Well smash my guitar, Animal House returns to local theaters Sunday and Wednesday.
Boys probably did not do as much of the crazy they now do at America's colleges and universities before 1978, when John Landis' bawdy comedy came out.
I know for a fact that it informed my own college experience that began that same year and included visits to my university's then-lone frat house, which bore a striking resemblance to the one above, although there were identical homes on either side, not lush Oregon trees.
If you haven't seen Animal House, you probably never will, but in case I'm wrong here's the plot: Members of the rowdy Delta Tau Chi Fraternity at Farber College of 1962 finally gives Dean Vernon Wormer the goods to expel the frat. That sets in motion the ultimate revenge—on a small college town's parade route.
John Belushi was already a star on NBC's Saturday Night Live by the time Animal House came out, but his hilarious turn in the movie only propelled his career farther. This is one of those films everyone cites lines from, steals bits from and hides little ones' eyes from (i.e. BOOBIES!).
Fathom Events, the company that beams films and live stage performances into theaters across the country simultaneously, is presenting Animal House as part of Turner Classic Movie's TCM Big Screen Classics series.
Participating local theaters include Aliso Viejo Stadium 20, AMC Orange 30, Huntington Beach 20 at Bella Terra, Regal Irvine Spectrum, Orange Stadium Promenade 25 and Long Beach Stadium 26. Showtimes are 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday. Reserve $12.50 tickets at www.fathomevents.com/event/national-lampoons-animal-house.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.