The Perfect Thanksgiving Movie (Depending on Your Family)

Despite what many SEO articles try to tell you, there is no perfect post-Thanksgiving food movie that is suitable for every household. From the families deep in a communal tryptophan haze to the less traditional revelers whose meals and festivities look nothing like a Charlie Brown TV special, the cinematic needs of holiday celebrations inevitably depend on those involved people. So instead of engaging in a vain pursuit of perfection, The AV Club decided to present a plethora of tasty options tailored to some shared experiences when groups of diverse loved ones come together for a day of eating, arguing, and staring at the screen. What movie should you watch this Thanksgiving? Well, it depends on what type of Thanksgiving you’re celebrating this year. Here are five options that cover some common vacation situations:

The best film to accompany a politically charged dinner: Unforgivable

Ever since Warner Bros. ousted Discovery from Clint Eastwood’s sensation Juror #2 for a streaming slot in December, we thought we’d go for another Eastwood masterpiece: Unforgivable. This won’t be an easy Thanksgiving, and there’s no respite from the blockbusters we usually experience after dinner. Trust us: Bring star Wars up at the dining table can get ugly. On the contrary: Eastwood is the great equalizer. Despite being portrayed as Hollywood’s only conservative in a sea of ​​liberals, Eastwood’s work remains popular across the political spectrum. As Alex Lei recently observed The AV ClubEastwood’s work is less about politics and more about the contradictory systems in which flawed people are trapped.

Few exemplify its strengths better than Unforgivable. Put on your hat and spurs one last time (until he cried macho), Eastwood plays a gunfighter who recovers and becomes involved in the business again after an attack at a local brothel leaves a sex worker scarred and her career destroyed. As his character grapples with the violent world he helped create, Eastwood confronts the cinematic West he helped create. Despite the dark subject Unforgivable hits many of the highlights of the holiday: an epic period piece that pairs well with the contemplative nature of Thanksgiving, it’s a rich conversation starter, a Best Picture winner full of complex characters and a compelling story that doesn’t… moral superiority. Plus, your Republican uncle’s ears will perk up when he hears Eastwood’s name. Unfortunately for him, Unforgivable doesn’t let any of us off the hook. (Matt Schimkowitz)

The bbest film for the self-proclaimed dysfunctional family: The leftovers

There is a certain family that prides itself on dysfunction. Parents don’t get along with children, mom doesn’t get along with dad. They are a happy family in the Ramone’s sense. But when these dysfunctions become insurmountable, Turkey Day outcasts can find common cause in them The leftoversAlexander Payne’s tribute to family, right where you are. It takes place at a boarding school in Massachusetts during the winter holidays. The leftovers follows the lonely children abandoned by their wealthy parents who would rather not look after their offspring during the holidays. It’s a cruel situation for children who never get to see their families anyway, which becomes even more ruthless under the watchful eye of teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti). Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) is one such remnant, abandoned by his mother at Christmas and forced to celebrate the season with his smelliest teacher and the school cook, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). But the more time these holdovers spend together, the more they resemble a little tribe of their own, railing against the supposedly lucky shoppers of Boston or enjoying a stale cookie and a Miller High Life, the champagne of beers. Calm down. Dysfunction has never tasted so good. (Matt Schimkowitz)

Best movie for a self-loathing family after a nice turkey dinner: chicken coop

What could be more quintessentially British than a good dose of deplorable self-loathing? chicken coopfrom Aardman Animation, not only offers an ironic take on films like “Prison Bust”. The Great Escapebut a downright frightening take on the industrialization of agricultural practices that might make even the most dedicated carnivore consider going vegan (at least for its 84-minute running time). From the opening execution sequence, executed with the grisly simplicity of an ax, to the elaborate slapstick madness of the cake machine that climaxes, the plight of these chickens fills the entire screen, making their need to break free all the more compelling. And when you’ve just desecrated a poultry carcass with cranberry-smeared fingers, it’s beyond depressing. But chicken coop also illustrates the “family” aspect of these film recommendations: It’s the best of the Disney approach – talking animals go through a classic plot faced by a disproportionately terrible villain – with a bigger brain, a sharper wit and the kind of cinematic detail that accompanies it inevitably all stop motion animations. (Jacob Oller)

The best film for a family trying to maintain their dignity under the specter of fascism: The Grand Budapest Hotel

As is often the case, America is breaking new ground. On the threshold of taking office of an openly autocratic and fascist government, it can be easy to lose touch with reality. How do we maintain our self-confidence in the midst of authoritarian regimes? A look at history helps, and that’s exactly what Wes Anderson does The Grand Budapest Hotel. Somehow. The film is one of Anderson’s finest performances (in a career full of them). Showcasing his first experiments with nesting doll narratives, the film offers images within images that send us forward and backward in time. The main plot concerns M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the legendary concierge of the eponymous hotel, who struggles to maintain the luxury of the Grand Budapest amid a fascist takeover of the fictional country of Zubrowka. By zooming in and out, Anderson offers a way to explore the before and after of these regimes. But if there’s a rock in the film, it’s M. Gustave’s unwavering devotion to his hotel, his guests and his lobbyists – and his refusal to give in an inch to these “dirty, damned, pockmarked fascist assholes.” Grand Budapest Hotel is a winter wonderland due to its snowy European locations and candy-colored interiors, but it is Gustave’s strength that drives the film. His bursts of poetic dignity, punctuated by profane humor, offer a simple truth about the current moment: “In this barbaric slaughterhouse once known as humanity, faint glimmers of civilization still remain. In fact, it’s what we offer in our own humble, humble, insignificant form… oh, fuck it.” (Matt Schimkowitz)

The best movie to watch if you want to eat more but physically can’t: The taste of things

They tell you never to go shopping hungry. They should also tell you never to watch The taste of things hungry. But if you want some eye candy, you’ve come to the right place. A phenomenal piece of food porn from filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng (The scent of green papaya, The vertical sunbeam), this love story blurs the line between seduction and cooking through its patient, artful depictions of the food preparation process and through the slow-burning heat emanating from its leads, former real-life romantic partners Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche. The pair play Eugénie and Dodin, gourmet chefs from the 1880s who live together on a lavish French estate. Their love story (and countless meals) unfolds over the seasons, and the cuisine evolves alongside their relationship. A hearty film for anyone with a boundless appetite for pleasure, The taste of things makes excellent use of Hùng’s playful imagery (a poached pear provides a cheeky, memorable visual pun) and dense tableaus. Few films manage to make their food look good enough to eat. Even fewer can use their delicious food as a substitute for the passions of their lives. (Jacob Oller)