After the turkey and the clean-up, settle in with the family for some great Thanksgiving movies.
What’s Cooking? (middle school and up)
This gem from “Bend it Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha’s is a heartwarming story about four families celebrating Thanksgiving, complete with secrets, drama, longing for approval, and, yes, gratitude and love. The cast includes Julianna Margulies, Dennis Haysbert, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Mercedes Ruehl, and Joyce Chen.
Pieces of April (high school and up)
Beautiful performances by Katie Holmes, Derek Luke, Patricia Clarkson, Alison Pill, and Oliver Platt illuminate this intimate story, brimming with love and forgiveness, of a family gathering at the home of an estranged daughter as the mother is dying of cancer.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (all ages)
This is the one with the famous episode about Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy keeps snatching away from him. Peppermint Patty invites herself to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving and he is too kind-hearted to tell her that he won't be there because his family is going to his grandmother's. When the Peanuts gang comes over for a feast prepared by Charlie Brown himself, Patty gets angry at being served toast and jelly beans. But when she realizes how hard her friend tried to be hospitable, she learns what gratitude really means.
Dora's Thanksgiving Parade (all ages)
When the parade float comes untethered, Dora the Explorer has to save the day .
Squanto and the First Thanksgiving (all ages)
Native American actor Graham Greene and musician Paul McCandless tell the story of Squanto's extraordinary generosity and leadership in reaching out to the Pilgrims after he had been sold into slavery by earlier European arrivals in the New World.
An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (middle school and up)
Jacqueline Bisset stars in this warm-hearted tale, based on a short story by Little Women author Louisa May Alcott.
(Yes, I know many families enjoy an annual viewing of “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” but I find it mean-spirited and tedious. Tell me why you love it in the comments.)