I’m feeling thankful for my friends lately. Maybe it’s because it’s Thanksgiving week, maybe it’s because I’ve really needed them lately, or maybe it’s because Netflix is bringing us all 10 seasons of “Friends” starting January 1st!

Remember the Thanksgiving episodes of “Friends”? Who didn’t want a group with whom you could play football in Central Park? Who didn’t want a Monica preparing dinner? Who didn’t want Brad Pitt at the table?

If I invited my closest friends to Thanksgiving dinner, it would be a crew that looked a lot like those six, crazy kids. Though we’re in our 40s, not our 20s, and none of my male friends look like Brad Pitt. But, we would laugh a lot. You can be sure of that. My friends have to make me laugh.

My husband would probably want someone with whom he could talk sports and my kids would both want friends who stimulated their minds. My 12-year old son would pick the Kratt Brothers and my daughter would choose Sherlock and John Watson, even though they’re British and probably hold a grudge about the whole Mayflower thing.

Any of us would probably want to hang out with Jennifer Lawrence – you can catch her on Netflix right now as Katniss Everdeen in “Catching Fire”, where she plays a friend who would give her life for you and in “Silver Linings Playbook”. I just watched that again. I think it’s one of my favorite movies, ever. Everyone needs a friend who will put up with our manic side. Just sayin’.

So, our Thanksgiving table would include a girl who’s great with a bow and arrow, two guys who are fantastic with zoo animals, six NYC 20-somethings, and a couple of British guys.

I call the wishbone!

Follow

Email

I volunteered to watch a scary movie with my husband the other night. I hate scary movies. I haven’t cared for them since seeing Amityville Horror at the tender age of EIGHT (thanks, Aunt Connie). I can’t even watch 48 hours when I’m in the house alone.

But, my husband said if I’d watch Jeepers Creepers with him we would turn the lights out and there would be snuggling and air-popped popcorn, so I had that going for me. If there had been Raisinets, I would have submitted to a double-feature. He likes me because I’m easy.

So we settled in and went in search of Jeepers Creepers, which we couldn’t find even though both of us had seen it listed on HBO, or Netflix, or somewhere. This left us with surprisingly few options given we were just days away from Halloween. Get your act together, cable. What good are you if you can’t make a women pee her pants with fear?

After scrolling through the selections, we stumbled across Children of the Corn. I had never seen it, so it seemed a good choice. You can’t go wrong with Stephen King, right? Wrong.

The acting! The music! The special effects! The 80s!

I could make a better movie with my iPhone and my dogs playing the lead roles. I mean, honestly, it didn’t even turn me off of running between rows of corn, which I’m pretty sure will never happen, but if it were to happen I should be terrified, which I wouldn’t be. So, if you see me running between rows of corn, you’ll know why I’m not scared.

Now I feel like I need to watch more horror movies, because maybe they aren’t scary at all and I’ve been missing the chance to have a good laugh. Next up: Leprechaun in the Hood.

Follow

Email

My husband really wants my daughter to watch Halloween. You remember it, right? Jamie Lee Curtis stars as the babysitting teen, chased and tormented by Michael Myers; not the one of Shrek fame, but rather the escaped psychiatric inmate and slasher. I hate that movie. I hate scary movies in general, but my daughter is at that tender age where her parents need to show her that it’s never okay to answer the door when she’s home alone and that she can never, ever trust a landline. Life lessons, we haz ’em.

Thankfully, we’ve decided to scare her with something a little more tame and less likely to occur in real life, which is “LOST”, also known as, “My favorite show, EVER.” Okay, the plane crash could happen, but the chance of landing in paradise with ample fresh water and tubs of Dharma Initiative ranch dressing is not usually the end result. Also, smoke monsters.

In addition to sharing the experience with my daughter, the beauty of rewatching “LOST” is that my husband and I are catching all kinds of stuff that we never noticed the first time around. There are subtle, and not-so-subtle, clues of what’s to come. Our daughter not knowing what’s going to happen is just plain fun for us. We rub our hands together and evil laugh, nod, raise our eyebrows and say, “Hmmm…I wonder what THAT means?” a lot. Then our daughter rolls her eyes.

Of course, getting her to sit down to watch “LOST” means that we’ve pulled her away from “Dr. Who”, “Sherlock” or “Merlin”, which are also good for this spooky season (and all available for streaming on Netflix). They’re not too scary, but they are suspenseful and they make me feel intelligent on account of all the British.

It’s fun to have my daughter at a point in her life where we can introduce her to shows we enjoy. It may not be a traditional milestone, but you can be sure we’re making memories. Anyway, we aren’t a traditional family because when she eventually watches Halloween, I bet my husband will be really proud.

I am part of the Netflix Stream Team. Check back here, monthly, to see what I’m watching.

Follow

Email