Home Alone with Stacy

Stacy Raine joins Justin to discuss The Home Alone franchise, including the controversial Home Alone 3. We also discuss some other classic Christmas movies and specials.

Referenced in the pod: 'The Lost Version of Home Alone 2' ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhEbysDEQs

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This production is brought to you by the Recess Bell
Home Alone. Don't you just love Home Alone?

Speaker 2 (00:09):
I love Home Alone?

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Are you ready?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm thinking for a second because I had a way
that we could start this off and now forgot it.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
We don't do bits like that on film reel, Stacy,
We're real, this is the film.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
So we're just gonna be like, hello, we're Justin and
Stacy pretty much.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
But now you're really loud all of a sudden.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Oh well, got excited.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Okay, we're getting right in.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I have four main points for Home Alone three, just
so you know, but I think you covered most of them.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Would you stop spoiling what we're getting to. This is
film reel. My name is Justin joining me. You heard her,
It's the lovely Stacy Rain Stacy. How are you doing? Oh?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm so great?

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Great?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm actually less great because I watched homelone three.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
What is all right? We're gonna get into some Home
Alone three talk. We're gonna talk to the first two
home alones. I know you people out there thinking, did
you already do a Home Alone special with Liam? Well,
it's a fantastic movie. I watch it every year. So
we're gonna talk some more Home Alone, and me and
Stacy specifically both watched Home Alone three, so that's gonna
be the main event. We're going to get to that
in just a minute. But before we get to that,

(01:15):
I need to know some more about Stacy Rain. So
I asked this for a lot of my guests growing up,
what was your favorite television show that you watch?

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Save by the Bell.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
I'm so excited, I said, such.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
A classically, such a classic.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Where you team Slater or other guy?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Zach Zach Zach Morris?

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, where you you like Zach Moore? Oh?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:46):
Who?

Speaker 2 (01:47):
He's adorable.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
He has an aged as well as Mario Lopez, though
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
I haven't really looked him up lately. Has he been
in anything lately?

Speaker 1 (01:56):
He does sitcoms and shows every now and then. They've
rebooted Saved by the Bell a few years ago.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
I did not watch that, So something's wrong with me.
I'm mean make a note to go do that.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Well. I heard it wasn't good and then Screech wasn't
in a dustin diamond and then he eventually died.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
That's what I thought, Yeah, it did. They I don't
know that they're all doing well.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
No, I think Mario Lopez is doing the best out
of all of them because he does the access Hollywood.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah he does. And then so it was say by
the Bell, but it was also say by the Bell
the college years. Yes, they had the best college dorms.
Did you notice that?

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Did you watch it?

Speaker 1 (02:28):
I did.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
That is not how my college dorms were.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
No, all these shows make living arrangements seem so much better.
You always wanted the room I always wanted, you know,
Clarissa explains it all. You know her room. I wanted, Hey, Arnold,
you know Arnold's room. They always lavish it up and
make you feel so crappy about your life. Saved by
the Bell was great. It was you know, cheese to
the extreme and very eighties and nineties, a lot of fun,

(02:54):
vibrant colors and whatnot. But I dig it. What about
as far as cartoons go.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
I try to play Saved by the Bell for my kids. Yeah,
they were like, no, change the channel.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
You have three kids and none of them enjoyed any
of it.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think I only had my oldest watch it when
he was probably eight, and he was like, no, thanks,
So maybe he was a little young. I don't know.
That's always try again.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
You know. I try that with the niece and nephew
to show them something, and I hype it up like
you need to watch et it's the best, and then
my niece is scared of it. My nephew has add
he's not even paying attention. So that's always disappointing. Do
you make your kids, not like make your kids, but
do you encourage your kids to watch things that you

(03:36):
watched while you were growing up?

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Or That is the joy of parenting justin is that
I can then relive my childhood through them. Yeah, is
the best I can, which is why I try to
make them watch Saved by the Bell and it's why
I always make them watch Home Alone every year. Yeah,
I don't have to make them anymore. They love it.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, the kids. I wrote this down because I take notes,
because I'm a professional. But Home Alone is one of
those timeless sort of movies. It really just is generational.
You could show it to a kid that was born
in twenty twenty, or you could show it to a
kid that was born in nineteen eighty. It's it's one

(04:11):
of those things that I think will live on forever.
And I think there's lots of reasons for that, which
we will get to. But before that, a little more
Stacy information. Now, what cartoons were you watching? Because you
got a little bit older than me, I'm guessing you
look so young, so I really can't tell, Stacy, But
what were you the cartoons that were on during your lifetime?
Something like Muppet Babies? Were you a Muppet Babies girl?

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Oh, I did like Muppet Babies. I forgot about that.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Love the Muppet Babies? Was it?

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Ducktails?

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Woo?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Ducktails was a good one.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Chippendale Rescue Rangers there.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
I don't remember that one. I just remember there was Ducktails.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Ducktails is Chippendale different of the same.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Chippindale is like part of that Disney Afternoon blocks like
Gummy Bears and Chippindale and duck Tails and tail spin,
a lot of tail.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Spin, That's what I'm thinking of. And then there was
Scooby doo which is is that still it's still My
kids still watch it, so I don't know if it's
still around or it's just reap.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
They Scooby Doos? Is it another one of those things
that will never go away? Because they always reboot, it rebranded.
They had the pup name Scooby Doo in the eighties,
they had you know, different variations, live action versions in
the two thousands. That's one of those things that I
don't think will ever ever go away. What about action cartoons?
Did girls in the in the eighties and nineties did

(05:25):
they watch action cartoons? Like did you watch like Ninja
Turtles or anything like that?

Speaker 2 (05:31):
My brother did?

Speaker 1 (05:32):
What about Power Rangers?

Speaker 2 (05:34):
No, no Power Rangers. I have sent seen Power Rangers
because I have the kids love it. Yeah, but no,
no Power Rangers. For me. There was was it Alvin
and the Chipmunks, but there was Girl Girl Chipmumps. Yeah
that one. I liked that one. Yeah. I had a
repertoire of cartoons.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
One more stacy growing up question music? What was your
go to music? Were you a Spice girl? Girl? Hanson?
You're giving Hanson vibes?

Speaker 2 (06:02):
I did not like Hanson. Then I actually like them.
Now they redid lately. Really have you heard this? And
it's really good. I don't know if it's I don't
know if it's just on YouTube or what, but they
redid it and it was great. Nothing then they were
talented let's say none of us were married.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
All right, if you could have any woman in the world,
who would it be? What about you? Quagmaya, Taylor Hanson.
Taylor Hanson's a guy. You guys are yanking me. Hey, hey,
let's put one over on old quag may Go to
a musical choice.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
I mean when I was a kid kid, I can
remember jamming in the back of my mom's car to
some Millie Vanilli. Oh god girl, you know, and then
that went south for them. There was Red Red Wine.
I used to love that one, which I think is
hilarious now looking back that I was jamming to that
at probably like six.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
You be forty.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Wow, you have some I forget how noledgele you are
about this stuff.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
I love the Red Red I can't remember like.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Groups that I liked that young, just known out in
high school. It was like in sync?

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Was were you at sync? Or Backstreet?

Speaker 2 (07:08):
In sync?

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Really?

Speaker 2 (07:09):
For I used to call the radio station like can
you play.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Did you watch TRL? I'm guessing yeah with Carson Dally?

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Sure did? Sure did? He's still around yeah today showing it.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
So you were supposed to have an interview with him
right at one point?

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Oh yeah, but it just ended up being Savannah.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
Well, I think it's still turned out great.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, well, Carson, you need to come back on my show.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
We need you, Stacey. Now I do the morning show
with you at ninety point three WHPC. But you are
also doing a podcast, right, you got something coming up? Well?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
I have one that I just wrapped called Wisdom of
Age that it's a series of six episodes plus a
bonus I did, but it interviews people who are of
our oldest generation, so they're in their eighties and nineties,
about their lives and through those stories you get know,
some good life lessons.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
That's what I'm doing with you right now, interviewing a
eighty year old justin geez. We're just having fun, Stacey,
We're just having fun. So what's the new podcast going
to be?

Speaker 2 (08:19):
The new podcast is going to be a show called
tell Me what It's Like, and it's about experiences that
most of us haven't had. So I'm pretty excited about that.
It'll come out in the spring.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Oh, I'm very excited. I'm going to be helping you
on that, right, you are going.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
To be my helper.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
All right, Well, let's be great. Let's get into Christmas.
Because we're recording this just around the week or so
until Christmas, and it's a magical time of the year.
Even for me. Even though my last name's Greenberg, I
was raised Catholic. My mother's Catholic, and you took the
mom's religion for majority of people, so people might not
think I'm Catholic or you know, raised that way. I

(08:56):
look Jewish, I sound Jewish, I have Jewish features and
have the last name for sure, But Nope, Greenberg is Catholic.
And I love the holiday season. I love the music,
I love the lights. I love the festivities, making cookies,
the presents, the traditions and whatnot. But I love media.
I love watching television programs that involve Christmas. I love

(09:18):
watching movies that involve Christmas. So my favorite Christmas movies
of all time are probably the first. It's probably the
first home alone movie. But besides that, are there any
movies or specials that you think are must watch during
the holiday season. I'm going to start off stacy with
some of my favorite cartoons that had great Christmas specials.

(09:41):
So Garfield, which was huge in the eighties, had a
fantastic Christmas special where Garfield he goes to his grandmother's
family's house at a farm, and you find out that
the grandma her husband passed away. And it's a really
interesting story that they talk about death with this cartoon.

(10:04):
You know special this is meant for five year old
six year olds, but it's got some heavy stuff and
it's all about loss and you know, rekindling some of
those memories that you had with like lost past relatives
during the holiday season and how sad it can be
during the holiday season without you know, your your loved one.
So I always love that Garfield one. Sometimes I wake

(10:24):
up in the night and I can still feel his
strong arms roundly.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
This is the night I miss him the most.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
The Snoopy, you know, the Peanuts Christmas Special is must watch.
It's very simplistic, but there's also some depth to it.
But it's also very comforting. There's not a lot of
action going on. It's more of a chill sort of vibe. So,
you know, Garfield and Snoopy definitely one and two on
my list. And I love the Grinch, and my hot

(11:02):
take is I do not like the Jim Carrey Grinch
at all. I actually hate that version of that character
because it's very dark it's very ugly looking. That movie
directed by Ron Howard from the early two thousands is
a very ugly looking movie. But that animated special from
the nineteen sixties, directed by Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame.

(11:25):
He brought that book's energy to the big screen, or
rather the small screen, because it was a television special,
and I think you lost that with the Jim Carrey movie.
So as far as cartoons go, Garfield, Grinch, Charlie Brown,
those are my top three. What about you?

Speaker 2 (11:42):
I mean, honestly, I don't really watch a ton of
cartoon Christmas. I didn't even know Garfield had one. And
so you're sitting here temming this. My kids love Garfield.
I thought, oh, I should play that for them, But
then you didn't sell it very well.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
I didn't sell it. I talked this about losing loved ones.
Your kids should be learning about this at some point.
They watch The Lion King.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yet But it's a Christmas movie.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
Yeah, it's like a thirty minute Christmas special. Okay, have
you showed them Frost through the Snowman.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
I'm pretty sure they've seen that one. I like that one.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
That's a classic. What about have they seen the Gringe.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yes, I don't. I might have to ask them now
do they like the Cartoon one better? Or Jim Carrey?
But I'm with you. I think I like the Cartoon
one better?

Speaker 1 (12:21):
Is there any other specials? Or I always watched Rudolph,
Rudolph's Great. We were talking about that on the Morning
show today.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
But I was always into the real ones. Did you
ever watch the Santa Claus Not not the home Allen Yeah,
not the Tim Allen one, but the older one. I
was like the the rich girl. But then there's the
boy that I think he may even not even have
a home. I don't remember. It's been a long time
as I've watched that. He still love that movie?

Speaker 1 (12:45):
Is that from the eighties? Yes?

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Insane? They played it every Christmas Eve. Do you remember
this movie?

Speaker 1 (12:50):
I know of it. I did not see it, though.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
I love Okay, well that's on your list. I loved
that movie so much, and then I made my husband
watch it a couple of years ago, and he was like, no,
this is not a good It's one of those when
you watch as a kid. It's amazing. Yeah, I've tried
to make my kids watch it. They also didn't think
it was amazing. I thought it was so cool because
it brought to life Santa and showed you his workshop

(13:12):
and all the elms, and.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
It probably looked cool because the eighties. I felt it
such a good job with capturing that Christmas magic. And
now modern movies I think do a poor representation of Christmas.
I talked about the movie Red One starring Dwayne the
Rock Johnson, and it's just an ugly looking movie. It
looks like a modern superhero movie from DC Comics, and

(13:35):
it's very just ugly and dark and gloomy, and it
loses that Christmas spirit. But you mentioned the Santa Claus.
I actually watched that one in theaters and with Tim Allen.
With Tim Allen, yeah, you know Tim Allen. When that
movie came out, he had the number one book on
the New York Times Best Selling List, he had the
number one television show with Home Improvement, and the number

(13:57):
one movie in theaters. And I don't think that will
ever be duplicated again by anybody, by anybody. I couldn't
imagine it because usually when you're doing TV, you're not
releasing a number one movie, and let alone writing a book.
But when I saw that movie in theaters. I specifically remember,
and I just turned six years old, so I was
a pretty young kid. And I remember my father taking

(14:18):
my brother to the bathroom and he made me guard
the seats because we didn't have assigned seats at this time.
I just turned six years old, like a month prior,
and he just leaves me alone in the movie theater
to guard these seats. It was like the most anxiety
I had at any point in my life, very frightening.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
I like that movie, The Santa Claus.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
I like it. Even the sequel's not that bad. I
know they made a third one as well, and the
television show. They brought it back in recent years on
Disney Plus. But it looked ugly. It looked like a
modern sort of vibe, and I think it lost the
magical sort of just the way it looked that nineties
feel to it it. You know, it lost it with
the modern technology. Unfortunately. Any other Christmas like Chris Vacation

(15:01):
or what about die Hard? I know people say Diehard's
a Christmas movie.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Okay, I Christmas Vacation. I did watch that one pretty recently,
since my husband's favorite. I do like that one. That
one's a good one.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Let think it's overrated.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
You think I think so funny.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
I like a Christmas story more.

Speaker 2 (15:18):
I don't like a Christmas story. I don't know why.
I just have never been into it.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
Did you like The Wonder Years growing up?

Speaker 2 (15:24):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (15:24):
So that's shocking because it feels like a very Wonder
Years but set in the forties, like you know, you
have the narrator reminiscing about his childhood.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Maybe, but I don't know. Maybe I just never sat
down and watched it with attention. But I didn't. I
just never. I don't know. It is always fine. The
Christmas vacation was good. I what was the other one?
I was thinking of? Elf?

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Elf?

Speaker 2 (15:47):
I love ELF. I think that one's so much fun
because Will Ferrell is just hilarious in Elf. There's one
more I know. I can't think of it.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Hmmm, save Christmas.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
But I do love that. You know all the Earnest
movies that on a morning show.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
It was one of our first morning shows. I went
over all the Earnest lore.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
That's when I realized you have some serious, serious television knowledge. Yeah,
I think I did. I bring up Ernest and then
you went on to like rattle off all six movies
I just sat there and shot.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
I think there's nine Earnest movies. Yeah, I think they
need to reboot the Earnest franchise at some point. I
know he's no longer around, Jim Varney, but you can
animate him. You could, You could have somebody. There's a
guy on TikTok TikTok that does like a fantastic Earnest impression,
and I think they should do a biopic of Jim
Varney or bring back that character. But I think we're

(16:40):
done with just talking about other Christmas movies besides Home Alone,
which we're gonna get to. Unless you have one that
jumps to mine, Is there any one that we make?

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Can There is one? But I can't remember.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Jingle all the way. No, you ever watch that one?

Speaker 2 (16:52):
No, it's some of that you said Christmas Vacation.

Speaker 1 (16:55):
What about It's a Wonderful Life.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
I do like that one.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
That's really good. I watched that for the first time
ever last year and it is a masterpiece.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
It is a very good movie. I haven't watched it
in a long time. Maybe I need to put that
back on my list. This one, well, there's a Christmas Carol,
which I think is a really good movie as well, but.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
The Muppets Christmas Carol is even better.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
That is also better. You mentioned Diehard. That's the one
I wanted to cover. This is an age old argument.
Is it a Christmas movie? Is it not a Christmas movie?

Speaker 1 (17:25):
You know it takes place during the holiday season. Yeah,
and it's got Christmas music. There's Christmas jokes all throughout.
You know, the character's name is Holly. They say ho, ho,
I have a machine gun. It's a different type of
Christmas movie, but I still think it is a Christmas movie. Now,
there are Halloween movies that don't necessarily take place during Halloween.

(17:47):
You know, your Friday in the thirteenth movies are usually
in the summer, but I still think of them as
Halloween movies. So I still think you could necessitate a
die Hard as a Christmas movie. Is it as Christmasy
as something like The Grinch or Peanuts? Probably not, But
I still think of it as a Christmas type movie.
Same thing with lethal weapons, same thing with gremlins. All

(18:10):
Christmas movies.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
All right. I did like Diehard, though I didn't think
I would, but I did.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
I think it can make an argument it's the greatest
action movie of all time? Can you First of all,
the late great Alan Rickman as Hans Kruber is probably
the best villain in any movie. And then John McClain,
you know, played by Bruce Willis. He just does such
a good job of the everyday sort of dude. You
know he's not because in the eighties you had all

(18:35):
these hulking, steroid type action hero so Arnold and Stallone
and Van dimm they were all Jack to the guilds.
And then you have you know, Bruce Willis come along
and he just looks like an average everyday guy. And
that was sort of the trend moving forward into the
nineties where you had guys like Keanu Reeves and Mel
Gibson and more of an average looking type of guy

(18:56):
as far as your body type goes. And Bruce Willis
just that role. Perfectly great ensemble cast and in my
opinion a Christmas.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Movie was he was. It was a very good movie.
And Alan Rickman, you brought him up. He'll forever be
snaped me.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
Though for now they're recasting him. They're doing more Harry Potter.
Huh what Yeah, they're doing apparently the whole book series
over again on HBO. Mex so I don't know why
they're doing it.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Because because they can. But it's just.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
It's been done. It was just done like twenty years ago.
I don't get it. Why not just create more stories?
And this is only going to bring controversy because you're
always going to compare it to the originals and it's
never gonna live up to that. Yeah, you know that
should be coming out. I'm exciting about it.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
I'll watch it.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
I don't know. We need we need some more originality.
And speaking of originality, when Home Alone came out in
nineteen ninety, it was an original story written by John Hughes,
directed by Christopher Columbus, not the guy who founded in America,
a different Christopher Columbus and John Hughes. It's so interesting
because this guy in the eighties was creating these iconic

(20:04):
characters and movies, you know, the Pretty and Pinks and
the breakfast Club in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and all
these like really just revolutionary type of films. And then
in the nineties he started making these kids movies and
I like Home Alone, I don't like Home Alone two
as much. And then he would produce and write other

(20:25):
movies like Beethoven and Home Alone three, and he sort
of fell off and really stopped making movies in the nineties.
It's just such a weird career choice. Unfortunately, he's no
longer around. He did die over a decade ago at
this point. But he's one of the great filmmakers, and
he wrote a fantastic story with that original Home Alone,

(20:47):
which made a ton of money on an eighteen million
dollar budget. It made four hundred and seventy seven million dollars.
That's in nineteen ninety money.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
It was only an eighteen million dollar budget.

Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Wow, it surprises me.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Well, you know, movies costs so much less back then
because they weren't doing the lavish special effects. A lot
of these people were unknowns. Really. Besides John Candy, majority
of the cast hasn't been in a starring role. Catherine
O'Hara had you know, bit rolls here and there was
a television star, but she wasn't this megastar. And McCaulay
culkin was you know, a bit player in Uncle Buck,

(21:19):
but he wasn't McCaulay culkin from two years later. And
that's why the budget for Home Alone two is you know,
ten million dollars more twenty eight million dollar budget, and
it didn't make as much money, made three hundred and
fifty nine million dollars, which is still a lot of money.
And that's not including those VHS sales. Because everybody had
this movie on VHS. We wore out that Home Alone

(21:41):
VHS tape like I remember it to this day. It
started off with a commercial from Pepsi and had mccaullay
cochin dancing with a Pepsi can in his hand. And
that's one of those movies I vividly remember watching, just constantly,
over and over again. Scott, what's Jancase.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Got Pepsy for me?

Speaker 1 (22:03):
Who knew? Did you happen to watch any of the
Home Alone movies in theaters?

Speaker 2 (22:10):
I'm yeah, I'm pretty sure I watched Home Alone one
in theaters.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
You didn't see the second one, though, I don't remember.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
I don't remember if I saw it in theaters.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
I would love to That would be one of the movies.
I would love to go back in time without any
memory of watching it and watch it for the first
time with an audience that first the second the first one, yeah,
not the second one. The second one. We'll get to
as to why I have issues with it. I've talked
about it before, but we'll get.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
To talk about it in March. And so this is
why we're redoing doings at the proper season.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yes, and I just did rewatch it. I did not
watch the first one yet again, I usually watched that
Christmas Eve. But I did watch the third one, which
had a thirty two million dollar budget, which is more
than the first two movies, and yet it only made
seventy nine million dollars. Now because it was terrible, it
hold on, hold on, and I think it had some

(23:02):
positive things to it. We'll get to that in a second.
But on paper, and I say this all the time,
so I hate to regurgitate myself. And guys that have
listened to the podcast might have heard this before. You
might think that that's a profit. Okay, it cost thirty
two million dollars and it made seventy nine million dollars,
so it made fifty million dollars or so. That is
not accurate because that's the production budget, is thirty two

(23:22):
million dollars. That does not account for any of the
advertisement that this movie had to put out there. So
anytime you see a commercial on TV, that's not free.
The television companies aren't just like, yeah, we'll play your
ads for free. That costs money. If this had a
Super Bowl ad, that's a lot of money. If this
had posters all throughout on buses and then you know,
other different venues, that's money. Obviously. Now with social media,

(23:45):
to have posts on Instagram and YouTube ads, that's money.
And usually the production budget you have to double that number,
sometimes you know, triple it, depending on how much advertising
they do. So in theory I would I'd say this
movie probably cost seventy million dollars to make, and that's
being generous. So it only made ten million dollars profit,

(24:07):
which is why we never got another theatrical Home Alone movie.
The rest were just directive TV, a directive video.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
Right, and my kids started watching Home Alone four oh,
so I caught a little bit about that.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
I know a little bit about it.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
That frustrated me so much.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Well, with that one, they have Kevin back and they
have Motor but it's not Kevin No, and it's not
Marv No. It's French Stewart from Third Rock from the
Sun as Marv. And why I don't understand why they
thought that would be the idea to go with that franchise.
But in Home Alone three, they decided to do something
completely different. And this is where because the last time

(24:47):
I saw Home Alone three was probably when I rented
it on VHS in nineteen ninety eight.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
So did you like it?

Speaker 1 (24:53):
Then? No? I did not like it. In nineteen ninety eight.
I was shocked that this is not a Christmas movie.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
Okay, so I rewatched it, and I was also shocked.
It's sort of dawned on me, like, O, wait, this
is not even this is not a Christmas movie. It
doesn't take place during Christmas.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Because they say the date. They're like, oh, it was
January sixth. They took this taxi ride home. I go January.
Then they say, oh, look for the tree that's going
to be left outside, so it's post Christmas, which was very,
very jarring to me.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
I don't understand. I think, you know what, I think
this movie would have been fine. It would have been
a good movie, probably would have made more money had
they just not called it Home Alone three.

Speaker 1 (25:35):
I thought the same exact thing, except the money thing.
What do you mean, I don't think it would have
made as much money. I think having no, I think
having that brand of Home Alone probably helped it get
people to watch the movie, but I think it would
have made for a better experience from people watching it
if it wasn't branded Home Alone three, because you set
the bar so high you have those expectations. I think

(25:59):
it could have been with some minor tweaking, just its
own thing, and people would have said, yeah, it's kind
of like Home Alone, but it's its own thing, Because yeah,
that is definitely one of the main thoughts that I
had is this does not need to be a Home
Alone movie, but they try and do some Home Alone things.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
Which drove me nuts.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, so let's just get the main plot out of
the way. Okay, So first of all, it's not a
Christmas movie. It takes place in January, as I said,
and it starts off with terrorists, and I'm like.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
What am I want to start off with the family?

Speaker 1 (26:27):
No, No, it doesn't start off with the classic Home
Alone theme. So there's no John Williams theme song, like
I said, though it is written by John News Chris
Columbus has nothing to do with this as far as
directing goes, and yeah, doesn't have the Home Alone theme,
doesn't start off with the family which I would have
started off with. But you're introduced to these terrorists and
they're receiving a deadly computer chip from North Korea, and

(26:48):
I'm thinking, what kid is going to like this plot?
This is so just it's way too heavy of a story.
So this chip gets put in a toy car so
it could get through customs at the airport, and then
obviously there's some mishandling of the bag and the eventually
that toy car with the computer chip in it that

(27:09):
I guess can end the world ends up in the
hands of Young Alex because they put it in a
remote control car and Young Alex receives it from a
woman that he shovels the snow with, and the criminals
pretty much have to do whatever they can to get
the chip back. So instead of criminals going from town
to town or house to house stealing stuff like the

(27:30):
Wet Bandits did in that original movie, we're talking some
serious stuff happening here with terrorists.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, like hardcore criminals, criminal enterprise.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
And the other thing I was really jarring was guns. Guns.
All throughout this movie.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
There were and there were also children's toys that looked
exactly like guns. Yes, was weird to me.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, so young Alex, who I'm probably gonna call Kevin
at some point. Yeah, he's holding a gun that looks
exactly like a gun, has no orange tip on it,
and it ends up like shooting bu. But it's just
a weird image to screen grab an image of this
young kid holding a gun probably most definitely would not
have been done today. To me, I think the worst

(28:12):
part of this movie is the villains.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
I don't find them funny at all, And that was
to me the story There was fun of them.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
There's too many, Yes, I couldn't keep track of who's who.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
Some of them kind of look alike. You have the
one woman, but then the other three main guys that
are on the ground they're doing their terrorist work, but
then you have the North Koreans. It's just it's way
too complicated of a story I think for a young kid.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean that said, my kids loved it
because they the Dirty Tricks. They think that's just so funny.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
Yeah, so explain that your kids called the end of
the movies the Dirty Tricks.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Yeah, for all the home alones when they you know,
when he booby traps and gets the bad guys, that's
the dirty tricks sections, and they're always like, that's that's
the key. They do like the movie. So that's why
I think it would have probably been okay if you
hadn't named it Home Alone three. I'm as an adult,
I'm like, well, I want the next Home Alone. And
it's not that I love Home Alone.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
Won't.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
We watch it every Thanksgiving night, so I do watch
it with a group whoever is at our house. We
all watch it together and never gets old. I'm not
watching Home Alone three again. It's like a movie that
you watch once with your kids, over and done. They
might watch it again. I'm not watching it again.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
I'm not mad that I watched it, just because it's
been a quarter of a century since I last watched it.
And again I forgot the main fact that it wasn't
even a Christmas movie. I thought there were some positives
to the movie before we get to all the negatives.
The choice of music wasn't bad. They had some good
tracks throughout the movie, and that's John Hughes. He always
picks great music to go along with his movies. I

(29:44):
thought the kid, the young kid who played Alex, I
thought he was fine. I thought he was a decent
child actor, and it was a nice change of pace
to go from the complete brett that Kevin is. You
know he is, he can be a handful.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
Yeah, okay, so I have a bone to pick with
you and Liam about calling Kevin a brat. Y'all really
hated on him in the your last episode about home alone,
and you know, Kevin was framed. Buzz was the complete brat,
and Buzz was really mean to Kevin, and Kevin was
just trying to stick up for himself. I get it,
and then he gets in trouble for it now he

(30:20):
could he said some mean things to his mom. He
was frustrated.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
Listen, I understand that, the frustration of being a kid,
and when you're being framed from an older brother. I
have an older brother. He's caused him nonsense. I've been
you know, blamed for it. But still it's such a
change of pace from the back talking to the mom.
Because the relationship with Alex and his mom.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
Is a little different, it's not.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Really there's no turmoil with that. He's lovey dovey. He's
a kind kid. He's he's very very much more kind.
There's not really much growth with that. Character. You know,
he's sort of a nice kid at the beginning, he's
a nice cad at the end, and that was a
nice change of pace. They didn't try to replicate that
same sassy brat, in my opinion, attitude of Kevin McAllister.
A big issue I had was with the mom because

(31:06):
did they try and find someone that looked exactly like
Katherine O'Hara. I mean, come on, blue eyes, the red hair,
the same haircuts, Hames style, same mannerisms. I mean, if
you're trying to do something different, don't cass somebody that
looks exactly like, you know, Catherine O'Hara, who's brilliant in
her role. So that was a big issue I had,
though I said the main issue though was the villains,

(31:26):
because the villains, you know, Joe Peshi and Daniel Sterr,
and they have such great chemistry. They're such good actors.
I mean, Joe Pesci is an Oscar winning actor. He's
one of the best actors in Raging Bull and Goodfellas.
He's unbelievable. So to get him, this guy who's known
for all these raunchy roles and mobster type movies, to
put him in this caliber of a movie elevates it

(31:48):
to such an extreme and Daniel Stern, he ain't no slub.
He puts on some great acting performances throughout his lifetime.
To get these two guys together. Their chemistry is so
good and they're so funny and witty, and you're not
not rooting for them, but you're laughing at the stuff
that they're doing. And when they finally get their comeuppets
at the end, and they do, you know, have the
dirty trick scenes, they you know, they's substance to it

(32:11):
because you're laughing at them. And with this, I thought
the tricks and the pranks and the violence was all good.
It was all good, but there was nothing behind it. Yeah,
so when the hits would land, there was nothing to it.
I'm gonna equate it to pro wrestling. There's a lot
of great pro wrestling matches out there. But if they
don't have a good backstory and they're doing really cool

(32:32):
moves and it looks good, but there's no crowd reaction
and the audience has no investment in the story, then
it's not having the same effect. And that's the same
issue I had with Home Alone three. Yeah, they're doing
really violent stuff, and there's some violent stuff that I
thought was very funny, but what it's happened who is
happening too, isn't funny. And they're not selling it well.

(32:53):
They're trying to be Harry and Mark, but they're failing miserably.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
And there's just too many. There were so many things
right now that said I do, and I'm using my
children as as my full sample of telling you this,
But I do think kids like it because they don't
care if there are substance behind the dirty tricks. They
just think it's hilarious. But I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
I just.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
It's weird that they start off with the villains but
you never connect with them. No, I think there's partly
as there's just too many. It's too extreme for a
home alone this scenario. And I missed starting with the
family because scar Joe's in it. I had forgotten that.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Yes, young Scarlett Johansson, I don't know how you twelve, thirteen,
fourteen years old is in this movie and I've never
heard her talk about it. I would love to actually
do some research to see if I can find any
interviews of her talking about this movie. But yeah, the
kid has an older brother, and an older sister. I
mean the older brother sort of like buzz he likes
raunchy sort of. Yeah, I'm curious. So when I'm seem

(33:55):
like they show like a woman with large breasts and
they're sort of cover it up. If a scene like
that's happening with your kids, do you explain to them?
Do you just try to like distract them and say,
don't even look at the screen, or what's the deal
with that?

Speaker 2 (34:09):
M good question. I'm trying to Yeah. Usually I will
either try to fast forward it really fast if I
know it's coming, or I'll distract them.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yeah, that's always weird whenever I'm watching something with my
niece or nephew and then there's yeah, something that's just
I don't I'm not even there, you know, parents, So
I don't even know what they're allowed to watch or
talk about. So that's the issue with a lot of
nineties Yeah movies, they have adult themes and gross stuff
every now and then.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
They always they never cease to surprise me because I'm like, oh,
I love this movie as a kid, and then I
watch it, I'm like, Wow, there's more to this than
I thought there was.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
And cigarettes and a bunch of weird stuff that you
didn't expect to be in the kids movie.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Really was probably shouldn't be showing you this, guys. Yeah,
I think that part in Home on and three went
right over their heads. But yeah, I just I think
that I did not know. I had no interest in
the villains. It's just the whole thing. The plot was
just too much. And then the fact that this kid,

(35:08):
Alex is an eight year old and he's like, oh,
I wonder what's in this car that they didn't they
still want the car and oh, there's a chip here.
I'm like, what that. No eight year old is going
to do that unless he's a genius.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
Well he was. He was a smarter than the average
sort of eight year old kid. But yeah, I don't
think a normal kid would understand the implications of having
a chip. He wouldn't know the difference of what a
normal chip that's supposed to be in this car is
supposed to look like versus some terrorist chip that can
end the world. So, like we said, it is a

(35:42):
weird plot. Is as we have construction happening here at
WHPC as we're recording, So it is what it is.
It's something we have to deal with. But yeah, I
didn't hate the movie. That is the main takeaway that
I had while watching this movie is I did not
hate what I was watching, but I judged on different scale.
Am I judging this on the same scale of an

(36:03):
Oscar type of movie? No, I'm judging this on the
scale of what like your kids would be watching a
five year old and eight year old of ten year old?
Would they have enjoyed watching this? And I thought it
was decent. I didn't think it was dumbing it down
really too much. The only issue is and the main
problem is and it's what you said, is it's named
home alone. Three?

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Can we talk about the mouse and the parrot? Those
also annoyed me?

Speaker 1 (36:26):
Why I thought I one of the only laugh out
loud moments I had was with the parrot. I thought
the parrot had some good moments to it. Yeah. So
in this house, Kevin's got a bird that's repeating a
bunch of houselex. Oh what did I say, Kevin? Kevin?
I knew I would do it. I knew I would
do it. So Alex has a bird and then he
also has a pet. Is it a rat or is

(36:46):
it a mouse? I guess it's a mouse and he's
causing mischief, and you know, going in one of the
criminals growing regent, and again they're repeating a bunch of
the same gags because you know, the tarantula was on
his head and he told him don't move, doing the
same thing with the rat.

Speaker 2 (37:02):
But I feel like only I feel that's the only
reason they had the mouse rat was to recreate the tarantula.
But then he's talking through it all throughout. I'm like,
what kid had I just maybe kids have rats for pets.
I don't know, a gerbil.

Speaker 1 (37:19):
You know, maybe maybe that's the Maybe that's why the
movie only made seventy nine million dollars. Stacy, it should
have had the gerbil instead of the rat. Right.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
But the parrot, Okay, I do love parrots, don't get
me wrong, but this parrot has like the full command
of the English language, which I feel like is not accurate.
So maybe I'm looking at it from again an adult perspective,
like this is so stupid because no parrot could interact
like that. But it just drove me nut.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
I look at these movies like cartoons. To me, they're
just you know, live action Tom and Jerry live action
looney tune sort of thing. So, you know, a tweety bird,
you know, in real life, would he be able to talk? No,
So I look at this as sort of just an
extension of a cartoon, especially with the violence, because if
these people were actually going to get hit with these objects,
you know, a lawnmower that is moving falls down on

(38:06):
a man's skull and he's able to continue, you know,
moving forward. So I just look at this as you know,
slapstick three stooges, looney tune sort of thing. But I'm
glad your kids enjoyed it. And now that you said
they're watching Home Alone four, there's a fifth one and
the sixth ones they see.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
I'm not going to be present for those. I'm just
gonna go ahead and put that out there. That's ridiculous
because I did start watching Home Alone four with them
a little bit, and it just is confusing that it's
supposed to be Kevin, it's not Kevin.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
And it's said in modern days because I think they
have modern technology, but he looks younger than he did,
as they have a.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
Whole smartphone and our kids are like, well, can we
have a smart home? I'm like, that doesn't exist and they're.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
In a giant mansion as well.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, so Kevin's parents were even richer than they were before,
but it's not his parents. No, no Ah, I can't
go on the.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Inconclusion home alone three. You know, it ends with you know,
the criminals getting there, you know, do justice and Kevin
pulling pranks and trying to get this toy car away
from them and he's driving it throughout the neighborhood and
then eventually it comes to a full on home alone
event with the dirty tricks and all the pranks and
traps set up and whatnot. And then eventually the criminals

(39:13):
you know, do get arrested and Kevin throughout the movie.
And this is something Alex. You need a Kevin counter
Alex throughout the movie. And this is something I definitely
hate with movies, is when you know what person is
doing right and then they try and do right and
then they end up being told what they did was wrong.

(39:34):
So he tried to tell the police, you know, there's
robbers in the neighborhood's house, and then the cops would
come down and be there's no robbers, kids, And that
happens like two or three times, and there's something.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
They're so like, oh, you're just seeing things and he's like, no,
I'm not. They didn't even investigate. That kind of drove
me crazy.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
Yeah, yeah, they didn't do a full on I mean,
can you just take fingerprints? I mean, there are people
all throughout this house, you think you'd be able to
tell there was a robber there. Then they have another
old lady who's trying to be like I guess it's
sort of a old man Marley and the Pigeon Lady
because she's sort of gruff and tough at the beginning
of the movie. But at least they don't go the
full route of trying to replicate that same story. So

(40:14):
the plus is is it tries to do its own thing.
At times. I think it does too much home alone.
But I enjoyed the acting. I enjoyed the violence. The
criminals were the violence. The violence was great. Criminals were bad.
But as far as like really bad kids movies out there,
they are far worse, Oh for sure. I mean I

(40:35):
would give it like out of ten, I'd give it
maybe like a five point one, which isn't anything i'd
watch again or anything good, And it's nowhere on the
same scale. As the first two movies, but unlike the
second movie, at least it's trying its own thing with
a different type of story.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
I would say, your kids love it, you probably won't.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Let's move on to what once you like.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
I thought of one more point though, that I want
to tell you another reason why my kids liked Home
Alone three a lot. I asked, my middle guy is
obsessed with cars, and he loves that this car takes
center stage. So the car has the video camera strapped
to the top, and he uses the car to try to,
you know, thwart the bad guys. That was another reason
they liked it.

Speaker 1 (41:13):
But that goes on.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
It does go on too long time. They loved it.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, it's like a it's like a fifteen minute sequence
of the car being chased by the robbers, and yeah,
I guess it's good for a kid's attention span. I'm
shocked they didn't try to market that car toy and
just try and sell it off, because they did that
in Home Alone too with the talk Boy, because that
was the thing that was created for the movie, and
they were realizing a lot of kids like actually want

(41:38):
this product, and then they released you know, the Home
Alone to talk boy that you could get.

Speaker 2 (41:42):
Now you can be as clever as Kevin with Tiger's
new talkboy tablecorder. Stop rolling on me, Stop rolling on me.
It even has control.

Speaker 1 (41:52):
My kids were home early, Hi, kids were homely. Let's
go back to the first two home alone movies. So
you mentioned you think you saw the first one in theaters.
Did you own either of them on vhs?

Speaker 2 (42:09):
I don't remember, but I know I have the DVD.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
Now, yeah, I have the first one. You know it
was we played so often, and I think maybe one
of the other issues. And I talked about this on
the first home Alone podcast I did with Liam. I
didn't really grow up with the second movie. I mean
we watched it, we would rent it, we would watch
it if it was on TV, but it wasn't in
our rotation so much so, so I think that could

(42:32):
be another reason as to why I prefer the first movie.
I never got your answer as to which movie you
like more, Is it the first one or second one?

Speaker 2 (42:40):
The first one for sure, It's just it's such a classic.
I liked that they're in their house. I love the
chaos at the beginning of the movie. They just do
that whole part so well. Of the holiday chaos, and
then the Uncle is just hilarious. You get so much
more out of it as an adult too, Like and
when you're a kid, it's just fun. It's a fun movie.
When you're an adult, there's just so much. It's a

(43:01):
little bit deeper, like the Uncle's so funny, buzz makes
me so mad as an adult, you know. It's just
I love Home Alone one. It's one of my favorite movies.
It's my number one Christmas.

Speaker 1 (43:12):
But I say it's in my top ten favorite movies
of all time. It is a movie, like you said,
you watch every single Thanksgiving and it.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Never gets old. Every year. I'm excited to watch it.
I notice something new exactly.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
That's the other thing.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
It's just so detailed. Like you mentioned this the last
time we talked about Home or maybe on the podcast
you talked about how there's a little he talks about
the micro machines in the very beginning, like Kevin, you
need to move these. I had never picked up on
that until this year when I watched it.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Yeah, there's a lot of foreshadowing and setting up different jokes.
I mean, even so to this day, you'll see memes
of discoveries of the movies. There's weird things throughout the
movie that are urban legends. Like there's a scene at
the airport where there's a guy that looks just like Elvis.
There's a guy that they think was actually Elvis Presley

(44:02):
and he never died and he was appearing in Home Alone.
So it's something like that. Like thirty years after the
movie's released, they're still finding new things every now and then.
I don't hate the second one, but I rewatched it
again just a few weeks ago, and I found myself
even more frustrated this time while watching the movie. And
there are good things with it. Tim Curry, I love

(44:23):
Tim Curry. I think he's fantastic. Rob Schneider not so much,
but he's not that bad. But it's the same stuff
that I said in the first podcast is they're just
regurgitating all the things that worked in that first movie.
And I can understand why a kid would like it,
but as a man in his mid thirties, after watching
the first one and then watching the second one, it's

(44:45):
just it's frustrating that they couldn't try something different. I
love the movie Gremlins. Gremlins two is so good because
it's so different from the first movie. It's tongue in cheek.
It's poking fun. At the first movie, it's doing a
lot of you know, breaking the four wall. It's a
completely different tone. It's more comedic, it's more chaotic. With
Home Alone too, it's just home Alone. But they're in

(45:07):
the city.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
Yeah, I mean, I think that is That's a really
cool part of it is they're in New York City,
which is a city that I feel like all kids
want to visit. So it's fine, I think for kids
to see him go throughout the city. The toy store
is amazing.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
I have an issue with the toy store. Why this
is actually an issue. I figured out this this week
as because I watched the movie like a week ago,
and I'm a big collector of vintage toys, especially from
that time, so like late eighties, early nineties, Ninja Turtles,
Power Rangers, video games from that time. You go into
that toy store, there's not a single toy in the

(45:42):
toy store. It's all just decorations. There's like a Teddy
Bear and like vintage toys from the forties. Where are
the actual toys in this toy store.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
That's probably a licensing issue.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
Of all these toy companies would have been frothing at
the mouth to have a license with Home Alone. So
if they actually went above and beyond and said, you know,
they got Pizza Hut, they got Coca Cola in the
in the second one, and they got all these other
properties that are attached to this this movie, you don't
think Mattel or Hasbro would have been like, yo, feature
are transformers in this movie? They didn't even try. But

(46:16):
I will say, actually, the more they think about it
and I just thought of this now, it does make
it timeless. Ah, And that is an important thing with
these movies. Yes, there are a few things that are dated,
maybe some of the hairstyles.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Well, also the fact that there were no cell phone
like now Home Alone.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Wouldn't have course of course, because you would just text
mom you left me at home, or Mom, I'm in
New York City, Kevin. Actually, there's a few things I
need to piggyback on back to Home Alone too, and
some cut scenes that actually took place in that movie.
But just back to that toy store and the timelessness.
I love that about the movie because they had the music,

(46:53):
whether it's John Williams score like The score by John
Williams is fantastic. But then also the musical tracks, they're
all like fifties and sixties music. Yeah, and it seems
like a movie that could have taken place in the
fifties and sixties, and you know, it's that late eighties,
early nineties. I think they filmed the first one probably
in eighty nine. And I just love the way movies
look like the movies like Gremlins, movies like Goonies, movies

(47:15):
like Indiana Jones they had. They were shot on films,
so they look different. There's a different type of vibe
with those types of movies, and you lose that on
digital with all these modern movies are filmed on that.
But the timelessness of this movie is one of those
things as to why generations of today like it because
it doesn't seem dated. It doesn't seem old it doesn't

(47:35):
seem old fashioned. But I think older generations could also
like it because it doesn't seem modern. They're not saying,
you know, Skippity Toilet and Baby Gronk and the Rizzler.
They're not like, if this movie came out in twenty twelve,
they probably have a reference to the Kardashians, they'd probably
have a reference to the Jersey Shore if that was
out at the time, Like they didn't do any timely

(47:56):
sort of jokes that ruined that movie.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
I wonder if they intentionally did it that way.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
I wonder if John Hughes was thinking that. He probably
was thinking, I want to make this a movie that
will last forever, essentially, and it's still playing to this
day every single year. You said you watch it. I
watch it. Kevin McAllister himself, Macaulay Culkin is going around
tour right now, touring the movie, just you know, showing
it with audiences and doing a Q and a.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
We need to get there.

Speaker 1 (48:23):
I would love to have done that. I know they
just hadn't come under here. Yeah, they did the New
Jersey Show.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
Why did he come to New York?

Speaker 1 (48:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
Does any probably live here?

Speaker 1 (48:31):
No? I think he's an LA guy. He's an LA guy.
But I want to talk about one pivotal thing that
happens in home alone too, And it makes sense now
as to why they never got to this aspect. So
when Kevin's on the plane. Initially there was a scene
where Kevin was speaking to a college student and she's

(48:51):
talking to him about a time that she got lost
in Milwaukee. I want to say, and she says that
she didn't want to go to the cop because she
was worried about being placed in like a foster care
sort of thing. And that explains why Kevin never goes
to anybody and says, Hey, I'm in the city, I'm lost.

(49:12):
They've changed the scene. I think he sits next to
a foreign guy.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
Yeah, because I guess he could have said at some
point in the conversation with the college kid.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
He could have said, I've already been left home alone.
If I get lost again, you know, my kid parents
are gonna take me away, something.

Speaker 2 (49:26):
Like that, like how they've gotten in the conversation, because
the point of the French guy as he's saying, like, oh,
I've never been to Florida, and the guy's basically like
in French, I don't understand, I don't speak. So he
says to someone they mentioned where he thinks he's going,
but maybe they thought that was stronger for him to
get on the plane and still not know. And then
he puts on his headphones and he doesn't hear them

(49:47):
announce the city they're actually going to.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
But there is a bunch of cut scenes, and unfortunately
the DVD and Blu Ray releases of Home Alone really
don't have too many extras or deleted scenes are pretty
much anything. It's all about that first movie. There's no
even DVD commentary track. But there is a YouTube channel
called I Think I Saw It on Hats Off Entertainment.
It's a great YouTube channel. They break down eighties and
nineties movies and talk about some of these lost scenes

(50:12):
from that movie. And if you want to find out
some of the more lost scenes from that original lost
in New York Home Alone too, definitely check out that
YouTube channel.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Will you link to it in the show notes.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
Oh great idea, Stacy, brilliant idea. So in conclusion, we
both like the first Home Alone more. There are aspects
of Home Alone two that I like. I you know,
obviously as a New Yorker, I like the idea that
they're there. I just don't like like the main things
as an adult is I don't like the relationship with
the mom in the second movie. I think you lose

(50:42):
some of that heart. I don't feel any sympathy for her.
She lost her kid twice and she sort of I
mean so did the dad, Like I know, but the
mom and the day they don't focus on the dad
at all.

Speaker 2 (50:52):
They don't And apparently what's the actress's.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
Name again, Catherine O'Harra.

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Yeah, she was worried about that, and so they went
back and filmed more scenes Irad making it clear that
she was, you know, worried about Kevin. I guess in
the first cut they didn't. She felt like it just
wasn't strong enough.

Speaker 1 (51:08):
There's also a cut scene that they talk about on
this YouTube video about Kevin's dad actually telling off Uncle
Frank really and it was like one of those moments
that I wish I did get to see because this
guy pretty much just gets away with being a jackass
two movies, Frank exactly. But as far as the you know,
the the other things that I really just get upset
with this movie is I can't really care for the

(51:32):
pigeon lady. I just don't find that character interesting. I
find her to be scary throughout the entirety of the movie.
I don't see the growth of her characters. She's still
the same homeless person at the beginning of the movie
and at the end of the movie. And it doesn't
really have that happy, warm ending that you get with
the old man. You know, he has no relationship with

(51:54):
his son, Kevin talks to him and helps his life.
He does nothing for Pigeon Lady besides her a turtle dove.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
Doesn't she like He encourages her to get back together
with her family.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
I don't remember that scene at all. I don't think
she has a family.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
Maybe I confuse the two movies.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
Yeah, I don't take I don't think there's any moment
of her changing. Again. There was another deleted scene where
she ends up hanging out with the cops that come
down and they spend Christmas with her, but that wasn't
even filmed. And I just don't find that character to
be interesting. And the old man stuff as an adult
gets to me because, like you said, as a kid,

(52:32):
the dirty trick stuff, all that stuff, that's the bread
and butter, that's what you're there for. But as an adult,
I like to get to more of the sympathetic and
you know, sort of growing of characters. And old Man
and mother are far superior in Home Alone one than
Old rather Pigeon Lady and Mother in Home Alone two.

Speaker 2 (52:52):
I do like the scene where the mom passes out though,
like she realizes we've done this again and she just
falls to the floor.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
Such a cop out. Oh we've done it again. It's
just do something different. It's the same problem I had
with the Hangover movies. It's the same thing, like you're
having another hangover, you're losing another kid. So again, maybe
you just end the franchise. Maybe it shouldn't have been
a sequel. They wanted to do a third one. In fact,
they want the film Home Alone two and three back
to back because they knew their time was short with Kevin.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
I wonder what they're calling their original plan was for
the third one, with like you gonna lose them again?

Speaker 1 (53:26):
Yeah, I don't know what you could do with the character.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
It just seems extreme. I feel like you. I will
say about Home Alone two, I thought they did a
good job of figuring out how they were gonna lose
Kevin again, because you can't just repeat the same miss like,
no parent is gonna let that happen again after the
first time.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
I think the characters are so interesting, and I think
the family dynamic is so great. I would have mind
just a movie with these characters that isn't Home Alone.
It could just be McAllister's summer vacation, and it's what
they do during summer vacation. I don't think you need
to do the same formula of them doing the same
plot from the first movie. Take these characters, have them

(54:02):
go on a road trip like Combine John Hughes Movie's
Vacation with this, and then you could have a whole
other franchise. I don't think you need to just make
it Home Alone. I guess that's the title in all
but I think the characters were so interesting we could
have done more with them outside of the Home Alone formula.

Speaker 2 (54:20):
I like them. I mean I will never watch Home
Alone two before on Thanksgiving evening. All homelone one is
my favorite. But I don't mind Home Alone two like
you do. What about the Butler? What about Tim Curry's
butler character?

Speaker 1 (54:34):
Tim Curry's great. I mean, he has one of the
greatest smiles. I mean, when it transitions from The Grinch
into Tim Curry, it's fantastic. But also he's not even
a bad guy in theory. He's just a guy that's
working at a hotel and some kid basically just sneaks
in here with a stolen credit card. Why is he
represented as a villain just because he's an authoritariative type

(54:57):
of figure and he's trying to do right. Actually, have
this kid, you know, steal money and go into a
hotel room without any supervision, so he's not really doing
bad things?

Speaker 2 (55:08):
Yeah, I guess you have to. I mean they have
to explain away, like why the hotel doesn't notice that
the kid's there by himself. I think they have to
do something about that.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
I think another thing that I brought up in that
first podcast is the home aspect of home alone is
so great, and then in this one he's setting the
traps in a relative's house that were just introduced to
and the traps are great. They actually one up I
think all the sort of tricks, all the plant pranks,
and you know, there's way more extreme in part two.

(55:38):
But again there's nothing surrounding it. It loses its substance.
It's like that wrestling event that I was talking about.
It's you know, I still care about Harry and Marv,
but they're not as interesting and the arena is not
as interesting. It's like they're doing it in a dingy setting,
and the first one had that home setting.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Well, Kevin does electrocute Marv and you and I talked
about this before that that is one of I mean,
it's it's hard saying this because I mean it would
have actually, in real life killed him, but they they
interchanged him with a skeleton. And I thought that was brilliant.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
Oh it's great. It's so cartoon. I mean, that's something
you would see in Looney Tunes. It's absolutely fantastic, Stacey,
You're absolutely fantastic. I thought we did a great job here.
Is there anything we're missing? Any other points you want
to bring up?

Speaker 2 (56:30):
There is So I told my kids that I was
going to do this show with you, and well, so
they there. They love home alone one, they like they
like them all. I mean, I don't know, they're super discerning.
But my oldest, my ten year old, had a really
great point that I wanted to bring up. We're talking
about going to see you know, we were talking about
the Rockefeller Tree and Henry turns to me and he says, Mom,

(56:57):
it's Chris. We were talking about how crazy busy it
is to go see the lights on that tree. Because
I was like, we did it last year. Yeah, we're
not gonna go this year. And I said to Henry,
do you do you have any interesting going And he
was like no, and he goes, by the way, Mom,
if that was the Rockefeller Tree on Christmas Eve, there's
no way it would have been empty.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
Yeah, it's just Kevin.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
Yeah, no one else is there. I was like that, Henry,
I will make sure to bring that up to Justin
because that there is just no way that would have happened.
It would have been massively crowded. They would have never
found each other.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
Yeah, I wonder where they filmed that, because obviously they
filmed a lot of this in New York, but obviously
they also made sets throughout Hollywood. I'm assuming I don't don't. Again,
there's not many details. There's no making of Home Alone
two hour DVD, there's no commentary, teck, I don't know
what they filmed there. It's an expensive movie also to
film in New York. That could also be why this

(57:50):
budget is also ten million dollars more, because the film
in New York, you need a lot more permits. And
Macaulay Colkin's a juggernaut at this point. He's a much
bigger star than he was at the start of that
first movie. But I love Home Alone. I like Home
Alone two, and surprisingly I did not hate Home Alone three.
What would you do to close this out? Stacy? What
would you do with the Home Alone franchise? Is this

(58:11):
something that just needs to go away and just needs
to be a yearly tradition with the classics? Do you
reboot it is there is? Do you want to see
more of this family? I just thought of that idea
of these characters being characters, but not having it be
that Home Alone formula. Maybe even something so as Kevin
getting forgiveness from Harry and Marv. What about a sympathetic

(58:35):
old man Marv and Harry they're like the old man
you know, Marley from Home Alone, and you introduce them,
but it doesn't need to be with the pranks with them.
I think you still need to have that the more
I think about it, you need to have some sort
of slapstick humor with it. But I think if you
take those characters, make them somewhat sympathetic, maybe you have

(58:56):
Harry and Marv set up traps with Kevin for somebody.
Maybe all right here it is here it is. I
just thought of this. Right now, they're at a retirement home,
Harry and Marv, their retirement home is gonna go away.
Government won't fund it anymore. They have no money. There's
a big businessman. Buzz is the big businessman, and he
wants to take down this facility. So you know, Harry

(59:20):
Marv and the help of Kevin who if they've reconciled
with they knew the errors of their ways, they reconciled
with it. They say, how can we stop this demolition?
I know exactly who to get in contact with that,
Kevin McAllister.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
That's a winning movie.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
Home Alone seven, I think you just ignore the other
ones and it's Home Alone three. I think that's what
you have to do. Would there be anything else? I mean,
I think that's a brilliant idea. Anything else you think
you could do with this property because it makes money,
it's such a well known property.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
Yeah, I feel like there's just Home Alone one was
just so impeccably done, and Home Alone two. I think
it was a pretty good movie to follow Home Alone one.
I just don't think they really should have touched it
after that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
No, especially without Macaulay Culkin. He is Home Alone. It's
like having Queen Go touring right now without Freddie Mercury.
I'm sorry but that's not Queen Adam Lambert is not
Freddie Mercury, and Home Alone with random kid Alex is
not home alone.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
Right like home Alone just because you were left at
home to fend for yourself against burglars is not It's
not the home Alone.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
You need Chris Columbus, you need the John Williams score,
you need all this, and you don't have John Hughes
now to even write the movie, So maybe just leave
it in the past. I agree, Well, that's gonna do
it for this additional film, real Stacy. I think he
did fantastic.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
Thanks Justin.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
We're gonna have to have you back on for our
Gooney special. Goonies is gonna be in theaters next month January.

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
We're getting the morning show team together.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
I would love to hear their reactions to Goonies. And
that will be the next time Stacy will come home.
We'll do the Goonies, and I promise eventually I will
get to that Transformer special. I've been teasing the Stacey
for five months now. I say every week I'm gonna
do Transferm's Part three, and every week I push it back,
and I think I'm just never gonna get to it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
You need to do it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:05):
Nope, nope, nope. You can't make me so long, everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
I love home alone