Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Katie and guest Andy from The All Apologies Podcast take a nostalgic deep dive into the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, revisiting Kevin McCallister's chaotic Big Apple adventure against a vibrant early-'90s backdrop of neon windbreakers, Crystal Pepsi, and emerging boy bands. They kick off with a fun 1992 time-capsule trivia round nailing hits like Boyz II Men's "End of the Road," Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back," Kris Kross's "Jump," Vanessa Williams's "Save the Best for Last," and TLC's "Baby-Baby-Baby", plus iconic snacks like Lunchables, Totino's Pizza Rolls, and chewy Chips Ahoy. The duo praises the comforting John Williams score, standout performances from Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, and a delightfully suspicious Tim Curry, while appreciating clever plot setups that believably strand Kevin again. They critique repetitive booby traps, underused New York City locations, missed opportunities (like a toy store finale showdown), and the film's class-warfare themes that fall short on real compassion, ultimately agreeing it's enjoyable holiday comfort food but not quite as sharp as the lightning-in-a-bottle original. Wrapping up with warm holiday vibes, they celebrate the movie's charm, slapstick fun, and enduring rewatchability while teasing more John Hughes explorations.

Creators and Guests

Host

Katie Geilenkirchen

Host

Trucker Andy

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!

1:17
Hello. Hello, I'm Katie and welcome back to Retro Made Your Pop Culture Rewind.
1:23
We are heading back to 1992 today, a year of slapstick traps talk boys and
1:28
Turtle Doves to revisit Home Alone. Two lost in New York. It's bigger, louder, and somehow even more chaotic than the original set
1:36
against the perfect early nineties backdrop of a neon windbreaker Crystal Pepsi and boy bands.
1:43
Just starting to form. Let's see if Kevin's second round of mayhem still holds up, or if the sequel
1:50
should have been left at the plaza. I'm so excited to have a new guest to Retro Made.
1:58
This is our third try. We finally got him on. We have from the Directors Chair Network.
2:04
Also all apologies podcast. Andy, tell us about you and your show, Andy.
2:10
Hi Katie. Glad we finally got to do this. All apologies podcast is I'm a frequent guest host on who are these podcasts,
2:18
which is a far bigger show than my show. And that is a roast style comedy show of ridiculous podcasts making
2:28
fools of themselves on the internet. And I've spun that off into the same format, only targeting
2:36
apology tours from celebrities. We just covered Alec Baldwin Oh we like to look at a lot of, I Joel Osman getting drunk at a ski lodge and arrested
2:48
in a parking lot dash cam type of footage. love it. those are the type of things that we like to cover on all apologies.
2:55
But I'm also doing, Edgar Wright's films for the Directors Chair network. So we've done Shauna, the Dead and Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim and
3:05
I did Edgar Wright's Independent Film Fist Full of Fingers with Ryan, who of course, you know.
3:12
So, that's what I'm up to. And you can find all that at all. Apologies podcast.com As I was getting ready this morning, I listened to the Scott Pilgrim episode.
3:20
Nicely done. Thank you. Yeah, that was, that's my favorite one, obviously.
3:26
Well, I'm a bass player that grew up in the eighties with eight bit Nintendo, so, I'm going to be a fan of Scott Pilgrim.
3:33
Yes. of my favorite movies. Yeah. Awesome. Well this is 92. So what we do here on Retro Made Andy, is we set the stage, go back in
3:42
time to a simpler time, shall we say. So today we're going back to 1992.
3:48
So we are gonna open the time capsule from 1992.
3:54
we have a wheel to spin. I will spin on your behalf. We'll come to a category and I'll ask you some trivia questions.
4:00
We did cover 1992 already with the Beethoven episode.
4:05
I don't know if you're aware that John Hughes wrote Beethoven. No, I didn't, He did.
4:11
Uh, Watch it, so I won't no spoilers, so I didn't see that one yet.
4:16
that wasn't one that you as a kid watched with the big fluffy dog. I don't know why. Yeah. That one missed me.
4:21
Maybe I was a little too old Mm, something that appeared to be a children's movie.
4:27
Is that a definitely a children's. Groden in that? Yep. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Also, I'm not a fan of Charles Groin,
4:34
Okay. Well then, there you go. So that was, so listeners go back and check out some more trivia from
4:39
1992 and Beethoven in that episode. Gonna spin for you. See what we come to
4:49
I make 'em pretty easy. Okay. Boombox, bangers. Great.
4:55
These are the top five songs on the billboard charts for the entire year of 1992.
5:00
Okay. I make 'em a little too easy. But we have four Philadelphia men that were the Kings of r
5:07
and b. Slow jams that might, Boys to Boys to yes. And what's the what's the song?
5:13
92, number one? Slow jam. End of the road. Very good.
5:18
Very good. The number two song celebrated curvy women everywhere with a
5:24
very unforgettable opening line. Do I need to say the opening line?
5:30
baby. Got back, sir. Mixa Yes. I like big. And I cannot lie.
5:36
Yeah. Uhhuh. Oh, that. Well, the yeah, actually there's two kind of opening lines that they could be referring to. You're correct.
5:43
And did you say who the, who the singer was. sir. Mix Okay. Okay. Okay. No cheating here.
5:50
I remember being in like grade school really liking this. This group performed by two backwards clothes wearing teens.
5:59
This energetic rap hit told you exactly what to do twice in its title.
6:05
Yeah. Jump by crisscross. Very good. Were, were you a fan?
6:10
I never wore my clothing backwards. I'll say that, but I think I was a fan of, crisscross as a, as a child.
6:18
Watching children become famous Yep. was fun.
6:24
They're like 12 I re Yeah. Daddy Mac and Mac Daddy. Yeah.
6:30
The number four song is an elegant Ballad by a former Miss America contestant.
6:38
Top the Charts as she sang about life's surprises, reminding us that sometimes the sun goes around the moon.
6:45
Yeah. Vanessa Williams, the best for last. Very good.
6:51
All right, the last one, you're on a roll. This r and b trio from Atlanta harmonized their way through a 92 hit
6:58
that repeated its title three times. Just like the group's name Nearly does
7:06
Hmm. This is a tough one. Atlanta Trio.
7:12
women. say Tony. Tony. Tony. But I don't know the song. It's not Tony, Tony, Tony, but it's in a harmonized their way through 92.
7:22
I think that was kind of a miss that last, the similar to the name, it's, it was off put.
7:29
yeah. Mm-hmm. It is a misdirect. It's letters, the group's name is letters
7:36
Hmm. women. No, really t Close, close.
7:41
Close. That was a TLC. TLC was back then.
7:47
With that, that first album, TLC. And the song is Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby.
7:55
think I know that one. Yeah. You do. with not knowing that Okay. fine. Okay. Okay.
8:00
Not perfect. Everyone, that's what we're trying to say. That's let's, when they did that slam with Michael Jackson.
8:08
Oh, terrible. All right, we're gonna spin again. Let's get another category for you.
8:14
Yeah. Totally tasty. And
8:20
one to me. this is snacks, foods, drinks, stuff like that.
8:26
Hmm. Okay. 92. All right. There's, I, they're so easy.
8:31
This prepackaged meals targeted at kids became incredibly popular in 92,
8:36
offered a combination of crackers, deli meats, cheese, and sometimes sweets in a convenient, portable package.
8:44
What was it? Lunchables, I used to work in a dairy cooler where they stocked Lunchables
8:54
and sometimes they would accidentally get slashed with a box cutter and,
9:01
it would be able to have a snack Accidentally, the Cool. oh my God. I would be the worst employee at a place where there was food that I liked.
9:08
'cause I would accidentally ruin things a lot. Yeah, but that the meat that comes in the lunch bowls is disgusting.
9:15
I don't know I, passes. FDA well, we don't have the strongest of let's, well I'll just leave that there.
9:23
America doesn't have the strongest regulations. But I remember as a kid, 'cause we could not bring our lunch to school.
9:29
I went to a Catholic school. We had to eat at the cafeteria and every once in a blue moon we'd
9:35
have a day where it was a big deal. You could bring your lunch. And I always wanted to bring Lunchables and my mom's like, no, that's so dumb.
9:42
There's four things. It, it's not a good lunch. I remember when I was, I mean this is going even further back, but I also went
9:51
to Catholic school and there was certain days of the month where they would.
9:57
You could opt to have happy meals from McDonald's shipped into the,
10:02
like kindergarten or first grade. It was a big deal to get it, and it was an even bigger deal to not get it,
10:08
which I have a twin brother and young parents, so oftentimes we didn't have
10:13
money for McDonald's lunch at school. But yeah, that, that was a, when you talk about regulations and
10:21
things that shouldn't be fed to children in schools, getting McDonald's.
10:26
school was maybe fun, but Ill conceived.
10:31
Also, was there DoorDash at this time? How's this? I mean, somebody just volunteered to go pick a bunch,
10:39
I, pick a bunch of happy meals up. probably some handshake deal that they had with the, the church and McDonald's
10:46
The church. Love it. Okay, let's see. I mean, there was a lot of junk food from this time that was, marketed towards kids.
10:54
And speaking of which and I, I loved it all. I loved this next one, Totinos.
11:01
This thing, Totino's Blank became widely popular as a convenient snack.
11:07
Click to prepare small bite-sized pizza snacks. Staple for school aged kids and busy families.
11:14
Yeah. Sleepover food. What was it? food. What was the name of it? rolls,
11:20
rolls. Yes. Pizza rolls. God, I loved pizza rolls. Yeah. We didn't, we didn't have those so much in my house.
11:26
I remember trying them though and thinking that they were disgusting. The remember what is it called?
11:33
The gum that had the liquid on the inside. Oh, like Gushers or, oh, so
11:40
yeah. Well, it was like gushers. Yeah. And basically a Totino's pizza roll was just like hot
11:47
a hot version, cat food gushing into your cat food. It's, it sucks.
11:53
Oh, I got her. She's dying everyone. I am dying. No, I I sound a little off.
11:58
I have a cold. I'm sorry, everyone. So I'm hacking up along when I mute. This next one, I gotta say I adored them and my parents were
12:07
like, they're so fake tasting. How do you like these? But, but Chips Ajoy introduced a new version of their iconic chocolate chip
12:17
cookies and they became a huge hit. So the regular chips, Ajoy has a blue bag.
12:23
These had a different texture than the original crispier version.
12:28
Oh yeah. What was this new version and what color bag was it in?
12:34
Hmm. Okay, because I immediately run to and think of soft batch,
12:39
which I think is a different It's a different brand, but you're on the exact right lines. if it's Chips Ahoy, it's, it's like the red chunky.
12:49
What? Soft. Soft batch. Chunky Chips. Ahoy. Yeah, it's chewy, chewy Chips Ahoy is what it was.
12:55
Okay. it was in a red bag and they did taste like plastic a little bit. Like you could taste the chemicals or whatever that was in them.
13:03
But I loved them 'cause I liked that they were soft. I don't know. I man, red bag Chips Ahoy.
13:09
Anyone else? Well, when you're a kid, they feel like sugar is just a dopamine
13:16
spike straight to your brain. You don't even realize that it tastes like your palate matures as an adult.
13:23
'cause I have the same opinion of Oreos, which when I was. Mm. A burnout.
13:28
I would eat a whole sleeve of Oreos and watch The Simpsons and just be
13:33
the, the happiest stoner in town. But now when I eat Oreos, it tastes nothing but like chemicals to me.
13:42
So I can, I could see how, I remember, you know, like I said, I used, I also used to deliver or pick up recycling, you know, adjacent to a garbage man.
13:52
And I would just cake and cookies for breakfast and lunch and just run it off.
13:59
And I would eat soft batch cookies like all day, every day. And the very thought of eating one now is repellent.
14:08
I don't want that in any single way. No, it is kind of wild. I mean, you know, what's kind of sad is that some people's tastes don't mature.
14:16
Some children grow up eating junk food and grow up into adults only wanting that. It's, Yeah.
14:22
sad. Thankfully I eat vegetables. I don't, you know. Lose their teeth and get diabetes?
14:29
Mm-hmm. Okay. There's a couple that are similar. Let's see, were these both 92 now? I'm kind of questioning.
14:34
There were two Pepsi versions that seemed very similar. Okay. We have one that is notorious for being a marketing failure
14:45
despite having a futuristic appeal. It was discontinued after just a year.
14:51
And it's just now considered a curiosity in pop culture nineties. is 92, Mm-hmm.
14:57
I thought that was older. What was it? Chris Crystal Pepsi, right? Well, yeah.
15:02
Okay. So is that the same thing as Pepsi? Clear is. Yeah, I would.
15:08
I would think so. It Pure. to be. Yeah, it's , crystal clear Pepsi marketed as a pure and healthier
15:16
alternative to regular Pepsi, but it did not gain traction. But, as with a lot of things, have you noticed like clearly Canadian is back,
15:26
like some of those throwback brands? It has a resurgence in recent years, thanks to nostalgia for nineties products.
15:34
Yeah, I did. I do remember a couple years ago they reintroduced it just for fun.
15:41
But that's amazing that they would try and market it as something healthy because they took the, the Dooo Brown additive that makes it Coca-Cola color
15:51
out, and suddenly it's a health food. That's ridiculous. One less chemical to, to make, actually, maybe there's probably an, an extra
15:59
chemical to make it clear somehow. I don't know. It's probably harder to Mm-hmm. 'cause Coke syrup is, I mean, the cocoa bean is brown for god's sake.
16:09
Good point. Yeah. Ugh. Well that was our little flashback time capsule from 1992.
16:17
You did well, Andy? Almost. Perfect. Yes. fan and I'll admit that.
16:24
okay. See, I was like, how would you not get that? I'm just kidding. I'm teasing. Alright, so this season on retro we're all about John Hughes.
16:32
Do you have anything to share? I don't know if you're a fan, if you are familiar with John Hughes. What's your history thoughts on John Hughes?
16:41
yeah, John Hughes is definitely an informative artist,
16:47
creator of the eighties. Everybody that grew up then would be aware of it.
16:52
I'm a particular, you know, I'm partial to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I feel like that spoke to me as a child that hated being in school.
17:01
So getting out of it in the most clever ways was delightful for me.
17:07
And then all of the Molly Ringwald er era stuff is, you know,
17:14
memorable and, and debatable. I've, I know Christian Blatt from the Blatt cast and many movie.
17:23
shows has brought up the fact that the Breakfast Club isn't good. And I disagree, so I, excuse me.
17:31
I feel like The Breakfast Club is a movie for teenagers that
17:37
are disgruntled, angsty teens. If you're not an angsty teen, then the Breakfast Club is not for you.
17:43
If you're looking at the Breakfast Club as a grown man, sure you're not gonna think it's good, but if you're looking at it from an alley, alley, sheety type
17:53
of personality, you're gonna love it. So it's, it's for kids, a kids movie for kids, and it still holds up.
18:00
And I was John Benter in high school, so I'll defend that movie and. Oh, I was, I will go hard defending Breakfast Club.
18:07
Breakfast Club is, I think, Hugh's best, best work. Right. It's gonna be, you're, it's gonna be hard to do
18:12
Mm-hmm. a, a series about John Hughes and not to the Breakfast Club is probably
18:19
one of the most popular ones. I mean, he's had, he's had misses and, and there are critiques are to be had
18:25
with some of his movies from that time. But yes, go on. Go on. But I, when we first discussed doing this, I wanted to pick something obscure.
18:34
I, I'm sure everybody wanted to do these, the big guns at, from, at the beginning.
18:40
But talked about doing national lamp, poons class reunion and it's unfindable.
18:48
So, we pivoted to Dutch, which is unfindable. And that was disappointing because I do remember Dutch as a kid and I loved
18:57
at O'Neill and buried with children. So. then you have a young Ethan Emry in that one.
19:03
And , I remembered the movie, I remembered as a younger person
19:11
disappointed that not realizing that an actor could play different traits of a character and watching Dutch and going, this isn't Al Bundy,
19:20
Mm-hmm. funny because it's not Al Bundy. It's Ed O'Neill doing a different thing. But again, you can't do it because it doesn't exist on the internet right now.
19:28
So everybody go by physical media because these movies that you want to talk about are not findable on Netflix.
19:36
but Dutch also stinks. As I was preparing to do that show and I was watching every clip on YouTube,
19:44
I was realizing that John Hughes loves.
19:50
Class warfare. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. of racial diversity, let's say every, everyone's white, but the poor kids
19:58
Yeah. don't get along in Yeah. every John Yes. So
20:03
Well, in, in doing this I, I was less harsh on Dutch because I had probably just come off from some others.
20:10
Tell other terrible crap. you know, I still have several movies to do and there's some really good ones in there.
20:16
But what I'm seeing very much is he has a formula and he
20:22
doesn't sway from it at all, Mm-hmm. And he just kind of regurgitates stuff
20:29
I'm seeing that with Edgar Wright too. There's a lot of beats and themes that.
20:37
I think it's fair to say that when you a creator and you find something that
20:43
works, if it ain't broke, don't fix it and just keep putting something out there
20:48
that was successful and then you try and do that to a varying degree of success. So I, I guess I can understand that, but it are you kind of saving
21:01
your opinion for when you're done, about what you think the best one is Of John Hughes?
21:07
Yeah. Well, I don't think it will change and I haven't like really gone through in my head all of them.
21:12
But it's gotta be Breakfast Club. Really. Okay. And, and correct me if I'm wrong, is Planet Trains and Automobiles.
21:19
John Hughes. Yes. I think that might, might be at the top of my list with Ferris Bueller.
21:25
Oh, interesting. Okay. Ferris Bueller Planes Trains Breakfast Club is up there.
21:31
And then Because of things on this list that I didn't even realize Oh, I know, related.
21:37
same. just write writing, not just Mm-hmm. but also writing. So, yeah, it was interesting to go through the catalog just on paper anyway.
21:46
The John Candy ones, so he had the teen ones where, you know, there's a period of time where he really focused on that teen angst.
21:54
that's seems most synonymous with John Hughes. Yeah. But, and then he had some good success with the kid Fair, including home alone.
22:01
Uncle Buck, like John Candy's in a lot of them. Culkin days.
22:07
yeah. Yeah. And then , it's clear when he doesn't. Put his heart into something.
22:13
It really shows in the quality of the movie as I'm learning going through his work. But without further ado, shall we get into Home Alone?
22:22
Two. Lost in New York.
22:31
I couldn't believe this was still on the list. This Me too. when I picked all these other obscure things.
22:37
I like talking about terrible movies and making fun of those, or seeing something that I hadn't seen before.
22:43
So when I saw Home Alone two on the list, I, it was the most obvious choice.
22:50
I know there's a couples, that I hadn't seen before and it turns out I'm not allowed to see him
22:56
right? Yeah, I know. went back to this. And I even class reunion, I even got a copy at the library and it was
23:04
scratched, so I only saw part of it. So I had to like glue together, clips from YouTube, which there aren't very many.
23:09
So to your point about physical media, but you can't, you only buy ones that you're gonna love and rewatch a lot.
23:14
And I do own the original home alone on DVD, but not, not home alone two, but thankfully it was available to stream
23:22
do you remember, I, I'm not gonna make you say how old you are, but when that came out in theaters in
23:30
90 90. Mm-hmm. home alone, it was such a phenomenon that the, a lot of, they wouldn't
23:39
have these mega plexes back then in my town anyway of upstate New York
23:44
and people would have to wait in line. There's no internet to get tickets in advance. You would have to show up, wait in line, and not get in.
23:52
Oh, no. remember failing to see Home alone several times before I finally got to see it,
23:59
No way. yeah. Yeah. And it was worth, it was worth the wait. Mm-hmm.
24:04
it's an iconic movie that was it. Lightning in a bottle.
24:09
It was a sensation. It put Joe Pesci on the map. It put Macaulay Culkin on the map.
24:15
Put Catherine O'Hara on the map. So, big, big deal. So then I'm sure they, they were running, clamoring to do it all
24:23
over again with Home Loan two. Just in time because he's still cute and young enough for this movie,
24:31
but maybe one more year and it, he wouldn't have been, you know, you gotta Then he goes into obscurity and you go
24:38
Mm-hmm. Richie Rich did. Is that John Hughes? Richie No, no, okay.
24:43
Yeah. I will say that I, I felt like in home loan two McCaulay culkin's acting chops were plused up.
24:49
I feel Yeah. Okay. That's, that's good to hear. So yeah, you guys, this came out November 20th, 1992.
24:56
It's pg I assume the first one was PG also. I think so.
25:02
It has a 6.9 on IMDB, which is quite high.
25:08
Hmm. Chris Columbus is the director here. This is one John Hughes wrote, but did not direct.
25:14
And Chris Columbus has stated in interviews that he considers home alone two better than the original.
25:22
I think a lot of people ha hold that opinion. Who did Chris Columbus direct the first
25:27
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. I guess maybe I'm in the minority opinion of that after hearing that people thought
25:38
that and then watching this yesterday. With the, a critical eye of, is this better than the first one?
25:45
I would say that I disagree mainly because it suffers from the, oh,
25:50
remember when this happened in the Mm-hmm. Remember when that happened in the first? I think there's, there's good things about it, but when you revisiting
25:58
old jokes, they, it's kind of an obligatory thing that has to happen in a successful, sequel.
26:04
And it's like, yeah, okay. I, I do remember that was funny in the first one.
26:09
But they, what they do get right in this is it nail it like the breadcrumb Rube
26:16
Goldberg way that they establish that this scenario could happen again to this
26:23
Mm-hmm. it just happened. You know, it happens in a believable way where walking into the movie you're like,
26:30
how, how could this kid be left behind again, these or the worst parents ever? And they figure out a way to.
26:37
Get you on board with it. That's a great point. I also, I do not think this is better than the original.
26:43
Thank you. I do not. I mean there, I think there's a very few maybe on one hand the number of sequels
26:51
that are better than the original. He definitely got paid more for this one.
26:56
Um, Columbus and yes, it was. So if you guys haven't seen this movie in 30 ish years or if it's been a
27:05
while, Kevin McAllister's back, but this time he's in New York City with enough cash and credit cards to turn the big apple into his own playground.
27:14
But Kevin won't be alone for long. The notorious wet bandits now they call themselves the sticky bandits.
27:20
Harry, played by Joe Pesci, and Marv played by Daniel Stern. Still smarting. From their last encounter with Kevin, they're bound for New York City too.
27:30
Plotting a huge holiday heist. Kevin's ready to welcome them with another battery of booby traps.
27:36
The bumbling bands will never forget. Uhhuh, there's a lot of, really heavy handed foreshadowing.
27:43
We'll get into the cast of characters, but just really quickly, we do get set up the, it's like the exact same setup , as the original.
27:52
And I found that very comforting. The music, seeing their house, the chaos of you know, of
27:58
the cousins and everything. What did you think about the opening. It's interesting that they bring, there's so many unused cast members,
28:10
these cousins that seemingly could have a bigger in this movie that are
28:17
just, it's, it's gotta be the easiest gig in Hollywood being the, the. Cousin A.
28:23
the second nephew of Kevin McAllister, I don't even know who any of 'em are.
28:29
Like you could not name any of those kids except Buzz and maybe Karen cu.
28:35
I can't even name Karen Culkin's character, the kid that wets Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. nobody wants to sleep with this kid 'cause he wets the bed.
28:43
Yes, Fuller. Fuller is Karen's name. Yep. Thank you. It's awesome to see a, a baby Kieran Culkin in the movie,
28:51
knowing how far he's gone Mm-hmm. you know, be such a big success now.
28:56
And just, I just watched Scott Pilgrim and he's in that as Oh yeah. yeah.
29:02
So it was fun to see that. And they give buzz a lot of at the top of the film, especially when he
29:11
publicly humiliates Kevin, which. I don't understand why Kevin is to blame at that.
29:18
I mean, they do the whole sequence where Buzz does his lawyer thing and convinces everybody that he's not really the villain.
29:27
And that's sort of what drives the wedge between Kevin and his family, which maybe
29:34
is a, a weaker plot point of the movie. And there, there was a couple of times where it was like, this is, not great
29:41
as far as comparing it to the first one. They had to set up the fact that Kevin would be, again, this time up
29:48
in the third floor I hate my family. I wanna go on a vacation by myself. the mom's like, you know, you got your wish last year.
29:55
Maybe you'll get your wish this year. Gee, like it's, it is very heavy. Mm-hmm. but then they kind of fake us out because he, he gets in the
30:02
van, he gets to the airport, even how you know? Yeah. left So that was good. That was good.
30:07
Let's talk about our cast of characters a little bit. Clearly we have Macaulay Culkin back as Kevin. We have Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern back as Harry and Marv,
30:16
and they were the wet bandits. And I don't know why do they call themselves the sticky bandits now?
30:23
Do they have tape around their hand or something? What was the deal with that? Stern's walking around with tape on his hand and he keeps
30:29
snatching hats and gloves, like petty things that are pointless.
30:34
And I don't know why they would probably just so that, It's not the same. and so it would be easier to shoot than having to spill a bunch of water all over
30:44
Mm, set and let the production have to clean it up. The, the production team was like, let's not do that again.
30:49
It's a disaster. And they just figured out an easier, was in the script. thing.
30:54
Yep. so that Mm-hmm. they're escaped convicts now that they don't wanna leave a trail of.
31:01
So they change it up. Maybe. Maybe that's logical. But, I got, I gotta shout out Catherine O'Hara too.
31:07
She looks maybe, maybe this is the best version of Catherine O'Hara to me. She looks really good in this one, I would say,
31:15
I'm glad that you said that. 'cause she, yeah, she's so like fresh and young. I, well, I love her as Moira in Schitt's Creek.
31:23
So that's, that's what I think of her as now. But she's just playing like the straight mom in this, not like her
31:30
other roles is it Christopher Guest that has like best in Show a Mighty Wind? Is that Yeah.
31:35
a a lot of character mm-hmm. or, or Beetlejuice. Yeah. to mind where she's over the top.
31:41
Yeah. is pretty straightforward for her. And John Heard is back.
31:47
So we kind of have everybody's, basically everybody's back. Which I think is helpful.
31:52
I'll go. Yeah. John Heard he's super familiar. Everybody knows him. He's Kevin's dad. He was in Big Awakenings, and then I did read that he was nominated
32:00
for his guest role in The Sopranos. I had forgotten that he was a guest star playing detective Vin Ian
32:09
Hmm. in the Sopranos, I don't remember that. John Heard Devin. I, made that connection when they, they go to Duncan's and I was reminded of FAO
32:18
Schwartz and the movie Big, which features FAO Schwartz the most prominently on film.
32:24
So, yeah, I had that in my notes too. yeah, he, he's good.
32:29
He, he's a very likable father figure as opposed to big where he
32:35
plays a heel and like some other Mm-hmm. where he is played a villain. He's actually pretty likable in this, doing some good work as Kevin's dad.
32:44
It becomes pivotal at the airport mm-hmm. do lose Lose him. he's, yeah, he's important here.
32:50
And I just, just to back all the way up to the beginning, I wanna shout out the John Williams score
32:57
Yes. when Yes. the theme of the movie shows up and the title credits are rolling.
33:02
And you see that Star Wars composer, John Williams did the music for this.
33:07
It really sets a nostalgic tone for me.
33:13
Mm-hmm. watched this movie for 30 years now that score is amazing.
33:19
And John Williams' involvement in this is for, I, I'm a bit of a musician too,
33:26
so I pay a lot of attention to music. And, you know, when people like Danny Elfman, tim Burton's movies or John
33:35
Williams and Jerry Goldsmith too. This kind of like, I, I put those composers together in films that I
33:44
enjoy from this era of movie making. So, yeah. John Williams killing it?
33:50
Great point. Yeah, it did its job very well. I had a comforting like, oh, I'm at home feeling, you know,
33:56
that's, it drew me in that opening. Williams is regarded as one of the most influential, film composers of all time
34:04
Mm-hmm. has influenced a lot of other film composers. I did read also that he was the principal conductor for the
34:11
Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993. Oh, Yeah, yeah.
34:17
And, you know, to your, For. yeah, to your point. Frequent collaborations with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
34:24
He has won not nominations, but wins 26 Grammys, four Oscars, seven BAFTAs,
34:32
three Emmys, and four Golden Globes. John Williams. Wow. Yeah. You, you put this soundtrack on at Christmas time and it takes
34:41
you right to, a fireplace with a Mm-hmm. and everything that you want your holiday season to be can be summed up
34:51
with the, the theme from home alone. Yep. A hundred percent. iconic. Yeah.
34:56
Yeah. And this movie did well. It was in such short succession to the first one I think that it
35:01
benefited from a lot of the carryover. The character playing Buzz. We talked about him in another episode of a John Hughes.
35:10
He was, was it home alone one because has he been in any, what Yeah, no. Well, aside from that, 'cause we haven't, we haven't actually
35:17
covered home alone one yet. But the actor is Devin. Re he played the babysitter's boyfriend in Dennis the menace.
35:29
Oh, John Hughes wrote that movie. Okay. And we talk about in that episode there's several movies like Beethoven, Dennis
35:37
the Menace, there's a few others that he just kind of threw a bunch of home alone elements in and it just didn't work.
35:44
I like it at all. is what Yeah. Mm-hmm. formula probably.
35:50
All right. We're gonna take a kid that's not McCulley Culkin and just try and make home alone again with Walter Mattau and a lookalike or then baby's day out is probably.
36:01
Lost in New York only. It's an infant instead of Macaulay Mm-hmm.
36:06
arguably, you know, but definitely less successful, Definitely. that movie,
36:11
Mm-hmm. So , Kieran Coken played Fuller. He's the younger cousin. He's not Kevin's brother.
36:17
He's his cousin. Right. Frank's kid. Right. and we all now know Kieran Coken.
36:23
He, he was lesser known at this time, and Frank, uncle Frank is back played by Jerry Baum.
36:30
Baun Baun. That's kind of hard to say for some reason. Do you know him from anything else?
36:35
No, no. But he plays one of the best, you know, heels or un unlikable jerks the
36:44
cheapness, the character work that this actor is doing is fantastic in a
36:50
way that you want to dislike this guy. Agreed. Yep. He he's got that face though.
36:57
You feel like you know him from other things. I did read, he was in the secret of my success with Michael J. Fox.
37:02
I wonder if he was also kind of a sleazy guy in that probably. And then his wife is like this perfect you know, like church lady
37:09
looking woman, which is kind of wild. She's not well known in this Cinta Moses, I just wanted to bring up her because she
37:19
She got a young artist nomination for in this Cent Moss, I guess.
37:25
I don't know why. cousin? Yeah, she was there's far too many cousins and
37:30
Mm-hmm. they're given nothing to do. It's, it's a bizarre They each have five kids.
37:35
Each brother John heard, and, and Unc and Frank they each have five kids would.
37:41
That's a lot. Yeah. I think. Maybe they're there so that it's easy to lose track
37:47
Mm-hmm. That's a great point. reason to have this many people doing nothing Mm-hmm.
37:53
She plays Tracy and she was I dunno if you've ever watched the show, my So called Life on MTV.
37:59
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. She was Delia in three episodes of that. And she was really most known for the show Beakman's World, which I never saw that.
38:07
of it. I don't think I watched it, but and Mr. Duncan is played by Eddie Bracken. Do you know him from anything else?
38:13
Hmm. He looks familiar. And that was, that's a great scene with him and Kevin at the toy store.
38:20
I, I can't think of anything else that I've seen him in off the top of my head It is John Hughes related. That is a marker of John Hughes movies.
38:26
He has his people that he likes, he played the more or less dis Walt
38:31
Disney in while at Wally World in Oh, okay. Yeah.
38:37
Now that's such a short thing right at the end that, now that you
38:43
mention it, yeah, that's uh, awesome. Another beloved where he gets to play a benevolent person that lets your main
38:54
characters off the hook kinda roll, I like that they kind of give him this magical Santa Claus vibe at the end of that scene where he gives Kevin the
39:04
turtle doves and then Kevin sees the portrait and turns around and he's gone. It's just kind of a little nod to Santa Claus or the magic of the
39:13
holiday kinda thing where that makes the movie a little more charming. Absolutely.
39:18
And that's carried over into the end when they are all in this gigantic suite at the plaza.
39:26
Their family is supposed to be going to Florida. But Kevin gets on the wrong plane, goes to New York instead, and their suite
39:32
ends up with a giant Christmas tree and ton of presents and they're from Mr. Mr. Duncan.
39:37
So he really did play Santa Claus. Yeah. That was, those are, and there's a couple of interesting scenes in this.
39:44
One of them is that scene at the toy store with Duncan, and then the other one. It's, I'm watching it and going, why is this, they making such
39:53
a meal out of these scenes. They go on for a long, long time. The conversation that Kevin and Duncan have, and then the conversation
40:02
that Kevin and the bird lady have in the rafters of the theater
40:07
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. her broken heart, and. Kevin trying to coach her back into society when she's a recluse that
40:17
hasn't talked to anybody in two years. It's, kind of a strange to insist on inserting into a movie, but I
40:28
think it gives the, the film heart Mm-hmm. maybe the, the point of these.
40:34
They're trying to inject magic of the season and sympathy and let's all
40:42
help each other kind of holiday vibes. Yeah, because
40:47
I think that's the I, I. on for very long. Am I No, no, you're not. There's a few that go on for a really long time.
40:53
Like that one, had a purpose behind it. It was the impetus of Kevin being like, oh, I'm gonna save the store.
40:58
You know, that isn't soon after that conversation that he like, goes and starts, collecting all his booby trap items.
41:06
Then there are other scenes with Marv and Harry, all of those, like the booby
41:13
traps, essentially a lot of those go on for far too long and for no reason. And they were just, in my opinion, just kind of reusing.
41:21
I really wish they would've got more creative with the booby traps, because did we get anything new really?
41:27
Hmm. know? Yeah. Without the exception of big hole in the floor, like we didn't
41:33
Yes. Yeah. in Kevin's house, so that, that was good. And it does go to a very cartoonish level that I feel was not in
41:45
The first one? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. you're watching these guys take so much abuse a, a normal
41:53
person would not be able to. Especially the brick scene in this Oh my God. Yeah. is one of those bricks and you're potentially dead, but by the time
42:05
they get to the fourth one, it just gets funnier and funnier. And I'm a, I'm a fan of the Three Stooges and Roadrunner cartoons, so I
42:16
did like seeing a lot of this slapstick humor, but I don't know if you've seen
42:22
The Third Home Alone, which probably is, doesn't involve John Hughes and No.
42:28
McCaulay Culkin, and goes all in on the villains and colorful
42:36
crap, and the, the hair frizzing Hmm. when Daniel Stern turns into the skeleton, when he is getting electrocuted, and it
42:45
A lot of that, so much more cartoonish. the failure of the third one.
42:52
But, we're not talking about the third one anyway. The this, the second one just goes, it goes a little over
42:59
right? I mean, it's already making you suspend disbelief that these guys aren't just cutting and running or calling an ambulance because Marv
43:11
has taken a nail gun to the crotch. So I, I would be done after that. You know? That's,
43:17
I, at first I wondered what it was. I was like, is it staples or is it nails? Yeah.
43:22
Yeah. It's fun. I love every time Joe Pesci iss on screen. Mm. remember that this time, Joe Pesci is riding the wave of
43:32
Mm-hmm. and Casino, these home alone films and the Lethal Weapon franchise.
43:40
He's a megastar and. very apparent when you're watching him on screen.
43:47
He's got just this charm that excuses all of his bad behavior
43:54
Great way of putting it. yeah, I just, I just love Joe Peche so much. And Daniel Stern too.
44:00
He's, I think they're a good duo. Joe Peche has a manner of speaking that I just, I am, I'm all for, for some reason
44:07
that, that really new Yorkie, like shady type of guy I can't get enough of it,
44:13
but yeah, Daniel Stern's really good too. The bird lady. some Abbott and Costello vibes.
44:18
Mm. will, to Okay. up talking about those two, you, you got Daniel Stern running around like
44:25
a Lou Costello calling out for Harry. The way that. He would call out for Abbott.
44:31
That was reminded me of when they were in the basement taking all the abuse.
44:36
That tracks. Yeah, they, but Abbott Costello meet the Wolf man kinda, but the
44:42
Wolf man is Kevin McAllister. So I did wanna call out the pigeon lady.
44:49
She's an Irish actress who actually won an Oscar for best supporting in my left foot.
44:56
Yeah, Also, she was in a time to kill, and so I married an ax murderer. Her name is Brenda Fricker.
45:03
And. Apparently that character, the pigeon lady, was based on the old bird
45:09
woman from Mary Poppins in 1964. I could see that.
45:14
It's an interesting. Direction to take from the creepy shovel slayer neighbor in the first one to, and
45:25
this is another trope of John Hughes, the, when I was saying at the top of
45:30
the discussion about class warfare and poverty, there are so many instances in
45:38
different where, particularly Curly Sue and Dutch, where you're confronted with
45:49
and the have-nots, and he just makes you go, you got, you got a pretty good
45:56
person in the movie theater watching this. It could be a lot worse. You could be in Central Park covered in bird shit, and don't
46:05
need that in a Christmas movie. I guess it, it gives Kevin a reason to, it gives him something to fight
46:11
for There's the heart of the movie there, but it's, I don't know.
46:18
What did you think about the character in general? Did you, could you, I felt like if it wasn't in the movie at all, I'd be fine with it.
46:24
Well, there's, she was clearly playing the old neighbor. There has to be someone that is misunderstood.
46:31
She's the standin for the neighbor. Right. And, and that person, for Kevin to learn
46:36
yeah. a character, Yes, I guess. And 'cause , he gives her the half of the dove, the turtle, dove necklace and like
46:45
friendship because in both, so in the original two, like he learns from the, the
46:50
old man and the old man learns from Kevin. And the same is true here. Like it's just the same.
46:57
You had to have that character, that imparts wisdom on Kevin, but then Kevin helps that person,
47:02
Yes. you know, maybe, forget you, and I'll also never see you again.
47:07
well, so my thought on that exactly is, and I just said this in Dutch
47:13
too, like maybe invite her in he leaves his beautiful Christmas plaza
47:21
to go give her the turtle dove. Maybe say, Hey, come join my family celebration for Christmas.
47:26
You're, Yeah. you don't. that gave you all those presents? Maybe introduce your homeless friend to EF Duncan that, and maybe they can
47:36
hook up and she could have a better life Of the movie yeah, the same happened in Dutch.
47:42
I'm like, oh, great, the homeless people drop you off at your mansion. Bye bye now. Invite these people in, or at least pay for them to have a, another
47:51
room that was a missed opportunity. They just go back to their very, these McAllisters are very well off, so
47:58
they just go back to, I think it's a missed opportunity if Fuse is trying to show us, yes, you should be thankful for the things you have, and they
48:06
do learn lessons, but it, it's stops short of like real progress, you know?
48:13
Don't you think? Yes. There's a message with no call to action of let's, at least at the end of Scrooge,
48:22
where the homeless people freeze to death. At the end they all sing together and wanna put a little love in your heart.
48:29
And this is just like, Hey, see ya. I gotta go back to my five star hotel and with my millionaire
48:36
family, and you're not invited. It's kinda shitty, Yeah. kinda, its kinda just kind shitty person.
48:42
As a kid I was like, oh, that's nice. They're friends. But now as an adult I'm like, help her.
48:48
Do something meaningful. Yeah, You give her half of a Christmas ornament, and she's like, what am I supposed to do with this?
48:54
yeah. birds. But it's, Can't even trade this for anything. I gotta buy bird seed for them.
49:00
I, I don't need well, speaking of Joe Peshy being charming in this, he he was nominated for funniest supporting actor in I didn't even know these
49:08
awards existed, American Comedy Awards, but they did at the time. The other day, I want, I Want Academy Award, maybe not Academy Awards or some
49:17
kind of awards, categories that recognize comedy, and
49:22
yeah. Mm-hmm. they're so overlooked I agreed. underappreciated and possibly the most cared about genres of movie.
49:31
Mm-hmm. just get zero recognition. They, they always turn a, a comedy award into
49:41
Like a musical or something. yeah. A vehicle for somebody to get that from Some, remember when Johnny
49:47
Depp won best comedy actor for that piece of crap that he made with
49:53
Angelina, Joe Lee, the tourist. No, I don't, I don't even, I don't think I've seen that movie. No.
49:58
I didn't see it either, but my point is, he was winning comedic awards for a movie that wasn't a
50:05
Mm, they were just trying to figure mm-hmm. give Johnny Depp an award. And it just makes me angry that the two genres that I care the most about
50:14
get zero recognition, almost constantly right. You're right.
50:20
too. Action. They, you gotta die for Heath Ledger to get a. Mm-hmm. for Batman, you know, that, that never, he never would've wanted an Oscar for that
50:30
No. if Mm-hmm. Agreed. So, didn't, didn't they just introduce a stunt work category, like just
50:39
within the last couple years? But yeah I'm not sure, but that, that's long overdue,
50:44
Yeah, yeah, and that's a cool category. I like yeah. But,
50:49
that gets to your action, I guess, a little bit. The movie itself tied with Sister Act for the People's Choice Awards that year.
50:57
Favorite comedy and Macaulay was nominated for the Kids' Choice Awards. And then we talked about that Santa Moses Young artist.
51:05
The budget here is 28,000,004 and a half million of that
51:11
was McCulley Culkin salary. Mm-hmm. Well. I mean, he was a megastar after the first one, so, and then you
51:19
were talking $92 everybody, 4 million for a, for a 9-year-old.
51:25
pretty awesome. point. And I guess that was at that time the biggest salary ever for a child star.
51:32
And it's, this says 45 times his salary for home alone. So Katie sucks at math.
51:38
What, what did he get a hundred thousand dollars for? Home alone. Would that, is that, is that right?
51:44
45. I didn't know where you're, this was gonna be part of the I know, I know. I'm like math.
51:49
I don't know. I can't do math. It was a lot It was a lot. to say.
51:54
I have to make sure to bring up one of my favorite parts of the movie, which is Tim Curry.
52:02
It's, I love clue and. And Legend and Oscar and obviously Rocky Horror Picture
52:11
Love Tim Curry. just seeing him in this is one of the better parts of the movie to me.
52:20
A they beef up the villains that Kevin has to foil. It can't always just
52:26
Mm-hmm. Harry and Marv, I guess. It, they it's a whole hotel staff. Yep. Schneider.
52:31
And the other woman play great, like Cartoonishly smarmy of the hotel.
52:39
she also from the Adams family? That woman who, like one of the front desk people, she looked,
52:46
she wasn't listed in the cast. She looked, yeah, I don't think, is she, she's just in that
52:51
I, I feel like she was like somebody's wife, like cousin, it's wife or something like that at the ball.
52:57
, And Tim Curry being on my brain. In my brain. I always confuse Tim Curry and um, Adam's family.
53:07
What's his name? Who plays Gomez in Adam's family? Oh he's passed away now.
53:13
He was in Street Fighter. M Bison in the Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fighter movie. Yeah. Yeah.
53:18
I don't know him from a lot of things and Raul, Julia,
53:24
Ah, yes. I don't know why in my brain I sometimes confuse Tim Curry and Raul Julia.
53:32
Just me. Oh yeah. I see. I don't know. He's Ralph Julie probably has a larger filmography than I'm aware of.
53:41
I don't really know him from anything other than Adams Stanley and Street Fighter.
53:46
mm-hmm. But Tim, Tim Curry's more, prolific, I Yeah.
53:51
but And he plays the concierge that is very suspicious of Kevin, you guys. That's who Tim Curry plays in this.
53:58
yeah, I let the cross dissolve from the Grinch to Tim Curry when the credit
54:04
card up stolen and when Catherine O'Hara slaps him in the face at, at the hotel.
54:13
These are just I forgot about that. Yeah. Yeah. favorite moments in the film include Tim Curry, who's always.
54:21
Killing it. And gonna talk about the hotel, we should probably bring up the Trump cameo,
54:28
which has gone on to be edited out a lot of, a lot of televised versions of
54:35
Oh, is that, But yeah, I've seen, I've Okay. this movie on network where they just edit that straight out of the movie.
54:43
But back then it was just a blinking, you missed Yeah, you, it was very interesting to see him just turn up in this movie, but,
54:54
because did he own the hotel at that time? that. Well, that's when I was watching it last night with my wife, she said, that's weird.
55:00
'cause the Trump Hotel is not this hotel. So why is he at a hotel that's not his?
55:06
, The requirement for shooting in the hotel. So he must have had some stake in the Plaza Hotel at the time.
55:12
Oh, so it was a, it, they were obliged to put him in the movie if they wanted to to use the hotel.
55:19
Mm-hmm. I guess. And it is just mm, I iconic New Yorker There's a couple other cameos.
55:24
Rob Schneider is the bellboy, did they call him Cric instead of Cedric? Anyway, yeah. Cedric or, yeah.
55:30
And that's another great tip of the uh, fruit, gum, striped gum back in the day.
55:37
of the shittiest candy ever created. don't know why I loved it though, when I was a kid Everybody likes it.
55:43
And then you put it in for 10 seconds. anything after, well, grand total of five seconds.
55:48
It, It is just funny that, and then. Because it goes from that to the, the comedic beat of him offering the tip.
55:59
That's actual mm-hmm. thinks that he is gonna get gum, so he declines it to the, the,
56:04
Buzz. rule of threes. Why would Buzz give this guy that he's never met that he's chew as a
56:13
kid, obviously older person, that gets what a tip is to pull gum outta your
56:20
mouth and put it in somebody's hand. It, it just didn't make sense It's just Buzz is a dick.
56:26
You know? He's like that Yeah, older brother. It's funny, but it doesn't make sense. Agreed. Agreed.
56:31
Yeah. you, did you track Ali Sheety, another John Hughes lady? Yeah, my, my wife was going off about how bad her teeth were and lose track.
56:45
I think I was taking co, I was taking copious mm-hmm. while I was watching this too, so I could, I was probably Writing,
56:51
that Tim Curry's ever been in when Ali Sheety scene came on and I
56:56
looked up and she goes, blonde. So Yeah. didn't register with me, but I, and my wife was yelling that her
57:03
teeth are jacked and I, and I said, I think that's Ellie Sheie. But that was un I was uncertain.
57:10
So, yeah, it's Definitely, yeah. Ali Shedi, ticket agent all famously in breakfast club.
57:17
And then Chris Columbus was director cameo. Chris Columbus, , is holding a child and pointing to a stack of toys when
57:25
Kevin walks through the toy store. Right. So you, that you're not Alfred Hitchcock, Christopher Columbus.
57:31
People don't know that it's Yeah, can't, when you, you have to be recognizable for that
57:37
to be charming in a movie. true, true. Yeah. I think. can pull it off.
57:43
Agreed. I do think a lot of people found this charming. And it also, I think just coming off, in short succession to the first one.
57:50
The first one was a mega hit, so this one also, it made $359
57:56
million, and that's the $92. That's Hmm. pretty enormous. I, I didn't calculate what that would be now, but,
58:03
Yeah. That su, that supersede the first one Hmm. Good question.
58:09
Mm-hmm. Because like I said, the, the first one was a sensation. It was a mega hit.
58:14
People were waiting in line to see it. Me being mm-hmm. and seeing it over and over again, people, people would want to go
58:23
tell their parents about it and bring their parents to see it too. Bring their, you know, everybody wanted to see it twice
58:31
The numbers are a bit all over the place, but the first one made more money than the second one. Yeah.
58:36
okay. Which tr I mean, that makes sense. I, I didn't stand in line to watch it like you did, so
58:42
I be, you weren't a loser like me. I no, I, I don't know. to do. I don't know what I was doing at that time.
58:49
Do you think that they used New York enough? What do you think about the New York backdrop?
58:55
And that's funny. I, that was the very first thing I put in my notes I thought that it
59:02
is minimized for such a iconic city.
59:07
They just do a montage at the top where he goes from uptown to downtown in a matter of seconds.
59:14
And my question was going to, have you been to New York? I have. Mm-hmm. So you know that the way to visit New York is to pick one section that you're
59:23
interested in and basically stay there. You don't wanna be running all over, spending half of your time navigating
59:31
the subway and getting lost in Times Square and ending up in the West Village.
59:39
It's, it's better to just go to Tribeca and spend the weekend there and for
59:48
them to just sort of be like, oh yeah, New York City's very walkable thing.
59:54
You know, they do that. This, it almost gives me anxiety in movies like this. We saw like the fish market, Chinatown, twin Towers, the Statue of Liberty.
1:00:03
And I already was getting anxiety 'cause I'm like, this is not an adult, this is a child trying to do this
1:00:10
Same thing with Ferris Bueller, with Chicago, but they did it better. Like they really showcased Chicago and Ferris Bueller and I, I love Chicago,
1:00:18
but I get anxiety when they do the this in movies where there's a montage of the tourist sites, and it's like, you see the whole city in one day.
1:00:25
I am like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah. no, I don't know why. It gives me like an anxious feeling like that's not possible.
1:00:31
How are you? How are, no. Yeah. And the fact that it, it would've been better if it was just kept to,
1:00:38
you know, the Central Park area. And that's overwhelming Mm-hmm. the fact that Kevin is never reduced to tears by the overwhelming, terrifying,
1:00:50
realization of being in this metropolis that's full of lunatics when the, he
1:00:59
gets in the cab and the guy has the, Oh. pale eye and it's, he's, so many reasons 'cause when I, I mentioned
1:01:07
that I was a truck driver and I think it was the first week that I was solo after training to drive.
1:01:14
I had to drive to Maine and then I had to go from Maine to Tennessee. And I Hmm.
1:01:20
via New York City And I got lost in a class, a full-size
1:01:27
tractor trailer down in. Central Park Oh wow. was almost on the verge of tears.
1:01:33
Yeah. So for, for Kevin to not lose his shit is a missed opportunity.
1:01:40
I think it would make the character a little more three-dimensional than this kind of Mary Sue kid that you never think for one second
1:01:48
that he's not gonna be just fine. Yeah. maybe make the character a little more relatable.
1:01:54
But, yeah, the fact that he is in New York, it, it's, it's a good
1:02:01
backdrop to do a part two of this type of film that it's good for that.
1:02:08
But I think it's underutilized in the, the pantheon of films that feature New York.
1:02:16
It's been featured a lot better in other Agreed. That's a really good way of putting it. My anxiety went way down when he was then offered the opportunity to, he gets
1:02:27
a limo with a cheese pizza to himself. He's drinking soda out of champagne flutes and watching the Grinch, and so
1:02:34
he just gets toted around New York and like at the plaza's expense now that Hmm.
1:02:40
I was like, now that sounds like a perfect day. I would love nothing more, except for if that was real champagne and not diet Coke.
1:02:47
that, that's, that's a great point. And that's when they should have showcased New
1:02:52
Yeah. that they did at the top, where he is just kind of like strolling around and he He arrives in New York and then all of a sudden he's here, there and everywhere.
1:02:59
Yeah. Yeah. If he was in the limo, then you could be like, okay, now we're all over Yeah. And that would make a lot more sense.
1:03:05
And it's earned because of the, the scene where he fakes it. And, and that was another thing I'd put in my notes about
1:03:11
Kevin has preconceived that. Somebody will eventually come into this room uninvited.
1:03:20
So I need to make a marionette Mm-hmm. shower and thank God I have my talk boy, which talk boy was basically
1:03:29
the, the hoverboard of this movie. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. this. And he has constructed this fake Uncle Frank to scare Tim Curry out of the room.
1:03:42
And that justifies them giving him all these perks that we were just talking about. But the, was another thing where I was just like, this doesn't make sense that
1:03:50
he would, would get this bozo inflatable thing and then make, the pencils so that
1:03:57
he could control it like the first one. Why would he do that? You know, you just put do not disturb on the door.
1:04:04
Nobody's gonna come in. So. Yeah. It was just a strange thing to, 'cause they wanna make a funny
1:04:11
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But when you really think about it, it didn't make sense.
1:04:16
And then that's how he used the gi 'cause it was the gift from his grandma, like a Oh, she thought you'd be able to use this in the pool.
1:04:23
'cause the family's supposed to be in Florida. Speaking of which, why is this family traveling over Christmas
1:04:29
again after what happened last year? No, stay home. You have a gorgeous house.
1:04:34
Just stay there. The, they're so sick of their awesome mansion. Yeah.
1:04:40
And then when they do go to Florida, the cuts to the family in Florida, I don't know if they aren't at at the place they're supposed
1:04:47
to be, but it seemed shitty. Like just like a crappy motel. Which makes no sense. 'cause this family would've clearly had a nice accommodations lined up.
1:04:57
So is it, what's the story behind that? I mean, I know it's Florida, you know, but
1:05:02
yeah, I think that whatever they have to change plans because they realize Kevin's missing and it's the only thing that they can find last minute.
1:05:10
It must be the But wouldn't they have had reservations? Like the plan was to go to Florida
1:05:16
yeah, why don't they go stay wherever they were gonna stay. they were supposed to end up while they sorted out.
1:05:21
That is interesting. But I did like seeing that shitty green gremlin in the parking lot of the motel that they're in.
1:05:29
And it was a motel. Yeah, definitely. I thought it was a cute little nod having a sequel to the sequel.
1:05:35
A movie within a movie within a movie of the Angels Without Soul. What was it? The Angels With, even Angels with even Filthier Filthier Souls or something.
1:05:45
is that what it Yeah. So, and using his talk voice. So we get a lot of the similar beats from the first one.
1:05:52
Like we kind of need a little bit of that. But I, I wanted more creativity from the pranks.
1:05:58
I think there were some missed opportunities. There could have been a lot more that could have been done because he now has
1:06:04
to foil the hotel people and the robbers.
1:06:09
And So much of it happens the same way. It happens in the in the first one. Yeah.
1:06:14
he slides, he slides into the elevator between the women's legs, the way he slides through the
1:06:20
Mm-hmm. and the on the ice rink, which makes a lot more Mm-hmm. sliding on the floor of a hotel.
1:06:26
Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of it, even the pranks or the the booby traps at the house, a lot are just.
1:06:34
The same. Yeah. one and not many. I did like the, the toilet full of kerosene or what,
1:06:43
yeah. was kind of a different, even though the walking through and the, in the first one, it's the blow torch to the head, and this one, it just kind of
1:06:51
catches his head on fire and then, then he does the handstand in the toilet, which is new, like a fresher take,
1:06:58
That's fair. So it, it's good when, it's good when they made it different and changed
1:07:04
Mm-hmm. And it's famili, but so many people just like comfort food.
1:07:09
It's a comfort food movie where you're seeing something that you already know that you're gonna enjoy.
1:07:15
So, that's why they're, they're writing it in so that you be like, oh yeah, I
1:07:20
liked it when I saw it the first time. So I like it Mm-hmm. too, Mm-hmm. but, I can say that. And I did, and you know, to some degree like even the cheese pizza to himself.
1:07:29
There were, I liked a lot of the carryover. I I guess I wish they would've just taken some of , the stunts up
1:07:35
a notch or maybe had a couple new really cool ones and they didn't. But I was confused.
1:07:41
By, what did the uncle's house have to do with the toy store?
1:07:47
How was him saving the toy store? His point was with all these booby traps and getting the burglars to
1:07:55
save the toy store because at the end of the night, Mr. Mr. Toy store
1:08:01
owner Duncan is going to donate all that money to a children's charity.
1:08:06
Mm-hmm. So they're going to the toy store to rob the toy store.
1:08:11
Is he just trying to run the clock out by bringing them to the uncle's house? 'cause all of the traps were at the uncle's house.
1:08:18
This is a great point that I, that hasn't occurred to me, so I'm.
1:08:25
You're watching my, the gears turn in my head right now. If the third act foiling of Harry and Marv had actually been in the toy
1:08:35
store and he was using and the things in this child's Playland, how, what
1:08:44
better sequence would that have been if he was weaponizing the toy store?
1:08:49
Yeah. would've been such a better So much better. I mean, it, it probably would've been a more expensive and harder to shoot,
1:08:57
which is probably why they just said, oh, my uncle's house is being renovated because I did think that was a good plot.
1:09:03
Di device Mm-hmm. he ends up with the whole sequence where he gets lost in the airport.
1:09:09
The way that they orchestrated that, like he, it's such a kid thing to.
1:09:14
Be like, oh, my toy's outta batteries. I wanted, I need to address this right now. And that's how he loses his track of his family and the guy
1:09:22
wearing the same code as his dad. And he follows that guy. They mix up the, he crashes into the flight attendant, the gate attendant.
1:09:31
All the tickets go everywhere. This is a clever way to facilitate Kevin getting to New York.
1:09:37
Why is the attention that you put into justifying not applied to the writing of
1:09:47
the finale and the way that you and I just created a better ending for this movie,
1:09:53
Yeah. which is speaks to the shortcomings of the movie Mm-hmm. arguing that it's not better than the
1:09:59
Right, but I mean, what were we led to believe though?, What does This house have to do with anything?
1:10:05
It's just a venue to do the same thing from the first one. He lures them there instead
1:10:11
Oh, because, because that was my point. Like the other thing that made the movie make a lot more sense is that he would,
1:10:16
getting the batteries for his toy secures his dad's travel bag that has money, which
1:10:22
Kevin will need to even get anywhere. He would just be at the airport and then the movie would be
1:10:28
Yeah. No money. No. why? Yeah. Yeah. So the, and then he has the address book of where his uncle
1:10:34
Mm-hmm. and, you know, some of these other tools that allow him to find his way around New York. So that, that was a good thing to insert into the plot or, to facilitate the
1:10:44
movie happening and then just drop the ball with, and do the same thing all over again that you did in the first one, only in a, a house of of coal
1:10:55
that no one's ever heard of before. It's just kind of lazy. I think he's meant to be. 'cause they're like, oh, isn't he in Paris?
1:11:01
Oh yeah. But the house is being run by, he was the uncle that they went to visit in the first movie. The fam right.
1:11:07
I'm Is that it? I don't him. The, this family has a lot of money. Or at least two of the brothers do.
1:11:13
Uncle Frank doesn't, but, but 'cause they were gonna go to Paris to, to visit, have Christmas with the, that uncle that apparently
1:11:20
has another home in New York City. Gee, must be nice to be in McAllister, eh?
1:11:25
Was one of my favorite lines in the movie. That's right at the beginning when he, when he is, goes to Uncle Frank.
1:11:31
Oh, I wouldn't wanna ruin your vacation, Mr. Cheapskate. And everybody's appalled by Kevin's smart mouth to his dickhead uncle,
1:11:40
who is a dickhead and deserves He is. So towards the end buzz shows Kevin, the room service bill, he's like, oh my
1:11:49
God, you're gonna be in so much trouble. It was $967, which I looked up today.
1:11:57
That would be about 2232. $2,232. That's really, I honestly would've thought it'd be way higher.
1:12:06
Or am I off on this at the plaza? I, yeah.
1:12:11
$0 of that was spent on the bird lady. Yeah. Come on Kevin.
1:12:19
That's crazy. And, but it's like, yeah. What else are you gonna do if you're a kid in a, a hotel room, but order room
1:12:27
Mm-hmm. So, I, I guess I just thought it would be more, amount of money. I did watch all the way through.
1:12:33
'cause sometimes the, so John Hughes will many times have a post credit scene in his movies.
1:12:39
There was not. Bueller? Yeah. But there was not there are a few bits of trivia here.
1:12:44
The original working title apparently was alone Again. What are your thoughts about that?
1:12:52
Hmm. Not good. Okay. Home alone two. Lost to New Yeah. I'll get either way.
1:12:57
So home alone too Alone again, or it's, you still need home alone in it somewhere.
1:13:02
Yeah. The phone number that was given for the Plaza Hotel in the movie is an actual working number for the Plaza Hotel.
1:13:09
Like whatever it was. That's good. Marketing for the plaza. Yeah. I wonder if it still is that same number.
1:13:15
There's a swimming pool scene. So Kevin does all the things kids love to do at a hotel and want,
1:13:21
including going to the pool. But I guess the Plaza doesn't have a swimming pool located on site.
1:13:29
So that was shot at the Four Seasons in Chicago, the pool scene funny. That's interesting.
1:13:35
Yeah. and more about the plaza. It still to this day, apparently offers the home alone experience around Christmas
1:13:45
where guests can pay to stay in a room. Very similar to the room in which Kevin stayed. Receive home alone gifts, including the movies, take a limousine and
1:13:53
see some of the filming locations, including the toy store upon which Duncan's Toy Chest was based.
1:14:00
Yeah. Is that still exist? That I thought FAO Schwartz was gone? Unless there's a different incarnation of
1:14:07
Yeah. I mean, okay. I don't know when that tidbit was published, so
1:14:13
Oh, okay. for who know? Yeah. Experience that they offered Yeah. Or maybe that's just not part of it, but because it was,
1:14:20
go. yeah. ever had the chance to go to FAO No, a thing? no. Did you?
1:14:26
was, yeah. And it's something else Yeah. mean, they that watch big and you, and you get a really good idea of what it is,
1:14:33
now that we've discussed this, it's such a missed opportunity that they didn't do. The toy store.
1:14:39
the toy store foiling Mm-hmm. Harry. I, why wouldn't you do that? Why? What are you thinking?
1:14:45
'cause Columbus and John Hughes. yeah. You, you wrote it, John, come on.
1:14:50
Ah, yeah, I get frustrated. During this season, I'm probably more often than not, a little
1:14:56
frustrated with John Hughes. He really hits when he hits. And I think this is a hit, like this is a, I I'm not, I I just have fun.
1:15:03
Sometimes when podcasting about a movie, I have fun poking holes in it, where they are.
1:15:09
So I don't want people to get upset with me. I do like this movie, everyone.
1:15:14
but it did, it did drop the ball Mm-hmm. Oh. Have you ever heard of that movie? It's a Dwayne, the Rock Johnson movie called Skyscraper.
1:15:22
Mm-hmm. kind of came out after Jumanji and.
1:15:29
Oh, Andreas and he, it, what's interesting about it is he plays
1:15:34
a vet that ha is missing a leg. So his family is trapped at the top of this smart building skyscraper that is,
1:15:44
has a diehard scenario happening in it. And the movie is called Skyscraper.
1:15:49
The finale takes place at the top of the building and the whole time you
1:15:56
are expecting somebody, a villain or a maybe a, loved one to get thrown
1:16:03
off the building and Dwayne Johnson is going to jump off the skyscraper and rescue somebody that's falling from what's being held up in the movie as
1:16:13
the biggest building in the world. then you get to the end and it's not, it's like a hall of mirrors finale and nobody
1:16:20
falls off the top of the building and. What? feel like you watched this for nothing?
1:16:26
Oh, what a let down. What a let down. this Toy Store finale of Home Alone two now is replacing
1:16:34
Huge missed opportunity. opportunity since skyscraper Okay. Yeah. For real though,
1:16:40
Hmm, I guess, writer and producer John Hughes, like during production of this,
1:16:45
he was already writing script drafts for the third movie in which he wanted
1:16:51
Macaulay to return as a teenager. But I guess when he found out that Macaulay Culkin quit acting in 94, he
1:16:58
had to rewrite the story with a new kid. Yeah. for, for the worst.
1:17:03
Yeah, yeah. that was probably for the best too. You Mm-hmm. Yep. the colleague GaN on to be a, a big meth head or
1:17:12
Yeah, except for 20 years. I don't know man. Tim Curry, Macaulay Coken, and Joe Pesci all in this movie reportedly
1:17:21
turned down roles in the Lion King to do this film instead.
1:17:28
Which is weird because the Lion King didn't come out until 94, Yeah.
1:17:34
but I don't know if it just, work I assume so. Yeah, I assume so. Yeah. don't know, I wasn't that like Matthew Broderick
1:17:42
Mm-hmm. I don't know who they would've been. Tim Curry as a scar Maybe, maybe
1:17:48
what that was gonna Hashi. I could have been one of the hyenas or something like, like I can see,
1:17:53
Yeah. Or timone. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. way too much about the Lion King, apparently.
1:18:00
really good. And then you know who was missing in this movie? We had a cameo in the first movie by a very famous comedian, also frequent
1:18:09
collaborator with John Hughes. John Yeah. John Candy. John Candy was not in this
1:18:16
Yeah. Why? well, the original. sense. I'm glad that you asked Andy.
1:18:23
But see, did, did he die at this point? No, not, oh, yet. Mm yet. The original plan was for John Candy to make a cameo, but I guess he
1:18:31
was bitter about how little money he received from the first film.
1:18:36
hmm. And so he refused to do it. You get what? Get what you're worth. Get John Candy's worth a lot.
1:18:42
Throw him, he is after the, he did you a favor with the first one? agreed.
1:18:47
I would, it would've been awesome if it was the same character. The Polka Came into play somehow.
1:18:52
Yeah. helps out Yeah. That would've been great Agreed. you know, you don't cut the money to John Candy on set for one day.
1:19:03
Yeah, but I guess he was just bitter because they could have given him more like posts like after the fact because Home Alone was such
1:19:10
a hit and he, however much he got paid must not have been very much. backend Yeah, yeah.
1:19:15
Mm-hmm. agent, John Candy. I know. Which is unusual because you usually don't hear about him
1:19:21
kinda holding grudges or anything. It's usually the other way around. John Hughes is usually the one anyway.
1:19:27
Andy that new doc about him. That's out now. There's a New John Candy there on what?
1:19:34
What's it on? Hmm. It might be Prime or Netflix.
1:19:39
One of the big ones, Okay. I'm gonna have to check it out. I do really like John Candy. Who doesn't, I mean, he's, yeah.
1:19:45
I mean, we could have talked for another hour about. Home alone. Two, you know, comparing it to the first one, all of it.
1:19:54
We could have talked forever, but we have to conclude at some point, what are your closing thoughts about Home Alone Two, and then please remind
1:20:01
us where we can find more of you. Yes, I would love to, thoughts about Home Alone.
1:20:07
Two, it's a, it's a fun movie. It's, I was glad to have a reason to rewatch it, and we are approaching
1:20:14
the holiday season, so, oftentimes I will myself watching the original
1:20:20
and not so much the second one. Mm-hmm. I, I was glad to revisit it.
1:20:26
It reminded me of what my talent Joe Peci is and how much
1:20:32
I love Tim Curry and O'Hara. The, all these characters were fun to spend another two hours with, and
1:20:42
even though I don't think it's as good as the first one that doesn't really,
1:20:49
Ruin the viewing experience of the second one. And like I said, there's a lot of creative ways that they the
1:20:58
formula that makes it fun watch. So I would, or anybody that wants to dig into a holiday movie at
1:21:07
the holiday season, this is a very good one to add to the watch list. So, please do.
1:21:14
And then also please go to all apologies podcast.com. Actually, I'm begging everybody to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
1:21:23
So, you can find all apologies podcast on YouTube and hit that subscribe button.
1:21:28
And keep up up with everything that we're releasing there, including the Edgar Wright series, all the Right moves that Ryan Alkin is also hosting
1:21:36
on the Director's Chair podcast network. So check that out as well.
1:21:41
Great for stuff. Yes. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for joining me to talk about this sequel.
1:21:48
And some 92 memories. So it's always fun to kind of go back in time. But that is a wrap on Home Alone.
1:21:54
Two, you guys lost in New York. Proof that light lightning can almost strike twice, especially
1:22:00
when you've got Tim Curry, pigeons and a credit card with no limit. If you enjoyed this trip back to 1992, take a second to rate
1:22:08
and review retro Made seriously. Seriously, it does make a huge difference and helping other
1:22:15
nostalgia nerds like us find the show. Or you can always drop me a line. You can email me, tell me what you think about Home Alone Two versus
1:22:23
Home Alone, the original bonus points. If it involves a talk boy. But until next time, be kind, rewind.