Film Review: Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Title: Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Year Of Release: 1987

Review Date: December 31, 2010

Rating: PG

Running time: 92 minutes

Box Office Gross: $150,823,000

Site Rating: 4 out of 10 stars

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is the story of executive Neal Page, desperately trying to get home in time to spend the Thanksgiving holidays with his family. Along the way, he encounters a number of obstacles and is given support by a fellow traveler, who is a hapless, but cheerful musician named, Del Griffith.

The well meaning Griffith seems to get Page into one funny and frustrating mishap after another, resulting in slapstick comedy and embarrassment. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" contains the comedy characteristic of many John Hughes films. However, this film is not particularly meaningful, just a laugh.

http://www.celluloidfilmreview.com/planes_trains_and_automobiles.htm

Celluloid Film Review - Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Title: Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Year Of Release: 1989

Review Date: November 30, 2010

Rating: PG-13

Running time: 97 minutes

Box Office Gross: $106,119,546

Site Rating: 3 out of 10 stars

"Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" is the slapstick 80's comedy about the hapless Griswold family and the things that go wrong for them during the holidays. The head of the family, Clark Griswold, makes the bumbling thieves from the hilarious "Home Alone" movie series look like geniuses, as he is a walking disaster area.

Coincidentally, Home Alone, like "Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" was was written by the late John Hughes. This film isn't very meaningful, as it is quite cheesy, but is watched for its surface laughs, due to the clueless conduct of the Griswold family. It should be a crime to be that oblivious and haphazard.

http://www.celluloidfilmreview.com/lampoons-christmas-vacation.htm

Director John Hughes Has Died

John Hughes

As someone who was a child in the 1980's, I can tell you, director John Hughes' films were everywhere. He passed away today in Manhattan from a heart attack. He was 59. Another Hollywood icon has died.

My favorite John Hughes film is "Home Alone 2" which was made in 1992. Just a few weeks ago, it was broadcast on television again, I watched it with my family and laughed. Good storytelling is timeless. Something that does not really exist in Hollywood anymore.

He also made other notable films I enjoyed such as Dennis the Menace, Curly Sue, 101 Dalmatians, Baby's Day Out and Beethoven.

Other films teenagers remember him for are Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Some Kind of Wonderful.

'80s teen flick director John Hughes dies in NYC

NEW YORK — Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured the teen and preteen market with such favorites as "Home Alone," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.

Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, Michelle Bega said. He was in New York to visit family...

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