Wanna Feel Old? ... plus National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 20 Years On!

Stumbled upon this fine website on the weekend and feel compelled to direct you there as a result.

It's called 'Wanna Feel Old?' and if you are a product of the 1980s like I am... it is a genius way to waste an hour.

So go there, enjoy that.

Direct link: http://wannafeelold.tumblr.com/

My contribution to the walk down a well forgotten memory lane is this...

On this day, December 1st 1989, the classic National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was released in cinemas. Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold did his thing for a third time alongside Beverly D'Angelo in the seasonal installment of the franchise and having Julia Louis-Dreyfus (if I have to tell you who she is and why she's a significant to the casting - you should be shot) and Doris Roberts (again... even if you weren't a fan of the sitcom she was part of - you know who she is) as part of the supporting cast, makes the movie seem that little bit better in retrospect.

We follow Clark Griswold over the Christmas season, dealing with the issues of family, friends, neighbours and the very real possibility of missing out on a work bonus at Christmas time. Plot wise it has enough to keep the movie breathing, but you're watching for the gags and the presence of Chase - hoping he can recreate the magic of the Wally World expedition and his work in the 'Fletch' series.

It is probably the second best of the series behind the original in my mind.

The movie went on to make a tick over $71 million and inspire the producers to go to well at least one more time, eight years later with the pathetic Las Vegas installment.

During its key run at the cinemas it debuted at #2 behind Michael J. Fox's Back to the Future Part II and held top spot at the box office in the two weeks before Christmas 1989.

Interesting box office facts: Christmas Vacation made the most overall dollars at the box office of the four movies, but only had the third highest opening week. Vegas Vacation took the most money in the opening week but significantly the least overall.

What was your favourite National Lampoon's movie from the Chevy Chase days?

PS. Whispers are getting louder that he will return for a third installment of the Fletch Series in 2011... with Ryan Reynolds tipped as a potential 'young Fletch' in the prequel type story.

Come to think of it, all this talk of the movie has me now wanting to find and watch it this evening.

Hey... it's Christmas!