Best Christmas movies set in each state
By Reed Gaudens
![HOME ALONE - Eight year old Kevin MacAllister (Macaulay Culkin) gets lost in the shuffle as his large, upper-middle class suburban family rushes to make a plane that will ferry them off to their Christmas vacation in France; Kevin, having been banished to an attic room as punishment, is subsequently forgotten. At first this is a dream come true, as for the first time in his young life he has no one to answer to but himself, and he takes full advantage of his newfound freedom, eating junk food and watching late-night horror flicks. But when the bumbling Wet Bandits Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) target his house for a robbery, Kevin must step up to defend his home; he sets a maze of booby traps so elaborate that only an eight year old imagination could concoct them. (20TH CENTURY FOX)MACAULAY CULKIN HOME ALONE - Eight year old Kevin MacAllister (Macaulay Culkin) gets lost in the shuffle as his large, upper-middle class suburban family rushes to make a plane that will ferry them off to their Christmas vacation in France; Kevin, having been banished to an attic room as punishment, is subsequently forgotten. At first this is a dream come true, as for the first time in his young life he has no one to answer to but himself, and he takes full advantage of his newfound freedom, eating junk food and watching late-night horror flicks. But when the bumbling Wet Bandits Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) target his house for a robbery, Kevin must step up to defend his home; he sets a maze of booby traps so elaborate that only an eight year old imagination could concoct them. (20TH CENTURY FOX)MACAULAY CULKIN](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/965a70f9057bf5648675451b4fb7897b2521be59de3133b3daab4444247b6150.jpg)
Connecticut: The Family Stone
Release Year: 2005
Directed By: Thomas Bezucha
Starring: Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Tyrone Giordano, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Brian J. White, Jamie Kaler, Paul Schneider
Who doesn’t love spending the holidays with the whole family? Well, The Family Stone’s Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker) doesn’t when she travels from Manhattan to Connecticut with Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) to meet his parents and siblings. Meredith dreads to trip and feels like an outsider among the boisterous and liberal Stone family. She calls in the assistance of her sister, Julie (Claire Danes), but she can’t help but make a clumsy first impression, resulting in a revelatory holiday for one and all. Secrets and changes emerge as Meredith navigates one big complication with two Stones.
The Family Stone, which takes place in the fictional town of Thayer, Connecticut, received middling reception from critics but still managed to make a decent showing at the box office. The holiday family dramedy brought in $93 million against a budget of $18 million, staking its claim as a fan-favorite modern Christmas classic. Sarah Jessica Parker, who was coming off her Emmy-winning run on Sex and the City, landed a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the film. Don’t miss this undervalued Christmas pick that celebrates the true chaos of the holiday.