Movie Mondays (The Thursday Edition Because Kailyn Got Distracted): National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

I am so bad at blogging. Yes, I know the title references both Monday and Thursday and it is neither.

Ah, well.

Note to self: Trying to be productive during the chaos of the holidays is an exercise in futility.

But on the other hand, thinking about just how crazy the holidays were puts everything in perspective. Because honestly, at least I can be thankful I'm not a member of the Griswold family. Compared to their Christmas, mine looks like a Zen Relaxation Retreat or something. 

For at least the last ten years, watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve has been a tradition for my family. By some chance of fate, it turns out that it was a tradition in my husband's family as well. This year was our first Christmas in our own home together, and we continue on the tradition. I even bought the moose mugs!

From 1989, this Chevy Chase movie became a classic holiday film for a number of reasons. Though it's not without issues, I'm willing to forgive them for the sake of the holiday. Christmas Vacation was the third in the National Lampoon Vacation series, and many of the cast members from the original two films return for the Griswold family holiday catastrophe. Chevy Chase is the family patriarch Clark Griswold, Beverly D'Angelo (American History X) is the ever patient wife Ellen, Juliette Lewis (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) plays Audrey Griswold, and Johnny Galecki (Roseanne, The Big Bang Theory) plays young Rusty Griswold.

(Sidebar: I've seen this movie a million times. When I found out Johnny Galecki was little twelve year old Rusty I nearly had a heart attack. It just does not compute. We're talking Pre-Roseanne Galecki. He had that sarcastic eye roll down even at a young age.)

Unlike the first two Vacation movies, the Griswold family stays home for the holidays and their family comes to them. Both sets of grandparents, a great aunt and uncle, and crazy Cousin Eddie and his family all descend on the Griswold house. Eddie is portrayed by Randy Quaid if that helps you complete a mental image of pure insanity and chaos.

It was only recently that I discovered that Christmas Vacation was written by John Hughes. It is a movie with a pedigree in that regard. The movie is hilarious, and the humor is classic Hughes. And Chevy Chase. Clark Griswold has high expectations for his family's Christmas, expectations that stem from his childhood experiences. The lights on his house must be perfect (all 25,000 of them), the tree must be perfect, the presents... every little detail needs to live up to the memories he has. Over the course of the film, through various means he has to face the reality that he can't relive those Christmas memories. Even though I don't want to ascribe too much social resonance to it, it's an important thing to remember around the holidays.

We all have those Christmas memories that we want to recreate each year. When we were younger, things seemed more perfect around Christmas. At least in retrospect. Even if things weren't perfect then, we only remember the best parts. Part of growing up is remembering the reality. We can remember old holidays, but if we dwell on them so much that it ruins our present ones, it's not worth it. Keeping family traditions alive is one thing, but creating new ones and new memories is just as, if not more, important.

...okay. Now that was just holiday schmoop. I love the movie, it's a holiday classic for my family, but now I'm going to get just a teensy bit critical. Just for a moment. And then you can go back to trolling facebook or twitter or whatever else you were doing.

Let me make something clear: I trust John Hughes as a writer. Confer: Home Alone, Beethoven, Uncle Buck, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and Weird Science. The man knows what he is doing. However, there are a few things in the movie that sort of fell short of expectations. (Okay, maybe I know how Clark feels, but I'm not going to go apeshit about it.) There are certain scenes that don't seem to fit the pace of the rest of the movie, and actually bring the film to a grinding halt. The one that comes most to mind is that of Clark being stuck in the attic watching old films of family holidays past. From a writing standpoint, this was all information that could have been conveyed in interaction with his parents, who are in fact present at the house. Watching Clark watch old movies to get information on Clark's motivation... well, it bores me, and it rings of lazy writing.

The other element that irks me as a writer is the in-laws. Comments are made before the parents arrive that the in-laws don't get along with each other, but we never really see that. They are introduced but then just sort of remain in the background for the rest of the film, occasionally making snarky and rude comments. More focus falls on Cousin Eddie, and he doesn't arrive until at least half way into the movie.

But I can't even pin it all on Hughes. It could just as well be a directorial issue. Christmas Vacation was the directorial debut of Jeremiah S. Chechik. At certain points the movie just seems to run long, too long after a joke has been played out. Any number of the issues could fall on writer or director.

Issues aside, I love this film. It's a classic. I'll still watch it every year, because let's face it: Watching the Griswold Family Christmas slowly implode makes our own holidays seem so much more stress free.

Movie Mondays: Dear Santa

'Tis the season for cheesy holiday movies with plots and characters so sickeningly sweet you should make an appointment with your dentist for sometime after the first of the new year. 

This particular dose of candy cane flavored fluff is Dear Santa, a holiday made-for-television movie that premiered on Lifetime in November of 2011. Directed by Jason Priestley (yes, that Jason Priestley), this movie features Amy Acker (Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, Angel: The Series, Person of Interest), David Haydn-Jones (Time Bomb, White House Down), Patrick Creery, and Gina Holden (Flash Gordon, Blood Ties). Normally, I'm the type that runs screaming in the other direction from Lifetime movies. They tend to make my inner writer cringe. However, it's the holidays and also the season for forgiveness, so we'll let it slide. And come on, who doesn't love a cheesy Christmas romantic comedy?

Exactly. No one. So make yourself some hot chocolate or eggnog, appropriately spiked, and settle in for a feel good film for the holidays.

Crystal Carruthers (Acker) is a spoiled, rich brat who is still living on an allowance from her loaded parents at the age of thirty. Her world revolves around shopping, socializing, and lattes. That is, until her parents give her that classic ultimatum: Crystal has to do something with her life or face being cut off from her posh lifestyle. Of course, our young socialite panics and promises her mother she'll figure something out. Her parents give her until Christmas to sort herself out.

One cheesy trope down, about a million more to go.

Crystal's panic soon subsides as it seems fate has intervened in the form of a letter to Santa, conveniently blown out of the postal carrier's hands and into Crystal's. The letter is from a young girl, Olivia, and in it she tells Santa she has only one wish for Christmas: it's the second Christmas since her mom passed away and she just wants a new wife for her dad. You can practically see the light bulb blinking on above Crystal's head, even though you know deep down that a million things could go wrong with this insane idea. But it's a romantic comedy, so take another sip of your eggnog and strap in because it's time for Crystal to go a-stalking.

(I mean that in all seriousness. She tracks down their house, and ends up trailing the father and daughter in her very conspicuous black Range Rover for a day. Never said Crystal was the brightest crayon in the box, but she gets points for effort,even if realistically it's a bit creepy.)

Crystal's trip following the stereotypically attractive single father around leads her to a Soup Kitchen, where the man presumably volunteers. Our crazy privileged protagonist wanders in and pretends she's meant to be there volunteering as well, and she meets the father, Derek (Haydn-Jones), properly. Crystal is in nothing less than a state of culture shock at being in a soup kitchen, but she makes do. She even makes a friend in the form of Pete Kennedy (Creery), the "head chef" at the soup kitchen. Pete, in his bright pink chef's jacket and designer lip gloss, fills our requirement of sassy gay friend in the film. Mark it off on your rom-com bingo cards, and take another drink of eggnog. Trust me.

Pete soon informs Crystal, that no, Derek doesn't just volunteer at the soup kitchen, he runs it. The soup kitchen had been a pet project of his late wife's and he continues to run it, keeping his promise he made to her.

So not only is he an attractive single father, he's just a genuinely good-hearted person. Merry Christmas Crystal. Let the cliche romantic comedy shenanigans begin! Including, but not limited to: making the sassy gay friend an accomplice, adorable bonding with the daughter, foiling the plots of the "evil" current girlfriend, and of course, holiday themed parties and subplots.

Is it cheesy? Yes. Can we tell it's a bit cheaply made? Definitely. Will it make you feel good? Absolutely. Yes, it has many of the holiday movie cliches, and innumerable romantic comedy tropes, but it's an adorable movie that will make you feel good and put you in the holiday spirit. Yes, Crystal starts out as a spoiled brat seeking only to help herself, but she grows over the course of the movie, and by the end you'll be cheering for her. I did.

I give Dear Santa two mugs of spiked hot chocolate covered in whipped cream. (This is my points system. I do what I want.)

If you want to check out Dear Santa, you can find it currently streaming on Netflix. It will also be shown on Lifetime on Sunday, December 22nd at 7pm and again at 11pm. It'll also air again on Christmas Eve at 2pm. 

Next week, I'll be covering another holiday favorite, and one that is a classic in my family. Check back to see which it is! Until then, what are your favorite holiday movies? Leave your answers in comments. Happy Holidays!