Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy “What’s Cooking?” and “Pieces of April”

My favorite Thanksgiving movies are the delightful “What’s Cooking?” and “Pieces of April.”

What’s Cooking? is a peek at the Thanksgiving celebrations of four families celebrating Thanksgiving with all of the secrets, drama, longing for approval, and, yes, gratitude and love we all face at this time of year. The cast includes Julianna Margulies, Dennis Haysbert, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Mercedes Ruehl, and Joyce Chen.

Pieces of April  is also filled with all of the hopes and pressures of the holiday as an estranged daughter (Katie Holmes) struggles to prepare a Thanksgiving feast for her family, including her mother (Patricia Clarkson) who has terminal cancer.  The cast also includes Derek Luke, Alison Pill, Oliver Platt, and Sean Hayes.