DVD Collectors Online

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, a review by Dragonfire

This holiday season Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) vows his clan will enjoy "the most fun-filled old-fashioned family Christmas ever." Before you can sing "Fa-la-la-la-lah," he decks the halls with howls of folly in the perennial favorite 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'.

Seeing is believing. There are 25,000 lights on the roof. An exploding turkey on the dining room table. A SWAT team taking siege outside. A festive supporting cast (Including Beverly D'Angelo, Juilia Louis-Dreyfus, Juliette Lewis, William Hickey, and more) and a John Hughes script full of wit, heart and sheer goofiness. Yule love it!

My Thoughts

I saw this movie in the theater back when it came out.  I loved it then and I still love it and it is one of my favorite Christmas movies.  I've watched it every year at least once in December since I got the DVD several years ago.  I know it is silly and goofy, but I like it.  I think it is the best of the Vacation movies and probably the last really great Christmas movie made that wasn't aimed at kids - and several of those have been iffy.  The movie is hilarious with Clark going overboard trying to make Christmas perfect for everyone.  It started out innocent enough by going to get the tree and then everything spiraled out of control from there.  Clark, who I think has been known for having some flip outs, had 2 this one.  The first was a bit more minor when his twinkle lights wouldn't come on and then late in the movie he had the big one that always cracks me up.  It is the best of Clark's various flip outs.  Everything about the movie works, starting with the cute animation for the opening credits.

 

Here are two funny quotes from Clark.

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, fore-fleshing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?

Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.


(From 25 Days of Christmas on December 3rd, 2008)

Ghosts of Edendale, a review by addicted2dvd

Ghosts of Edendale


My Thoughts:
This is another one that my friend gave me... the same friend that gave me Hide & Seek. This one I didn't care for nearly as much. I would say this one is OK at best... but this movie had a couple problems I couldn't get past. First of all it was a rather slow movie. So much so that I actually felt like I was forcing myself to keep watching. Another problem I had with this one is that I just couldn't get myself to care about any of the characters. When you combine slow with characters you don't care about it is really hard to enjoy the movie. On the good side (yes there is a good side) they did have a couple of interesting ghost appearances. a couple of ideas of seeing ghosts that I haven't seen in any other movie. And for the most part the ghosts looked good. Unfortunately that just wasn't enough to save this movie from being any more then just OK.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on December 21st, 2007)

Smallville Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

9. ROGUE
The secret is out - perhaps. Clark performs a lifesaving act of superheroism, thinking there is no witnesses, but a nearby cop sees everything, and he has blackmail in mind.

My Thoughts:
This was another good episode... nothing that really stands out on it... but enjoyable.

10. SHIMMER
A servant is supposed to be invisible to their employers. But someone at Lex's mansion takes that axiom literally when he uses an invisibility potion to cloak himself during a manor-wide terror spree.

My Thoughts:
In my opinion only an ok episode. Has a couple decent moments but like the one before... nothing all that special about it.

11. HUG
His kryptonite-infused handshakeseals the deal! a manipulative, wheeler-dealer entreprenuer exerts a myseterious power over Smallville residents - and even convinces Clark's dad to sell the family farm.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode. an interesting situation... and the first time they use the forget angle when someone finds out that Clark isn't "normal".

12. LEECH
Lets see how the other half live. After a fluke lightning strike, Clark experiences the joys and pains of a normal human existance, and a classmate suddenly has the powers once weilded by Clark.

My Thoughts:
This one is a really good episode... I enjoyed it a lot... the storyline of how another could/would handle the powers Clark possesses is an interesting one.

(From Smallville Marathon on July 31st, 2007)