The new version of Vacation isn't doing terribly well either with critics or at the box office. So if you're nostalgic for a bit of vintage National Lampoon, you're probably better advised to turn your attention to the documentary Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead. And look - here's a brand new trailer to convince you!
The original satirical/surrealist/scatological/stoned National Lampoon magazine began publishing in 1970, hitting a heyday in the late '70s and early '80s during which its rule-brealing humour spilled out into radio, TV and film. But as the documentary discusses, that was also the start of its downfall, with much of its talent pool following the money elsewhere. It coughed its last breath in 1998.
Gathered together by director Douglas Tirola to read its final rites is an impressive cast of Lampoon alumni, including Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Christopher Guest, John Landis, Bill Murray, Ivan Reitman and key magazine staff, with celebrity fans including Kevin Bacon, Billy Bob Thornton and Judd Apatow.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead played at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June, and gets a theatrical release in the US on September 25. For the rest of us, it looks like iTunes will be the place to find it, from the same date.