The Secret of Nikola Tesla & Home Alone 3

Katie dives into two wildly different John Hughes projects spanning 17 years: the obscure 1980 Yugoslavian biopic **The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla** (his first writing credit) and the 1997 sequel **Home Alone 3**.

She explores the Tesla film’s ambitious story of invention, corporate greed, and free energy, plus Orson Welles as JP Morgan. Then she contrasts it with Home Alone 3’s formulaic traps, new kid Alex, and mixed results.

Includes a fun 1980 vs 1997 pop culture time capsule!

0:00 – Intro & why these two films  
3:48 – 1980 vs 1997 Time Capsule  
7:30 – The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla deep dive  
21:58 – Whiplash to Home Alone 3  
24:57 – Cast, traps & formula discussion  
36:59 – Final verdict & season thoughts  

Creators and Guests

Host

Katie Geilenkirchen

What is The Director's Chair Network?

Join Ryan and many featured guests and other hosts as they break down and review a variety of directors and their films!
So far, this podcast has featured films from Edward Zwick, John Hughes, Brian De Palma, and Michael Mann.
Soon, we will feature Edgar Wright, Sam Peckinpah, Paul Verhoeven, and David Fincher!

Chapter 1: Welcome Retro Made
0:088 secondsHello. Hello, I'm Katie and welcome back to Retro Made where we dive into the movies and moments that shaped our pop culture past.
0:1616 secondsToday we're rewinding to both 1980 and 1997.
0:2222 secondsYou might wonder why, um, we're gonna cover movies that showcase massive shifts that Hughes career took, starting with his very first movie writing Credit, the Secret Life of Nicola Tesla.
0:3737 secondsI bet you've never heard of it, right? I hadn't either.
0:3939 secondsAnd then one of his final writing credits of the nineties, because we do the eighties and nineties here on Retro Made. This is Home alone.
0:4747 secondsThree.
0:4848 secondsAnd yes, because I am a completist, we will cover the actual final credit of the nineties in an upcoming episode. So, because this episode's a little bit different than usual, I'm gonna go solo.
0:5858 secondsAnd also I didn't kennel the dogs. So hopefully they're not a complete nuisance in today's episode. I do hope you like it even if you have not seen these movies.
Chapter 2: Support And Updates
1:091 minute, 9 secondsAnd if you do appreciate the effort on this episode or any prior along the retro made journey, you can check the show notes for a link to my tip page On Captivate, which is the last link in the show notes.
1:201 minute, 20 secondsUm, while I do love these movies in the pop culture of this time period, it is actually a fair amount of work and effort.
1:281 minute, 28 secondsSo if you've been enjoying Retro Made, here's your chance to show it.
1:321 minute, 32 secondsI do know that, also times can be really tough and this might not be super feasible for everyone.
1:381 minute, 38 secondsSo I'd also really, really, really be truly grateful for reviews and whichever app that you're listening to this on.
1:451 minute, 45 secondsIt has been a while since I've received one, so. I'd really appreciate it.
1:491 minute, 49 secondsOr if you're on YouTube, please make sure that you're subscribed and, and give me a thumbs up or comment on episodes.
1:561 minute, 56 secondsAnd right now, while you're listening, would be a really great time to do any of those things. Wink, wink.
2:042 minutes, 4 secondsOkay. Just a couple updates before we get into the meat of the show. Um, it's been a little bit since I've, released an episode not too too long.
2:122 minutes, 12 secondsUh, but this is a, a longer break than I've usually taken.
2:152 minutes, 15 secondsI'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats for the next retro made episode. So here we are.
Chapter 3: Season Feedback
2:202 minutes, 20 secondsAdditionally, we are nearing the end of the John Hughes season, which has been a long season. Actually the first season was pretty long too. Uh, again, I'm a completist.
2:292 minutes, 29 secondsAnd while they're not all bangers I think at least there's always something interesting or fun to talk about.
2:352 minutes, 35 secondsAlso there's the retro trivia that usually brings me back in time, at least does it for you. Please let me know either way, whether you like this particular segment.
2:442 minutes, 44 secondsI know it takes on different forms, and if I continue with the third season, it will take on if people like it, uh, a little bit of a different format.
2:532 minutes, 53 secondsBut please let me know whether you like it or not.
2:552 minutes, 55 secondsIf you prefer just that I get straight into the movie discussion, I'd also, uh, just welcome the feedback. So Retro Made [e-mail], or you can always comment on YouTube.
3:053 minutes, 5 secondsNow, regarding season three, I have been thinking about it for quite a while and I have an idea that I've been toying around with that would be a little different.
3:153 minutes, 15 secondsThan the first two seasons, but before I commit the time that it does take I really am genuinely curious how people are feeling about the show.
3:243 minutes, 24 secondsIf you've been enjoying it, please let me know. It does really help. This will kind of at least help me determine. If or how I move forward with future seasons.
3:333 minutes, 33 secondsSo again, you can email me, you can comment, you can like social media, tips on the Captivate site, et cetera.
3:423 minutes, 42 secondsAll of these things will be helpful for me moving forward. All right. Enough about that. Let's open the time capsule.
Chapter 4: Time Capsule Trivia
3:483 minutes, 48 secondsYou guys, this is weird because we're spanning 17 years, like a whole person's lifetime between the release date dates.
3:593 minutes, 59 secondsOf the movies we're gonna talk about today, and they could not be more vastly different, but in this time period between 1980 and 1997, a ton.
4:084 minutes, 8 secondsChanged in that 17 year period. There's just so much that happened and it feels like lifetimes apart. So let's compare.
4:164 minutes, 16 secondsHow about this episode, what was going on in the world of pop culture 1980 versus 1997 and play along?
4:254 minutes, 25 secondsSome of 'em are super easy, so I really hope you do. Number one song. So the year for the whole year, the number one billboard song, 1980 versus 1997.
Chapter 5: Pop Culture Showdown
4:364 minutes, 36 secondsHere's your clue. 1980s top song was sleek, cool, new wave.
4:414 minutes, 41 seconds1990 sevens was a global public morning moment disguised as a pop single.
4:484 minutes, 48 secondsI think that that hint might give it away for the 1997 at least, but 1980 is Call Me by Blondie.
4:554 minutes, 55 secondsAnd the global public morning moment was Candle in the Wind by Elton John after Princess Diana died.
5:025 minutes, 2 secondsObviously, number one movie Worldwide Box Office. Both years were dominated by sequels in spirit.
5:115 minutes, 11 secondsOne expanding a sci-fi myth, the other redefining spectacle and romance. Any guesses? Any guesses?
5:195 minutes, 19 secondsStar Wars. Episode five. The Empire Strikes Back. For 1980. And then 1997 Spectacle.
5:285 minutes, 28 secondsRomance. It is, of course, Titanic. Who else had the double VHS copy of this?
5:395 minutes, 39 secondsI certainly did. The number one TV show, 1980, was about primetime excess and scheming.
5:465 minutes, 46 secondsWell, 1997 viewers wanted fast-paced chaos with a pager and a stethoscope.
5:525 minutes, 52 secondsObviously that's ER for 97, but 1980 Dallas, which we've talked about several times in these early eighties episodes that we've covered.
6:016 minutes, 1 secondBig show, big show, and maybe I'll have to check it out at some point. What is the biggest celebrity slash news event for each year?
6:116 minutes, 11 secondsI will say both of them are deaths of famous people.
6:166 minutes, 16 secondsThe world felt like it was collectively stopping one marking the end of a 60 stream, the other exposing modern media obsession.
6:256 minutes, 25 seconds1980. I wasn't even born yet, but I remember hearing about it. The murder of John Lennon and then who could forget? The death of Princess Diana.
6:346 minutes, 34 secondsThat's the 1997 biggest Celebrity News event. Okay. Big Tech Gadget moment.
Chapter 6: Tech Shifts Then Now
6:406 minutes, 40 secondsThe first one kind of surprised me 1980 made music, personal and portable, and I thought this came much later.
6:486 minutes, 48 secondsThe answer is the Sony Walkman goes fully mainstream in 1980. I feel like I had one in like, I don't know, 87 and it felt new.
6:566 minutes, 56 secondsOkay. And then 97 quietly started killing VHS without anyone noticing yet.
7:047 minutes, 4 secondsThis is 97, and the answer is DVD players launch in the US. Now, this one feels kind of the opposite. I would've thought that was a little earlier.
7:137 minutes, 13 secondsAt any rate. Okay, so now that, we are in the mind frame of, both 80 and 97, let's get into the movies.
Chapter 7: Introducing Tesla Film
7:307 minutes, 30 secondsThe first one that we're gonna cover today is The Secret Life of Nicola Tesla.
7:367 minutes, 36 secondsBefore he came, the King of Teen movies, John Hughes took a surprising detour into the AC slash DC Wars.
7:457 minutes, 45 secondsIn this 1980 Yugoslavian biopic Hughes served as a co-writer helping
7:527 minutes, 52 secondsto shape the English language script for a film that feels less like the Breakfast Club and more like high stakes historical science experiment. Yeah.
8:008 minutesSo I'm gonna try and cover this without it feeling too much like a history lesson, even though honestly it seems like we could all use one at this point.
8:098 minutes, 9 secondsFirst writing credit for Hughes, it is seemingly out of left field and, I actually watched this quite a while back.
8:188 minutes, 18 secondsSo I'm trying to, jog my memory a little bit. But I did watch it, you know, as I sometimes do on a library DVD, but it
8:268 minutes, 26 secondsdoes seem like it now might be floating around on prime video, depending on what mood the algorithm is in. So you guys might be able to catch it if you want.
8:348 minutes, 34 secondsIt actually does have a 7.2. IMDB rating, believe it or not. This was released February 19th, 1980 in Yugoslavia.
Chapter 8: Cast And Creators
8:458 minutes, 45 secondsIt's almost two hours long.
8:478 minutes, 47 secondsThe director, let me see if I can pronounce some of these names correctly 'cause it's Yugoslavian. Uh, we have Christo Pape is the director.
8:588 minutes, 58 secondsI think I got that right. And.
9:009 minutesI didn't know anything about him, but he is a titan of the Yugoslav Black Wave Cinema Movement.
9:049 minutes, 4 secondsPop Peach was a master of politically charged satire, which this definitely is, and surrealist allegory who spent his career fearlessly skewering
9:139 minutes, 13 secondsauthoritarianism, most notably in his award-winning sci-fi horror cult classic, the rats savior.
9:209 minutes, 20 secondsIf anybody has seen the rat savior, please let me know, or. Really, if you've seen the Secret Life of Ola Tesla, please let me know.
9:289 minutes, 28 secondsOr if you are just familiar with the story in general outside of the movie I feel like I vaguely did, but I needed the history.
9:369 minutes, 36 secondsListen, let's be honest. Now, like I said, John Hughes is a, he's a co-writer here, and while he's not the primary writer, he's cutting his teeth.
9:449 minutes, 44 secondsHe did contribute to the screenplay, specifically working on the English language dialogue and the script adaptation for international audiences alongside John W. English.
9:559 minutes, 55 secondsAnd then Christo Pape. Was also a writer along with Evo Bresnan and Yvonne Kusan.
10:0310 minutes, 3 secondsUh, alright, so this movie is a dramatized biopic that follows the visionary inventor as he battles industry titans Thomas Edison and JP Morgan played by Gu.
10:1610 minutes, 16 secondsGuess Gu. Orson Wells to bring free wireless power to the world.
10:2310 minutes, 23 secondsIt's a fascinating, super low budget. Deep dive into the scientific Superman whose ERO ideas for alternating current and global energy were decades ahead of their time, which we'll get into.
10:3710 minutes, 37 secondsAll captured with the distinct grainy eighties cult cinema charm.
10:4210 minutes, 42 secondsDespite it being a super low budget Yugoslavian movie again, you guys, the IMDB rating is super high.
10:5010 minutes, 50 secondsAnd the, the cast is quite well known for this kind of a production.
10:5410 minutes, 54 secondsSo you might wonder how it managed to cast such heavyweights like Orson Wells Wells particularly joined the production through his partner Croatian actress Oja Codar, who actually in the movie plays Katherine Johnson.
11:0611 minutes, 6 secondsAnd I didn't realize this but apparently he has a ha or he had a longstanding
11:1211 minutes, 12 secondshabit of taking international acting gigs in order to fund a. Some of his own independent film projects.
11:2011 minutes, 20 secondsAlso, the Yugoslavian government backed the Studio Zagreb film and it leveraged its low production costs in previous working relationship with the, with Wells to secure him for the role of JP Morgan.
11:3311 minutes, 33 secondsSo, yes. Let's talk more about Orson Wells, which I'm sure we've all seen citizen Kane. He's most famous.
11:4211 minutes, 42 secondsFor his 1941 Cinematic Masterpiece. And depending on what mood you're in, you might be like, is it that good?
11:5011 minutes, 50 secondsI think it kind of depends on what mood you're in and how generous you're feeling personally. But he was only 25 when he co-wrote, directed, and starred in that.
12:0012 minutesSo it is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made. I disagree. It's what does my opinion matter?
12:0912 minutes, 9 secondsBut you know, he's legendary for his eight, uh, 1938 radio broadcast of the War of the Worlds Gained international notoriety for reporting
12:1812 minutes, 18 secondsreportedly causing widespread panic among listeners who believed a Martian invasion was actually occurring. I don't think I realized that, but I found it really interesting.
12:2712 minutes, 27 secondsAlso in my brain, Orson Wells is so from days. Of the past that I thought I'd be dead by this time.
12:3612 minutes, 36 secondsBut this is how wild 1980 is. It seems like it was maybe 30 years ago? No, it was 46 years ago.
12:4212 minutes, 42 secondsBut Orson Wills was born in 1915, making him only 65 at the time of this movie. I don't know. Time.
12:4912 minutes, 49 secondsTime makes zero sense now. Who plays Nicola Tesla? It is again, let me try with my pronunciation.
12:5712 minutes, 57 secondsPetar bvi, did I get that right?
13:0113 minutes, 1 secondhe plays Nikola text, who's the Yugoslavian electrical engineer who introduced the concept of alternating current ac?
13:0913 minutes, 9 secondsWe talked about Orson Wells playing JP Morgan. The players in this, titans of the industry. George Westinghouse played by Stru Martin.
13:1813 minutes, 18 secondsI'm unfamiliar with the next couple people, but I think they were. For the time, quite famous.
13:2413 minutes, 24 secondsSo apparently Stru Martin is one of Hollywood's most recognizable character actors of the time, of course, known for his distinct voice and frequent collaborations with Paul Newman and John Wayne.
13:3513 minutes, 35 secondsSo he is also in Cool Hand, Luke Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Shrew Grit. Up in smoke.
13:4513 minutes, 45 secondsSo that's Strother Martin. I'm only gonna talk about the four main characters here. The last of which is Thomas Edison. Did you guys know that?
13:5213 minutes, 52 secondsHis middle name is Alva Thomas Alva Edison. I didn't know that.
13:5613 minutes, 56 secondsBut in this movie, he is played by Dennis Patrick, who was apparently a prolific guest star in over 1800 TV episodes.
14:1014 minutes, 10 secondsHe also had several prominent mainstream film and television roles. Some of the most well-known, would be Dark Shadows, Joe from 1970.
14:2114 minutes, 21 secondsI think that's, a movie about Joe Kennedy, if I'm not mistaken, uh, with Peter Boyle, also Dallas.
14:2714 minutes, 27 secondsAnd his absolute final film role was in 1994 with Kevin Bacon in. The air up there.
14:3514 minutes, 35 secondsYou guys remember that line? Boy, I had forgotten about it until just now. Okay. You guys might wanna check it out.
14:4214 minutes, 42 secondsIt's definitely different.
14:4414 minutes, 44 secondsIt's extremely different from really anything else I've watched and quite a departure from what we know John Hughes as, so it's just, hmm.
14:5414 minutes, 54 secondsIt's a study in terms of how, like this is where John Hughes cut his teeth and then what he went on to do. It's interesting.
Chapter 9: Tesla Story Setup
15:0115 minutes, 1 secondAnyway, so this movie opens in 1943 with Nicola Tesla alone in a dark New York hotel room giving what feels like a ghost interview from the afterlife.
15:1315 minutes, 13 secondsI feel like I should have watched it twice, but it di it seemed to kind of pop around in time a little bit and also. I don't know the story super well.
15:2115 minutes, 21 secondsUm, so I really had to pay attention. We're in current day 1943, and it hops over the late 18 hundreds into the early 19 hundreds.
15:3015 minutes, 30 secondsTesla is portrayed as a classic genius type, so wildly brilliant, super awkward, possibly psychic, and definitely not gonna be touching your hand.
15:4015 minutes, 40 secondsHe compulsively washes his hands and refuses to shake hands. So he is that kind of like, that's who we're dealing with. He also claims to get full on mental visions.
15:4915 minutes, 49 secondsAnd he is often seen or portrayed as really sad, lonely, and emotionally unplugged.
15:5615 minutes, 56 secondsThese people, no one can understand them. I feel like they're kind of, um, they're on a plane of their own, which is sad.
16:0316 minutes, 3 secondsBut as a kid, he sees lightning storms.
16:0616 minutes, 6 secondsHe reads obsessively and becomes fascinated with inventions, obviously leading to, him to have this lifelong mission, which is.
16:1516 minutes, 15 secondsTo revolutionize the world through electricity. And also he is navigating this era dominated by corporate greed.
16:2516 minutes, 25 secondsSuper fun. Also, not at all, like what's happening today.
16:2916 minutes, 29 secondsSo at one point he famously claims that he intercepted intelligent radio signals from outer space while experimenting in Colorado Springs my neck of the woods.
16:3716 minutes, 37 secondsSo sometimes people don't take him super seriously I found a few things really poignant or prescient for the times that we're living in right now.
Chapter 10: Free Energy Conflict
16:4816 minutes, 48 secondsOne of which is that he warns over a century ago that the current energy sources are poisoning the planet.
16:5816 minutes, 58 secondsResources will run out. Humanity should have access to free clean power and wouldn't you know it?
17:0517 minutes, 5 secondsThis is where everything goes sideways. Shocking, right? Because free energy is great for humanity, but terrible for shareholders.
17:1517 minutes, 15 secondsThat's right. So Tesla, he has his plan to eliminate wires, which does, threaten the current
17:2317 minutes, 23 secondsindustries, the copper industry, fossil fuels, basically anyone whose business model relied on selling you electricity. Sound familiar?
17:3217 minutes, 32 secondsIt's like really tragic actually. And going back to what Pape is known for, his commentary on this type of thing and authoritarianism.
17:4017 minutes, 40 secondsSo he's at this collision point between a humanitarian visionary, that's who he is versus capitalism's need to put a meter on God damn everything.
17:5217 minutes, 52 secondsEnter the villains of the story. That's right.
17:5617 minutes, 56 secondsThese people that we know as household names like JP Morgan, like Thomas Edison, maybe just more human than we would like to think.
18:0418 minutes, 4 secondsJP Morgan again played by Wells. Initially.
18:0818 minutes, 8 secondsHe backs Tesla's warden Cliff Tower with $150,000, that's a crazy amount of money back in the day.
18:1518 minutes, 15 secondsHe believes it's for wireless communication, which it is, but.
18:1918 minutes, 19 secondsThen he finds out that Tesla wants to transmit free energy to the world, and essentially his response is Cool idea.
18:2818 minutes, 28 secondsHow do I bill it? So Tesla explains that you cannot meter free power. What happens?
18:3618 minutes, 36 secondsMorgan pulls the plug.
18:3718 minutes, 37 secondsAnd not only that, but he blocks other investors and the tower is eventually demolished for scrap metal.
Chapter 11: War Of Currents
18:4418 minutes, 44 secondsThen enters Thomas Edison, who somehow manages to both be a genius and the Pettiest man alive.
18:5218 minutes, 52 secondsTesla works for Edison early on and Tesla's deal.
18:5618 minutes, 56 secondsSo when we talked about the kind of the fight between AC versus dc, so uh, Edison's deal is DC.
19:0419 minutes, 4 secondsAnd this is the war of the currents . So Tesla wants to improve the DC systems and he's promised a $50,000 bonus, which Edison later laughs off as a joke.
19:1619 minutes, 16 secondsTelling Tesla he doesn't understand American humor, this does spiral, like I said, the war of the currents where Edison launches a
19:2419 minutes, 24 secondsfull on smear campaign against Tesla's AC power, including electrocuting animals, all to protect his business model.
19:3519 minutes, 35 secondsMy God, things don't change. . Those are some of the villains, but despite that Tesla's AC system does win big at the nine, not 19.
19:4719 minutes, 47 secondsThe 1893 Chicago World's Fair, which becomes the first fair ever F lit by electricity.
19:5719 minutes, 57 secondsWhich system does that? AC or dc? It's Tesla's system, the AC system that does do that.
20:0520 minutes, 5 secondsBut because I said Edison is super petty, he's furious and refuses to sell light bulbs to the fair. So Tesla is teaming up with George Westinghouse, another household name.
Chapter 12: Westinghouse And Legacy
20:1620 minutes, 16 secondsThey casually invent a workaround to this bulb and I will say among all of the greed, corporate greed, westinghouse is the rare bright spot here.
20:2620 minutes, 26 secondsHe actually does genuinely back Tesla when no one else would, but.
20:3220 minutes, 32 secondsEven he eventually faces financial ruin from the war with Edison and the banking pressure around it.
20:3920 minutes, 39 secondsTesla, who was owed millions in royalties from his team up, he tears up his contract in order to save Westinghouse saying all that money would've just gotten in my way.
20:5420 minutes, 54 secondsWhich is either the most noble or the most tragic sentence in the entire movie.
20:5720 minutes, 57 secondsSo Westinghouse thankfully does continue to quietly pay for Tesla's hotel room and expenses until his death.
Chapter 13: Tesla Final Reflection
21:0721 minutes, 7 secondsSo where we see him when we enter the movie, and this we're kind of popping back in time, is he's being interviewed, uh, in his New York.
21:1521 minutes, 15 secondsHotel. So he lives there sort of as a recluse towards the end of his life. And Westinghouse kind of paid for that. So that, that's nice.
21:2221 minutes, 22 secondsThe film ends with Tesla reflecting on JP Morgan. Here's what he says. Here's what Tesla says about JP Morgan.
21:3221 minutes, 32 secondsI let him know what the world could be, and I think that is the most tragic sentence in the entire movie.
21:4121 minutes, 41 secondsAnd here's how it ends. Cut to modern day car traffic, smog and pollution credits roll, Pope.
21:5121 minutes, 51 secondsNicely done. Nicely done. And I will say. Good thing. None of this is still relevant, right?
Chapter 14: Whiplash to Home Alone 3
21:5821 minutes, 58 secondsSo speaking of visionary ambition and lasting impact, let's now whiplash straight into the exact opposite end of the spectrum with 1990 sevens home alone.
22:0822 minutes, 8 secondsThree, a movie that got AAM for the worst remake or sequel. All right, you guys.
22:1622 minutes, 16 secondsUh, seriously, you could not ask for most polar opposites.
22:2122 minutes, 21 secondsBut now Homeland three seems more, at least like we, towards the end of, so this is the nineties, the late nineties.
22:2722 minutes, 27 secondsHe's very into his kid fair.
22:3022 minutes, 30 secondsHe's no longer doing these teen movies that made him famous, that he's you know, tied to in an iconic way, home alone.
22:3922 minutes, 39 secondsThree. Release date is December 12th, 1997.
22:4422 minutes, 44 secondsOh, I will say, so the reason I thought of this, okay, the rating for home alone three is obviously pg, but there was actually no rating at all for the Secret Life of Nikola Tesla.
22:5622 minutes, 56 secondsIt was 1980. So I, I don't know. Uh, now contrast also with the IMDB rating. 4.6 out of 10.
23:0423 minutes, 4 secondsFor Home Alone. Three. Now the director here is new, uh, for the podcast. We've not covered him.
Chapter 15: Director Writer and Ratings
23:1123 minutes, 11 secondsHis name is Raja Gosnell and he's known for directing comedies and family films, which makes sense.
23:1923 minutes, 19 secondsAnd among his most known movies would be Never Been Kissed from 99 Big Mama's House from 2000, the theatrical Scooby-Doo films, 2002 and
23:2823 minutes, 28 seconds2004, this movie, and then also yours, mine, and ours from 2005 and the Smurfs live action movies from 2011 and 2013.
23:4123 minutes, 41 secondsYou might wonder, he seems to come outta left field. How did he get the directing role for, you know, what was set up to be probably quite a successful movie?
23:5123 minutes, 51 secondsHe was. He's also an editor, this Raja Gossner.
23:5523 minutes, 55 secondsIncluding he edited, or at least was one of the editors, uh, for Pretty Woman and also Hughes Movies.
24:0224 minutes, 2 secondsMiracle on 34th Street and the First Two Home Alones. So that tracks. And then obviously our writer here is John Hughes. Some of you may have seen Home Alone.
24:1124 minutes, 11 secondsThree. I had not, this was my first watch for both of these movies. So if you haven't seen it or if you purposefully forgot it in your mind.
24:2124 minutes, 21 secondsMol three ditches the McAllisters altogether and replaces them with a new kid named Alex Pruitt.
24:2824 minutes, 28 secondsNew Traps and a spy plot meets slapstick premise that feels more Saturday morning cartoon than holiday Classic.
24:3524 minutes, 35 secondsIn this, he has defend off four international criminals who are seeking a top secret microchip in his toy car.
24:4424 minutes, 44 secondsIt's louder, stranger and determined to prove the franchise could survive without its heart. Results very much up for debate.
24:5224 minutes, 52 secondsI disagree. I don't think they're up for debate. We'll get into it, but. Let's talk about our cast.
Chapter 16: Cast Highlights and Weak Links
24:5724 minutes, 57 secondsAgain, I'm gonna stick to just kind of the primary cast, but, in my opinion, aside from Alex, the rest of the family cast, so there's the bad guys, and then there's the family and there's like police officers, et cetera.
25:1125 minutes, 11 secondsBut the family, I think they're doing a terrible job acting. I, I do think like the goons and the old neighbor lady are fine.
25:2125 minutes, 21 secondsBoy or the family. It's just it's quite starkly bad. Aside from Alex, so Alex Pruitt is played by Alex Linz.
25:3225 minutes, 32 secondsI don't think you'd know him for anything else. I think this is what he is most known for.
25:3625 minutes, 36 secondsBut, if anybody's seen the TV series, Providence from 2001, I think it was pretty short lived, but he was a regular in that.
25:4425 minutes, 44 secondsI couldn't tell you who, but. And then his mom. Here's, uh, here's a Hughes connection for you guys.
25:4925 minutes, 49 secondsAlex's mom named Karen in this is played by Haviland Morris, and if
25:5525 minutes, 55 secondsanybody remembers a prior episode from 16 Candles, we talked about her, she's a recycle for Hughes, which he often does, and I appreciate that.
26:0626 minutes, 6 secondsThis is 13 years later. So in 16 candles, she plays the big crush.
26:1226 minutes, 12 secondsJake Ryan, his girlfriend, she's wearing a blonde wig, which we talked about in the episode because in real life she has red hair, which she has her red hair in home alone, three, but in 16 candles.
26:2526 minutes, 25 secondsThey didn't want to have two red heads in the movie. The highlight would have to be Molly Ringwald in that.
26:3226 minutes, 32 secondsSo a Evelyn Morris was wearing a blonde wig and it was super noticeable. So anyway, in this, she's playing a suburban mom with her actual red hair.
26:4326 minutes, 43 secondsAllah, Catherine O'Hara, she has, kind of Auburn hair, so they're really, we'll talk about it, but just remember we're trying to keep with the formula pretty closely in this movie.
26:5626 minutes, 56 secondsSo that said, we have, uh, brother Stan, he's played by Seth Smith, and you would know his face, but.
27:0527 minutes, 5 secondsI couldn't really tell you what else he's in, but he kind of has that, you'd know his face, but he's basically a buzz standin. Um, similar with Alex's sister named Molly.
27:1427 minutes, 14 secondsSo again, we have this, the whole sibling interactions very similar to the first couple.
27:2027 minutes, 20 secondsBut Scarlet Hansen plays Molly, but like I said, these people are not doing a good job acting.
27:2927 minutes, 29 secondsYou know, I think she's gone on to, to be a wonderful actress, just not in this.
27:3327 minutes, 33 secondsAnd then Alex's dad, Jack is played by Kevin Kilner, also super familiar face, but it's like that very typical dad look.
27:4227 minutes, 42 secondsHe's been in like a ton of different TV episodes, lots of credits, but like one off TV episodes.
27:4827 minutes, 48 secondsAnd then I also wanted to call out one of the police officers that comes to the house. So.
27:5327 minutes, 53 secondsAlex calls the cops because he keeps seeing net keep like twice, two different times he sees burglars, but nobody believes him. So the cops come and the burglars aren't visible to the police.
28:0228 minutes, 2 secondsSo Alex gets in trouble for that one of the police officers that comes to a burglar call is played by Neil Flynn. Does that sound familiar to anybody?
28:1028 minutes, 10 secondsWell, he is most known for playing the janitor in Scrubs and also I.
28:1628 minutes, 16 secondsWatched the show, the middle, I don't know, early, like 2000 tens maybe. I can't recall when that was on.
28:2428 minutes, 24 secondsBut it's that show with Patricia Heaton, I think they're in Indiana. Uh, it's sort of like a modern day Roseanne kind of, I would say.
28:3128 minutes, 31 secondsBut anyway, he plays the husband Mike in the middle. So that is our cast of characters. I don't think you'd know the goons if I named them all.
28:4028 minutes, 40 secondsSo we're just not going to, but there's four of them, including a woman. Nicely done.
Chapter 17: Music Budget and Box Office
28:4428 minutes, 44 secondsUh, the music here, I will say we opened this movie with the very familiar home alone music, which is great.
28:5228 minutes, 52 secondsBut the music is someone new. At least for, for me and the Retro Made Podcast, Nick Glenny Smith is uh,
29:0029 minutesthe composer here, English Film Score, composer, conductor and Musician, who is a frequent collaborator of one of my favorites, Hans Simmer,
29:1029 minutes, 10 secondscontributing to scores including The Rock, which was nominated for the Academy Award and for Best Sound.
29:1629 minutes, 16 secondsAnd I don't think I realize that he's also part of Han Zimmer's film Score Company. Named Remote Control Productions.
29:2529 minutes, 25 secondsSo this is who we're, we're working with for this movie. It had a budget of $32 million, and the box office gross worldwide was 79 million.
29:3529 minutes, 35 secondsAlright, my thoughts and what is happening in this movie? Hmm. My favorite thing about this movie is Alex's pet Rat.
29:4529 minutes, 45 secondsDoris. She is easily the MVP for me. A close second is his brother's talking Parrot.
29:5529 minutes, 55 secondsSo done. That's a wrap. Just kidding.
29:5829 minutes, 58 secondsWe'll actually talk a little bit more about it, but if that gives you any indication. Of the caliber of the movie. So Alex, I think is cute enough.
30:0630 minutes, 6 secondsI'm not even really big into kids. But a, he's a cute enough kid. He plays an 8-year-old. And like Kevin, you know, again, we're following all the beats.
30:1430 minutes, 14 secondsJust like Kevin, he says adult things to play for laughs.
30:1830 minutes, 18 secondsBut it seems kind of forced in this, and it lacks just, you know, there's just, you can't help, but there's nothing wrong with this kid.
30:2730 minutes, 27 secondsIt's just that we're used to Macaulay Culkin who has that X factor. And, it's just hard to replicate that and he doesn't.
30:3630 minutes, 36 secondsSo he is shown to be super interested in contraptions and he has an array of small pets that come into play in the movie.
30:4430 minutes, 44 secondsAgain, I really do like pet rats adorable. I like truly, I love rodents. Like they're little hands. They're actually extremely smart.
30:5230 minutes, 52 secondsThere's bomb sniffing rats. I think that they get a bad rap. And, um, so. Rodents. There's nothing wrong with them.
31:0131 minutes, 1 secondThey're just little dogs with their little hands. They're cute. Okay.
Chapter 18: Plot Setup Microchip Mixup
31:0331 minutes, 3 secondsSo, like I said, we open with the very familiar music. Now how are we gonna get the bad guys in suburban Chicago?
31:1331 minutes, 13 secondsWe have a $10 million missile chip. That is hidden in a remote controlled toy car.
31:2031 minutes, 20 secondsSo they're started in like Hong Kong, I wanna say.
31:2331 minutes, 23 secondsSo there's like a, like a Hong Kong crime boss, and then they're in San Francisco and they're trying to figure out how to get this chip through airport security.
31:3431 minutes, 34 secondsRight. And they put it in this, uh, toy remote control car and then put that
31:4031 minutes, 40 secondsinto this, um, like a, just a bag, like a from a store and it happens to be a super common bakery bag.
31:4931 minutes, 49 secondsLet's say it's like a target bag or something. Like tons of people might have that. There's a mixup obviously, because it's a very, very common bakery bag.
31:5931 minutes, 59 secondsSo Alex's, quote unquote mean old lady neighbor because, again, beat for beat, uh, she takes the car home instead.
32:0932 minutes, 9 secondsShe put her bag through the airport security in the same bakery bag, but she actually had San Francisco sourdough bread inside Alex's neighbor takes home the wrong bag.
32:2132 minutes, 21 secondsThe bad guys realize this. So that's how we get them in Alex's neighborhood. In a suburb of Chicago.
32:2832 minutes, 28 secondsNow we have to get him home alone. Right? In this, he gets chickenpox. So he is homesick from school.
32:3632 minutes, 36 secondsThat's how we get him home alone. And also, no one believes him. He's, you know, he's a, he's super into these, um, contraptions. He's got a telescope, lots of.
32:4532 minutes, 45 secondsInventions. Like, he's a, he's a pretty smart kid and no one believes him.
32:4932 minutes, 49 secondsWhen he calls the police, he sees them like through his telescope and the neighbors, 'cause they're trying to figure out who's, who's got this toy car, blah, blah, blah.
32:5832 minutes, 58 secondsSo he gets ridiculed a little bit, just like Kevin did again the siblings are sort of mean to him.
33:0533 minutes, 5 secondsYou know, the, the police don't quite take him seriously. Like you're, you're a crying wolf.
33:1033 minutes, 10 secondsAnd just like in the original home alone, he does get redemption in the end, which we'll get to. So.
Chapter 19: Formula Beats and 90s Tech
33:1733 minutes, 17 secondsOne thing that's different about this, which I actually did appreciate, is that this takes place after Christmas. So everybody's kind of got their tree out by the curb.
33:2633 minutes, 26 secondsThere's still some Christmas lights, but it's after Christmas clearly.
33:2933 minutes, 29 secondsAnd so I, I guess that's a little bit of a nice change of pace, but everything else super follows the formula. Pretty much beat for beat.
33:3833 minutes, 38 secondsLike I said, there's this brother and sister. Giving him a hard time being mean. And then there's the Kevin scream when he puts the after shav on.
33:4633 minutes, 46 secondsBut here it's when Alex realizes that he has chicken pox. So we get that same scream.
33:5233 minutes, 52 secondsWe have a redheaded mom that is reproducing Catherine O'Hara, some of her iconic looks and expressions and the big mom son.
34:0134 minutes, 1 secondHug at the end. So it's like really trying to reproduce that. P has RIP, Catherine O'Hara.
34:0834 minutes, 8 secondsI absolutely adore her and truly will miss her. So we need more Catherine O'Hara in our life.
34:1734 minutes, 17 secondsThere's also a dog door in this, like there was in home alone. And as we talked about on that episode, we don't see a dog.
34:2534 minutes, 25 secondsBut if you're listening closely to the conversation.
34:2934 minutes, 29 secondsThat Kevin's mom is having, uh, with either the sister or a neighbor or somebody when they're packing at the get, at the beginning she does reference that the dog is, they took the dog to the kennel.
34:3934 minutes, 39 secondsSo the McAllisters clearly have a dog. Thus the dog door, which plays a part, in all these pranks and booby traps.
34:4834 minutes, 48 secondsHowever, Pruitts. Don't appear to have a dog.
34:5234 minutes, 52 secondsI mean, I guess you could argue they bought the house and it already had a dog door, so let's go with that. But they don't appear to have a dog yet. There's a dog door.
34:5934 minutes, 59 secondsAnd also the seemingly cranky at first elderly neighbor.
35:0335 minutes, 3 secondsThat obviously is gonna grow on us in the end and be kind of part of the redemption story.
35:0935 minutes, 9 secondsThis is 97 to try and again, remember the technologies at that time.
35:1535 minutes, 15 secondsI guess I, I quite liked some of the spyware that the bad guys have. I was like, Hmm, that's pretty cutting edge for the time.
35:2335 minutes, 23 secondsWe'll put that in the pro column. Also, just kind of laughing at the era a little bit.
35:2935 minutes, 29 secondsBeepers and pagers played a fair amount in this. Also cordless, landline phones.
35:3835 minutes, 38 secondsSo just a little, little time capsule from 1997. That's basically it.
Chapter 20: Traps Overload and Verdict
35:4335 minutes, 43 secondsSo now we get to the point where there's the setups and the booby traps and the pranks, and there's four bad guys.
35:5235 minutes, 52 secondsSo essentially we're doubling. And they did.
35:5635 minutes, 56 secondsI mean, there were so many, there was a ton more, so much so that I think it made the movie feel long and drawn out.
36:0436 minutes, 4 secondsI was bored. I'm like, are we done yet with the, like it just went on and on and on. And I, I guess I wasn't super amused after a while, so I was like.
36:1336 minutes, 13 secondsAnd it's not actually that long. I mean, it's, it's longer than the average.
36:1736 minutes, 17 secondsIt's uh, an hour and 42 minutes, but it seemed like a full on two hours to me, which is never a good sign.
36:2536 minutes, 25 secondsWithout saying much more, you can kind of guess what I feel about this movie. It's fine.
36:3236 minutes, 32 secondsI think it's a great, kids movie.
36:3536 minutes, 35 secondsJust using the home alone franchise to get viewers, but it could have just been a standalone movie.
36:4136 minutes, 41 secondsThey were really following the formula, but very, very different from the original two home alone.
36:4736 minutes, 47 secondsSo, you know, we can see at this time in John Hughes career, he seems to be phoning it in, as we've talked about several times on the show with some of these later movies.
Chapter 21: Critics Clash and Wrap Up
36:5936 minutes, 59 secondsNow I did read something that I found a bit shocking in terms of reviews critic reviews, I should say.
37:0737 minutes, 7 secondsSo Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film three out of
37:1237 minutes, 12 secondsfour stars, and he said that he found it to be fresh, very funny, and get this better than the first two.
37:2337 minutes, 23 secondsEbert also praised the film in his review on the December 13th, 1997 episode of Cisco and Ebert giving it a thumbs up.
37:3437 minutes, 34 secondsHis colleague, gene Siskel, thanked God gave the film a thumbs down and strongly disagreed with Ebert's positive assessment of the film leading to a super heated argument.
37:4437 minutes, 44 secondsI guess I didn't watch that, but I think you can probably find it on YouTube. So.
37:5037 minutes, 50 secondsEven so much so that at one point Cisco questioned whether Ebert was okay, to which I super second that.
37:5737 minutes, 57 secondsSo you guys, I I don't think I could have found a way to be more all over the God place with this episode, but these were two movies in the catalog.
38:1038 minutes, 10 secondsOf John Hughes eighties and nineties movies that I felt we had to cover because like I said, I'm a completist.
38:1838 minutes, 18 secondsNow, you may not have seen either movie one.
38:2238 minutes, 22 secondsPretty well critically acclaimed, with over a seven point, let's see, Nicola Tesla 7.2 super high and then one below five.
38:3138 minutes, 31 secondsAnd spanning such a vast difference in time. Like so much happened in the 17 year span between these movies.
38:3938 minutes, 39 secondsSo, you know, I didn't even try and find some sort of a great segue.
38:4438 minutes, 44 secondsFor these movies, there's no nothing that ties them together other than the fact that John Hughes, had a hand in writing them.
38:5138 minutes, 51 secondsSo I would like to know who actually has seen either of these movies.
38:5638 minutes, 56 secondsI bet some of you have seen Home Alone three, but I'd be shocked if anyone has seen The Secret Life of Ola Tesla. But if you have.
39:0239 minutes, 2 secondsPlease let me know, have you even heard of the Secret Life of Nicola Tesla? You just have to write in or comment on YouTube to let me know your thoughts.
39:1239 minutes, 12 secondsAnd there are a few episodes left, so don't go anywhere.
39:1439 minutes, 14 secondsThere's a few episodes left and this is John Hughes catalog that we haven't covered, including one of the eight that he wrote and directed. I can't believe no one's chosen it yet.
39:2339 minutes, 23 secondsSo. Without further ado, this does wrap up the super strange double feature
39:3039 minutes, 30 secondsthat I've tackled the Secret Life of Nicola Tesla, followed by Humble in three, which I guarantee is the widest tonal gap in retro made history.
39:4039 minutes, 40 secondsIf you're actually still listening at this point in the show, sincerely, thank you and I promise.
39:4739 minutes, 47 secondsProbably, that the next episode will make much more sense. So remember, review, comment, email, tip, all of the things.
39:5439 minutes, 54 secondsAnd until next time, be kind, rewind.

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