"Vacation 5" On 7/11/2012 at 8:25:54 PM, raptor2000 started the thread: I didn't really know what to call this thread, so since it is technically going to be the fifth movie in the series begun by National Lampoon's Vacation series, I went with Vacation 5. (the horrible direct-to-TV Christmas Vacation 2 doesn't count, IMO)
So, it appears Ed Helms will be playing Rusty Griswald in a new Vacation sequel as he embarks on his own family vacation...
I like Ed Helms, but I don't see the need to replace Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo just yet. Chase in particular has shown he can still be funny in Community (but, then again, he's also shown he can be not funny in most of the movies he's made in the last decade or two). I'm really only onboard this project if Chase and D'Angelo are involved in more capacity than just a simple cameo. If nothing else, make this a passing of the torch if they plan on continuing the series. A Randy Quaid appearance, cameo or otherwise, would be nice too, but I don't know if that is possible with his recent legal...um...difficulties.
Again, nothing against Helms, but he's got his own franchises, and doesn't need to be replacing actors in other franchises, especially when said actors are still alive and active.
Msg #1: On 7/12/2012 at 1:04:55 AM, Carnotaur3 replied, saying: I'm not really a fan of Ed Helms. And I wasn't really a fan of Hangover, which sealed the deal why I wasn't a fan of Ed Helms to begin with.
But anyway, the directors/writers are the guys who did "Horrible Bosses" and I hadn't laughed like that in forever. That film was fucking hilarious.
Jackle, I can't remember the last new movie that I thought was really funny. Replies: 9
Msg #8: On 7/12/2012 at 1:19:56 PM, Carnotaur3 replied, saying: The Jump Scare Cat gave me the giggles.
Msg #9: On 7/12/2012 at 3:29:08 PM, raptorpack. replied to Msg #7, saying: Probably wasn't me, but it was one of the worst films I saw last year
Msg #10: On 7/13/2012 at 12:38:48 AM, PaulSF replied, saying: I saw the same horrible movie Ostro did. I do agree that the running cat gag was hilarious, though. If it's not directed by Edgar Wright, I can't think of any modern comedies I've enjoyed. The World's End can't come soon enough. Replies: 14
Msg #11: On 7/13/2012 at 5:09:31 AM, Jackle replied, saying: Indeed... Comedies are so bad these days that I found it hard to believe you couldn't enjoy horrible bosses, which in my opinion is far superior than most shit that I've paid to see...
Msg #12: On 7/13/2012 at 9:13:48 AM, Adam replied, saying: It honestly never bothers me when someone doesn't like a particularly comedy. All comes down to sense of humour (fortunately I have a love for many sorts). Half the time it's not even about whether a comedy film is good or bad. I love Always Sunny and Charlie Day so I ate up his first big performance in a film. + I really dig Jason Bateman and I loved seeing Farrell and Spacey just let loose.
There is constantly uninspired dreck comedies coming out, and despite the fact it may not appeal to you, Horrible Bosses is not one of them.
Msg #14: On 7/13/2012 at 4:12:13 PM, Ostromite replied to Msg #10, saying: The only two films I thought of when Jackle asked which modern comedies I liked were Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I will be seeing The World's End opening weekend.
Adam: I don't think me disliking Horrible Bosses was simply a matter of taste. I think it was a poorly constructed comedy with flat timing and predictable, tame jokes. I can only speak for the first 45 minutes of the film, but every single joke I can remember was almost painful in how it dragged out predictable, juvenile punchlines.
A good example would be when they hire the guy in Craigslist for "wetwork." It's such an old gag for people to hire a stripper or prostitute mistaking them for another service, and I saw it coming a mile away, but they dragged it out for almost five minutes until the guy finally says "I urinate on men for money," which is supposed to be gross and shocking but it's really just saying out loud what was already obvious.
Another example is Motherfucker Jones explaining how he got his nickname. The setup was that he was going to tell a story about fucking his mother, so it was obvious that the punchline would be that it was something less gross or offensive, which it was, so it was arduous getting to the obvious punchline in the first place. What's worse, though, is that they kept cutting to reaction shots of those three guys going "Oh no, don't say it" or "I don't want to know!" in supposed-to-be hilarious revulsion. It was like a damn sitcom that'd gotten permission for R-rated swears.
The only reason I went to go see the film is that it has so many people in it that I really love. Jason Bateman is usually fantastic, in or out of Arrested Development, which I think is one of the funniest shows ever. Charlie Day is funny on Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but that show has a lot more balls and transgressive content than this film. I'm a huge fan of Kevin Spacey, but he totally phoned his performance in, as it was just a retread of several asshole bosses he'd played before. Colin Farrell, likewise, just played a cartoon character.
Msg #15: On 7/13/2012 at 4:58:46 PM, PaulSF replied, saying: Word for word agreement. It was depressing being the only one there not laughing hysterically at these scenes. I'm currently just thankful that there's no one around here to drag me to Ted, as I can tell it might be one of the most nauseating things I'd ever have to sit through.
Msg #16: On 7/14/2012 at 2:47:33 AM, Adam replied, saying: Well, I also love the comedy you listed above (Arrested Development is an all-time favourite) so I guess I just have a very broad enjoyment of comedy. Lucky me I guess. The jokes you mentioned above - yes, a couple of them had predictable punchlines - but for me it's more about the humorous reactions from the good actors doing the jokes.
+ You did only see the first 45 minutes, so there's alot of stuff towards the end you can't account for that I can assure is a lot less straight forward and predictable.
Ah well, like I said, doesn't bother me, because I can nearly always relate to someone with some kind of comedy. In this case its AD - and good to know your an Always Sunny fan too.
Msg #17: On 7/14/2012 at 12:35:01 PM, Carnotaur3 replied, saying: Let's get back to Vacation films. What's everyone's favorite? And how would you rank them?
Mine is:
1. Christmas Vacation 2. Vacation 3. European Vacation 4. Vegas Vacation Replies: 18
Msg #18: On 7/14/2012 at 2:49:51 PM, raptor2000 replied to Msg #17, saying: Mine would be: 1. Christmas Vacation 2. Vacation 3. Vegas Vacation 4. European Vacation
As mentioned earlier, I don't count Christmas Vacation 2 because it doesn't have any of the Griswalds except for Audry, and it sucks. European Vacation I have always found to be painfully unfunny, save for a couple scenes. Vegas has its moments...moreso than European, anyway. Christmas and the original are essentially tied IMO.
Msg #19: On 7/14/2012 at 4:00:47 PM, Ostromite replied, saying: Raptor2000's list would be mine, as well, though I have to say that Christmas Vacation is the only one I really like. I saw Vacation for the first time about five years ago and thought a lot of it was pretty disappointing, mainly because the characters are all more manic and unbelievable than they are in Christmas Vacation (which only hits a sour note for me with the lame opening cartoon and horrible theme song). European Vacation is simply dreadful.
Msg #20: On 7/14/2012 at 4:06:21 PM, Carnotaur3 replied, saying: Really the only ones worth a damn for me are Christmas and the original Vacation. European has a couple of moments and Vegas has very few (Papa Georgio stuff is mildly humorous with some of the Cousin Eddie stuff). European is just too goofy at times and the whole kidnapping thing feels out of place.
Christmas is pretty much perfection though. So many bits and memorable dialogue. You could pretty much quote the whole movie. Replies: 21
Msg #21: On 7/14/2012 at 4:11:21 PM, Ostromite replied to Msg #20, saying: I'm constantly surprised that the original Vacation is consistently ranked higher on lists of great comedies than Christmas Vacation is. Christmas Vacation is a perfect storm of gags. Replies: 22
Msg #22: On 7/15/2012 at 3:49:27 PM, Aragorn replied to Msg #21, saying: That's because most internet geeks and sites that pander to internet geeks have this thing where they constantly refuse to admit that a sequel could possibly be better then the original and thus if any movie in a series should be on a 'Best Of' list, it HAS to be the first, regardless of if its actually the better one or not. That's what I find in most cases anyway.
As for these movies, I've seen the first three times now - didn't like it the first time, but have gradually liked it more and more with each following viewing and now I pretty much love it. Other then that, I've never actually seen any of the others all the way through before, up till last night.
I tried watching European Vacation for the first time last year and couldn't even finish it, that's how horrible I found it. I recently picked up a 4-pack on DVD though for 5 bucks, so I'm in the middle of going through that now and finally sat through the entirety of European Vacation last night and it was still pretty damn bad. I admit that it does have a couple pretty funny scenes that I never got to make it to the last time I tried watching it, but those couple scenes aside I wouldn't recommend this piece of shit to anybody. Probably be somewhere on my list of Top Worst Sequels.
I'll be watching Christmas Vacation tonight for the first time and I'm really looking forward to that, since I hear practically nothing but good things about it. Vegas Vacation I've never really heard much about one way or the other, good or bad, and I'll probably check it out Monday night. Replies: 23
Msg #23: On 7/15/2012 at 5:38:04 PM, raptor2000 replied to Msg #22, saying: If you are watching them in chronological order, it is going to be hard to temper your expectations for Vegas having just watched the amazing Christmas Vacation, but if you watch it after, say, European, you'll be pleasantly suprised. It's nowhere near as good as the first and third films, but it is infinitely better than the second.
And as a lover of shitty TV movies, perhaps you would enjoy Christmas Vacation 2. It focuses on Cousin Eddie and his family (as well as Audry Griswald, played by the same actress that played her in the first film) and it is terrible, but extremely campy and I know you are into that kind of thing. For the sake of completion, I had to add it to my collection as it, sadly, is officially a part of the series and was made by National Lampoon, an achievement not even Vegas Vacation can claim. That said, though, National Lampoon has made nothing but bargain bin garbage for decades now. Replies: 24
Msg #24: On 7/15/2012 at 6:10:38 PM, Aragorn replied to Msg #23, saying: Yeah, National Lampoon has really gone down the ladder ever since the early 90's. Maybe even earlier then that. The only semi-recent National Lampoon movie I've enjoyed even a little bit, was one of the Dorm Daze movies, and I can't even remember now which one it was. And it was in no way a good movie, but it made me laugh a couple times and chuckle a few more times, which is more then most of their movies from the last couple decades have done.
And as for Christmas Vacation 2, I diffinitly plan on checking it out, but I don't have very high hopes for it. Even if I do enjoy it, I really can't see it holding a candle to the others. If anything, I'd probably just say I enjoy it as far as DtV movies go, but as far as Vacation movies go, it sucks, lol. Replies: 25
Msg #25: On 7/15/2012 at 6:25:04 PM, raptor2000 replied to Msg #24, saying: Even as far as DTV movies go, it blows. At least it can claim that it actually makes European Vacation look like a comedic masterpiece by comparison, but I'll let you be the judge of that.
On the upside, you can get it dirt cheap pretty much anywhere. I always see it in bargain bins in electronic stores, and it is currently going for $0.01 on Amazon used.
Msg #26: On 7/15/2012 at 10:56:24 PM, Aragorn replied, saying: So I've started watching Christmas Vacation, but there's one question I have to ask after seeing the first few minutes:
At what point did Rusty decrease in age? In the first two movies, he was what -16 or something? In this he doesn't seem any older then 12. And at what point (presumably the same point) did his younger sister become his older sister? As much as I love both Juliet Lewis and Roseanne/Big Bang Theory-buddy, neither one was right for those roles, at all. Replies: 27
Msg #27: On 7/15/2012 at 11:47:19 PM, raptor2000 replied to Msg #26, saying: Don't try to analyze their ages. The ages of the kids raise and lower and flip flop between all the movies. It's sort of a running gag that the kids are always played by different actors with no regard to consistency. As mentioned earlier, Christmas Vacation 2 is the only one to feature a returning actor for Audry. It's the same deal with Eddie's kids...always different actors for the kids, same actors for the adults.
They even sort of make fun of it in the films themselves...notice Clark never recognizes Rusty when he is right next to him, and can never remember Audry's name. Replies: 28
Msg #28: On 7/16/2012 at 12:04:42 AM, Ostromite replied to Msg #27, saying: Like Raptor2000 said, they always change the ages of kids and pick different actors. They don't even look alike from film to film. I think it's hilarious because part of the joke is that the kids are just basically props for gags anyway. One of the things I like about the series is how it refuses to sentimentalize nuclear families and basically focuses all the jokes around a "family man" whose obsession with having a perfect family experience is so narcissistic than he actually doesn't care about his children at all. Replies: 29
Msg #29: On 7/16/2012 at 1:51:21 AM, Carnotaur3 replied to Msg #28, saying: ^ Perfect description by Ostro here.
He also fantasizes about cheating on his wife in every movie too.
Msg #30: On 7/23/2015 at 7:56:53 AM, PaulSF replied, saying: Surprise, it looks like the worst thing possible.
