Skip to main content

Classic Movie Monday (Christmas Edition): Home Alone

Image result for home alone
For most kids growing up in the 90s, Home Alone was THE Christmas movie to watch. This is the story of Kevin, an 8-year old kid who gets forgotten at home when the entire family leaves to Paris for the holidays. As a result, he has to fend for himself while also protecting his home from intruders. Macaulay Culkin as Kevin was a representation of what most kids wanted to be, which was totally independent and the smartest guy in the room.
            There are certain films that you can watch and no matter how much time has passed, it still feels like a story you could tell today in the exact same way as it was told back then. This is not one of those films. Home Alone very clearly a product of its time. It’s like digging up a time capsule from the 90s and seeing what the world, or just movies in general, were like. The entire premise and the way it all unfolds would probably never work in today’s world. I mean it barely worked in 1990 when it was made, but that’s part of its charm. Home Alone is just the right amount of ridiculousness to provide for a great experience for the family to watch around Christmas.
            If for whatever reason, you’ve never seen Home Alone and are looking for reasons as to why you should, here are a few:

1    1. It’s a very quotable film. We all love movies that we can quote in our daily lives. That’s one of the things that make certain films live on forever. After watching this film, you’ll be wanting to say, “Keep the change, ya filthy animal!” at every possible opportunity.
2    2. The comedy still works. This might be a 27-year-old film, but the jokes and physical comedy still holds up. Not that 27 makes this an ancient film, but there are comedies much more recent than that whose jokes stop being funny after just a couple of years. Thankfully, though, Home Alone is still a treat to watch.
3    3. It actually has a very positive message. Despite how ridiculous and silly the story might seem, it actually has some very nice things to say about the importance of family. Kevin’s misfortunes begin after famously saying, “I hope I never see any of you jerks again” to his mom. After being left behind, Kevin comes to the realization that he does need his family. Along the way, he even learns how to be a better family member. Home Alone gets this message across a lot better than I thought it would and it is honestly kind of impressive.


Home Alone is definitely a must-watch this Christmas. It’s longevity and cultural influence (so many quotes, gifs, as well as being the highest-grossing Christmas film of all-time) makes me see this as a Christmas classic. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend that you do. It’s a guaranteed good time. While you watch remember to go easy on the Pepsi!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

What is it about horror movies that draw audiences in to see them?   There is the thrill of being scared, sure, but is that really as far as it goes? I think not. You see, more than any other genre, horror films are a product of their generation and they typically speak to or highlight the societal issues that are going on around the time that a given horror film is made.   In many ways, horror films help us understand or comment on important issues such as race ( Get Out ), sexuality ( It Follows ), and mental/physical/emotional issues ( The Babadook ). Horror is a genre with many faces but for this particular article, I will touch on what I believe to be the best horror subgenres, the slasher film, and discuss why they are important.              I can understand why people may be a bit turned off by slasher films. In many ways they are a lot closer to reality than a monster or demonic horror movie. Many slasher films...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Best and Worst Films of the Year (Pre-Oscar Season)

With the "Oscar Season" about to start, I thought I would give a list of my favorite movies of the year so far as well as the most disappointing ones. This list will obviously only contain films that I have seen so movies like Ex-Machina , Me and Earl and the Dying Girl , and Dope , which all seem like terrific movies, will not be on my list because I don't yet have an opinion on them. This list also reflects only my opinion so it will look a lot different than your list or somebody else's list, but the beautiful thing about film is that it is subjective and everybody will have different opinions. So while you may not agree with my picks, others might. There is no right or wrong list when it comes to movies. I will start off with my 3 most disappointing movies before talking about what I feel are the top 10 best  movies of the year so far. So without further ado, here are my lists: Top 3 Most Disappointing Films 3. Aloha Going into this movie, I thought there co...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film Review: "Truth or Dare"

             Imagine that you could take the concepts of  Final Destination and  It Follows , blend them together and then aim the end product at millennials. Make that film PG-13 and you basically get  Truth or Dare .  Truth or Dare is the latest film to come out of the Blumhouse production company, which is the same company behind last years horror mega-hit,  Get Out . While Blumhouse is responsible for giving audiences some of the very best horror films of the decade ( Get Out ,  Hush and  Sinister , among others), they have also put out films that are fun even if they aren’t very good.  Truth or Dare falls somewhere within the latter.              The film sees Lucy Hale as Olivia, a college student who embarks on the final Spring Break of her life as a student and takes a trip down to Mexico to celebrate. Joining her is her best friend,...
Post a Comment
Read more