10 Great Movies To Watch With Your Family This Thanksgiving
I you have a cool family at least.
If you’re staying with family for more than a day this upcoming holiday weekend, you’ll probably find yourself in need of something to do. There are only so many puzzles, rounds of cards, or hot-button political issues that you can discuss with people. Many people will turn to the magic of the cinema to fill those hours. Here at Dang Dude, we fully support this choice. Movies are a fantastic way to enjoy the presence of others without having to be actively engaged in a game, conversation, or both.[1] Plus, they rule!
The main issue with watching a movie over Thanksgiving is that in our age of digital streaming platforms, there are hundreds of thousands of movies available at your fingertips. So, how do you pick a movie to watch? Fortunately for you, I’ve come up with a list of movies that the whole family can enjoy. Once again, Dang Dude comes to the rescue.
Hey everyone! It’s great that you’re reading! Please subscribe if you haven’t already. If you’re already subscribe, please consider upping it to a paid subscription. You get to join a great community of readers and commentors! You also get to support me! Isn’t that great?!?!
The trick is to find a movie right in the “older family sweet spot.” The sweet spot is something that’s not too outré, not too risque, not too heavy with the action, is funny, and has a little bit of heart. Most importantly, and this sounds odd, but trust me here, you want something that most people have seen. It’s a much harder thing to sell a new movie to a lot of people than to just one or two. Thanksgiving is not a time to unearth a hidden gem of 1960s Czechoslovakian cinema. It's time to enjoy middlebrow greatness. It might seem like a tall order to find a movie that fits all those criteria, but I’ve done all the heavy lifting so that you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy. Unless your family is like 100% film weirdos. Then you’re already suffering in a different type of way.
Four notes:
This list assumes that everyone watching is over 10 years old. If that’s not the case, then just watch Shrek or The Lion King. Can’t go wrong there.
It also assumes that people are chill with a little profanity.[2]
I’ve also ignored availability concerns. If one of these isn’t available on your preferred streaming service, then just rent it on Amazon. It’ll cost like four bucks.
These are in no particular order.
Ocean’s Eleven
Beautiful scenery, Brad Pitt and George Clooney at their most charismatic, a twist that still hits, Elliot Gould, and a banging soundtrack all make this a great movie for Thanksgiving. I’ll say this about all these movies, but it’s got a little bit of everything for everyone. As an added bonus, you get a perfect Bernie Mac performance. C’mon, you know you want to watch this.
Now You See Me
There’s going to be like three heist movies on this list. Sorry, but they make for great Thanksgiving watches. Now You See Me is technically a movie about a bunch of different heists, but there’s no need to quibble about definitions here. This is a fun, stylish, often funny flick featuring a very game Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, the younger – and better – Franco brother, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Jesse Eisenberg. C’mon! The cast alone should have you hooked.
Blues Brothers
This is both a perfect movie and a great movie to watch during Thanksgiving with your family. It’s hilarious, there are wonderful songs, and one of the best car chases ever put onto cellulite. Also, a non-Star Wars Carrie Fisher role, which is always a good time. It’ll also probably make at least one person cry, so that’s always fun to see, too.
The Italian Job
Okay, after this, the heist movies are over. The Italian Job is a clear rip-off of Ocean’s Eleven, though it technically beats those charges by being a remake of a 1969 Michael Caine joint. Originality/provenance of this film aside, it’s great. Mark Wahlberg is less annoying than usual, Charlize Theron is in her “capable badass” mode, and Mos Def, Seth Green, and Jason Statham have good chemistry. Throw in a few fun twists, a great car chase, and you’ve got yourself a movie.
School of Rock
I once performed at the same comedy show as the actress who plays the bassist in this movie.[3] She was great. I was middling-to-fine, I’m sure. If that makes me biased then so be it. School of Rock, written by The White Lotus creator Mike White[4], is just a fun movie. For one, it stars Jack Black and it’s really hard to have a bad time watching Jack Black. There are great classic rock tunes throughout the movie, and some great jokes as well.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Okay, bear with me here. Yes, Last Crusade is obviously the worst of the Indiana Jones movies.[5] But, it is the best one to watch with family. Especially if you’ve got younger people around. The edges of Temple of Doom and Raiders have been sanded off, but Ford is still unbeatable, and Sean Connery is there to do Sean Connery things. This one has fun set-pieces, cool scenery, and most importantly, Nazis getting the shit beat out of them. Who doesn’t love that?
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
The first Pirates is a legit good movie. Somehow, some way, a movie based on a Disney ride is great. The sequels are ass, but the first one is good. Kiera Knightly is fantastic, it’s legit spooky at points, and Johnny Depp[6] hits the perfect amount of ham. There are good jokes, fun action, and the CGI isn’t distractingly bad. A good time.
10 Things I Hate About You
RIP Heath Ledger. If any boys/men are watching with you this Thanksgiving, they might complain, but trust me, there’s stuff in here for everyone. Including a paintball fight scene. They just don’t make movies like they used to. This is just a fun, sweet, and funny movie. Also, you get peak Larry Miller aka the guy who plays Julia Stiles’ dad. I once saw this at Millennium Park, and it brought the house down, even though it was inaudible for most of the audience.
Charlie’s Angels
No, not the remake with Kristen Stewart. Never the remake with Kristen Stewart. I’m talking the Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz vehicle. It’s certainly campy and over-the-top but in a very fun way. Maybe a little too much Sam Rockwell dancing, but most people can get over that. Throw in the Tom Green cameo and there’s a little bit of action for everyone watching! This is also technically a heist movie, but only in the strictest sense that something is getting stolen. Spirituality it’s something much different.
Clueless
RIP Brittany Murphy. Clueless rules. Just a hands-down great movie. Alicia Silverstone was robbed of stardom. She shoulda been bigger than Tina Fey and Amy Poehler combined. Come to think of it, Silverstone could have done both their Mean Girls roles better than either of them.[7] That is neither here nor there. Clueless, with a young(?) Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Silverstone, Donald Faison, and Stacey Dash,[8] does not come to mess around. It’s hilarious, has great music, and while the plot may be a little icky, just ignore all that and have a great time.
Other contenders for the list that just missed out for whatever reason: Accepted, My Cousin Vinny, Legally Blonde, Best in Show, Back to the Future, The Fugitive, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Truman Show, Jurassic Park, Catch me If You Can, and National Treasure.
[1] Reminder that someone needs to send me $100 million so that I can buy a movie theater.
[2] It’s fine!
[3] I’m a STAR! A STAR! I also once performed in improv shows with former SNL cast members Luke Null and Chris Redd. But who's counting?
[4] Who is also an alum of The Amazing Race and Survivor.
[5] There are only three Indiana Jones movies.
[6] Yes, I know.
[7] I will go to my grave believing that this is true.
[8] Yes, I know.
Enjoyed reading? Please like, share, and subscribe!
Super solid list. Happy Thanksgiving to you both.