1. Christmas Vacation (1989)

For as long as I can remember (probably since before I should've), it's been sort of a tradition in my dad's side of the family to watch this every Christmas Eve - or it used to be, back when certain people still got together on a regular basis. Whether alone or with relatives, I laugh my ass off at this movie. It's definitely the best of the "Vacation" series.

Chevy Chase was perfect as Clark Griswold, the screwball dad who works hard to give his family a fun, old-fashioned, family Christmas, complete with the best tree that he can find, a nice dinner, the most decorated house in the city (covered with 25,000 lights), and the promise of a pool in the backyard. But, as the relatives arrive, there's one mishap after another, and he begins to lose his sanity.

The lights don't work, which sends Clark into a fit of rage that includes him kicking and punching the plastic ?Santa and reindeer (but his wife eventually figures out the problem). Their redneck, hillbilly cousin Eddie and his family  - including their disgusting dog Snots - show up uninvited in their "arrvee". The turkey is way overcooked. Bethany's cat electrocutes itself. Uncle Lewis burns down the tree, and the new tree contains a squirrel that, along with the dog, wreaks havoc throughout the house. And, the whole time, Clark waits and waits for his Christmas bonus, which turns out to be nothing more than a jelly-of-the-month-club enrollment.

Clark's rant about his boss ("...what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. HALLELUJAH! HOLY SHIT! Where's the Tylenol?") gives not-so-bright Eddie, who wants to reward his hospitality, an idea. He kidnaps Mr. Shirley and presents him to Clark as a gift. However, upon seeing how his greedy decision affects real families, Mr. Shirley decides to give Clark an even bigger bonus than usual (allowing him to realize his dream of a family pool, and then some). But then the SWAT team arrives, crashing through windows and breaking down doors. Fortunately, Mr. Shirley declines to press charges, and the entire group - including the SWAT team - celebrates.

Mae Questel and William Hickey were hilarious as the senile Aunt Bethany and the grumpy Uncle Lewis. Randy Quaid was great as Eddie. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nicholas Guest were also good as Todd and Margo, the yuppie neighbors who despise Clark and suffer from his insults (which they're not undeserving of) and screw-ups. This is an uproariously funny movie that I will never tire of.

A side note: Until recently, I never really understood the part with the squirrel. But now I think I get it. Due to so many things going wrong, the family is really stressed out, and they're looking to place blame on someone or something. If there had been dialogue about this, here's how I imagine it:      "That squirrel is the cause of all this!"      "Yes! It's all the squirrel's fault!"      "That must be no ordinary squirrel, then."      "RUN!"      It makes sense to me, at least.      Another side note: My parents used to have matching jogging suits that were very similar to Todd and Margo's. How embarassing.