posted
I had done a bit of talking about this in another thread a few weeks ago, but I need to try this again solo.
Now that I'm 23 years old, I can't watch this movie. "Home Alone" sucks...It totally, irrefutably sucks.
Maybe I've just grown too old...Maybe it's because I find myself enjoying more serious movies ("New Jack City" comes to mind as a 90s drama that I'm a fan of)...Maybe it's just because physical comedy doesn't do as much for me as it used to.
Any way you dice it, this movie is bad. It doesn't have any memorable dialogue (The only line I remember is "Keep the change, ya filthy animal!"). The soundtrack has too many golden oldies (a complaint that can be leveled towards a lot of the 90s scripts of John Hughes). The emotions are too treacly. The score is too sweeping for what is essentially an unfunny live-action version of a Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon.
You know what a good 90s movie is? "New Jack City"..."Silence Of The Lambs"..."Beauty And The Beast"...All of those movies have a great viewing factor.
Does this make me a heretic? Perhaps. Still, it's how I feel. I'm sorry if it offends anybody, but this movie hasn't aged well.
Okay, a case could be made that "New Jack City" hasn't aged well, either, but the dialogue and scenes stay with you.
Quotes like "Am I my brother's keeper? YES, I AM!" and "Money talks and bull(bleep) runs a marathon, so see ya and I wouldn't want to be ya!" stick with you. The middle-school rap and R&B music fits the setting perfectly. The emotions don't seem fake...They have a reality to them that reflects from the actors.
Perhaps comparing a drug drama and a family comedy is apples & oranges, but honestly, if you had to pick one, which would you go with:
"Home Alone" or "New Jack City"?
Sincerely,
John Kilduff
Posts: 1545 | From: Greenwood Lake, New York, USA | Registered: Jul 2002 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
It appears HA is a polarizing films for us; we either love it or hate it. I for one LOOOOOVE it and feel it has aged reasonably enough (now if Fox would just dish out the money to clean up the print...). Yes, a good portion of it is unrealistic from a real world point of view (would it really take them that long to realize he wasn't there? I would think the sounds of them running around downstairs should have woken him up), but on that note what film ever really operates within the realm of reality? And yes, I'll concede the violence is a little exteme on the same basis as above, and that Hughes did in the years after this become, for lack of a better term, intoxicated by the formula he first laid out here. But here in its first incarnation it's breathtakingly hilarious (and yes, it's obvious that stunt doubles rather than Pesci and Stern are taking the brunt of the punishment, but that doesn't detract from me. The above mentioned Roadrunner connection is apt, as in the novelization of the film Kevin watches a block of Roadrunner cartoons his first morning alone, before he realizes something's up), and Hughes maintains the chokehold throughout the climax, always a candid move when writing comedy. And really behind the mayhem, there's a very sweet story here that touches a nerve. After all, we all wish our families would just disappear at one point or another in our lives; Lord knows I do many times these days. But we all love them, even if it's hard to do so, and in the clutch, I think we'd all rather be with them than alone. Unlike so many of the kids you see in knock-off pictures these days, Kevin has a large heart underneath the bravado; trust me, it does take a large amount of courage to openly give up presents at age 8. All in all, I feel it was a good concept that at least in part holds up well enough for today's generations to find something strong in it.
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posted
Still love it, especially at this time of year! People say that my son looks like Macauley Culkin when he does the hands on face thing. I think that this is going to be a fun Chrismtas tradition that will only get better each year, just as it has with A Christmas Story!
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mamamiasweetpeaches
She's with you, but she's thinking of Jake Ryan....
Member # 1715
posted
Disagree. I still love it. Watch it at least once a year. "keep the change ya filthy animal" IS the best line but the whole thing works as a whole...AND teaches us the "Never take our loved ones for granted" message.
By the way, my husband's father did not want us to marry and when we had our baby "came around". So now when I see the neighbor in HOME ALONE (you know..the guy watching his granddaughter in choir practice) I just bust out in tears!!!!!!!!
I even love the sequel!!!!!!!!
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Kash
Kash : Aha! He'll save every one of us...
Member # 297
posted
It is apples n’ oranges, but ‘New Jack City’ every time (even though I’m not a huge fan of that movie either) ‘Home Alone’ wasn’t even that good back in the day, Culkin’s always been annoying, and what the hell was Joe Pesci doing in this anyway? 'Goodfellas' to 'Home Alone' in the same year.
A street comedy / sports movie like ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ has aged well becasue its practically an early 90’s time capsule, takes you to back to that era with style, wit and panache, everything from the “yo mamma…” cuss match to the “you’re LISTENING to James Brown, but you don’t HEAR James Brown…” in fact, I may have to dust off my old VHS and watch it again.
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Valley Dated Julie From 'Valley Girl' (allegedly!)
Member # 1322
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It has aged way better than its young star in my opinion. Though, he made a critically successful comeback in the movie "Saved!". Btw, has anyone besides Muffy or Kash seen that movie? Posts: 7845 | From: Smiling and glancing in awe in the back of a limo | Registered: Mar 2003 | Site Updates: 22
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posted
I love Home Alone and Home alone 2. I think the reason I love it so much is that I was six when it was released and I thought it would of been so cool to be left "home alone".
Stu Posts: 226 | From: england | Registered: Sep 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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mamamiasweetpeaches
She's with you, but she's thinking of Jake Ryan....
Member # 1715
posted
I love all the Home Alone movies. EVEN the third & fourth ones! Posts: 1057 | From: With my mouse pals on Baker Street | Registered: Nov 2005 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
"Kack"? That sounds like something I would say when I'm choking! Posts: 3385 | From: Sacramento, California, USA | Registered: Sep 2002 | Site Updates: 0
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Reading the original post here, I guess it's different strokes for different folks.
I'm 24 and still like it just as much. Although, back when it came out, all the other kids were into the last twenty minutes (Harry and Marv getting beat up by all the boobytraps), but my favorite scene always was Kevin splicing up the '40s style gangster movie to scare people off - i.e. the pizza guy.
Even though it came out in 1990, it's basically an '80s movie in every way except date IMO. Definitely has that silly/innocent comedy appeal, even if the probability of the story taking place is pretty impossible. In other words, I don't think it was accurately trying to depict anything (even if there's some decidedly late '80s styled trends and attitude in it), it was just a fun fantasy movie.
It did also have at least a few serious moments (one thing I liked about '80s "kids" TV/movies). Kevin got over alot of the fears he had, such as going into the basement, or talking to his "scary" neighbor, who turned out to be a really nice man.
P.S. I used to not like being home alone either. The TV made it easier though - felt like company in its own way!
[ 14. March 2006, 20:59: Message edited by: Marty McFly ]
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cindymancini
Selling underpants to geeks since 1984...
Member # 679
posted
I saw Saved Valley and I loved it. I actually own it. I was impressed with the entire cast in that one and the characters were all very interesting. I thought the chemistry between Mac & Susan Sarandon's daughter Eva was great! Glad other people have seen it. Lots of good messages in the story.
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posted
I think Mac's still got lots of fuel left in the tank (although he quoted recently in Time that he does have a backup plan if long-term acting doesn't pan out for him). All he needs is the right script to make a big comeback, and with some luck, I personally may be able to help...
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posted
I watched this last night! I used to really adore this film as a little kid. I think it's aged pretty well, though.
I even love the second one, it's just as amazing as the first! I love Macaulay Culkin too, though.
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posted
Annoying kid! Hated it. It's one movie that everyone seems to love but that I hate.
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posted
1st and 2nd are traditional but casual christmas time viewing for me. Servicable slapstick with a nice holiday twist.
Posts: 141 | From: The Belle Isle | Registered: Nov 2015 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
The only thing I ever liked about this movie, was the house. I could not stand that family, and how horrible they treated him, and how obnoxious and rotten everyone is in it.
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posted
Admittedly one downside is that neither Buzz nor Uncle Frank get the comeuppance they almost certainly deserve (more so when one sees the deleted scenes in which both act even worse). But overall, the McCallisters aren't really bad people; a bit self-absorbed perhaps, but once they realize they've made a rather serious mistake leaving him behind, they generally are bent on rectifying their errors, which gives us enough impetus to forgive them if we wish. What I do like in contrast to today's family films where 99% of the time the filmmakers posit that the kid(s) are absolutely right, the adults are absolutely wrong, and everything can be solved only when the latter cave in to the former's wishes even if it comes off as capitulation or emotional blackmail, Kevin McCallister has enough honor to admit, even if only to himself at times, that he can be wrong, as he clearly was to a point earlier in the picture. Like so many Hughesian characters, there's more to him than just what's on the surface, and it makes him a stronger and more sympathetic character.
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