Posted on 12/22/2014 5:37:59 PM PST by Drew68
It started as a continuation of the misadventures of the Griswold family; it ended up becoming one of the most surprisingly popular and oft-quoted holiday movies of all time. This month marks the 25th anniversary of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, in which beleaguered patriarch Clark Griswold — played by the inimitable Chevy Chase — tries to engineer the picture-perfect seasonal festivities: the best naturally procured tree, the biggest and brightest (literally) Christmas-light display on the block, the end-of-the-year bonus from his Scrooge-like boss. It's the only comedy to appeal to those who live for that deck-the-halls spirit, viewers who are dyed-in-the-wool Grinches ("Well, I don't know what to say, except it's Christmas and we're all in misery") and folks who appreciate the genius of Randy Quaid in his underwear, exclaiming "Shitter's full!"
In honor of the film's quarter-of-a-century milestone, we've asked the cast and creators to weigh in on the seasonal classic. From the intricate planning behind the film’s zany antics to freak snowstorms and cast freak-outs, this is the untold, no-holds-barred story of Christmas Vacation.
snip...
(Excerpt) Read more at rollingstone.com ...
Plus, it has the whole “kidnap and torture your boss” fantasy too, so really something for everyone!
Rolling Stone should stick to this work because they suck at anything resembling real journalism.
Yep. And these are the types of articles in Rolling Stone I enjoy (and actually finish) reading.
Plus, it has the whole “kidnap and torture your boss” fantasy too, so really something for everyone!
Actually that segment was based on an actual incident involving Laz.
Oh, Beverly.....
Funny film until the end when a “ends justifies the means” angle slithered in and it became just another Hollywood anti-capitalism propaganda film.
Yes, oh, Beverly - sizzle
I’d rather see Beverly D’Angelo in her underwear than Randy Quaid but that’s just me.
I didnt know there was a “christmas vacation” movie until I ran across a dvd copy of it in a local electronics store around 6-10 years ago. It was after new years and the store was trying to get rid of its remaining christmas themed stock such as the christmas movies on dvd.
Ive seen the original vacation movie in 1983 when it came out in the theater. But by 1989 when this movie came out, I had stopped going to the theaters because it was much cheaper to rent out movies on video. So I never knew this movie existed until I ran across the dvd in that store.
One of my favorite movies of all time!
However, I can attest that "Christmas Vacation" is indeed a classic Christmas movie. My favorite scenes is that involving the yuppies that live next door (Todd and Margo) because that reminds me of my wife and I back in the 1980s. We've changed since then but we were really the prototypical yuppies back in the day.
Which, of course, contains the greatest rant of all time;
"Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one.
I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here...with a big ribbon on his head!
And I want to look him straight in the eye, and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-assed, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed, sack of monkey $h!t he is! Hallelujah! Holy $h!t! Where's the Tylenol?"
We’re gonna have the “ Hap, Hap Happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tapped danced with Danny Fu*#@ng Kaye “ !!
;o)
Most of the time it is making us watch some dry safety video about workplace safety and avoiding hazards and accidents at work and or at home or some safety video that tries to be “humorous” but isn’t really.
At this month’s safety training (for December), we were shown several clips of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and were asked to identify all the unsafe acts that Clark Griswald committed. LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3W-1rouJoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KIO5TjGNHI
The best comment was “don’t invite your family to your house for Christmas”. : ),
oh, geez, lighten up. You really think Cousin Eddie was supposed to be a role model there?
The point with the boss wasn't that all capitalists are bad. It was that the particular boss in question was being a jerk. Even Clark said to him "if you don't want to give Christmas bonuses that's fine but give us a warning so we aren't counting on it."
Those few lines are some of the funniest to ever hit the silver screen.
I didn’t realize that either until last week (see post 17). I though “Rusty” looked a lot like a young Leonard Hofstadter so I had to look it up on IMD to be sure. But if I am not mistaken, every “Vacation” movie had different actors in the roles of the Griswald kids, Audrey and Rusty. Johnny Galecki while not particularly a stand out in the role of Rusty in Christmas Vacation has probably had the most commercial success post “Vacation”. The only actors to reprise their roles outside of Chevy Chase and Beverly DeAngelo are Randy Quaid and Miriam Flynn as Cousin Eddie and Catherine.
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