Movie Debate #50: Home Alone

[GPX | 1,371]

9/10. Genuine freakin’ classic!

A good measure of a great movie is that it’s watchable the second time, then the third and so on. Home Alone is that kind of movie.

[PII | 1,890]

I'm gonna try to not say this every time, but that was the first time I ever watched this one while enjoying a glass of wine.  Gosh, you'd have to be the biggest flipping bumhug in the history of humbugs to not enjoy this movie.  What more is there to say after that?  Well here goes: The first thing I ever remember about this is a really crappy friend's scary hot sister telling me "It's got the kid from Uncle buck and the Mom from Beetlejuice."  Right off the bat I was catching some echoes of Beetlejuice in the opening, the attic, the recurring horror moments in the basement, the screaming in front of the mirror and of course, Catherine O'hara.  The single least believable moment is without a doubt - Free Champagne on an airplane in coach class, served in crystal goblets no less - Yeah, F***ing, Right.  Tell me another one.  The pinnacle of comedy had to be John Candy relating to Catherine O'hara the story of the time he and the missus left their kid alone all day in a funeral parlor....  with a corpse.  'He was alright 6 or 7 weeks later, you know; when he finally started talkin' again.'  Oh man, I was close to hysterics.  I gave it a nine.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Ps. Coreys month all the way

      Arnold month runner up

      Spielberg month tacitly acceptable

      The other guy - I'd be up for reminiscing about that one time he killed it as a 6 foot vampire, then move on to the one where he lost his soul because women and call it a day...

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by PII

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

3 hours ago, PII said:

I'm gonna try to not say this every time, but that was the first time I ever watched this one while enjoying a glass of wine.  Gosh, you'd have to be the biggest flipping bumhug in the history of humbugs to not enjoy this movie.  What more is there to say after that?  Well here goes: The first thing I ever remember about this is a really crappy friend's scary hot sister telling me "It's got the kid from Uncle buck and the Mom from Beetlejuice."  Right off the bat I was catching some echoes of Beetlejuice in the opening, the attic, the recurring horror moments in the basement, the screaming in front of the mirror and of course, Catherine O'hara.  The single least believable moment is without a doubt - Free Champagne on an airplane in coach class, served in crystal goblets no less - Yeah, F***ing, Right.  Tell me another one.  The pinnacle of comedy had to be John Candy relating to Catherine O'hara the story of the time he and the missus left their kid alone all day in a funeral parlor....  with a corpse.  'He was alright 6 or 7 weeks later, you know; when he finally started talkin' again.'  Oh man, I was close to hysterics.  I gave it a nine.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Ps. Coreys month all the way

      Arnold month runner up

      Spielberg month tacitly acceptable

      The other guy - I'd be up for reminiscing about that one time he killed it as a 6 foot vampire, then move on to the one where he lost his soul because women and call it a day...

 

 

I believe the parents were in first class and all the kids were in coach, hence why they didn't notice Kevin was missing.

Also, that John Candy scene is one of the most underrated scenes in the entire movie. I have no clue why they felt the need to include such dark humor in an otherwise light-hearted movie, but it works and I love it. Very reminiscent of Gremlins.

[trj22487 | 350]

It didn't dawn on me until this year, particularly in the 2nd one, that Kevin is just white privileging his way through the entire movie. Horrific and abhorrent.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

A classic. 8. 

1 and 2 are essentially the exact same movie with a different setting. I still enjoy watching both around Xmas. It's no xmas vacation though. 

[GPX | 1,371]

21 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

8/10. One of my favorite Christmas movies and I always enjoy rewatching it. I think the plot is actually pretty clever and there are some sentimental moments which actually feel earned. The slapstick is also top notch. Unfortunately, the sequel is worse in almost every way.

I think the sequel isn’t necessarily worse, but more that the plot is a little bit familiar. Also the setting of a boy locked home alone against 2 thiefs (HA 1) builds a much greater suspense scenario, as opposed to a boy running around the city on his own against 2 thiefs (HA 2).

[RH | 4,935]

9 hours ago, Estil said:

I don't suppose anyone can figure out what handheld game that is at 2:27?  It's obviously much too thin to be a Game Boy.

 

It would be hard to know.  If it was a game unit at all (could have been, might not have been, who knows) it's be hard to tell because it looks like an LCD game and many games had similar form factors, especially if it was a Tiger toy.  My guess is they couldn't get the rights to a GB, or want to deal with the legal, so they just picked up a few of the cheapest LCD items at Brookstone (or equivalent) and went with what went best for the shot.

Ole Pete is a good actor, so he could handle anything they put in his hands.

6 hours ago, PII said:

I'm gonna try to not say this every time, but that was the first time I ever watched this one while enjoying a glass of wine.  Gosh, you'd have to be the biggest flipping bumhug in the history of humbugs to not enjoy this movie.  What more is there to say after that?  Well here goes: The first thing I ever remember about this is a really crappy friend's scary hot sister telling me "It's got the kid from Uncle buck and the Mom from Beetlejuice."  Right off the bat I was catching some echoes of Beetlejuice in the opening, the attic, the recurring horror moments in the basement, the screaming in front of the mirror and of course, Catherine O'hara.  The single least believable moment is without a doubt - Free Champagne on an airplane in coach class, served in crystal goblets no less - Yeah, F***ing, Right.  Tell me another one.  The pinnacle of comedy had to be John Candy relating to Catherine O'hara the story of the time he and the missus left their kid alone all day in a funeral parlor....  with a corpse.  'He was alright 6 or 7 weeks later, you know; when he finally started talkin' again.'  Oh man, I was close to hysterics.  I gave it a nine.  I was pleasantly surprised.

The kids were in coach, while the parents were in first class.  I think the impression they were trying to make is that the McAlister's were "loaded" compared to the other couple and their family.  I also might be wrong on this, but I always got the impression that the McAlister's were footing the bill, or most of it.  Adding the Champaign was a way of showing the McAlister's could afford a really nice airline while juxtaposing the "cheap" family in order for a few running gags.

The John Candy gag is just a prop but they had to think of something worse than running off and leaving your kid... while you fly to Paris!  I mean, seriously, who does that?  Even though they did a moderately good job for kids movie making the setup believable, the truth is she's a mom who left her kid stranded at home.  Having a guy leave his kid, stranded, does relate but adding an extra eliminant of "with a corpse" really just brings the point home. It's not a "I left the kid all day at Wal-Mart/Belk/Sear's/Autobody Shop/a hospital" moment.  No, it's something even worse, while still not being as bad as leaving a kid alone for days.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

10 hours ago, Estil said:

Happy 30th anniversary Home Alone!  It along with the second movie (the only ones that count) are among my me and my wife's favorite Christmas movies   Boy talk about this super outdated line!

Though...you could back then have a phone in a tree house if you really wanted to by using a long enough phone cord or if the cordless phone had a really big range.  Not sure how likely/practically either of these options would've been though.

I don't suppose anyone can figure out what handheld game that is at 2:27?  It's obviously much too thin to be a Game Boy.

 

Hahaha, even though it is outdated, I forgot how good the delivery on the treehouse line is. It's so genuine, like it takes Harry a second to realize the stupidity of what he just said.

[Gloves | 11,807]

[The Count | 529]

10/10, one of my favorite movies of all time. 

[PII | 1,890]

@DoctorEncore @RH Ah, my bad.  I guess that part where one of the parents yells at the kids to go to the coach section as they run down the tube stuck in my head and I just completely overlooked the obviously first class seats the adults were sitting in.

[SuperJimtendo | 1,125]

I'm giving it a 6. Home alone 2 is a million times better. 

[Estil | 1,265]

8 hours ago, The Count said:

10/10, one of my favorite movies of all time. 

And apparently your favorite floor of all time as well!    And perhaps your favorite number seeing as how nearly all math and counting is on a base ten system (the main exception being base two for computers)?  Thank God that 60s New Math didn't catch on  

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Estil

[Quest4Nes | 376]

10/10. One of my favorite movies. Nostalgia def a role in that, but I can quote the whole thing on demand. I quote this and ninja turtles atleast a few times a week in conversation somewhere haha whether people realize it or not.

 

The john candy talking about leaving the kid in the funeral home was an ad lib  and def one of the funniest parts of the movie. They just let him talk lol. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Quest4Nes

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

8/10

I have a soft spot for this movie, I really enjoyed it an it's sequel.

Also I've been told I have at least a passing resemblance to Macaulay Culkin IRL lol

Coincidentally I do actually share my birthday with him lol

Edited December 29, 2020 by SpoonMan Abrams X