Home Alone

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

Amy & Paul break into 1990’s abandoned child comedy phenomenon Home Alone! They praise John Candy as the film’s MVP, learn why Joe Pesci was tougher to wrangle on set than any of the child actors, and debate whether Kevin McCallister is a sociopath. Plus: A look at how Macaulay Culkin has responded to the film’s success as an adult.

This is the seventh episode in our Kinspooled series on “effed up families”; next week’s film, as voted on by Unspooled listeners, is Dogtooth! Learn more about the show at unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. You can also listen to our Stitcher Premium game show Screen Test right now at https://www.stitcher.com/show/unspooled-screen-test, and apply to be a contestant at unspooledpod@gmail.com! Photo credit: Kim Troxall

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

This movie held up better than expected upon rewatch. I remembered a lot more of it being about the thieves invading the house and the slapstick gags they run into, but that's actually a pretty small part of the film. I think the long and careful setup is why the final act is so memorable. This film is pretty well-scripted!

I wouldn't call it a great film, though, just a fun movie. I don't think it's had a lot of lasting impact on the art form beyond nostalgic memories for some folks. So it's a no for the rocket ship.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

yea that's how i felt. i enjoyed it much more than i expected to, but i'm not about to consider it an all-time great.

[CaptainAmazing 127]

Finally got around to commenting.

-I'm fully convinced that June's assertion that Kevin should have just let the burglars rob the house is either just trolling Paul or starting a controversy just to add one to the podcast. The assertion that they only wanted to steal one VCR and nothing else from the house is too far off the mark to be considered serious. And even if that were true, Kevin sure didn't know that.

-I've heard about the "Macaulay Culkin has died" rumors. Someone hit the nail on the head as to why they exist- A lot of people sort of want him to have died so that they can have an excuse to go back and watch his movies.

-I generally enjoyed the movie, having loved it and overwatched the sequel as a kid, but one thing that bugged me was how the majority of it seemed so plausible, every "i" was dotted and every "t" was crossed, and then suddenly all of that went out the window for the climax. It started out with an explanation for everything. They overslept because there was a power outage that also killed the phones. Kevin was missed in the headcount because a neighbor kid wandered over and was turned around during the count. Kevin knew they were going on vacation, but assumed that they must have actually disappeared because theire cars were still there, and he didn't know about the shuttles. Then the climax comes and it goes full cartoon. The burglars never learn to look where they're walking, they don't just slip on ice, they do a full cartwheel in the air and fall down the steps, it's impossible to know a doorknob is red-hot until you've had your hand on it long enough to get a perfect scar, etc.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

12 minutes ago, CaptainAmazing said:

-I've heard about the "Macaulay Culkin has died" rumors. Someone hit the nail on the head as to why they exist- A lot of people sort of want him to have died so that they can have an excuse to go back and watch his movies.