Mother's Day: 7 unexpected movies to watch with mom

Most Mother's Day movie recommendation lists consist of tried-and-true tearjerkers like "Steel Magnolias," "Terms of Endearment" and even "Dirty Dancing." Feel-good, two-tissue flicks designed to leave everyone feeling just a little bit better about the world.

Here at Zap2it, though, we thought we'd go in a different direction. Instead of the usual suspects (goodbye, "Beaches") we suggest 7 movies (enough for a week-long film fest) that, although they all feature strong moms, will not leave you with that happy Hallmark feeling.

1. "The Bad Seed": Rhoda -- a blonde, pigtailed doll of a girl -- has a knack for lying and killing. Not necessarily in that order.



2. "Mommy Dearest": "No more wire hangers!" Faye Dunaway channels a (possibly exaggeratedly) abusive Joan Crawford.



3. "Mildred Pierce": Sorry Kate Winslet, but we're recommending the 1945 original in which Joan Crawford (see above) plays a mom who will do anything for selfish, borderline sociopathic daughter Ann Blyth.



4. "Serial Mom": Forget "Pink Flamingos," this Kathleen Turner-led movie about a mom who is indeed a serial killer is the perfect John Waters flick to watch with mom.



5. "The Grifters": Con artist John Cusack is caught between a love interest (Annette Bening) and his manipulative mom (Angelica Huston).



6. "Pride and Prejudice": We recommend the original (Colin Firth!) BBC version. Alison Steadman does a smashing job of playing a social-climbing mother ready to pimp out her daughters for a tidy yearly income.



7. "Thirteen": Remind mom that no matter how difficult you may have been as a teenager, she didn't have to deal with the likes of Evan Rachel Wood gone wild. Or, if she did, brava!