Sure, a card or flowers might be a nice way to remind mom you're thinking of her on Mother's Day, but for film fans (like us), sharing a flick is the perfect way to say "I appreciate that you birthed me."
As nice as the sentiment is, we'd recommend staying far away from the following five movies that revolve around moms.
Mommie Dearest
Based on the "tell-all" book by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of film actress Joan Crawford, "Mommie Dearest" focuses on Joan Crawford's alleged compulsive strict rules of cleanliness and order. It's a pretty frighting watching experience as Faye Dunaway, who plays Joan Crawford, screams the now infamous line "No wire hangers, ever!" before beating her child with it.
Psycho
"A boy's best friend is his mother." Anthony Perkins plays a psychotic (Oh, so THAT'S where the title comes from) motel keeper in this thriller from suspense master Alfred Hitchcock. We don't really want to spoil the ending to this one, but let's just say that the quote we led with plays into the whole story.
The Manchurian Candidate
Though we love Denzel Washington, the 1962 version of this film (which also stars Janet Leigh from "Psycho") is the one that we're particularly fond of for this list as "Murder, She Wrote" star Angela Lansbury plays the controlling mother of a former army sergeant. Though the film is excellent overall, we doubt your mom would appreciate Lansbury's actions in the film...or the ending.
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
So far, we've been recommending good movies with bad moms, but this movie is so bad Sylvester Stallone said it's the worst film he ever made. Teaming up with "The Golden Girls'" Estelle Getty as the titular "mom," Stallone is a cop, his mom is a meddler that isn't as frail as she appears, and the audience is a victim of a terrible cinematic accident.
Mother's Day (2010)
Lately, we've seen plenty of light-hearted movies based on a specific holiday -- Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, Independence Day (okay, maybe not that last one) -- but they've all been essentially just romantic-comedy schlock. But "Mother's Day" (the 2010 version) isn't a light-hearted schlock film -- it's a horror flick from the guy who directed "Saw II, III, and IV." In fact, the 2010 version is actually a remake of a Troma film from 1980, but we wanted to include this most recent version on the list because it just came out on DVD and Blu-ray on May 8, 2012 -- just a few days before the real Mother's Day.
Have your own suggestions for bad Mother's Day movie picks? Share them in the comments below.
Need gift ideas, places to have brunch, or a look at famous moms? Visit our Mother's Day section.
