The Great Debate

Jonah Goldberg poses the important question that dogs us all -- which movie is better, Animal House or Old School?

All right, that's not really the point of Jonah's column, although he at least takes the time to come down solidly on the Animal House side of the keg. Both movies are terrific, and share some key traits -- consumption of absurd amounts of alcohol, hysterical comedic performances from SNL alums, gratutious nudity -- that serve as the key to any realistic portrayal of college life. Jokes aside, it leaves me to pose the true question which has served as the battleground for many debates with friends -- Animal House or Caddyshack?

Suffice it to say, I don't have room here for an extended explanation of why one is superior to the other (let's just say I'd go in alphabetical order). But my obscure link between the movies is this -- Sarah Holcomb is the only actor to appear in both movies, as far as I can tell (as the mayor's jailbait daughter in Animal House and as Danny's annoying girlfriend in Caddyshack). All well and good, but these two credits represent fully half of her entire acting career.

Think about that -- you only act in four movies, but two are widely recognized as among the greatest comedies of all time. Of course, she apparently left Hollywood due to substance abuse issues. Yeah -- that wasn't going to happen when you were on movie sets with Belushi and Co.