Home Alone (1990)

Gerald Ford, who was not a big movie fan, said this was his favorite movie of all time.

It's a classic. Very dated now, of course, 33 years later — but still highly entertaining.

And, of course, a soundtrack by the great John Williams elevates every film to another level.

Nice to watch every five years or so.

It is Home Alone!

I’ve been a lifelong fan of it—it is also one of my favorite movies. It’s the film equivalent of comfort food for me. We owned it on VHS when I was a kid and I watched it all the time, all year round. Does anyone remember the Pepsi commercial that played before the movie?

Question - why does Kevin scream in the bathroom? Is it because of the aftershave or because he sees the tarantula running on the floor?

I have never sat and watched this whole movie all at once. I catch bits and pieces of it on tv. What’s amazing to me is how different channels cut different tiny bits out of the movie.

I saw the coming attraction for this movie when I was on vacation in the summer. The coming attraction was different….Kevin slides down the stairs in a sled and goes flying out the front door into the yard. In the supermarket, a man questions Kevin instead of the female cashier and it’s reminiscent of the Uncle Buck scene where. Macauley Culkin quizzes Buck.

I’ll never forget how the audience went wild when the trailer was shown. “This holiday season….” And you see Catherine O’Hara on the plane saying “I fell like we forgot something.” The husband reassures her they did everything before leaving home. She relaxes, then screams “KEVIN!”

The audience screamed when it switched to the scene where he’s sledding down the stairs and flies out the door. People started choking with laughter and applauding. The only movie trailer I’d seen with a comparable reaction was Goodfellas when Henry Hill says, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” and the door opens on a little kid on a porch wearing a zoot suit saying “Hi Ma!”and his mother yells, “You look like a gangster!” Everyone screamed laughing. That one also got applause and actual whistling, which was like a “woo hoo” back in those days.

Ah, those were the days…before 10,000 remakes, sequels, superheroes and cartoons.

On February 5th, 1995 Home Alone made its network premiere in the UK. 100 days later, on May 15th of the same year, acclaimed actor Eric Porter died at 67.

Love

A local theater is screening it this season. I’ve never seen it on a big screen.

Kevin’s brother Buzz was accused of strangling his gf IRL in 2021. She didn’t die, ofc, but pressed charges. In 2022 a woman who claimed to be friends with Devin Ratray for 15 years, accused him of raping her in 2017. She came forward after hearing of the strangling episode.

If anyone looks like a Me Too case, it’s Ratray. .

r7 What does Eric Porter have to do with Home Alone?

Home Alone 2 is on and just before I flicked it off (horrible movie) , I noticed some rando actress looked familiar. It’s Ally Sheedy in a blonde wig. I always get her and Jennifer Jason Leigh mixed up. .

Ally’s character calls little Kev “Mr McClaster”

So stupid

Catherine O'Hara as the stressed-out mom is hilarious in this.

American Airlines int’l first class was a lot better back then

Gerry Bamman, who played Uncle Frank, was a last minute replacement for Kelsey Grammer.

I just found out John Hughes did not play Santa Claus. I heard many years ago that Hughes made a cameo as Santa in the film. But it was an actor named Ken Hudson Campbell and it was just revealed that he has cancer. He is undergoing extensive surgery today to remove his jaw and there’s a GFM set up by his daughter. He lost his SAG AFTRA insurance. He has new insurance but it’s probably a basic plan.

Kevin’s house is completely decorated in red and green. It’s Christmas all year long in the McAllister household. Especially christmassy is the dining room - red and green glasses in the dining room cabinet.

I thought Kevin’s family was Catholic but the church seen in the outdoor scene is Methodist and the church seen in interior shots is Episcopalian. The McAllisters are a multi religious household.

And who would’ve thought cousin Fuller would be the one to have a successful acting career as an adult?

I don’t know what this says about me, but I have vivid memories of getting turned on as a young gayling by Uncle Frank’s shower scene in Home Alone 2. Perhaps, like Kevin, I’m a pervert—then again, I’ve always had unorthodox taste in men, especially ones much older than me.

R19 you are a pervert

Well, Santa had his cancer surgery and his family raised $100k on his GFM. It is not easy to have your jaw removed. He’ll have a prosthesis.

Anyway, I watched it this weekend and noticed something - the choir sings Carol of the Bells. In a Catholic Church. Maybe nowadays they might do that, but not in 1990s. Carol of the Bells is not religious and a Catholic Church choir sings religious Christmas carols. But the director wanted to raise the tension as the clock struck 9, so I guess Carol of the Bells has an urgent sound to it.

You keep making these threads and then do about 90-95% of the commenting on them. The thread isn’t active if it’s just you commenting from more than one account. And Muriel knows it’s just you, which is the funniest part.

It's on my Xmas watchlist.

It's absurd that this family would be taking an international trip and running thru the airport considering security related to flying overseas. And they forget one of their kids? That's idiotic. They'd end up in jail.

It's a movie R24.

I e nev r actually seen this all the way through. I do remember living with my dad when it came out on video and my stepmom watched it one night and I was sort of forced to since my room was the living room. I laid on the floor but I just read my comic books while it was on and purposely paid no attention to it because everything my stepmom did was stupid so I didn't want to do anything or enjoy anything that she liked. I did catch a couple bits here and there and I've always thought about maybe going back and watching it and have caught parts of it on cable too but never seen it from beginning to end.