News

How do you follow up a genre-defining, career-making, massively successful cinematic watershed motion picture like "Jaws?" The answer, apparently, is to make a string of sequels that succumb to increasingly diminished returns. While "Jaws 2" is a highly decent yet nowhere near as stellar follow-up that provided essentially more of the same thrills as the original (which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month), "Jaws 3" is rightfully regarded as a massive let-down. Yes, "Jaws 3" is a generally fun, morally prescient time if you take it as a standalone shark thriller movie, but it's still a sad excuse for a sequel to one of the greatest movies ever made. It also begs another, more pressing question: How in the world did this happen?

The answer to that varies with each sequel, of course, and yet there may be a particular circumstance to blame in the case of "Jaws 3.

This article contains spoilers for "Reacher" Season 3.

One of the recurring aspects of "Reacher," apart from bad guys with short lifespans, is middlemen who get involved with the wrong people. In Season 3, this position is filled by Bizarre Bazaar CEO Zachary Beck, who has already seen his family suffer at the hands of his "business partner," Julius McCabe, formerly known as Xavier Quinn (Brian Tee). To make matters worse, all this corruption and illegal activity has caught the attention of DEA agent Susan Duffy (Sonya Cassidy), who, following a botched undercover operation, sends in our boy Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) to keep tabs on what's happening. After Reacher poses as potential muscle for the businessman, Beck's world soon gets turned upside down as traitorous activity begins to reveal itself, deals go south, and the bad guys closest to him end up very, very dead.

Understandably, it's a stressful situation to be in,...

This July, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment with a sequel of a beloved film like My Spy titled The Eternal City and an animated sequel series to the comedy gold, which was the Sausage Party film titled Foodtopia. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 7 best films that are coming to Prime Video in July 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Animal House (July 1)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

National Lampoon’s Animal House is a classic comedy-drama film directed by John Landis from a screenplay co-written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Chris Miller. Inspired by National Lampoon stories written by Matty Simmons and Ivan Reitman, the 1978 film follows the story of freshmen Larry and Kent as they join a troublemaking...

The late Donald Sutherland was one of the legendary actors in the industry, who saw a resurgence in his career in the 2010s with his role in The Hunger Games. Sutherland rose to prominence with his role as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H and went on to become a major presence in several classics and box office hits. Interestingly, he made a financial mistake in the negotiation of a movie role that cost his $20 million.

Donald Sutherland in The Hunger Games | Color Force

Sutherland was reportedly offered the choice of either taking a fixed salary or a percentage cut of profits and the actor chose the former in the film. It almost reminds fans of Matt Damon’s revelation of his worst financial mistake when he rejected the role in Avatar which offered him a percentage cut.

Donald Sutherland’s One Mistake Cost Him A $20 Million Payday Donald...

Tales of Hollywood actors turning down profit participation in huge hits are rampant, as when Orson Welles rejected the initial $75,000 plus 10 percent of the gross offer on 1949’s The Third Man for a quick $100,000 dollars up front. Not bad for only ten days’ work. Plus, he needed cash to finance Othello right away so it all worked out… except The Third Man would ultimately become one of the most financially successful movies of Welles’ career. He later regretted this, of course, and if the director of Citizen Kane wasn’t enough of a genius to go for points, then certainly the iconic, and yet strangely underappreciated, actor Donald Sutherland wasn’t immune to bad monetary decisions either.

Sutherland, who passed away yesterday at age 88 after a long illness, had an incredible career littered with enduring classics like M*A*S*H, Klute, and Best Picture winner Ordinary People to his resume.

Ah, 1978. It was the year that Slashfilm writer Lee Adams entered the world, and two movies changed the course of comedy forever (those landmarks are unrelated; I'm not trying to claim any credit). Those movies were "National Lampoon's Animal House" and Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke" — two lowbrow hits whose influences are still felt to this day.

There was lowbrow stuff before 1978, of course. Slapstick — the age-old art of falling over, breaking things, and hitting people — was still doing the rounds in the increasingly weary adventures of Inspector Clouseau. But the class of '78 was different: wild, irreverent, raucous, bawdy, subversive, counterculture comedy that delighted the kids and antagonized the squares.

The two films had their roots in the '60s. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong developed their stand-up act in the latter part of the decade before making their break on the big screen with the granddaddy of stoner movies,...

"Animal House" was the first movie ever created under the name of National Lampoon. It made the humor magazine a household name, but not everybody on the staff was interested in venturing into the movie business. In fact, some of the writers and editors at the magazine felt that the film brought on an unwelcome shift that would eventually render them obsolete.

The film arrived in 1978, eight years after National Lampoon was founded, and achieved instant success. The magazine went on to attach its name to a number of other films, including 1983's "Vacation," which was so popular it exploded into its own movie franchise.

The success of "Animal House" brought a lot of new readers to the magazine, and it also brought a lot of the magazine's writers into the entertainment business. One of the magazine's founders, Henry Beard, had warned the staff against going into film and television before he moved on.

There are two situations where you should never speak without a lawyer present. One is when you're being questioned by the police, and the other is during contract negotiations. Donald Sutherland learned the latter the hard way.

Sutherland had a supporting role in "Animal House" as Professor Dave Jennings, a hippie whose attitude is closer to his students' than the Faber College administration. He even re-used his wig from "Don't Look Now" to play Jennings: The curly perm and mustache fit even better for the part of a hippie professor. "Fat, Drunk, & Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House" by Matty Simmons tells the story of how Sutherland got the part.

John Landis, director of "Animal House," befriended Sutherland on the set of "Kelly's Heroes" and wanted to work with him. "Animal House" was in production at the same time as the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers...

Prior to his film career, John Hughes worked in advertising and wrote comedic short stories on the side to flex his creative muscles (via The New York Times). One of Hughes' shorts, "Vacation '58," was published by National Lampoon Magazine in 1979, and then adapted into the 1983 film "National Lampoon's Vacation." The film earned 61 million and introduced the world to the shenanigans of The Griswold family. A second film in the series, "National Lampoon's European Vacation," was less successful, but Hollywood remained interested in Hughes' Griswold tales, especially one that centered on Christmas.

After producing the first two films in the franchise, executive producer Matty Simmons told Rolling Stone in a 2020 retrospective that he turned his attention to another Hughes short, "Christmas '59." In 1989, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" became the most successful Griswold film (earning 74 million worldwide), despite being the last of the franchise, and continues to spawn loads of holiday...

Bluto, the volcanic Samurai Futaba, “Joliet” Jake Blues, the Cheeseburger Man, a spasmodic Joe Cocker—the list of characters John Belushi brought to life in his all-too-brief but remarkable career only hints at his outsized role in American comedy.

“This guy was pure visionary,” marvels R.J. Cutler, director of the Showtime documentary Belushi about the late film star and original Saturday Night Live cast member. “[His] work remains vital to this very day.”

To make his biographical film Cutler initially reached out to many of Belushi’s famous contemporaries. But that only took him so far.

“I spent a fair amount of time [chatting] with folks who had known John, and I started to feel like the stories they were telling me were kind of lost in the foggy haze of memory. They felt a little like, ‘These are the stories I tell when I tell stories about John Belushi,’” Cutler recalls.

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...

You’ve probably seen John Belushi’s screen test for Saturday Night Live. It’s been floating around the internet for a while, and shows up on the occasional SNL original-cast docs. Part of the four-minute clip opens R.J. Cutler’s Belushi, his portrait of the comedian premiering on Showtime (starting November 22nd). By the time he got to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Chicago-born, Albanian-American 26-year-old had already become the Tasmanian devil of Second City’s stage shows, the standout’s of National Lampoon’s off-off-Broadway satire Lemmings and Michael O’Donoghue...

Sam Lloyd, best known for his role as downtrodden lawyer Ted Buckland on “Scrubs,” has died. He was 56.

Lloyd was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor last year, which was revealed in a GoFuneMe campaign that was launched by “Scrubs” producer Tom Hobert and his wife.

Lloyd’s agent confirmed the news of his death. Vanessa Lloyd, Sam’s wife, released a statement saying, “Sam passed away peacefully at 10:30 on April 30, 2020 as a result of complications from lung cancer. Our family is devastated. It doesn’t feel real. It never will. It just feels like he will walk through the door.”

The statement continued, “The overwhelming outpouring of love and sharing your stories about working with or knowing Sam keeps his memory alive and our hearts strong. Sam loved his work. I want to continue his legacy, and hope to share some of the beautiful songs he was working...

Media executive Matty Simmons, a producer of the influential “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation” comedy movies, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 93.

His daughter, Kate Simmons, announced the news on her Instagram account on Thursday.

“Yesterday I lost my hero,” she wrote, in part. “My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93 year old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona. What he did in a lifetime was legendary.”

Matty Simmons was a Brooklyn native and an executive VP at the Diners Club credit card company. He founded Twenty First Century Communications in 1967 with Len Mogel to publish countercultural magazine Cheetah, then went on to publish Weight Watchers and National Lampoon magazines.

The National Lampoon launched in 1970 as a spinoff of the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine, which led to the 1972 stage show “Lemmings” and “The National Lampoon Radio Hour.” Performers included...

Matty Simmons, a founder of the Diners Club credit card and Weight Watchers magazine who found his highest profile success after co-founding National Lampoon magazine and producing film offshoots including Animal House and the Vacation franchise, died Wednesday in Los Angeles following a brief, non-coronavirus-related illness. He was 93.

Simmons death was announced by his daughter Kate Simmons.

More from DeadlineJun Maeda Dies Of Covid-19: Obie Award-Winning Theater Set Designer Was 79Veteran Casting Director Cis Corman Remembered By "Best Friend" Barbra StreisandPeter H. Hunt Dies: Tony Award-Winning '1776' Director, Uncle Of Actress Helen Hunt Was 81

“Yesterday I lost my hero,” Kate Simmons wrote on Instagram. “My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93 year old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona.”

An author of nine books including the 2012 memoir Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Making of Animal House (St. Martins Press), Simmons made...

Matty Simmons, who co-founded the National Lampoon magazine and produced films including Animal House and the Vacation movies starring Chevy Chase, died Wednesday, his daughter announced. He was 93.

"Yesterday I lost my hero," daughter Kate Simmons wrote in an Instagram post. "My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93-year-old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona."

The Brooklyn-born Simmons, a top executive with Diners Club, the first credit card company, was brought on to assist Harvard Lampoon alumni Doug Kenney and Henry Beard in the publication of National Lampoon, with the first ...

Matty Simmons, who co-founded the National Lampoon magazine and produced films including Animal House and the Vacation movies starring Chevy Chase, died Wednesday, his daughter announced. He was 93.

"Yesterday I lost my hero," daughter Kate Simmons wrote in an Instagram post. "My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93-year-old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona."

The Brooklyn-born Simmons, a top executive with Diners Club, the first credit card company, was brought on to assist Harvard Lampoon alumni Doug Kenney and Henry Beard in the publication of National Lampoon, with the first ...

Neither a pun-based title or hagiography, A Futile and Stupid Gesture follows the caustic rise of National Lampoon from Harvard to newspaper stands to radio, TV, and film. Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson) and Douglas Kenney (Will Forte) nurtured a new generation of comedians who found their way to Saturday Night Live, including Michael O’Donoghue (Thomas Lennon), the show’s first head writer. The Lampoon’s shenanigans were bankrolled by Matty Simmons (Matt Walsh), the American entrepreneur behind Weight Watchers.

We spoke Lennon and Walsh during this year’s Sundance Film Festival where the film debuted. The actors talk about competition between their comedy groups (Lennon was in The State and Walsh in the Upright Citizens Brigade), Walsh’s SAG awards speech for Veep and capturing the essence of O’Donoghue and Simmons.

For a majority of the conversation, the pair tackle National Lampoon’s un-p.C. humor and why...

Netflix has released the first trailer for their upcoming biopic A Futile & Stupid Gesture, starring Will Forte as comedy wunderkind Doug Kenney. While this icon might not necessarily be a household name, he co-created the National Lampoon magazine, along with co-writing comedy classic movies Caddyshack and Animal House. Kenney was at the center of the 70's comedy counter-culture which gave birth to Saturday Night Live and a whole generation's way of looking at the world. The trailer hints that the movie will take quite a unique approach, with Will Forte playing Doug Kenney in the 1970s, and Martin Mull playing the "modern-day" Doug Kenney... even though he's been dead for 37 years.

The trailer begins with someone asking Martin Mull, in character as "modern-day" Doug, who is asked by his interviewer if he could introduce himself as, "the man who changed comedy, but couldn't change himself," which lead Mull to respond with,...

Screen Masculinity

Dark Horizons regular and good friend Blake Howard today continues his and my column exploring masculinity in movies. His truly stellar second piece which just went online explores the relationships of fathers and sons in "Superman" and "The Judge" and how his own personal experiences come into play in his assessment. Check out the feature by clicking here.

Sharone Stone

Last month came word that Sharon Stone would appear in an upcoming Marvel movie with several outlets speculating it would be as Janet Van Dyne in "Ant-Man and the Wasp".

Stone couldn't confirm though, saying that along with having already signed the contract, she also had to sign an Nda. In a new interview this week though, she offered two brief clues - revealing that her secret power is heat and the character is a hero. [Source: Aarp]

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead

A+E Studios is developing "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead,...

A+E Studios will develop a scripted workplace series based on Douglas Tirola’s feature documentary film “Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon.” The series marks the first time A+E has developed a series based on one of its own properties. For the doc, Tirola conducted extensive interviews with all the magazine’s key living editors, writers and artists and unearthed never-before-seen archival footage in his feature documentary, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and aired on History in January 2016. Also Read: Jackie Tohn to Play Gilda Radner in Netflix's National Lampoon Movie Matty Simmons,...

Right before production kicks off, Martin McDonagh‘s highly anticipated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has improved a remarkably impressive ensemble. The Wrap report on the additions of Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, and Manchester By the Sea‘s Lucas Hedges, who are to play, in order: a man fancying the picture’s lead (Frances McDormand); said lead’s ex-husband; and said lead’s son.

As previously reported, Three Billboards concerns “a 50-year-old woman whose daughter is murdered and she goes to war with the police in her home town, because she thinks they are more interested in torturing black people than getting justice.” Revealed in the newest update is a bit more about the plot: to shame Ebbing’s police, she “pays for three local billboards lambasting law enforcement officials and goading them into action.” Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell portray the sheriff and “hot-headed protégé,” respectively, while Caleb Landry Jones...

Exclusive: The fifth-season debut of HBO's Veep is just over two weeks away, but Matt Walsh has jumped on board for some National Lampoon fun in A Futile And Stupid Gesture. The SAG Award nominee will be playing producer and publishing exec Matty Simmons in the Netflix pic directed by David Wain. A former newspaperman and credit card exec, Simmons was the CEO of National Lampoon publishers Twenty First Century Communications. Once the mag became a success, Simmons was a…...

Attention comedy geeks everywhere! To paraphrase a literary classic, this new documentary feature lets us all “look back in laughter” at one of the most influential humor magazines of the last fifty years. Actually its legacy reaches on past its newstand existence. Yes, it’s been absent from newsstands (there’s still a few of them left) for nearly twenty years. But, to paraphrase again, we’ve come “not to bury this magazine, but to praise it”. And to recall the chuckles and the mini-empire it spawned. Of course, this wasn’t the first humor publication. Puck paved the way decades before. Then Mad magazine shook up the staid 1950’s. But by 1970, that mag had somewhat settled into a (still entertaining) routine, poking fun at suburbia, and wasn’t connecting with the “counter-culture”. Younger “baby boomers” wanted their humor to have a sharper edge, to reflect the “hippie” spirit, and...

People turns 40 this year, and we have to say, it's looking pretty good for having four decades in the spotlight. Just like any other cultural institution (the White House; The Peach Pit), the magazine has made more than a few appearances in TV and movies. Let's look at some of our favorites. Jeff Goldblum in The Big Chill Goldblum's performance as a sex-obsessed People journalist was dubbed "perhaps the Goldblummiest of Jeff Goldblum's early performances" by Slate. That said, it's not all that accurate. Not all People writers are self-loathing egomaniacs obsessed over their non-existent novel-writing careers. Just most of them - kidding!

Chicago – She wrote a book called “Samurai Widow,” and was married to John Belushi from 1976 to his death in 1982. She is Judy Belushi, and she will be part of a cast reunion of the classic film “Animal House,” to be presented at the theaters Hollywood Palms in Naperville (Illinois) and Hollywood Blvd in Woodridge, on November 15th-17th, 2013.

Judy Belushi was with John before the beginning of his superstardom, having met him in high school at Wheaton, Illinois, where they both grew up. She followed him through his early years at The Second City in Chicago in 1971, and moved to New York City in 1973 when Belushi got a job with “The National Lampoon Radio Hour.” Many of his radio colleagues became original cast members with Belushi on a new late night TV show in 1975, “Saturday Night Live.” From there, John Belushi became a sensation with the 1978 release of “Animal House...

"Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad, Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-oad..."

Hard to believe it's been 30 years since the Griswold family first took to the road in "National Lampoon's Vacation." Ever since its release on July 29, 1983, the landmark comedy seems a permanent fixture of pop culture, having created the signature roles of Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Randy Quaid's careers, having helped make stars out of Anthony Michael Hall and Jane Krakowski, and having helped launch the filmmaking career of John Hughes. The movie seems to play on an endless loop on TV, like the neighbors' slideshow of a nightmarish trip you were grateful not to have taken yourself. (Except, let's face it, you probably have a family road trip this disastrous in your past.)

Still, as many times as you've seen the film, there are some details you may have missed. Read on to learn about the in-jokes you haven't spotted, the scenes you didn't get to see,...

“No one wants to make this movie.” That’s what studio chief Ned Tanen told John Landis in the mid-70s about this vulgar frat house comedy called Animal House. Thursday night, Landis was reminiscing at the movie’s 35th anniversary at Toronto’s Tiff Bell Lightbox with producers Ivan Reitman and Matty Simmons, plus co-stars Stephen Furst (Dorfman) and Martha Smith (Babs). Based on stories that ran in The National Lampoon magazine, Animal House pits a dysfunctional fraternity against an uptight university administration. Made for $2.7 million in 1978, Animal House was a box-office smash that made a star of John Belushi and …...

Clark Griswold and the rest of the Griswold’s infamous trip to the magical land of Walley World returns to Blu-Ray in a special re-released 30th Anniversary Edition of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Now, you can relive the famous cross-country road trip film that made way for one of National Lampoon’s most successful series’ of all-time. Harold Ramis’ Vacation isn’t as memorable as some of the later entries in the series, but it’s a lot of fun, thanks to Chevy Chase and the rest of the cast.

The Griswold family vacation has one end point — Walley World. Clark Griswold has cemented it in his mind that he and his family will make it to Walley World, no matter how long it takes or what they have to physically do to arrive at their destination. And the reality of what they do eventually put themselves through to get...

Chicago – Few comedies from the ’80s are as beloved and rewatchable as “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” a surprise hit that produced multiple sequels and legions of fans. It’s probably playing somewhere on cable right now and will be for another three decades. However, in those cable airings, you won’t get to see the feature-length documentary, “Inside Story,” about the making of the film featuring new interviews with nearly all of the major players from Chevy Chase to Harold Ramis to Jane Krakowski. If you’re a comedy fan, the Blu-ray is worth picking up just for that special feature alone.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

From the location scouting to Imogene Coca’s fear of travel to Anthony Michael Hall’s crush on his sister in the film, “Inside Story” is a really strong “Behind the Music”-esque look at one of the most iconic comedies of its era. “Vacation” has held up remarkably well.

Holiday rooooooooooad. Come on. You know the words. It’s that time of year when the weather is starting to heat up, families are planning their yearly excursions to the greater parts of the world, and the highways of this great nation of ours are going to be filled with Family Trucksters. What better time than to visit the original cross-country, family quest for fun? That’s right. We’re talking about National Lampoon’s Vacation. Not only was I shocked to find there was a commentary track on this 20th Anniversary Special Edition, but it contains director Harold Ramis, producer Matty Simmons, and most of the Griswold clan, Cousin Eddie included. Sadly Beverly D’Angelo didn’t make this trip, but our hearts and prayers are with her. As for the rest of the tribe, they give us more than our fair share of Vacation trivia, insight into the filming, and...

Universal Studios Home Entertainment continues to tap its library of awesome comedies from the 1970s and 1980s with the premiere of 1978 ’s classic National Lampoon’s Animal House on Blu-ray on July 26.

"Toga, toga, toga," Belushi cried ... and comedy history was made in Animal House.

We don’t have to sit hear and tell you anything you haven’t already heard about the Delta House fraternity and its roster of animals, including such superstar frat boys as John Belushi (whose Blues Brothers comes to Blu-ray the same day), Tim Matheson (No Strings Attached), Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Stephen Furst (TV’s Bablyon 5) and Bruce McGill (TV’s Rizzoli & Isles). Throw in Donald Sutherland (The Mechanic), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and John Vernon (Dirty Harry) as the evil Dean Wormer, and you’ve got one helluva toga party going on!

The new Blu-ray disc won’t have any new special features,...

Date NightExtras include:

CommentaryGag ReelExtended Car ChaseDirecting off cameraDate Night PSAs (three versions)Directing 301 with Shawn LevyDeleted Scenes (Bd-exclusive)Extended Scenes (Bd-exclusive)Disaster Dates with the Cast (Bd-exclusive)Steve and Tina camera tests (Bd-exclusive)Live Lookup (Bd-exclusive)

The Joneses

Extras include:

Deleted Scenes

La Mission

Extras include:

The Music of 'La Mission'[Read More...]

Crumb (Criterion Collection)

Extras include:

Commentary with director Terry ZwigoffCommentary with film critic Roger Ebert and ZwigoffUnused footage (*with optional commentary by Zwigoff)Stills galleryBooklet - 28-page illustrated booklet containing film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum's essay "Crumb Reconsidered", reproductions and more

Vacation Blu-ray

Extras include:

Intro to the film with Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, and Matty SimmonsCommentary track with Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, and Matty Simmons

European Vacation Blu-ray

Extras include:

Commentary track with Chevy Chase

What's Up, Doc? Blu-ray

Extras include:

CommentaryScene-Specific Commentary by Barbara StreisandScrewball Comedies—Remember Them? 1972 featurette...

You can take two classic trips with Chevy Chase in high definition for the first time this August. Vacation and European Vacation will be released on Blu-ray on August 10. Each disc will be priced at $24.98 Srp and you can take a look at the cover art below. Both films star Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo as Clark and Ellen Griswold.

Vacation

Everything is planned, packed - and about to go hilariously wrong. The Griswolds are going on vacation. In the driver's seat is Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase), an Everyman eager to share the open road and the wonders of family togetherness. Myriad mishaps, crude kin (Randy Quaid), encounters with a temptress (Christie Brinkley), financial woes, Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) on the roof, one security guard (John Candy) and 2,460 miles later, it's a wonder the Griswolds are together. There's never been a family vacation like it. Except maybe yours. And that...

Chicago – Does the fact that “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is receiving a lavish 20th anniversary edition Blu-Ray release make anyone else feel old? Just me? Whether you’re old enough to remember the first “Vacation” or young enough to know Chevy Chase as “that old guy on Community,” this is a lavish collector’s set for a great holiday film timed for holiday shopping.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

Warner Home Video has begun an interesting trend of making Blu-Ray sets for their most beloved films that almost feel more about the collectibles than the movie itself. In some cases (“Blade Runner: The Final Cut,” “The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Edition”), the disc itself includes enough bonus material and a lovingly remastered picture that the collectibles appropriately feel like a companion instead of the main draw. Such is not the case with the set for “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,...

Sixteen years after Chevy Chase loaded up the station wagon and hauled the wife and two kids off on one of his family-bonding vacations, this comic franchise is retracing overly traveled roads. Unfortunately, "Vegas Vacation" is not getting the same kind of laugh mileage as its more supple (excluding "European Vacation") precursors. Still, for those of us with a weak spot for the Griswold clan, there are enough welcome familiarities and slapstick sojourns to titillate, if not entirely tickle, the funny bone. Sagely produced by Jerry Weintraub, "Vegas'" funniest moments are, quite simply, inspired by the neo-neon setting of the land of Wayne Newton.

With the kids self-absorbed in their late-teen situations, papa Clark (Chase) entices his clan, including adoring wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and kids (Ethan Embry, Marisol Nichols), to take yet another family vacation. It's not an idea that they readily warm to, but Clark smartly pitches it as an opportunity for him and Ellen to renew their wedding vows. Packed and strung with plenty of silent-screen-style slapstick, this "Vacation" once again features Chase as the lovably klutzy family man whose eagerness to make the vacation perfect invariably botches things up. Indeed, screenwriter Elisa Bell dutifully follows the raucous road that writer-director John Hughes laid out with such anarchic energy during this franchise's early years. Despite following the same narrative map, "Vegas Vacation" never settles into more than a trip-tick around Las Vegas as the Griswolds are shepherded to one Vegas show -- Siegfried & Roy, Newton, etc. -- after another. There's a feeble story attempt to give Clark a gambling problem and a rather unbelievable interlude when Newton makes some moves on mama Griswold, but there's little comic substance.

While director Stephen Kessler has a smart, sardonic eye on Las Vegas craziness and an eager appreciation for using slapstick, the gags are slackly strung together and lamely punctuated. Not surprisingly, both Chase and D'Angelo have their parts down pat. As the squirrely but square Clark, Chase is a perfect blend of out-of-control compulsiveness, while D'Angelo is winningly radiant as his sweet-and-saucy wife. Still, "Vegas'" chief winnings come courtesy of the well-selected supporting players. Wallace Shawn, as a nettlesome and snide dealer, is a particular highlight, while Randy Quaid is once again a hoot as Clark's metal-brained cousin. As Jilly from Philly, producer Weintraub does an appropriately chilly turn as a guy you don't want to mess with.

Up and down the filmic strip, production values are flush, including William A. Fraker's snazzy cinematography and Carol James' aptly tacky costuming.

VEGAS VACATION

Warner Bros.

A Jerry Weintraub production

Producer Jerry Weintraub

Director Stephen Kessler

Screenwriter Elisa Bell

Story Elisa Bell, Bob Ducsay

Executive producers Matty Simmons,

Susan Ekins

Co-producer R.J. Louis

Director of photography William A. Fraker

Production designer David L. Snyder

Costume designer Carol James

Editor Seth Flaum

Music Joel McNeely

Color/stereo

Cast:

Clark Griswold Chevy Chase

Ellen Griswold Beverly D'Angelo

Cousin Eddie Randy Quaid

Rusty Griswold Ethan Embry

Dealer Wallace Shawn

Audrey Griswold Marisol Nichols

Cousin Catherine Miriam Flynn

Cousin Vickie Shae D'Lyn

Himself Wayne Newton

Themselves Siegfried & Roy

Running time -- 92 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...