081 Home Alone (1990)
“KEEP THE CHANGE, YA FILTHY ANIMAL.“
On this episode, we are going to be talking about one of the most popular and beloved Christmas films of all time. We will be talking about 1990’s Home Alone, directed by Chris Columbus, starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, and Catherine O’Hara. It is the first movie we have covered that was written by John Hughes, the second Chris Columbus movie, and believe it or not, the third movie we have covered to feature one of the Culkin brothers.
When someone mentions “Home Alone,” the first thing we think about is obviously Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) laying traps for a pair of burglars to fall for, and experience head trauma that would kill a normal person, only to get up to fall down more stairs. However, upon reviewing we discover that there was actually a lot more to the movie than over-the-top comedic violence, but a story of a young child’s growing resentment for his family and learning to take care of himself. It’s success in telling that story is up for debate between your hosts, but we both still enjoy the film, buy maybe one of us didn’t like it as much as he used to.
We talk about how successfully (maybe too successfully) the film gets us to hate the McCallister family along with Kevin. We talk about the strengths of the films inclusion of the mysterious scary neighbor who isn’t all that scary, admire the use of the fake noir film ‘Angels with Filthy Souls,’ and discuss the great charisma of Macaulay Culkins performance, and also how good Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are at playing dumb.
Can you believe there are 6 films in this franchise? Why did they make so many, and why is it that the first film was the only film with a relatively positive reception from both critics and audiences? Why did Roger Ebert prefer Home Alone 3? Why did Macaulay Culkin stop away from acting a few years after Home Alone’s historic theatrical run? What’s he up to now? We get into all of that!
We hope you enjoy this episode!
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Apple Podcast: HERE
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