The holidays are a time for relaxation. They are a time where we all can take a break from our hectic day-to-day lives and just reflect.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to break away from the normal format of this blog and do some reflecting myself. So I’ve put aside the fact that Heath Ledger totally owns, as the Joker, the new trailer for The Dark Knight, and I’ve looked past my hunch that based on its trailer, the Adam Sandler-starring You Don’t Mess With The Zohan may bring Judd Apatow’s hot streak to a screeching halt…

Ok, so, about that reflection.

I was able to dig up trailers for National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation as well as It’s A Wonderful Life. They are two drastically different - yet equally important - pieces of work in the glorious holiday film canon.

Everybody has a movie that they use to kick off the holidays, and for me that’s always been Christmas Vacation. Looking back at the trailer, I realize how even a few choice clips are more than enough to get me into the holiday spirit.

I’m also well aware that it may give away just a little too many jokes during its 2:18 run time. Yet, being the obsessive fan that I am, I’m of the opinion that you can’t spoil all of the great jokes because there are plenty jam packed into every minute. I’m sure a lot of trailer editors wish they had the “problem” of too many jokes to choose from more often.

The greatest pleasure to come out of looking back at the Christmas Vacation trailer is by far the inclusion of some extra Uncle Lewis. You’ll surely remember him as Clark Griswold’s gloriously crotchety, cigar-chomping, bad-toupee wearing uncle. Uncle Lewis has me on the floor every time I watch the movie, and to see him deliver a line in the trailer that wasn’t included in the film was a pleasant surprise. Usually I’m not a fan of clips in the trailer not being included in the final film, especially when they are used as major selling points. In this case, it is truly a holiday blessing.

Looking back at the trailer for It’s A Wonderful Life, I realize how far the form has come since 1946. This is both bad and good. Title cards today thankfully do not end with corny exclamation points at the end of every sentence. Yet they also don’t have the discipline to leave at least some of the plot to the imagination.

I wish modern trailers could take some notes from the Wonderful Life trailer and others from its period because with trailers, less is usually more.

Trailer for: Christmas Vacation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egsThjVrQjo

Trailer for: It's A Wonderful Life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJfZaT8ncYk&feature=related