Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animals!

.... and a Happy New Year!

 

 

Note: This will be the first of a planned series of Christmas entries I will be making over the next couple of months. If you're saying to yourself "But, Quiggy, it's not even Halloween yet", I say "Get over yourself, Ebenezer!"

 

 

So, what if you had that fantasy come true, that of most young kids, that you could be on your own and do what you want, without  the interference of those pesky adults and older siblings?  That is the setup here, and that's all we really need. Other than that, there really is no plot. Sure, there is that threat of having your home invaded by would-be thieves, but even that is just a setup for the layout of what is essentially a live-action version of a Looney Tunes cartoon.

I mean, think about it. In both of these movies, the bad guys could be substituted with Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam, with the character of Kevin being Bugs Bunny. No matter what happens to the bad guys, they aren't really damaged much more than if a 100 lb. anvil was dropped on Elmer Fudd's head. Just a quick "Ow! That hurt!" and then back to trying to capture that "wascally wabbit" (I mean, bratty kid).

 

 

 Home Alone (1990):

The McAllisters are going on vacation for Christmas. Rather than spend it in boring old Chicago, they are going to Paris. And life at the McAllister household is hectic as a result. Not just Peter (John Heard) and his wife, Kate (Catherine O'Hara) and their 5 kids, but also a perennial hanger own and total mooch of an older brother, Frank (Gary Bamman) and his wife and five kids are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get ready to catch the plane early the next morning.

Our hero, Kevin (Macauley Culkin), is frustrated because, being the self-centered type, he thinks everybody is out to get him. To his credit he does get treated a bit like an unruly child, but then basically he IS an unruly child. However, the only one who really seems to have it in for Kevin is his older brother, Buzz (Devin Ratray) who, in typical movie older brother fashion, does everything he can to make Kevin's life hell.

The setup begins when dad Peter unplugs the clock to check on a charger and plugs it back in without resetting the clock. This in effect sets up the next morning when the entire house awakes to realize they overslept and the shuttle service they hired to take them to the airport is waiting outside. Long story, short, they rush to the airport and just manage to make it on the plane before its departure.

Except a foul up in the process occurs when Kevin is left behind.  And in typical fashion, mom is the first to realize that Kevin didn't make it with them and is still home alone. 

 

Kevin wakes up to discover his whole family is gone. Shock eventually segues into elation that his dream of being able to do what he wants without interference is a dream now come true. As any 8 year old would do he initially starts doing things he had previously not been allowed to do, like jumping on the bed and pillaging his older brother's room.

 

Eventually he does settle down somewhat.  He even goes grocery shopping.

 

One of the scenes that gradually makes Kevin grow up a little is when he has an encounter with Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom). Marley is a recluse in the neighborhood, and as such, is the subject of some pretty sinister rumors from the neighborhood kids, such as the fact that he murdered his whole family with a snow shovel. Kevin is at first scared s**tless of Marley, but he eventually learns that Marley is a nice old man who has had problems of his own with his own family. Both Kevin and Marley eventually learn something from each other and depart as friends.

 

In time Kevin realizes that a pair of suspicious characters he has seen hanging around the neighborhood are in fact home burglars. Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) have been casing the neighborhood for weeks, figuring out which houses were going to be vacant during the holidays so they can rob them blind.  Of course, one of the houses on their list was the McAllister house, since everyone was supposed to be going to Paris.

 

But when they see little Kevin they become confused and think maybe the family didn't go after all. But it gradually begins to dawn on them that Kevin is all alone, so their plans go back to the original stage. Meanwhile Kevin becomes aware of the pair and determines that he, and he alone, is the only block between a successful robbing of his family home and a defense from the robbers.

This sets up the last third of the movie as Kevin goes from an 8 year old kid to the equivalent of a mix of McGyver and a Rube Goldberg creator. He sets up an elaborate series of blockades, including hot wiring a door knob, painting grease on ladder rungs, and icing up the sidewalk out front. You might get the idea that Kevin watched a hell of a lot of Wile E. Coyote / Roadrunner cartoons and learned how to avoid the mistakes that Herr Coyote made so he could be successful. 

 

Of course, the family eventually returns home just in time on Christmas Day. Mom first, since she refused to wait for a direct flight and had to use all her wiles to get home to her son.  But she only beats the rest of the family by 10 minutes. The rest of the family having waited for the direct flight Mom would not wait for. 

 

One of the better parts of the movie is when Kevin uses a VCR tape of an old (fictional, BTW) film noir film called Angels with Filthy Souls. A tough gangster named Johnny (played by Ralph Foody) has some bad words with another character named Snakes and Kevin uses this film to convince a pizza delivery guy to be satisfied with a 20 cent delivery tip. An interesting tidbit for you if you've seen the fake movie scene: Originally the parts were going to be reversed with the parts of Snakes and Johnny being played by the other actor.

 

Also a great cameo in this movie by John Candy as the leader of a polka band who gives Mom a ride to Chicago. Candy did this movie for almost free as a favor to John Hughes (having previously made Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck with the director).  I read on wikipedia that because Candy came on board for so cheap that Hughes just let him ad-lib his whole role, and his parts are pretty funny.

Robert De Niro turned down the role of Harry, and as a result the part went to Pesci. As good as De Niro is, even in movies where he is required to be comedic, I am thankful he chose to pass. I can't imagine anyone in that role but Pesci.  

So, the movie was pretty successful upon it's release. It raked in $476 million dollars against a budget of on $18 million and was surpassed only by Ghost that year in terms of ticket sales.  It currently has a 66% rating on the Tomato-meter. Among some of the critics who didn't like it was Owen Gleiberman, who apparently missed the homage I saw in it as a tribute to those old Looney Tunes cartoons. He called it a "sadistic festival of adult-bashing". And note: I wrote the comparison of Kevin's blockades above as "a mix of McGyver and a Rube Goldberg creator" before I read it, but apparently me and Roger Ebert were on the same wavelength... A quote from wikipedia article on the movie: He compared the elaborate booby-traps in the film to Rube Goldberg machines, writing "they're the kinds of traps that any 8-year-old could devise, if he had a budget of tens of thousands of dollars and the assistance of a crew of movie special effects people"...

Home Alone was such a huge hit that it inspired a sequel, Home Alone II: Lost in New York.

 

 

Home Alone II: Lost in New York (1992): 

This film segues from the fist movie and pretty much starts out the same way. This time the McAllisters and the rest are on their way to spend Christmas in Florida. I think it is supposed to be taking place the following Christmas after the debacle of a trip the family tried in the first film, so the maturity that Kevin garnered from the first film didn't apparently last long, since he is still being the same rather obnoxious little kid he was being last year.

 

This time the family is going to Florida. As usual, the family wakes up late and has to rush to get to the airport. No, the family does not end up leaving poor Kevin behind this time. Instead a bit of confusion happens as Kevin gets separated and chases after a man he thinks is his dad and ends up on a plane to new York instead of the one the rest of the family is boarded to go to Florida.

Fortunately for Kevin he has his dad's carry on which has his wallet. After wandering around new York for a bit and realizing he has to find some place to stay he books a room at the Plaza Hotel, using his portable recorder to convince the hotel booking agent on the phone that is dad is making the reservation. (Something that can't be encapsulated by writing about it... you have to see it. It probably wouldn't work in real life, but this is the movies).

The hotel concierge, played by Tim Curry, is suspicious and does many attempts to try to catch the non-present father, but of course, since dad is really not there he has no success. Kevin uses the portable recorder, as well as an inflatable Bozo the clown to hide the fact that he is there alone. As well, he has a tape of the film noir sequel to the previous movie, Angels with Filthier Souls. (The title of this blog entry comes from a quote in that faux movie...)

 

While wandering around Central Park Kevin encounters a homeless woman, credited as The Pigeon Lady (Brenda Fricker). Once again circumstances cause Kevin to rethink his initial reaction, which is fear, to finding out that the pigeon lady is really a nice person after all. And both of them, as in the previous movie with Kevin and Marley, come away with a new outlook on life.

 

Meanwhile, it turns out that our bad guys from the previous movie, Harry and Marv, have escaped jail and are planning to hit a local toy store, which has thousands of dollars of it's sales that is going to be donated to the local children's hospital. The two spot Kevin and recognize him, but since they are focused on their crime they mostly just try a half ass attempt at accosting Kevin, but end up just forgetting about him.

 

Not a good idea. Since Kevin has found out about their plan he makes an attempt to foil the robbery. And then, much as in the first movie, he sets up an elaborate trap that plays out much as it did in the first movie: Rube Goldberg traps and Looney Tunes hijinks.

"But wait...!" you are thinking. "He's not at home..." Well, it turns out that dad has a cousin living in New York, one that is conveniently out of town while his house is being renovated. (and, BTW, that house looks like it's been condemned and abandoned to me, so just how much renovation did it need...?)

 

Harry and Marv are looking for revenge. Might have been better if they just hightailed it out of town since they already had a satchel full of loot, but these two mental giants think that getting that kid is a more important goal than anything resembling prudence. And of course, they failed to learn their lesson when dealing with Kevin the first time.

 

Eventually Kevin foils these two geniuses and wins the day, as well as garners the thanks of the toy store owner, Mr. Duncan (Eddie Bracken). And, as they say, all's well that ends well.

Just wondering. Is there anyone besides me that thinks Brenda Fricker (the Pigeon Lady) looks a lot like Susan Boyle? Have to admit I had a little crush on Fricker after that movie. Sure, she's about 15 years older than me, but who says you have to have crushes on younger women?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Alone 2 was not the smash that the first one was, but it still managed to come in third in ticket sales behind Aladdin and The Bodyguard. It was made for $28 million and pulled in almost $400 million at the box office.  However, it was not the big favorite among critics... what do they know? It ranks only 35% on the Tomato-meter. Audiences begged to differ, however. It has an average of A- on a scale of A+ to F with those of us who actually paid to see the movie rather than have our tickets bought for us by our employer/newspaper. 

Home Alone 2 also has a phenomenally better musical soundtrack. The first movie had very little Christmas music in it, it was mostly the score of the film with a small number of songs. On this movie you get quite a number of favorite melodies accompanying the film, including "Sleigh Ride" sung by TLC, "Silver Bells" sung by Atlantic Starr, the classic favorite "Jingle Bell Rock" as sung by Bobby Helms and my favorite, "A Holly Jolly Christmas", sung by Alan Jackson.

  

 

Late breaking news! Remember those two film noir movies I mentioned above that Kevin puts to ingenious  use? I just found a clip that includes his first watch of both of those films and the subsequent pranks he plays on various people with them. You don't need to watch the whole movie to understand what's going on, they are self-explanatory. Enjoy!

 

 

Well, folks, Christmas is almost upon us. Have a happy holidays. And be sure ALL your family is present before you start on a journey, even if it's just across town to grandma's house.

Quiggy