[VIDEO REVIEWS]Plenty of Fowl Play, but No Turkeys Here

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[VIDEO REVIEWS]Plenty of Fowl Play, but No Turkeys Here

Celebrate the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday Thursday with these timely videos.



PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES (1997)


Directed by John Hughes. Starring Steve Martin and John Candy.

Neal Page (Martin) and Del Griffith (the late Candy) have one wish: to fly from New York City to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving. For Page, everything that can go wrong does in this heartwarming screwball comedy.

It's two days before Thanksgiving, and Page, an uptight snob of a marketing executive, is leaving for the airport. He hails a cab but a big lug, Griffith, takes it instead. The two cross paths again at the airport departure lounge, where their flight has been delayed by bad weather in Chicago.

Prior to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," Hughes directed teenage movies such as "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Hughes has a knack for creating offbeat characters that draw the audience into their bittersweet lives.

When Page finally boards his plane, he finds he has been bumped out of first class. His seatmate in economy is none other than Griffith, a good-natured but loquacious sort with an endless supply of bad jokes. The flight takes off, but is diverted to Wichita, Kansas, where the two find that hotel rooms are hard to come by in the holiday season. Luckily, Griffith has connections from his shower curtain ring business and finds them a room; but a room with just one bed. To make matters worse for Page, Griffith smokes, snores and stinks.

Martin delivers a restrained performance, a perfect foil to the larger-than-life Candy. In one scene, Page finally lashes out at Griffith, who has only been trying too hard to be friendly, and we see that Griffith is hurt. The characters are funny, but real. The scene when the two wake up cuddling each other, then switch to ultramacho mode, is truly memorable. Viewers can sympathize with their race to get home before the turkey is carved. The fiascos never end as the two board planes, trains and automobiles.



SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992) - "Yeojaeui Hyanggi" in Korean


Directed by Martin Brest. Starring Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell.

A poor student at an Eastern prep school spends the Thanksgiving holiday looking after Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Pacino). All Charlie Simms (O'Donnell) wants to do is earn extra money, but what he gets is his coming of age.

The blind Slade is mean and bilious. At first he's abhorrent, but Pacino later imbues the character with honor and a sense of humor. Charlie expects a quiet weekend, but the colonel has other ideas.

The two go to New York, where they ride a limousine and sleep in a suite at the Waldorf. Along the way, the colonel talks to Charlie about the wonders of women. At first, Charlie keeps his distance, especially since Slade keeps drinking and berating him. But when Charlie lets his guard down, he learns a thing or two about life.

by Joe Yong-hee

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