get the whole family up to speed!
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because it’ll make you feel better about holiday traveling. (And you thought checked-baggage fees were bad.)
Total Recall (1990)
A construction worker travels to Mars to unravel the Red Planet’s mysteries—as well as his own—in Paul Vehoeven’s super-alpha expansion of a Philip K. Dick story about implanted memories. The Governator headlines as the star-skimming, accented Earthling, but the real star is the crazy VFX work, which lives on in innumerable GIFs and memes.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because some families are just way more into distended eyeballs and parasitic belly-children than Macy’s parades.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (1990)
Before Michael Bay came along and gave them lips, the Heroes in a Halfshell made their live-action megaplex debut (the tagline was “Lean, Green, and on the Screen”), roundhouse-kicking baddies in a pre-Megan-Fox universe.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because takeout pizza is the most greatest Thanksgiving feast of all.
Batman Returns (1992)
Tim Burton’s twisted sequel to the 1989 Michael Keaton juggernaut introduces Catwoman and the Penguin in the film series. It might not have the glee that Jack Nicholson’s Joker brought to the proceedings, but it’s still a tasty turducken of quirky veteran actors: Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, and Christopher Walken.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because nothing prepares you for storming Black Friday sales like machine gun-wielding devil clowns.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
An underrated sci-fi/comedy classic that parodies genre conventions—in both uses of the term. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman are the aging stars of a bygone space opera, but finding themselves actually in space gives their characters new meaning to “method acting.”
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because maybe it’ll stop Uncle Hank complaining about NASA funding.
Oldboy (2003)
This gruesome Korean classic follows a man who’s kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years for reasons completely unknown to him. Suddenly released, he has five days to track down his tormenter, or else risk the murder of a loved one.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because if you have any sanity left after the post-meal all-family screaming match, you might as well expunge it with extreme prejudice.
Samurai Champloo (2004)
An anime that blends Edo period drama with a pretty incredible hip-hop score. Nominally, it follows two swordsmen rescued from death by a waitress, who then drags the two on a wild goose chase to find “the samurai that smells of sunflowers.” In practice, it’s much, much more.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because gorgeously animated sword fights are the perfect respite from three hours of your cousin’s Dora the Explorer DVD. (Yes, singular; it’s one DVD, watched on repeat for three hours. Don’t act like it can’t happen.)
Snowpiercer (2013)
In 2031 and everything on Earth is frozen—except for the passengers aboard the Snowpiercer, a train-cum-mobile-shelter that’s been circling the globe for 17 years. Eventually, a class system emerges on the locomotive, someone foments an uprising, and all manner of icy hell breaks loose.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because it’s the perfect harrowing counterpoint to The Polar Express—which, be honest, you know you’re going to end up watching while slumped on a sectional.
The League: Season 5 (2013)
In the newest-to-streaming season of the raunchy FXX buddy comedy that’s fueled by fantasy league power struggles, Adam Brody pops up in the premiere and Seth Rogen co-writes an episode.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because it’s funnier than actual football—even if the Raiders are playing.
In a World… (2013)
Children’s Hospital star and all-around joy Lake Bell wrote, directed, and starred in this screwball comedy about a vocal trainer who competes against the biggest voice in the biz—her dad—as she makes a career doing voiceovers for movie trailers.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because, as you’ll learn, running an internal Don LaFontaine narration during an argument-filled Thanksgiving dinner is a fabulous defense mechanism.
Nebraska (2013)
An alcoholic in his twilight years (Bruce Dern) drives through multiple plains states with his estranged son (Will Forte) to claim a $1 million sweepstakes prize in this black-and-white dramedy directed by Alexander Payne. (So yes, it’s basically Sideways without the pinot noir.) Nominated for six Oscars.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because compared to a road trip, sharing a single meal with alienated relatives suddenly seems totally doable.
Trailer Park Boys: Season 8 (2014)
Our favorite mobile home mockumentary from Canada is back after a seven-year hiatus: Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles return for two brand-new seasons that’ll air exclusively on Netflix.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because nothing gets you out of a seat at the kids’ table faster than streaming an episode called “Crawling Through the Sh*tpipe” on your phone.
Short Poppies: Season 1 (2014)
Rhys Darby, who stole so many scense on Flight of the Conchords, doubles down on his Kiwiness with this fake docuseries in which a reporter embarks on a series of interviews with colorful locals to find the “real New Zealand.” (Darby also plays the locals.)
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because while you might not actually be able to escape to New Zealand—geographically as far as possible from your family—you can at least live vicariously through this oddball project.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey: Season 1 (2014)
The Neil Degrasse Tyson-hosted, Carl Sagan-inspired, Seth MacFarlane-produced, Alan Silvestri-composed, science-filled eye candy transports you from Pluto and back in jaw-dropping 3D graphics.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because everyone needs a reminder that there’s more in the universe than crying babies and the all-pervasive smell of gravy.
Orange Is the New Black: Season 2 (2014)
The sophomore season to Netflix’s original comedy-drama, which follows a soap-making yuppie’s incarceration for a crime she committed years ago. Sociopaths and prison wives galore.
Why it’s great Thanksgiving viewing: Because we’ve all finally gotten to the point where we can watch lesbian sex scenes along with our parents … right? Right?
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