Yes, friends, I finally saw National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation over the Thanksgiving holiday, and I’ve been saving my meview til now! So, as you can see by my rating, I liked it. I really liked it. There are some parts that are piss-yourself hilarious (particularly when Chevy Chase falls out of the attic). There’s a Solid story (hosting the holiday gathering). And the movie has no major lulls, a great accomplishment for a holiday comedy.

I really never knew how hilarious Chevy Chase was. his facial expressions are pretty fabulous, and he has excellent timing as well. Beverly D’Angelou is a talented lady, and the supporting cast offered plenty of fine moments as well. I dug this flic–it’s not one of the best movies I’ve ever seen nor a personal favorite–but that’s fine, not every movie needs to be. I still really dug it. I give Nat’l Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation a 5.

When I was around 7-8, a good friend of my mom would give my folks a break and take me to the movies. We’d go see safe, PG movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret of The Ooze and Aladdin, and I loved it. In fact, that may have something to do with my affinity for going to the movies altogether. Anyway, one of the movies we went and saw was a musical from Disney called, Newsies; and as a young boy, I really loved it. The film made me love the idea of dance and song in the movies, and while I never followed that path for myself–learning how to properly sing or dance–I have always admired it.

Fast forward a few years to high school, when I was constantly trying to kick game to chicks and find ANY point of commonality from which I could build a friendship. Newsies was the ace up my sleeve. Girls ask about movies I liked, and BAM, I would drop it, and without fail, I was in–maybe not as the next hook-up but at the very least, a well-liked dude, which was just fine by me ( I never really considered how desperate I was for female attention back then, but this really proves it.)

Anyway, those things being said, my memories of Newsies have always been fond. I recently watched it again, just to pass time; and you know what, I still love it. It’s awesome. I am still enamored with Christian Bale’s Jack Kelly and Robert Duvall’s Portatrayal of Joe Pullitzer. The music, the performances, the story, all still resonate with me today. I love the concept of a bunch of guys rallying together to stand up to “the man”, even if they’re doing it with song and dance. I enjoy the music and dancing from start-to-finish, with a few particular numbers, like “King of New York” and “Once and For All” continuing to get serious play on my Itunes.

For those who haven’t seen the flic, Newsies is a very obviously-overly-embellished re-telling of the newsboys stand against Jospeh Pullitzer at the beginning of the 1900s, due to work conditions. Frankly, I haven’t researched the factuality of the story, so the actual real event may have just been, “single newsboy refuses to sell papers due to price increase”. But, that’s not my concern, as this is not meant to be an historical retelling. My concern here is the movie itself, a fun and entertaining little number from Disney with memorable characters, music, and sequences. And I have no qualms with it as a movie. The cheesiness of the film is inherent to musicals. The acting is sufficient and provides for some engaging and memorable characters. The pacing is constant and appropriate. The musical/dance sequences are all well done. Bottom line, regardless of the history, it’s a great musical; and I know scores of ladies ageree with me.

Newsies gets a 7 from me. it’s one of my all-time favorite movies. I love it!