With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up in less than a week, we all get reminded of the “joy” of family dinners. Whether its the drunk family member breaking a glass or it’s your slutty cousin dressing like a hooker, there’s always something about a family dinner that gets remembered. So while you sit and squirm through the year’s biggest dinner, just remember that it could be much worse and turn out more like these meals…..
Nobody’s Fool
If you haven’t seen this light and good-hearted movie staring Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith (with a very young Phillip Seymour Hoffman thrown in as well) you absolutely should. If for anything, just to see this whole scene play out with one of the most dysfunctional families ever.
Little Miss Sunshine
All I gotta ask is; “What’s with the God damn fucking chicken!?” Alan Arkin, you rock. Its starts with him and ends with hilarity.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
In what could possibly be the funniest family dinner scene ever, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly just go to town and spew out some hilarious and ridiculous things. Discussing which Jesus version is better, Ricky’s smokin hot wife, the denigration of Grandpa Chip and features one of the “best” menus ever put together.
Beetlejuice
Chairs coming alive, spirits being summoned, Gothic theme and the guest of honor is there to communicate with the dead. Then they dance to Day-O. This is one of the few dinners I would actually have wanted to be a part of.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
This may have not been a traditional family dinner but it has all the things needed to make for an awkward meal. Plus it features bug eating and monkey brains for dessert. Who hasn’t been to a meal where you would rather have been eating those instead of what’s being served.
Meet the Parents
This classic scene from the original Ben Stiller/Robert De Niro comedy is what kicked of the rest of the trilogy being made pretty much. Who can’t relate to the first holiday dinner with their in-laws? Watch the awkwardness unfold before your eyes.
The Nutty Professor
Say what you will about his movies now (that aren’t animated), but Eddie Murphy was at the top of his game when the first Nutty Professor came out. This family dinner scene is pretty much Eddie in different costumes, insulting the others. Why he went from this to Pluto Nash, we will never know.
Scent of a Woman
Words can not describe how great Al Pacino was in this movie. His blind and severely grumpy character is fantastic through out but you can actually feel the tension build when he enters his brother’s house after years of being apart. Feel the hostility grow and eventually blow over when a name is mispronounced.
Hannibal
Ray Liotta definitly blew his top at this meal (see what I did there?). Absolutely not a family meal but does feature someone being called a slut and then someone eating their own brains and being truly delighted by it.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Now I know that in some families, a dinner can be like sitting with a bunch of redneck cannibals who just want to torture with crazy questions. Well in this movie, that actually happens. So just remember it could be much worse.
