Thanksbloggin...

An interesting thought occurred to me regarding the recently celebrated Thanksgiving holiday. Call it a Thanksgiving epiphany of sorts.

Having moved across the country earlier this year, 2011 was the first time I haven’t spent Thanksgiving with my immediate family. Being fond of turkey dinners with all the trimmings anytime of the year, I wasn’t about to miss the turk of all turkey dinners. Since I had made non-dinner plans for Thursday, I cooked my Thanksgiving masterpiece Wednesday night. It was a pathetic affair really: turkey legs (love the dark meat), stuffing, mashed potatoes, plus something green and healthy.

Then Thursday came along and on an impulse, I got invited to Phoenix restaurateur legend Bill Johnson’s Big Apple for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It was an all-you-can-eat for $15 affair, but one plate of signature smoked turkey and all the traditional sides was more than enough. Plus there was some of the best pumpkin pie I ever tasted for dessert.

Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a review of Bill Johnson’s Thanksgiving dinner (although I do highly recommend). Back to that epiphany. Not being surrounded by a smorgasbord of Thanksgiving delicacies made me realize how almost liberating it was to enjoy a small Thanksgiving this year. I never overate. I wasn’t sick to the point of hoarking (this has happened on some Thanksgivings!).

If it’s a day to give thanks for—among many other things—the plentiful food supply we enjoy in this country, then why do we gorge ourselves? Does that really demonstrate appreciativeness for good health?

It’s often stated that Thanksgiving is about spending time with family. We could all afford to spend more time with those that we love. So my thought is, why do we make Thanksgiving a single day?  Why not make the celebration last a week? Write a list ahead of time of everyone’s favorite side dishes. Build several nights’—even a week’s worth—of dinners, preparing different side dishes and desserts every night. That way everyone gets to enjoy their favorites, and there’s no need to stuff oneself sick on the final Thursday of November. Make time to share several meals as a family. I know, I should talk…I didn’t spend this holiday with mine.

Regardless, that is what I learned this year. There is nothing pleasant about being so full that you’re sick. It’s hard to appreciate something when it makes you ill in the end. Here’s to a week—and an entire year—of thankful feasting and gratitude.

Making My Thoughts on This Weekend's #1 Known

Let’s play Guess That Film:

• Our brawny main character is suffering from a dose of amnesia and is struggling to remember his identity.
• He finds himself with a cache of passports and other forged documents.
• It takes place in Berlin.
• In one scene a car flies off a bridge and into the water below. 
• High-speed chases in Euro-spec autos race down narrow Old World roadways ad naseum.
• The main character hooks up with a cute, blonde Slavic gypsy and nearly gets her killed.

If you guessed the Bourne Supremacy, you’d be right and you’d be supremely wrong.  Let’s rephrase the question:  What film meets all these criteria and was this weekend’s top earner at the box office?  The answer is Unknown.  

Starring Liam Neeson as Dr. Martin Harris, this European thriller/drama has all the same elements that made Bourne Supremacy one of my personal all-time favorite films. (There’s actually one other huge parallel, but in the case of Unknown, it’ll spoil the ending.) Throw in a dash of the 2004 psychological thriller The Forgotten, and suddenly the premise for this film starts to become known.

The acting is well done and the storyline is engaging without being overly complex. Just try to avoid taking a restroom break; you’ll want to catch every detail. That’s not to say if you miss a few minutes you won’t be able to fill it in. But what really carries this film are the visuals. The clash of old Berlin with the modern day. European cars. Those fascinating German accents.

Just like the Bourne Supremacy, there’s plenty of high-flying action as the good guys race to defeat the bad guys, who often lurk around every graffiti-strewn alley. There are lots of surreal fight scenes, and of course those high-speed chases. In Euro-spec cars. Have I mentioned that enough yet? What can I say, I love watching a good chase that involves a Benz E-class. For you squeamish types who don’t like camera work a-la Blair Witch, you may skip the popcorn.

Overall, Unknown is a relatively light thriller. The storyline will captivate and the acting and camera work will deliver. It’s not overly involving emotionally, and of course good wins in the end. Refreshingly, this movie is light on swearing and sex (not that some didn’t get thrown in, of course), and earns its PG-13 predominantly due to intense and surreal violence.

For those like myself in the Buffalo Southtowns, only Dipson Theater at McKinley Mall has this film. For an additional half a buck, I’d gladly have enjoyed it at the Regal. Being a quasi-holiday week with kids off from school and all, I’d definitely recommend Unknown to bust up some late-winter boredom.

Get local show times and venues from Fandango.