National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the third instalment of the Griswold family saga and a significant improvement over their previous European Vacation. Disaster-prone dad (Chevy Chase) discovers just how dangerous the Christmas season really is as the Griswolds' old-fashioned holiday celebration turns out to be more "Bah! Humbug!" than Christmas cheer. Chase is right at home with the outrageous slapstick and often cheerfully tasteless humour, and John Hughes's script is stuffed full of classic Christmas movie references, but Randy Quaid practically steals the film as the unemployed relative with his malicious grin and mooching lifestyle. Not exactly a holiday classic and a bit spotty, this gag-filled comedy is just obnoxious enough for the Scrooge lurking inside everyone. And fear not, a happy ending awaits all. Watch for future star Juliette Lewis as Chase's teenage daughter. --Sean Axmaker
Jeffrey Waging (Russel Crowe) was a central witness in the lawsuits filed by Mississippi and 49 other states against the tobacco industry which were eventually settled for $246 billion.
Although indisputably a film by Woody Allen, Interiors is about as far from "a Woody Allen film" as you can get--and maybe more people could have seen what a fine film it is if they hadn't been expecting what Allen himself called "one of his earlier, funnier movies." An entirely serious, rather too self-consciously Bergmanesque drama about a divorcing elderly couple and their grown daughters, it is slow, meditative and constructed with a brilliant, artistic eye. There is no music--a simple effect that Allen uses with extraordinary power. In fact, half the film is filled with silent faces staring out of windows, yet the mood is so engaging, hypnotic even, that you never feel the director is poking you in the ribs and saying, "sombre atmosphere". Diane Keaton, released for once from the ditzy stereotype, shines as the "successful" daughter. Some of the dialogue is stilted and it's hard to tell whether this is a deliberate effect or simply the way repressed upscale New Yorkers talk after too many years having their self-absorption sharpened on the therapist's couch. Fanatical, almost childish self-regard is the chief subject of Allen's comedy--it's remarkable that in this film he was able to remove the comedy but leave room for us to pity and care about these rather irritating people. --Richard Farr
Danger and wonder at the Earth's core! The accent is on fun and fantasy in this film version of Jules Verne's classic thriller stars James Mason Pat Boone and Arlene Dahl. With spectacular visuals as a backdrop the story centres on an expedition led by Professor Lindenbrook (Mason) down into the Earth's dark core. Members of the group include the professor's star student Alec (Boone) and the widow (Dahl) of a colleague. Along the way lurk dangers such as kidnapping death sabotag
Bobby is thrust into a confrontation with a sleazy banker and challenges him to a water ski race. With the distraction of beautiful tanned bodies, who knows what further erotic adventures await them.
Captain Chris Hanson has recruited an over-the-hill deep-sea diver a claustrophobic inventor and a troop of beautiful Polynesian pearl divers to plunder the sunken wreck of the Arianna. But their mission seems doomed even before they leave the dock! The local government orders Hanson to transport 30 criminals to a prison on a nearby island. As they sail towards the treasure they encounter strange lights on the horizon bizarre sounds from the darkness intense heat and thousands of dead fish littering the ocean surface. Are they bad omens or merely freaks of nature?
Bikini Ski School is a place where more than just the temperature rises. When Bobby returns home to help save the family marina from bankruptcy he is immediately thrust into a sizzling confrontation with a sleazy banker. With the aid of a bevy of bikini clad beauties he confronts the banker by challenging him to a water ski race. With the distraction of the most beautiful tanned and naked bodies gleaming in the surf, who knows what further erotic adventures await them. Will they ride m...
The Griswolds' Christmas holiday is anything but an occasion for peace on earth and there's certainly not much goodwill to spare when the rest of the repulsive family arrive for a spot of rejoicing. The third in the series is one of the best - who hasn't lived through the horror of hanging the Christmas lights and then spending hours looking for the one bulb that's broken?
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