Robert Downey Jnr / Home for the holidays
HOME FOR
THE HOLIDAYS
Holly Hunter is not having a good year.
She’s just been fired, her daughter is
determined to lose her virginity and she’s
left her coat at the airport. Luckily, she
has the love of her family to cushion the
blow. Or smother her with it.
The directorial debut of Jodie
Foster, featuring a stellar ensemble
comedic cast (Anne Bancroft, Claire
Danes and Robert Downey Jnr) this is
arguably the best family Thanksgiving
movie ever. It’s subtle, it’s silly, it’s
immensely human and for anyone who
has ever looked at the family they can’t
help but adore and thought ‘who are
these people?’ – it’s entirely relatable.
THE FAMILY STONE
THE ICE STORM
Sarah Jessica Parker is a horrible
person. In fact, everyone in this movie
is a horrible person. But if you can’t
be at your worst with the people that
know you best, then how can you
possibly ever feel at home? The Family
Stone is the story of a boy bringing
home his painfully uptight bride-tobe to meet his dysfunctional family
over Christmas, and the sometimes
excruciating process of ingratiating
someone into such a pack of wolves.
Especially when they don’t approve
of the choice. As with any family,
the viciousness is fuelled by good
intentions. As with any life, the choices
we think we need to make aren’t always
the best ones for us. (Un)Fortunately,
it’s the people that know us best that’ll
make sure we know it.
Nothing says ‘festive’ like shoplifting,
multi-generational sexual
experimentation and Richard Nixon.
Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm is the narrative
of two interlinking families over
Thanksgiving break in 1973. The movie
is stylish, beautiful and unnervingly sad
as it follows the lives of two generations
of Connecticut suburbanites in varying
states of personal upheaval, each
privately trying to find their way. The
adapted screenplay (of Rick Moody’s
novel) won at Cannes, though the film
was a flop at the boxoffice. Nonetheless
it maintains a rating of 83% on Rotten
Tomatoes, and is a critics darling. All for
good reason. The interwoven storylines
of each character are delicately
constructed, and superbly brought to life
by an ensemble cast including Sigourney
Weaver, Joan Allen, Elijah Wood, Kevin
Kline and Tobey Maguire (in one of the 3
truly great movies he’s made. We won’t
talk about Spider-man.)
Sigourney Weaver /
The Ice Storm
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