Thanksgiving Tagged Articles at Cinematical

During an exclusive telephone interview to promote his role as Pvt. Donny Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's WWII epic Inglourious Basterds, Eli Roth told Cinematical that Thanksgiving is not the next film he's set to direct, but it's definitely going to get made. "That movie, the financing, the money is in a bank account," Roth said. "I mean, I could literally say I'm starting production tomorrow and we'd start. It's 100 percent up to me, but I'm just working on the script with Jeff Rendell, the co-writer. Jeff's the one who in the trailer, he plays the Pilgrim, and we're just writing it. We're just figuring it out and we're just coming up with the kills and the characters."

Thanksgiving was initially created as a fake movie trailer that connected the two theatrical halves of Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse, but its own popularity inspired the director to blow it up from a 16mm short into a feature film. Roth actually indicated that Endangered Species, a PG-13 sci-fi film in the vein of Cloverfield, was to be his next directorial effort. "I want to be finished with Endangered, and then Jeff is supposed to come out to Los Angeles probably some time in August and we'll probably bang out the script," he explained, indicating that the disparate content of the two films may ultimately complement his enthusiasm creatively.

Read the rest (and see the infamous trailer) at HorrorSquad!

The bloody turkeys are coming! Okay ... this isn't the big news, but it's what I'm going to go with first, because I think we've all been waiting long enough to hear about a longer, more bloody Thanksgiving. Eli Roth may have said: "Thanksgiving was the most fun I've ever had shooting anything, and the response to it was the best response to anything I've ever done in my career," back in 2007, but that's all we heard -- the faint glimmer of hope thrown at the fans, just like Machete. But the idea isn't dead.

In a discussion with MTV, Roth revealed that he still wants to make that Grindhouse trailer into a full-length feature. "I want to make the highest body count slasher film I can," Roth said, while explaining that he hopes he can tack $5 mil and a few weeks onto another, bigger film to finally make Thanksgiving a reality.

This bigger film doesn't have a name yet, but Roth says he's almost done with the script and plans to start production this fall. "I don't want to give away the title yet, because I have to make sure I own it 100%, but it's going to be something that is really fun with lots of mass destruction. I wanted to do something along the lines of Transformers or Cloverfield that was a little more science fiction-based, and with lots of chaos and mass destruction."

He says it's not aliens, or robots, or a virus, so what could it be? All he'll say is: "when people hear it they are going to be like 'That is going to be insane!'" But first he's got to shop it around to studios who can pay his proposed $85 million price tag -- $80 for the scifi feature, and $5 for Thanksgiving. If only the latter could gobble its way to screens in time for the holiday...

Heathers might be the film I adore, and the only piece of cinema that I can quote from beginning to end, but it's not the film that makes me thankful. That spot is reserved for The Thin Man.

In a world where hate is rampant and equality is still a hope to fight for, The Thin Man represents the possibility of something better. Made in 1934, it's the perfect example of rationale and heart coming from a time you'd least expect it. When I stare at my shelves of DVDs and try to look for something with smarts, heart, and writing that doesn't rely on overblown reactions and flimsy emotion, The Thin Man sticks out. When I want to watch a woman on the screen who is intelligent but also humorous, and who can balance frivolity with depth, there's no better example than Nora Charles.

This is one of those films that proves that it's not the theme that creates the worth of a movie (romcom, action, drama), but how it is handled and presented to us. In a world full of mundane repeats, copy-cat projects, and stereotypical notions, I'm thankful that there are a few glimpses of greatness, like The Thin Man.

It's amazing how much can change in a small handful of years. These days she's bringing back the fashions of the '80s (tight-rolled jeans, Dirty Dancing shorts) as she graces every tabloid and website, works on stage, and hangs with Tom and Suri. But she used to be pretty busy with the holiday that is Thanksgiving. Just five years ago -- Katie Holmes' hair was red, she was young and spunky, and she was starring in Pieces of April. (The trailer is above.)

Usually, holiday-centric films just get the basics -- turkey, family, matriarch in the kitchen. They don't focus on young, punky girls who are determined to bring together estranged family members and make a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Yes, April definitely has the obligatory family trauma to make the drama we have all come to expect, but it also shows just how far and wide tradition can reach, and that not all the cooks in the kitchen are smiling moms in aprons.

Go back a few more years, and you can find a second Thanksgiving-themed film. Change her name to Libbitz, make her the object of Tobey Maguire's affections, and you've got The Ice Storm. Personally, I prefer the latter, but it all boils down to what you're looking for -- the possibility of bringing a family together and lots of food, or retro dysfunction laced with black humor.

Will you Holmes your Thanksgiving?

When Scott, my editor here at Cinematical, sent around an invitation to write a brief blurb about a movie each of us is Thankful For this holiday season, I decided to take the prompt as literally as I could. It's easy enough to churn out 250 words on what one thinks is a great film. But no: the question is what movie I'm thankful for. What seems most like a blessing, or a gift? What movie feels like it was made specifically for me?

I'm thankful for Dark City. I don't think there's another movie out there that's so in tune with my sensibilities. It mixes elements of fantasy, science-fiction and noir into something wholly original -- and frightening, and beautiful. It has a boundless imagination, with a story that expands from compact and eerie to mind-blowing and huge. The world it creates lives and breathes and has no limits. At the same time, I'm thankful for the details: everything down to the villains' names -- simultaneously prosaic and otherworldly -- is thought out and thought through.

Both fans and newcomers should favor the director's cut, which, among other things, excises the expository voiceover narration. In doing so, it turns Dark City into a genuine mystery and brings it even closer to its noir ancestors. The movie looks awesome on Blu-Ray, too.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Earlier this month a bunch of us came up with a list of the movie characters we'd love to have thanksgiving with. Now, here's the opposite. The title is pretty self-explanatory, so I don't need to set it up much. But as usual, we invite you to tell us of your own picks for worst Thanksgiving dinner guest. Please try to make it a movie character, though, because none of us know your annoying aunt, and plus this is a movie site.


Hannibal Lecter from Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon and Hannibal Rising

If you were to have Dr. Lecter (Brian Cox; Anthony Hopkins; Gaspard Ulliel) to your Thanksgiving feast, you'd want to prepare and cook all the food yourself. Otherwise, you might end up eating human flesh instead of turkey (or turducken, or whatever non-people-based meal you prefer). Then again, you might actually end up the meal, which is certainly much worse than unknowingly tasting Ray Liotta's brains. So, the best thing is to not even invite the guy.


Graham Young from Young Poisoner's Handbook

Another character who might be an interesting guest, but like with Lecter, you'll need to keep an eye on the food, or at least on the tea. Graham (Hugh O'Conor), aka "the teacup murderer" likes to play with poison, and there's a good chance he's going to spike the dinner or drinks with thallium.

I'm thankful for a lot of things this year, my son being first and foremost, but I wouldn't get too far down the list without coming to movies and food, and then food in movies. Showing characters eating or relating to food in some way can be a quick and easy way to capture a magical moment. You can reveal something about a character, you can take a break from an otherwise hectic narrative, or you can simply bask in the sheer, physical beauty of food, the same way another movie might show characters dancing. The following is my second annual "thankful" list of food scenes in current movies playing on 400 screens or less.

I'm thankful for the use of the term "savory snacks" in Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited (285 screens). When Jack (Jason Schwartzman) returns from having made love with the Indian stewardess (Amara Karan) in the train's bathroom, his brothers ask: "where's our savory snacks"? I'm thankful for the adorable Sarah Silverman and the way she sighed her way through the line "I want someone to eat cheese with" in I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (3 screens). And I'm thankful for Scarlett Johansson eating potato chips in bed in The Nanny Diaries (26 screens) -- her only way of dealing with the end of a horrible, horrible day.

Today a lot of you will head off to do whatever, wherever with whomever, and if you're like me you're stoked for two reasons: a) no work and b) eating until way after the belt comes off. More power to you and yours -- and we here at Cinematical sincerely wish you a happy, healthy Thanksgiving and hope you spend the day with someone(s) or something you truly care about ... (waits for the two girls in the back corner to go "awww"). I'll be writing a list of things I'm not thankful for this year a bit later on, but I figured I'd compliment that with a list of things I am thankful for this year -- all of which are movie-related, of course. So, in no particular order:

I'm thankful for getting to experience my first film festival overseas in Berlin earlier this year, and for all those people who made fun of me in German but turned the other way so I wouldn't take notice.

I'm thankful that three of my favorite filmmakers (Wes Anderson, P.T. Anderson and the Coen brothers) put out three fantastic flicks this year (The Darjeeling Limited, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men) for me to experience, debate and enjoy. I'm also thankful the Starz network decided to air Rushmore last week, allowing me to DVR it and watch it again for the first time in several years. God I love that movie.

I'm thankful for 2 Days in Paris, The Grand, Knocked Up and Superbad. They made me laugh harder than I've laughed in a long time. I will never look at a penis illustration the same way again.

I'm thankful for being given the opportunity to get up every morning and do what I love doing, alongside people I admire and respect. I'm also thankful for those comments that trash me to a point where I'm on the verge of slitting my wrists with a spork. You keep me in check, and for that I am grateful.

I'm thankful Tom Cruise didn't kill anyone.

I'm thankful the writers finally got another 15 minutes, although they deserve a lot more.

And finally, I'm thankful for HD (but not for the two different formats -- we'll get to that in another post). Back in May, my wife gave me a 46-inch Sony Bravia for my 30th birthday and I love the thing like it's my child. So pretty. So sweet. Want to pet it. Love youuuuuu.

So, what movie-related things are you thankful for this year?

The 1990s had no shortage of dysfunctional family movies, but Jodie Foster's second (and still most recent) directorial effort Home for the Holidays (1995) sends them all packing by bringing the family together for Thanksgiving dinner. Most movies in this genre handle the wide tapestry of characters by assigning them one-dimensional, easily defined personality types, but Foster and her screenwriter, the great W.D. "Rick" Richter, fit in dozens of remarkable little moments that bring everyone into three-dimensional relief. It begins with Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter, at her pluckiest) happily at work, restoring old paintings. (The opening credit sequence is rich with information, such as using egg yolks as a base.) Unfortunately, she gets laid off, tries to make out with her boss and comes down with a cold. Her teenage daughter (Claire Danes) announces that she's spending the holiday with her boyfriend and will be having sex for the first time.

With failure and humiliation hung around her neck, she returns home for turkey day. To rub it in, Claudia loses her fancy, big city coat at the airport and must settle for wearing her mother's puffy, hideously out-of-date coat for the rest of the visit. On the plane, she calls her closest companion, her brother Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) and begs him to come too. It's an awkward, babbling message, but touchingly honest. Tommy, a cackling, gay nutcase full of mischievous energy, does turn up and brings the sexy Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott). Claudia is single, and in a lesser movie -- Dan in Real Life, for example -- everyone in the family would pester her to find a man, as if they had no concerns of their own. And certainly the subject comes up, most heartbreakingly in a scene with the sad-sack David Strathairn as an old classmate -- a meeting arranged by Claudia's mom (Anne Bancroft).

Say what you want about Eli Roth and the vicious, stomach-turning films he puts into theaters, but the guy is one of the most passionate filmmakers working today. This weekend he returns with Hostel: Part II; a sequel to the very successful horror film that had a lot of people buzzing when it first came out back in 2005. Quite simply, he's the kind of guy you'd love to have your back in a fight. He's real, he's raw, he's emotional -- and he's very proud of the work he produces. I recently caught up with Eli to talk up everything Hostel, as well as check the status on some of those other buzzed-about films Roth has planned for us down the line. Where is he at with Cell, the Stephen King adaptation? Will he direct a Grindhouse 2 with Edgar Wright? What's up with this Trailer Trash movie? Or how about an animated horror flick? Oh, and how does Roth really feel about the MPAA? Well, read on and you'll find out ...

Cinematical: Here's what I'm hearing about Eli Roth lately: Eli Roth wants to make a Grindhouse 2 with Edgar Wright, and he also wants to make a Trailer Trash movie. Is all of it true?

Eli Roth: Well, one was that if they were going to do a Grindhouse 2, I was joking with Edgar that he should do Don't and I would do Thanksgiving. And we still might do it. But it would have to be something we did between movies; kind of like a fun side project. But then I also want to do a whole movie of fake trailers -- like Kentucky Fried Movie, Borat or Jackass -- called Trailer Trash. Thanksgiving was the most fun I've ever had shooting anything, and the response to it was the best response to anything I've ever done in my career. And so I have so many more ideas like that that are ready to go that I'd love to start shooting it.

Cinematical: So basically you're going to shoot an entire movie full of three-minute trailers?

ER: Picture Thanksgiving, and now picture an entire movie with trailers like that.

Cinematical: And how far along are you on it; who else is involved?

ER: I'm not saying anything else on it except that I'm writing it with my brother. But I have a story, I have a plot, and I want a make a movie like Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- totally silly, totally absurd -- something like Borat; Borat is a good example.