WATCHING JUNK: YOUR THANKSGIVING WATCH LIST
a What Whitney's Watching x JUNK DRAWER collab
Thanksgiving is a time for filling your stomach to the brim, for hugging your family members close, and for snuggling down into the comfort of your duvet/blanket/favorite hoodie and throwing on the TV to watch something good. But what exactly should be on your screening list? Whitney and I (April) have got you covered. Below, our favorite movie and TV picks for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Whitney’s Pick: The Sound of Music (1965)
No Thanksgiving holiday is complete without the oddly politically pertinent musical sing-a-long. Something you can throw on in the back as you burn the stuffing and your cousin finishes a full bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider. The songs in The Sound of Music are also just iconic enough that 70% of the attendees will know the words. When inevitably, people start singing along to DO-RE-MI, only a few will feel awkwardly left out. The romance scenes amount to nothing more than sparkly shots of the characters looking at each other so you can avoid any super uncomfortable moments. It’s also long as hell and the less you have to worry about what to put on, the better. Of course you’ll have to dodge the “Do you think everyone in this film is dead?”, by your edgy cousin or the obnoxious over-singing from the aunt that swore she would have made it to broadway if not for “the incident”, but isn’t that what the holidays are about?
April’s Pick: Cinderella (1997) (aka Brandy’s Version)
One of my earliest Thanksgiving memories is sitting squeezed between my mother and one of my aunties in my childhood home, full and half asleep, all of our eyes glued to the screen as a Whitney Houston and Brandy made history. I didn’t grow up on Disney movies so this was my first exposure to the Cinderella story, film or otherwise. It really cannot be overstated how important it is to see someone who looks like you play the princess, the love interest, the lead. Of all the “classic princesses”— Snow White, Belle, Aurora— Cinderella is my favorite. This specific movie feels so warm, like a memory being made in real time, and if you want magic, what could be better than a little Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo?
Whitney’s Pick: Living Single Season 2, Episode 12 “Thanks for Giving”
I love the good spirited “battle of the sexes” 90s episode. It feels so lighthearted and toothless when you look at the current state of gender relations in this country. I yearn for the 90s and not out of a “those were the days” sense of nostalgia (I’m 28) but because I long to live in a time where things are sexy. People smolder. Everyone in this episode is smoldering and I love it. Also I absolutely adore Synclaire in this episode. She is comedy perfection and for a show that features one of my favorite fictional characters of all time (thee Maxine Shaw, attorney at law) she really stands out. Something about the entire vibe of this show makes me want to cook a full meal and call my friends to gossip while I do it. The best kind of art.
April’s Pick: Gossip Girl Season 1, Episode 9 “Blair Waldorf Must Pie!”
Now. For the less discerning, more fair-weathered fan, Gossip Girl’s Season 3 Thanksgiving episode is the standard. And to be sure, very little comes close to that dinner scene, soundtracked by a crooning Jason Derulo as everyone’s chickens come home to roost. But for those of us with taste, the best Thanksgiving episode is actually in the show’s first season. Gossip Girl’s first season is undoubtedly its best and this episode is a good example why. We learn so much about the characters and their relationships through the episodes dual timeline. In the previous year, Serena was still New York’s #1 Party girl, Blair’s parents were still together, Nate was still the perfect boyfriend, and Dan was firmly on the outside, crushing on a Serena who didn’t even know he existed. In the present timeline we can see how all of the threads have frayed. Blair waits impatiently for her newly divorced father to arrive only to be bitterly disappointed. Serena, who was coddled and taken care of by Blair and Nate the year prior has been ousted from the Waldorf’s holiday dinner and is forced to find new accommodations. Nate’s, (whose father has been arrested for white collar crime) day goes from bad to worse when he finds said criminal father unconscious on the ground of their home. And this doesn’t even get to the parents and their drama. This episode is one of my favorite of the entire series and a must watch every year. Also, the needle drop that comes at the end of the episode? It’s the best the show ever pulled off.
Whitney’s Pick: The Avengers (2012)
In Thanksgiving 2021, we were still in the height of the pandemic so instead of going home, I opted to stay in my apartment with April. What resulted was an evening of wings and pie from the amish market. In my boredom, I also decided to make my way through phase one of the MCU. It was then that I discovered with glee that The Avengers is a fantastic Turkey Day watch. It has that big budget blockbuster charm that the holiday demands as well as performances (thank you Tom) that hold up pretty well. The tension brewing under the surface of the team is also reminiscent of the average American Thanksgiving. It feels very traditional in that way. I’ve also found that wide appeal is key for the perfect Thanksgiving (niche is for Christmas) and this is as “most common denominator” as it gets. Everyone has either already seen it or is familiar with the characters so nothing needs to be explained and everything can be enjoyed.
April’s Pick: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Well this one is just a no brainer. There are movies and then there are blockbusters. The Hunger Games series saw the dystopian book to screen adaptation perfected. The second entry, Catching Fire, is easily the best in the series. I can’t even pinpoint what it is about this movie but it screams Thanksgiving watch. Maybe it’s because it always seems to be cued up at some point during the weekend, the familiar score drawing my family into the living room like a beacon. There’s a twisted sort of community in Catching Fire, as the previous victors come together in a mega alliance to save Katniss and jump start the revolution. And maybe, coming together to watch the disenfranchised rage against the system is exactly what’s needed at this time of year.
Whitney’s Pick: Fresh Prince of Bel Air Season 2, Episosde 6 “Guess Who’s Coming to Marry?”
I believe with this pick, my love of mess is shining through. Maybe that’s why I love Thanksgiving so much. For what is Thanksgiving, but the messiest holiday in America? It’s also the only holiday in which I can guarantee that my entire family will make an effort to come through for but that’s besides the point. This episode of TV is one of those episodes that perfectly encapsulates how differing beliefs can tear at the bonds between family, even when we’ve been brought together to celebrate. In this episode, Will’s family comes together to engage in such a celebration. However, instead of Thanksgiving, they have all converged on Bel Air for the wedding of Janice, the youngest of his mother’s sisters. All is well until they find out that her soon-to-be husband is a white man (gasp) which enrages Will’s mother. What follows is a discussion about the fears of interracial marriage in America, the state of race relations in the 90s, and what that would mean for Janice’s future. While Will’s mom means well, she has a horrible way of getting her point across and Janice reacts in kind. It is just. So. GOOD. Expertly written even and it really encapsulates the Thanksgiving spirit in my opinion.
April’s Pick: Community Season 3, Episode 4 “Remedial Chaos Theory”
This is one of Community’s most infamous episodes and for good reason. What starts as a basic sitcom set-up (two of the ensemble host a housewarming party for their friends) quickly dissolves into absurdist hi-jinks when Jeff rolls a pair of dice to determine which of the group has to pick up their pizza delivery and in doing so “creates six different timelines”. We then proceed to see the branching timelines, the consequences that occur based on who in the group leaves to collect dinner. Community is filled with episodes that highlight the perfect ensemble work of the cast but this episode in particular really captures the frantic energy and petty dramas that often come with spending a night with people you know better than yourself, whether you want to or not.
Whitney’s Pick: Four Brothers (2005)
There comes that time in the evening when all of the over 40s are distractedly gossiping. It is then the older cousin’s responsibility to put on something just gratuitously violent and early 2000s offensive enough to hold the attention of the 20 year olds. These kinds of mindless action movies meant everything to me as a kid. The screeching tires of a car chase locked me into the plot completely, while I stole quippy one-liners to use on my often baffled friends later. This movie in particular is full of both. The film never goes longer than 10 minutes without some kind of a chase scene and it’s infinitely quotable. “She’s addicted to what Angel’s dick did.” Poetry. And I pulled that off the dome! I couldn’t quote you a movie from the past year. Though we tend to look at these films as problematic (as we should, Mark Wahlberg is EGREGIOUS in this) that doesn’t mean we should write them off completely. Horrifyingly stereotypical 2000s movies are a formative part of any film critics understanding. Who knows, maybe if the directors of the Rock’s last 5 movies had watched some, those films might actually be good!
April’s Pick: Ladybird (2017)
I love this movie. This is another one that while not explicitly about it, is such a Thanksgiving movie at its core. Ladybird is constantly straining against the constraints of being from somewhere. As we grow older, everything about ourselves becomes unbearably embarrassing, especially where we’re from. Ladybird wants to go somewhere “with culture”, wants to break out of the confines of the lower middle class and recreate herself in a more glamorous, erudite image. Whether she’s sighing over the prettily painted mansions on the good side of town or daydreaming about liberal arts colleges, that longing to escape is so palpably relatable to anyone who’s been seventeen and at the end of their rope. One of my favorite moments in the movie comes when one of Ladybird’s teachers remarks on her writing. “You write about Sacramento so affectionately and with such care.” “I was just describing it,” Ladybird responds to which her teacher says, “Well, it comes across as love.” There is so much tenderness at the heart of this movie, so much aching, irrepressible love. Thanksgiving isn’t complete without a re-watch.
Thank you so much for reading!
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