Watching Home Alone With Macaulay Culkin

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As someone who grew up in the 90s, I can’t help but feel a profound sense of nostalgia when it comes to movies like Home Alone. The memories of those times are a beautiful tapestry woven with the innocence, joy, and wonder that only childhood can bring. And yet, as an adult looking back, I see the cracks in that tapestry, the wear and tear that time has inflicted upon it.

At “A Nostalgic Night With Macaulay Culkin,” a touring show in the Northeast this holiday season featuring a screening of Home Alone and a live Q&A with Culkin, what I yearn for is the simplicity of life before rigorous security measures. Upon approaching the Toyota Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Connecticut, I’m reminded that everyone needs to have their bags checked and pass through metal detectors. My bag, just one centimeter too large, sends me scurrying back to my car. To park anywhere near the venue, you must pay an extra $30 for “premier parking” (an event primarily designed to extract money), which I haven’t paid, so I find myself parked a quarter of a mile away.

After dashing back and forth, I eventually present my ticket to the attendant, who looks at me in astonishment. “Is that all?” I reply. Much like Kevin McCallister, I’m here alone. Upon entering, I notice that no one else is attending solo at this gathering. It seems rather peculiar to attend this event by oneself. People are casting me curious glances. This appears to be a family-oriented event with boisterous groups of friends in attendance, mostly men, or “bros”. Quite unexpectedly, there’s a mix here. There are some millennials, both with and without children, but there are also older individuals present. Many of them don red sweaters adorned with flashing lights or Santa hats. At the conclusion of the event, after having paid anywhere from $40 to $150 for orchestra seats, one can opt for an additional $250 to meet and take a picture with Culkin, which I assume is why people are dressed this way.

During my conversations, I found that some participants were from New York and Connecticut, specifically Stratford, Fairfield, Cromwell, and Westchester County. With Christmas just around the corner in ten days, we’re all looking for something fun to do. It seems many have learned about this event through Instagram. An intriguing couple who ventured here from Long Island, avid Macaulay Culkin fans, mentioned his humor platform, “Bunny Ears,” which is also the name of his podcast. Another group hailing from Westchester County, perhaps in their 40s, have crafted posters. One poster appears to depict Kevin’s battle plan before he sets up house traps, and the other lists the prayer he recites over his mac and cheese on Christmas Eve. I’m unsure if they plan to display these posters when Culkin arrives.

It appears that many individuals are frequently discussing him. They hold him in high regard, considering him a kind individual. One woman remarks, “I’ve only witnessed him in one film as an adult,” and I glance around to check if they are referring to the 2003 cult favorite Party Monster, where Culkin portrays the notorious club kid and murderer Michael Alig. However, it turns out that they are discussing a 2019 film titled Changeland. Throughout the night, I listen intently, but no one brings up Party Monster during the nostalgic Macaulay Culkin Christmas gathering.

In the bustling crowd of adults enjoying their drinks, I find myself drawn to join them. Catching my eye above the bar are advertisements for an intriguingly named cocktail, the Ugly Sweater Party, priced at a steep $22. Accompanying this drink comes a souvenir cocktail shaker, but upon inquiring about it, the bartender informs me that they’re out of stock tonight. Her gaze suggests I might be the one who concocted this extravagant, pricey beverage. Instead, I opt for a Modelo to quench my thirst.

The lights flicker, and the crowd surges toward the theater. The house is mostly full, with only a few empty seats here and there. It takes a while for the audience to filter in, and the music swells. I’m next to a group of bros as the opening credits roll. One of them exclaims, “The score is unmistakable,” and another says, “John Williams, dude.”

Under the direction of Chris Columbus, and featuring a screenplay by John Hughes that was quite intricate like a Rube Goldberg machine, the movie “Home Alone” became one of the highest-earning films in the year it was released. For twelve consecutive weeks, it held the top spot at the box office. To this day, it’s often considered, if not the definitive holiday film, then certainly among the best alongside classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” and “The Grinch.” Each year, my children rewatch it, remembering its famous catchphrase: “Keep the change, you dirty rat.

The movie titled “Home Alone” is widely recognized, often needing no explanation, however, let me offer a brief summary: This film is arguably the most popular about home invasions. It centers around Kevin McCallister, an energetic 8-year-old, who unintentionally gets left behind at home in the Chicago suburbs when his family goes on a trip to Paris during the Christmas season. Two bungling burglars, known as the Wet Bandits (portrayed by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), have their eyes set on Kevin’s house – a large, lavishly decorated residence for the holidays – as their prime target.

While the thieves were hatching their plan, Kevin’s mother (Catherine O’Hara) was rushing back home from France. She managed to convince airline staff to let her board flights and even hitched a ride in the back of a rental truck with a polka band, all to get back home as quickly as possible. The tension reached its peak on Christmas Eve, with the burglars trying to break into the McCallister house. This was an incident that Kevin had anticipated and prepared for by setting up intricate, cruel traps to catch the thieves.

It might be more prudent not to scrutinize the political undertones of this film, as they seem rooted in a bygone era when income disparities were less pronounced compared to today. Notably, two years ago, an analysis by The New York Times revealed that, in 1990, the McCallister family’s income would have to be around $305,000 (equivalent to approximately $736,230 now) to afford the luxurious house depicted in the film, which resides in a neighborhood so affluent that everyone vacates for Christmas. This, the Times suggested, places the McCallisters among the top 1%.

But any unpalatable class issues at the center of the movie are smoothed over by the outrageous star power of Culkin, who is so charismatic as Kevin that the performance has followed him ever since. Culkin is the movie. The actor Jon Lovitz was apparently offered Joe Pesci’s role but turned it down because he “didn’t want to play second fiddle to a kid.” This was a career mistake for sure, but you can sort of see his point. Everyone plays second fiddle to Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone.

As a movie buff, I watched this classic film in theaters when it first hit screens, but since I was only five at the time, my memories are hazy. However, tonight’s screening is unlike any other! The air is thick with the scent of cannabis. The crowd is restless, moving around to grab more drinks. There seems to be an unspoken agreement that talking is allowed this time. People echo iconic lines like “Buzz your girlfriend, woof,” and so on. Kieran Culkin’s portrayal of the bed-wetting cousin has everyone in stitches. A child next to me is serenading the screen with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Two Gen Z-ers behind me provide a running commentary, gasping every time Kevin lies down on a bed with his shoes on.

The fun climaxes at the end with the booby-trap chain of events. People find it amusing when the burglars (Wet Bandits) slip on ice, are burned by a hot doorknob, have their hair singed off, get hit by paint cans, step on a nail, and crash into a brick wall after swinging from a rope.

“They would be dead,” announces the guy next to me. And it’s true. Even one fall down the McCallisters’ icy steps might kill an adult. But this isn’t realism, it’s the Road Runner versus Wile E. Coyote. Pummeled for a consecutive 15 or 20 minutes, the thieves don’t even bleed. The crowd applauds uproariously when Kevin’s elderly neighbor shows up at the end to hit them in the head with a shovel. His mother returns on Christmas Day and gets slightly less applause.

In 2024, Macaulay Culkin is 44 years old, short-statured, quick-witted, and wearing a dark sweater. An attendee quips, reflecting a common perception about celebrities, “I thought he’d be taller.” The event appears to have overhyped his involvement in the evening’s proceedings. Another individual expresses disappointment, expecting a more interactive experience similar to “Mystery Science Theater ” with Culkin providing commentary throughout. However, it turns out to be a standard Question-and-Answer session led by a moderator, who queries him about his co-stars (they were pleasant), the origin of the movie (John Hughes wrote it for Culkin after noticing him peeking through a mail slot in “Uncle Buck” ), and upcoming projects (he’s set to appear in the next season of “Fallout” ).

In a cheerful manner, Culkin appears at ease, yet his words carry a subtle touch of sadness. He describes the movie as both a burden and a gift, but expresses gratitude for having children to experience it with. He shares a tale about his stunt double, an adult in a child’s body, repeatedly falling off a bookshelf until he got it right. He mentions that the McCallister house occasionally goes up for sale, and he’s contemplated turning it into an Airbnb, but finds it seems like too much effort. When asked about which co-star from the movie he’d swap roles with, Culkin jokes that he’d choose the neighbor kid who was mistaken for Kevin as the family leaves for the airport because “that kid got to go home early.

You can feel his weariness with the child-star thing. The entertainment industry has extracted so much from him. Every time he imitates an adult, or someone who was an adult when he was a child, he uses the same gravelly, tough-guy voice. Eventually, the Gen-Zers behind me complain, “He only does two voices, his own and that gravelly one.” As if he should be more entertaining, have more funny voices cued up.

As a movie enthusiast, I can’t help but ponder about how much he was compensated for being here. I can’t fault him for accepting the role – who wouldn’t want some extra cash during the holiday season? Plus, the event’s organizer also arranges events with celebrities like Rainn Wilson, Helen Hunt, and Chevy Chase, so it’s not a low-profile gig. However, I truly hope it was worth his time. Over the course of the run, he will perform a total of 14 shows, starting from late November. That means two weeks on the road during Christmas, gracing stages in not-so-glamorous locations such as Medford, Massachusetts.

In a more relaxed phrasing, the sentence could be rewritten as: “Even in his interactions, there was a hint of melancholy about him. After filming Home Alone 2, Joe Pesci offered Macaulay Culkin a glass of wine (perhaps some nice Chianti) in his trailer, but the young actor declined. Instead, he opted to attend school.

Still, he doesn’t deliver these anecdotes with acrimony. He’s funny. At one point, there is an unexpected thud from backstage, and he ad-libs, “A trap I set. Someone just got hit in the head with a sandbag.”

“We love you, Kevin!” a fan calls from the expensive seats.

He says, matter-of-factly, “My name is Macaulay.”

In the world of cinema today, it’s hard to find movies like the classic “Home Alone” that truly resonate. The balance just doesn’t seem to be there anymore. What I miss most is the creation of original family comedies executed with such finesse – from the cleverly crafted script to the painstaking attention to detail in production design, not forgetting the masterful direction that brought it all together.

2021’s holiday lineup features two new releases: “Red One,” a $250 million box office disappointment starring Dwayne Johnson, and “Dear Santa,” an uninspired straight-to-Paramount Plus film. This latter movie revolves around a child who mistakenly writes to Satan instead of Santa. Despite the presence of Jack Black, my children and I found it lacking in creativity, energy, and humor. My 9-year-old, typically eager for screen time, commented, “That was a really bad movie.

In a sense, I’ve always felt that culture has been somewhat hollow, as though we’re in the twilight years, witnessing the decline of various art forms. But this year, with digital effects overshadowing everything and countless streaming platforms drowning in subpar content, it truly feels like we’ve reached a turning point. While I won’t be drawing posters of Kevin McCallister’s battle plan anytime soon, I do understand the desire to cling to nostalgia. It’s better to reminisce and feel something than to observe what’s happening now and feel nothing at all. Even if our memories paint a rosier picture of the past than reality, or if Macaulay Culkin has grown weary and can no longer run an Airbnb, the longing for those bygone days persists.

As the night winds down, there’s an engaging game that unfolds. Culkin tosses a tennis ball into the crowd, inviting kids to join him onstage for a fun trivia challenge. The rewards are clever: a toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association, a Matchbox car similar to those used by the Wet Bandits, and an eight-by-ten glossy photo of Joe Pesci autographed by Macaulay Culkin. It’s evident that these prizes don’t exactly excite the children, and truth be told, it’s not easy for them to see the man on stage as the kid from the movie they know. After all, the film is more about their parents’ nostalgia than their personal connection to it.

As the night draws to a close, the host thanks everyone for attending and people start to depart. Faithfully adhering to his obligations, Culkin finishes off with “Merry Christmas, you dirty rascals.” However, the crowd is already leaving, slipping into coats, engaged in conversation among themselves. It seems few actually catch what he said.

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2024-12-19 16:54