Live HistoricSee what matters.

Film · Warner Bros. · 1983

Pass it on

National Lampoon's Vacation

21Leave it.

I wouldn't make this the trip you let the kids quote next summer.

Take controlThis scores 21. National Lampoon's Vacation cannot be blocked by name on this shelf. The lock is the phone. Block it

The review

I would not make this a family tradition. A father drives everyone to a theme park, and it is closed when they arrive. The joke is that he will not drop the plan. You already know what a long drive feels like. What this adds is a man who would rather keep the errand than hear the people in the car.

The family is the cargo. Some of the jokes are at a woman's expense, and that part sours if the kids start repeating it. Closed is a fact. He takes it as an insult. If you want a father who can change his mind and still like his house, this is the wrong night.

Journal

Keep National Lampoon's Vacation in the record.

No house has filed a sentence for this yet.

Live Historic number 21. Yours can differ.

The glance

Industry and Household and Piety and Courage and Republic and Temperance and Truth and Stewardship are the thin ones.

Does anyone here do a real job, and does that job matter?

This phone is set for a grown person, just me. Change the ages.

Consider this

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

33 instead of 21

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is still a comedy film, and it scores 33 instead of 21. What you gain is courage: Cameron finally refuses his father's fear.

The eight

2
Industry
Nobody's job is on the line; the errand is a closed theme park.
3
Household
The family is cargo for a father who will not drop the plan.
2
Piety
A closed park does not make him stop or turn the car around.
2
Courage
He risks the trip only to protect a plan, not a person.
1
Republic
No town or neighbor is owed anything once the joke starts.
2
Temperance
The laugh rewards him for refusing to give the plan up.
3
Truth
The park is closed, and he treats that fact as an insult.
2
Stewardship
It is a poor model for a trip a family would repeat.

Where to watch

Finding the page.

Live Historic · National Lampoon's Vacation · 21IMDb

Live HistoricSee what matters.

Film · Prime Video · 2000

Pass it on

American Psycho

21Leave it.

The satire is real. The invitation to enjoy him is the problem. Adults. Do not quote him.

Take controlThis scores 21. If you do not want American Psycho in the house, the steps are on Prime Video. Block it

The review

Bateman is what a certain greed looks like when it no longer bothers to impersonate a person. The film is often called a comedy, and the comedy is the colleagues, the cards, the restaurants, the inability to tell one empty man from another. That joke lands. The violence is not the joke. It is the film forgetting it had a point and reaching for a gasp.

You do not need his morning routine in your mouth. The useful line is dull: a life measured by reservations is already over, even if no one is bleeding. Leave the rest in the drawer.

Journal

Keep American Psycho in the record.