Thanksgiving is here! And yes, I know that “Over the River and Through the Woods” is not necessarily a Thanksgiving song, but it doesn’t mention Christmas, so by default it must be. Also I am pretty sure it refers to pumpkin pie. And yes, there are actually some Thanksgiving movies. If you find yourself lacking in holiday spirit, pop in one of these DVDs and bask in the holiday tradition.

“Hannah and Her Sisters” is one of those movies that has everyone. Within the first half hour, you’ll spot Woody Allen, of course – he directed it, after all – John Turturro, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Sam Waterston, Carrie Fisher, Mia Farrow, and even Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter. The one who grew up to marry Woody Allen. Yeah, that’s perfectly normal.

Michael Caine stars as Mia Farrow’s husband, who has a thing for one of her sisters. (Farrow is Helen, Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest are her sisters.) Caine is wonderfully, painfully awkward as Elliot, with his bad hair and big glasses, trying to woo the pretty Lee with e.e. cummings’ poetry. He tells her that “the poem on page 112″ reminded him of her, and it turns out to be “somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond,” particularly the stanza:

(i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

There are three main story arcs, one dealing with Elliot and Lee, another with Allen’s character, who is a television producer and Hannah’s ex-husband. The final (and most minor) storyline deals with the third sister, Holly, her catering business, and her love affair with an architect. These storylines all intersect and dance together in a way typical of Allen’s films, centering around two Thanksgiving dinners, each one a year apart. Having the whole family gathered together serves to highlight how intertwined their lives are, even when they aren’t eating at the same table.

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