welsch@houxu.UUCP (07/30/83)
I saw Vacation last night and enjoyed it. Vacation is satire not comedy. Satire is frequently funny, but not necessarily so. Vacation viewed as comedy is poor; viewed as satire it is very good. The story is about an average upper middle class American family on their vacation. The father is determined to have a good time and to do it his way, regardless of what obstacles he must overcome. The mother is determined to hold the family together despite her husband's fantasies. The children are going along for the ride knowing that their parents are doing all this for them, but not certain why. Somehow the family manages to overcome all the trials and tribulations. We know at the end that they will look back on the Vacation fondly, having forgotten the blunders and remembering only the joy. I found the acting superb, the script good, the filming good, the timing and the pace of the film excellent. Larry Welsch houxu!welsch
ryl@ihlts.UUCP (08/16/83)
For those of us who don't have the intellectual taste for the "My Dinner with Andre" debate, I suggest a quick trip to see "National Lampoon's Vacation." With the sponsor's name prominently included in the title, you can guess exactly what to expect: crude humor that attacks every stereotype possible -- blacks, farmers, the elderly, obsequious security personnel -- sick humor about killing helpless animals, and several examples of totally gratuitous nudity and profanity. While there are no overpowering guffaws in this movie, there is a pretty steady stream of chuckles. Gene Siskel panned this movie in the Chicago Tribune, but what does he know? He's just a feces-sniffing effeminate wimp who depends on escaped zoo animals for sexual gratification. We loyal subscribers to NatLamp know true comedic genius when we see it, and maybe sometime we will. For now, we'll settle for this. Bob Lied, Misanthrope ...ihnp4!ihlts!ryl P.S. For those who read the story in N.L. a couple of months ago, the story does not end with Dad shooting Walt Disney in the leg, although that would have been much better.