HOME ALONE - Fun Facts and Fan Theories

you guys give up or you're thirsty for more okay so we looked at die hard last week but what do you get if you make a kids version and keep the Christmas setting that's right home alone this is a genuine Christmas classic with bags of charm and heart that is just as fun today as it was in 1990 and yeah unlike Die Hard there is no debating whether this is a Christmas movie or not because it is end of debate so there but before we jump into this review make sure to stick around to the end because there's a little bit of an update about our future videos John Hughes developed the idea of Home Alone from a scene in Uncle Buck where McCauley Culkin's character interrogates a wouldbe babysitter through the letter box originally Warner Brothers were set to finance and distribute the film but after it exceeded its intended budget of 10 million doar which was far less than what movies were actually made on in that era they decided to pull the plug on production during pre-production the budget swell to approximately 14 million with Warners demanding that they make cuts of around 1.2 million which was not seen as feasible by Hughes and his co-producers Hughes certainly isn't a DA Feller because he held secret meetings with 20th Century Fox and knew that he couldn't make the film for the originally agreed budget with Warners and also knew that it wouldn't be too long until they shut down production production did quickly resume soon after when 20th Century Fox took Hughes up on his offer with a new budget of around $18 million so huge played a Blinder there the role of Kevin mallister was written with McAuley cin in mind although many other young actors were screen tested by director Chris Columbus McCauley cin ultimately won the role after Columbus agreed that he in fact was the best choice to play Kevin mallister but before then the job of director was initially offered to Patrick Reed Johnson who declined due to commitments making Space Invaders yeah not the best decision really was it so um oh the so then the offer was extended to Chris Columbus who later went on to direct a couple of wizard films or something as well as a film about Lightning Thief oh and this ain't the same Chris Columbus who discovered America by the way not that i' g with that Opera anything just prior to directing Home Alone Columbus was set to direct National ampon Christmas vacation but dropped out due to difficulties working with Star Chevy Chase Columbus did do some rewrites for the Home Alone script which went uncredited one of his additions to the script was the inclusion of the character old man Marley which he created to give the story a more serious layer as well as a more emotional happier ending other than the brilliantly funny third act where Joe PES and Daniel Stern's Harry and Marv characters get the absolute kicked out of them in Kevin's mhi Funhouse the one thing that I always remember about this film was John Candy and his band in the back of the budget van with Kevin's mom wait a minute that sounds a bit wrong anyway the legendary John Candy a veteran of the John Hughes comedies filmed his role in one day or beit a long 23-hour day and his character does remind me a bit of the character he played in Planes Trains and Automobiles another John Hughes film candy took on the role of Gus palinsky the poker King as a favor to John Hughes and was reportedly paid only $414 Candi was the only actor allowed to go off script and according to Columbus improvise most of his lines when I was growing up I always wondered what film Kevin was watching when he was stuffing his face with ice cream it wasn't until years later that I found out that this wasn't a real film at all but a film within a film called angels with filthy souls the title which parries another movie called angels with filthy faces this movie within a movie was actually filmed within one day technically the day before principal photography had begun I'm just going to go off piec a little bit here because there's actually a really weird fan Theory regarding this film and mcy Culkin's character of Kevin mallister I'm pretty sure that this is possibly a widely known Theory by now but for those who haven't seen this Kevin grows up to be the jigsaw killer from the Saw movies that is both really funny and mental at the same time but to be honest I actually think there's some substance to this crazy ass Theory let me just indulge you for a few moments well as you know jigsaw is a psychopathic killer who kidnaps his victims and sets horrible and elaborate traps for them to try and get out of before the traps can kill them in very violent and horrible ways as a child Kevin was left home alone and he forced to defend himself and his house from too well financed well wait a minute that's the wrong film I did that last week sorry he's forced to defend himself and his house from two hapless moronic burglar where he sets traps Al bit not as deadly or as violent as he would have as jigsaw although I bet in real life that would no doubt have resulted in severe injury or death H A year later as we all know Kevin was left on his own again this time he loses his family in a packed airport and Boards a wrong plane to New York again and probably a little bit coincidentally he's confronted by Harry and Marv and he also sets similar traps in his uncle's empty house that is undergoing renovation although the traps he sets here have been perfected based on his experience from the previous year the events of Home Alone 2 is the last we see of Kevin's Journey but these incidents seem to have had a psychological impact upon him he enjoyed the pain he inflicted upon Harry and Marv and he gets a real sense of satisfaction in this and develops a taste for creating these booby traps as he grows then he becomes the jigsaw killer to begin with Kevin's traps are simple and comedic then as he perfects his methods they become a lot more sadistic violent and deadly W I think this review's taken a right dark turn I mean I found it quite fascinating but I think I'm going to leave that there and get back to talking about this light-hearted Christmas comedy classic Hey look it's Roman from succession what makes this movie as great as it is are the two idiotic burglars Harry and Marv played by Joe pesi and Daniel Stern respectively Joe pesi on reflection is a bit of a left field casting Choice have you made a career play more adult s characters such as Joey from raging bll Frankie from Once Upon a Time in America the really funny hyperactive motor mouth Leo gets in Lethal Weapon 2 and in the next two sequels and in the same year as Home Alone the utterly violent and unhinged gangster Tommy DeVito in the excellent Good Fellas I'm funny how I mean funny like I'm a clown I amuse you peshi was actually in a more child-friendly movie in Michael Jackson's Anthology film moon walker in 1988 although here he does play a drug lord called Mr Big and I actually did find him quite intimidating when I was a child side note moon walker was absolutely Bonkers I mean who comes up with a story where your main character turns himself into a car and then a robot and then a spaceship or whatever it was sheer craziness what the hell was that Joe pesi apparently found it very difficult to not swear on the set of home alone and had to come up with his own former gibberish to be substituted for the cursing peshi also avoided moli cinon onet because he wanted culin to think that he was mean and now onto Marv played by Daniel Stern who I think is the funniest part of this film hello no Daniel Stern was originally cast in the role but only wanted to commit to 6 Week shooting the studio wanted him to film eight weeks without paying him for the additional two so Stern rejected the role Daniel robot was then cast as he agreed to do the role for the required time and for less money however he failed to the right kind of chemistry with Joe pesi in their screen tests according to the filmmakers The Producers really wanted Stern in the role and were able to convince the studio to relieve Daniel robok and cast Stern instead meeting his initial demands and to be fair I can't really see anybody else in that role nobody can scream quite like Daniel Stern as we've Die Hard home alone and its sequel Home Alone 2o are films my wife and I watch every Christmas there is plenty of Nostalgia surrounding this film and it is a true Christmas classic in my eyes there is a scene from both home alone and its sequel Home Alone 2 that really did induce belly laughs when I was younger the scene in Home Alone was when Kevin shoots Harry and Marv with a BB gum through the cat flap the scene in the second film was when Kevin keeps hitting Marvin the head with a bricks I remember seeing Home Alone 2 in the cinema with my older brother and we were in absolute hysterics at this moment and to be fair both of these scenes still make me laugh even today to summarize home alone is a very charming and heartfelt film it does take a turn for the more absurd and slapsticky in the third act but it works this changing tone doesn't really detract from the rest of the film as the first two acts help to build up to the Final Act and it is so satisfying seeing the wet Bandits get their comeuppence In The End by the time of the second film you know what to expect but I also find Home Alone 2 to be a fun film even if it does follow the formula of the first a little bit too closely but on a grander scale a bit like die hard too I do have one very minor complaint about home alone how the hell does Kevin manage to sled down his stairs and go out through the front door when his stairs aren't even in line with the door I'm surprised that McCauley caulin hasn't been in one of the Fast and Furious films with that kind of steering I would like to end this throwback Thursday here by saying a huge thank you for watching the video and for watching all of the videos up to this date as a quick update Sean and I will be taking a short break over the Christmas period but we will be back in the new year with more Throwback Thursdays as well as more discussion if there are any films that you would like us to review in the future then by all means let us know in the comments but on behalf of sha and myself colum from the critical Cinema Club we wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year take [Music] care

Channel: Critical Cinema Club

Views: 3,435

Keywords: Home Alone, Christmas, Trivia, Macauley Calkin, Joe Pesci, Movie Facts, Video Essay, movie review, cinema

Id: WUoWDnjAfRA

Length: 9min 56sec (596 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 21 2023