The Life and Times of a Midwestern Movie Addict

I don't enjoy these three weeks that are sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  A lot of people think that it is because I simply don't want to be at work and would rather been sleeping in.  While part of that exists in my mind during this time, it's no larger than my want for weekend days during other parts of the year so I can't honestly admit to that.  The real reason these weeks stink, as a teacher, is because of the huge amount of programs, events, and scheduled interruptions to the schedule that always happen during this time.  At our school alone we have one day next week that will see no sophomores during the morning periods because of a field trip to a vocational school, another four days (two this week and two next week) that remove half of the juniors from the building for two days apiece and send them off to diversity training, interim grades are due this Thursday, and then to cap the festivities on the 16th (our last day before break) we ha...

Ah the age old days of holiday specials for families...we've seen Halloween and Christmas represented on this page, but what about Thanksgiving?  Thankfully, unlike films based around Thanksgiving, there are plenty of television shows and specials which have dabbled in Turkey Day.  It comes as no surprise then that Charles Schulz's iconic cartoon characters from his "Peanuts" comic strip would get in on the act.  It is a light and un-cynical little short that talks up the virtuous side of Thanksgiving without lingering any on the revisionist history that came about later on (namely, the real story of how "nicely" the Pilgrims treated the Native Americans and how well that group has been treated by white Americans since).  It might gloss over aspects that are unpleasent, but it is still an great example of wholesome and cute programing that doesn't feel dumbed down.  Come with me now and gather round the table with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Charlie ...

This is a really special post for me because this is the first time I am privileged to bring you, my handful of loyal readers, an advance review of a brand new film.  As you may or may not know, I am a HUGE Muppet fan.  I grew up watching the films as a child in the 1980s and 90s and then I became a fan of "The Muppet Show" when it was being played on Nick at Nite back when I was in elementary school so I was cautiously optimistic when Disney announced they would be making a new Muppet film that was co-written by Jason Segal.  I say "cautiously" because I had only seen two of Segal's films up to that point, I Love You, Man (which I thought was delightful) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (after which I wished I could forget the image of Segal's penis) and so I didn't know if he was the best one suited for a revival of Kermit and Co.  However, after reading how Segal was an even bigger Muppet fan from me and after seeing the first trailer for the film whic...

Alright, I have several things to update you on today before I launch into today's full blog post but let me assure you that I have neither forgotten nor neglected you, my readers.  I made a decision that there weren't enough Thanksgiving films to really do a whole month or even a whole week, so I've just decided to do one a week and thus not run out of material (or get burned out on blogging, its win-win).  So first thing, I just finished watched the entire film of Home For the Holidays and was surprised at the dramatic material.  Yes it was funny to see Holly Hunter as Claudia fighting and clashing with her parents and siblings (Charles Durning, Anne Bancroft, Robert Downey Jr., and Cynthia Stevenson respectively) and it was amusing to see Cynthia Stevenson get hit with a turkey carcass, but I was surprised at the poignant emotions on display.  There was the pressure of living up to family expectations, the thought of being betrayed by a loved one, the tendency to ...

Ahhhhh, I am feeling refreshed after taking a week off to focus on things other than blogging.  One, I caught up on some sleep this weekend (the extra hour Saturday night really helped)...two, I caught up on a backlog of grading...and three, I started thinking about what I wanted to write about this month regarding Thanksgivng movies.  Would you believe that there aren't that many films that are set at this festive holiday of feasting and giving thanks?  There are scads upon scads of them based on Christmas, but few that really hit at Thanksgiving.  I guess that's because, financially, studios would much rather produce films set during that much more colorful and festive time (and then release them at Thanksgiving so they can play all through the season).  I really don't think storytelling has anything to do with it, because television shows have been making great Thanksgiving episodes for years...usually centered around the idea of family squabbles coming to a ...