100 Nostalgic Things From The 90's Challenge - #6: Home Alone ~18
Today I'm going to talk about a movie I watched a lot as a kid: Home Alone. It was made in 1990. Directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes.
Nowadays, I tend to only watch this movie around Christmas time. Indeed, I watched it today, but the last time I saw it was last Christmas. However, as a kid, I used to watch it more often, even during the Canadian summer months. (Same goes for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. However, it's been a longer time since I've seen that because I don't have it on DVD and I'm lazy.)
I'll do kind of what I did when I re-watched The Addams Family for Halloween and make notes on the film (with gifs, videos and stuff) while I watch it.
First off, I love the music. I love how it sways from happy, Christmassy music, to something much more creepy, and the "running through the airport" music has always amused me. In fact, whenever I have to rush somewhere because I'm late, I'll get that riff stuck in my head.
If I had to have a soundtrack of my life, it would have to include a riff from this score. John Williams, ladies and gentlemen... need I say more?
As a kid, I kind of related to Kevin. My family wasn't as... hectic as his, but I did know what it was like to want more positive attention from them and feeling like I was underfoot. What I always liked was even though he didn't like his family, as soon as things started to get scary with the robbers, he wanted them to protect him, ("Mom, where are you?") and he missed them when Christmas got closer. That to me felt very realistic. It also felt realistic to me that at first, he's complaining because he doesn't know how to pack a suitcase, yet by the end of the film, he's gone grocery shopping by himself, cut down a Christmas tree and decorated it, set up all the traps for the robbers, and defended the house. That's some character development - he's been forced into independance and has grown. (Also him being afraid of the heater in the basement, and getting over that fear.)
I know this movie and Home Alone 2 made all the world's money for Macaulay Culkin, but I've never envied him that. The fact he'll forever be known as "the Home Alone kid" never seemed like a good thing to me.
Another thing I love about this movie is that it's a true family film. It has humour for the kids, it has humour for adults. The are jokes in this movie that I didn't get until I grew up.
The movie is a little dated now - plane travel, for one. (Real silverware on a plane? And no way they would catch a flight leaving in 45 mins...) Also, the lack of mobile phones, the hair styles... but that's part of the nostalgia for me.
Have some random gifs I've found while watching the movie today:
I always, always wanted to do this:
but I never got the chance, nor would my mom ever have let me.
I never found this part to be as funny as the media thought it was, and I kind of wish that it wasn't on every poster and cover and everything.
One of the things that attracted me to the film is the fact that it is a little scary. Kids like to be scared by movies and stuff.
I can't find any good clips of my favourite part of the film, which is Kevin setting the traps, but I did find the music for it:
This is one of the traps that always made me laugh. I think it's because of the sound he makes. I feel horrible now, because that would be so very painful...
Watching this with the commentary, they talk about the stunt men a lot. Turns out that the stunt guys who are falling down icy steps and so on sometimes got really hurt, which you don't think about when you're enjoying the comedy. Still, it's amazing, and after all, stunt men are paid to do the stuff they do. There's some traps in the second film though that I just can't watch. (The staple gun stuff... *shiver*)
As a kid, I also really wanted to live in a big house like the one in Home Alone:
Another thing I like about the film is the running gag of Buzz's trantula. It's another creepy thing, and it's a mcguffin to boot.
Over-all, I still love this film. It's full of wonderful Christmas nostalgia and I make a point of watching it every December, at least once.
Until next time!
Nowadays, I tend to only watch this movie around Christmas time. Indeed, I watched it today, but the last time I saw it was last Christmas. However, as a kid, I used to watch it more often, even during the Canadian summer months. (Same goes for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. However, it's been a longer time since I've seen that because I don't have it on DVD and I'm lazy.)
I'll do kind of what I did when I re-watched The Addams Family for Halloween and make notes on the film (with gifs, videos and stuff) while I watch it.
First off, I love the music. I love how it sways from happy, Christmassy music, to something much more creepy, and the "running through the airport" music has always amused me. In fact, whenever I have to rush somewhere because I'm late, I'll get that riff stuck in my head.
Click to viewIf I had to have a soundtrack of my life, it would have to include a riff from this score. John Williams, ladies and gentlemen... need I say more?
As a kid, I kind of related to Kevin. My family wasn't as... hectic as his, but I did know what it was like to want more positive attention from them and feeling like I was underfoot. What I always liked was even though he didn't like his family, as soon as things started to get scary with the robbers, he wanted them to protect him, ("Mom, where are you?") and he missed them when Christmas got closer. That to me felt very realistic. It also felt realistic to me that at first, he's complaining because he doesn't know how to pack a suitcase, yet by the end of the film, he's gone grocery shopping by himself, cut down a Christmas tree and decorated it, set up all the traps for the robbers, and defended the house. That's some character development - he's been forced into independance and has grown. (Also him being afraid of the heater in the basement, and getting over that fear.)
I know this movie and Home Alone 2 made all the world's money for Macaulay Culkin, but I've never envied him that. The fact he'll forever be known as "the Home Alone kid" never seemed like a good thing to me.
Another thing I love about this movie is that it's a true family film. It has humour for the kids, it has humour for adults. The are jokes in this movie that I didn't get until I grew up.
The movie is a little dated now - plane travel, for one. (Real silverware on a plane? And no way they would catch a flight leaving in 45 mins...) Also, the lack of mobile phones, the hair styles... but that's part of the nostalgia for me.
Have some random gifs I've found while watching the movie today:
I always, always wanted to do this:
but I never got the chance, nor would my mom ever have let me.
I never found this part to be as funny as the media thought it was, and I kind of wish that it wasn't on every poster and cover and everything.
One of the things that attracted me to the film is the fact that it is a little scary. Kids like to be scared by movies and stuff.
I can't find any good clips of my favourite part of the film, which is Kevin setting the traps, but I did find the music for it:
This is one of the traps that always made me laugh. I think it's because of the sound he makes. I feel horrible now, because that would be so very painful...
Watching this with the commentary, they talk about the stunt men a lot. Turns out that the stunt guys who are falling down icy steps and so on sometimes got really hurt, which you don't think about when you're enjoying the comedy. Still, it's amazing, and after all, stunt men are paid to do the stuff they do. There's some traps in the second film though that I just can't watch. (The staple gun stuff... *shiver*)
As a kid, I also really wanted to live in a big house like the one in Home Alone:
Another thing I like about the film is the running gag of Buzz's trantula. It's another creepy thing, and it's a mcguffin to boot.
Over-all, I still love this film. It's full of wonderful Christmas nostalgia and I make a point of watching it every December, at least once.
Until next time!