Welcome to Free Movie Monday. In anticipation of Thanksgiving this Thursday there will be a double feature today. The first feature is a two-part episode of the Alf Thanksgiving special, Turkey in the Straw. If you’re not already familiar with the hit TV series from the 80’s, Alf is about an alien who escapes the explosion of his planet and crash lands on Earth in his spaceship. The plot may sound familiar to any Superman fan. However, instead of being the Man of Steel, this alien is a funny, furry, little creature with a long snout and a big mouth (pun intended). He happens to crash land on the property of a modern suburban family who adopts him and keeps his presence a secret from the officials. In this Thanksgiving special Alf begins his mischief by eating all the turkey and pumpkin pie and throwing the father’s clothes in the garbage. Of course he had good reasons for both. (If you like Alf, you can watch all 4 seasons for free on Hulu).
The second feature is an older version of the Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street. Since it is an older version there may be some aspects about it which are not as appealing as the newer versions. However, it still contains the classic, timeless story of a little girl who, at first, didn’t believe in Santa Claus. This story is symbolic of the holidays in more ways than one. It has many of the good and magical characteristics of the season and gets us into the spirit. However, it is also filled with the commercial hype of the holidays, being focused on Macy’s and Santa Claus, and rarely if ever mentioning Jesus as the central figure of Christmas. It is also symbolic of Thanksgiving. Just as our retailers treat this upcoming holiday on Thursday, Thanksgiving is mentioned in the beginning of the movie during the Macy’s parade, but gets over it quickly in order to focus on Christmas and holiday sales. Indeed, this is one of the few movies that even mentions Thanksgiving and the two features being shared today are the only two out of the entire free video collection on Hulu, Crackle, and YouTube Movies that have anything to do with Thanksgiving (with the exception of a few Saturday Night Live clips and other clips of Thanksgiving TV show specials. I wanted to share the movie Squanto, but of course Disney never offers anything for free. They have to protect their precious intellectual property with a metaphorical “vault”). Even the website your currently reading has and will have a few blog posts regarding Black Friday freebies and other ways to save your Christmas budget. This is not intended to neglect the opportunity that we have this week and on Thursday to take a few moments to contemplate what we are thankful for. As I brought this dilemma to the family table at dinner last night, I was presented with a very interesting perspective: we don’t have to rush through Thanksgiving in order to get to Christmas. Rather, Thanksgiving is the perfect way to start the Christmas season since there is nothing greater to be thankful for than our families and God’s gift to the world. Do what you need to do in order to save your holiday budget this year, but also enjoy the holidays for the real reasons that we have them. So without further adieu, here is Miracle on 34th Street.
Family Friendly Content Warning: Alf has some very mild profanity. In Miracle on 34th Street Santa Claus hits a man with his cane.
There is a freebie from Staples that is valid today and tomorrow only. Get a free eco-friendly bag. Print this coupon and bring it to the store to claim the bag. The bag is intended to get you to fill it with stuff you’re going to buy and then you get 15% off everything in the bag. But there is no restriction in the fine print to just getting the bag if you want it. It’s the same as any reusable shopping bag for which some retailers may charge $1-$5.
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