Splitsider

One of the best things about this time of year is getting to watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Of all the Christmas movies out there, it’s definitely my favorite. Watching this third installment of the Griswold family was something of a tradition for the Worcester family, and even after countless viewings, it still makes me laugh out loud every year.

Chevy Chase is at the top of his game and the supporting cast is note perfect. Everything comes together flawlessly in this movie, easily making it the best of the Vacation franchise. For more detail on that, please consult my fellow Splitsider contributor Alden Ford.

To properly show [...]

In The Finally Screenings, Alden Ford is watching comedy classics that, because he grew up in a cave in Alaska, he’s never seen. These are his takes on movies everyone else has seen before.

Okay, National Lampoon. You win this round.

Christmas Vacation is the first National Lampoon movie I’ve seen for this column that actually works. Impossible, you say? Well, maybe it’s the benevolent Christmas spirit filling my tiny green Grinch heart. Or maybe it’s some decent characters and set pieces finally given a chance to take on some dimension and relatability.

It’s not that difficult to do, and when it happens it makes a world of [...]