Let me offer you a preview of a scenario that is likely to be played out later this week over the Thanksgiving holiday. You and your family will host Thanksgiving at home or you'll travel to a relative or friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner. You'll chat politely and catch up before and during dinner. After dinner, the awkward part of the day will start to play itself out. You'll be stuffed full of food and invited to play ridiculous games like Clue or Charades..........the last thing a tryptophan-laced person wants to do. Instead, you'll want to just slouch into a chair or couch and watch a football game or a movie. The females won't go for the football game, so you'll have to compromise by agreeing to watch a movie.

I'm here to help. What are the best holiday movies that will kill a few hours of time and entertain you in the process? Never fear, that's why you come to this blog, right? For my stellar movie advice.

Here are 5 Holiday Movies that Will Not Disappoint:

5.) Miracle on 34th Street - The 1947 Academy Award winning story of a gentle old man, working as a Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City, who contends that he is the real deal. The film stars Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and a young Natalie Wood. Edmund Gwenn won Best Supporting actor for his role as Santa Claus. The movie has been remade several times, but nothing comes close to topping the original.

Interesting tidbit: Despite the fact that the film is set during Christmas, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May because he argued that more people went to the movies during the summer. So the studio began scrambling to promote it while keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret.

4.) Trading Places - This 1983 movie starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Akroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis is a must watch during the holidays. Murphy's role as Billy Ray Valentine is hilarious. Murphy was in his prime back then and easily the funniest man on the planet. Love the jacuzzi scene. Don't be "ignint" and skip this movie this holiday season.

3.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - This 1989 movie starring Chevy Chase as Clark W. Griswold is the third installment in the "Vacation" movie library. After getting by the fact that the Griswold kids in this movie are actually younger than in the second Vacation movie (European Vacation), its a very funny movie. While Chase gives a stellar performance, its Randy Quaid's performance as Cousin Eddie (doesn't everybody have a Cousin Eddie in their family?) that steals the movie. And for anyone whose ever been underwhelmed by their Christmas bonus, this scene is one you'll relate to. Did you know that this movie has grossed over $100M ($70M at the box office and another $34M in rental profits).

2.) Its a Wonderful Life - Its old school but this movie never gets old to me. You may think I'm corny for liking it, but I'm not in "holiday mode" until I watch this Frank Capra 1946 classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.

Since this is a business blog, there's an interesting story about the rights to this movie. The copyright for the film was accidentally allowed to lapse in 1974.

Despite the lapse in copyright, television stations that aired it still were required to pay royalties. Although the film's images had entered the public domain, the film's story was still protected by virtue of it being a derivative work of the published story "The Greatest Gift," whose copyright was properly renewed by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1971. By coincidence, the film became a perennial holiday favorite in the 1980s, possibly due to the advent of the home video era.

In 1993, Republic Pictures, relied on the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Stewart v. Abend to enforce its claim of copyright.  As a result, the film is no longer shown as much on television. (NBC is currently licensed to show the film on U.S. network television, and only shows it traditionally twice during the holidays, with one showing primarily on Christmas Eve) and now Paramount (via parent company Viacom's 1998 acquisition of Republic's then-parent, Spelling Entertainment) once again has ancillary rights for the first time since 1955. Artisan Entertainment (under license from Republic) took over home video rights in the mid-1990s. Artisan was later sold to Lions Gate Entertainment, which continued to hold home video rights until late 2005 when they reverted to Paramount.

Confused yet?

1.) Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Has getting home for the holidays ever been so difficult?? Steve Martin and John Candy make this 1987 movie my number one selection for the holiday season. For anyone who has ever had to deal with the hassles of traveling during the holidays, you'll absolutely be able to relate to this all-time John Hughes classic. The "those aren't pillows" scene has become a part of our movie vocabulary!

HONORABLE MENTION: Home Alone, A Charlie Brown Christmas (love watching this with my daughter!), A Christmas Story and A Christmas Carol

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!