cinepro wrote:
I've always liked "Home Alone", and as I've gotten older and watched it with my kids, I've found myself enjoying it more. It's also interesting to see how carefully that movie is put together; a lot of the gags at the end rely on things that not all kids would be aware of (like a laundry chute), and they spend time early in the movie showing how the house is laid out and how it all works.
It's extremely well made! You know from the moment that the music begins that you're going to be taken off on an adventure. I love how the scenes transition. For example, when Pesci is beneath the Christmas tree handling items, he picks up a kaliedoscope while he's talking and then spins it into the next scene that visually reflects the kaliedoscope in it's imagery.
The use of foreshadowing in the film is unbeatable! Kevin told to go pick up his micro machines in the hallway, Marley as the "Southbend shovel slayer", the tarantula, etc. It's just amazing the concern for minute detail that went into the movie.
The only thing I would change about the film is some of the language. I think the violence needs to stay in since it's mostly slaptstick-like booby traps, unlike Home Alone 2 which was filled, IMHO, with gratuitous violence.
I originally owned it on VHS, switched to DVD and recently lost my DVD. I went out last week to purchase another copy since I was feeling deprived! The new DVD has in it's features, brief interviews with some of the cast. "Marv" shares that the glass ornaments he stepped on barefoot after coming through the window were made of sugar! If you look at the scene closely, you can see that the ornaments don't actually break into pieces, but become powder-like...the sugar!
There are websites on the internet devoted to the house and decorating! Photos of the film interiors, stage sets that replicate the actual house and the house as it is today. It was so beautifully decorated/staged for the first HA. I didn't know that it had to be redecorated differently for HA2, but I've only watched it once since I found it such an inferior companion to the original.
