"It's a one-year membership in the Jelly-of-the-Month-Club."
"Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year."
There's a hallowed pantheon of Christmas films watched by clans across America every December. It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Charlie Brown Christmas and — in a small cadre of unabashedly dark-humored families — National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Written by Hughes as the third entry in the National Lampoon's franchise, Christmas Vacation is jammed with memorable set pieces (the retina-searing Christmas lights, the greased-up metal sled, the squirrel in the tree), but, once again, it's a Chevy Chase tirade that takes the cake. Watch how he angrily drinks the eggnog. That's called acting. Listen to the angry spew of words that shoots forth. That's called comedy. Thank you, John Hughes.