FRANCHISE ME - Discussion Thread - Page 3

I would read the shit out of a HOME ALONE Franchise Me, phlegm-wad!

Do both.  It's not like you need to eat or sleep or anything....

No more obscure than Leprechaun (in terms of Netflix availability) and we loved the hell out of that run.  I say go for it.

You know I'm pretty sure when I was a kid (like 7 or 8) I read a non-goosebumps R.L. Stine book called Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, but I can't seem to find anything about it anywhere. Is it connected to the movies or did two dudes just have the same great wordplay idea?

Would you entertain the thought of a guest and do the GHOSTBUSTERS franchise with me?

The best thing about Muppets from Space is this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F40E5MBEU8

Yeah, I thought Pepe got annoying in some of the TV movies, but here he's definitely a highlight. As usual, you're dead-on about what works about the movie and what doesn't. Incidentally, the show Pepe and Bobo debuted in, Muppets Tonight, actually had some solid episodes. It was an ultimately failed attempt to resurrect the Muppet Show for the 90s, but it was still pretty funny, and the guest stars were ridiculously game for anything (even Garth Brooks managed to be a highlight when they made him do Tevye).

Also, did you enjoy Hulk Hogan's ridiculous cameo as much as I did?

Even if you aren't going to do a write-up on it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Muppet Wizard of Oz and Kermit's Swamp Years.

Anyway, I agree, Muppets From Space is extremely half-baked and it's no wonder that everything they've done until now has ended up on TV or gone DTV.

Eh, I don't really follow pro wrestling either, but I was still delighted to see his delightfully hammy persona.

The fuck is Josh Charles anyway?

Ah, I see. As far as celebs in Muppets from Space go, Jeffrey Tambor and Hulk Hogan are certainly the highlights (although Tambor's not really a "cameo"). But then Tambor has the ability to steal anything he appears in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua Miller 

 

Never saw SWAMP YEARS. I watched part of OZ when it aired, but didn't finish it. You already know my feelings about having a human protagonist. I mean, structurally, like LABYRINTH, the OZ story lends itself naturally to having a human enter a puppet world, but well, let's just say that Ashanti is no Jennifer Connely (a controversial opinion, I know). But I can't give an informed opinion on it, as I only watched enough to determine I'd rather watch something else. This Franchise Me has gotten me interested in revisiting a lot of the Henson Company stuff I missed, but when this came out I'd pretty resoundingly given up on the franchise.

Yeah, Oz is pretty atrocious.  I was surprised to find that I actually liked Swamp Years when I caught it on TV last summer.  It is by no means a great movie, but it wasn't bad either.

Awesome review, Joshua. I can't wait to see this once it hits my shores.

So what's next on your hit list? Twilight? Ninja Turtles? The Crow?

He says HOME ALONE at the end.

I presume this will include the straight-to-television fourth film? Or are we neglecting television?

My memory is foggy, but I understand a lot of people associated with the third film went on to much better things, so I would be intrigued about that.

Also, throw in a future vote for BEETHOVEN.

Recently watched Home Alone with a bunch of friends during a potluck.  Ahhh, memories.  I still kinda love the movie.  It was probably the first movie I went to go see MULTIPLE times at the theater during its lengthy theatrical run. 

Not a great start for a movie fan, eh?  Hahahahah

Watching it again, I was struck by how pretty the film is.  For a movie that wasn't HOOOOME ALOOOOONE when it was first being made, it's a handsome early 90s production.  The nice hazy glow that most of the film has (on the blu-ray transfer anyway) have the effect of softening the arguably harsh Christmas colors.

Or maybe I'm letting John Williams' fantastic score color the whole thing.

Wow... TMNT and Home Alone?  Joshua's really going to hit me in my nostalgia-spot.

I can't re-watch those movies without thinking of the brain damage bills racked up by those poor Wet Bandits. They seriously got fucked up. Even as a kid, there was a point where I was like, "Enough, Kevin."

Hahahahah, that kind of concern NEVER crossed my mind.  It was all a cartoon to me.

Favorite pain?  When the little white ornament explodes under Daniel Stern's feet as he tries to slowly make his way out of the corner where the tree is.

"Home Alone" is a good choice. Was Ebert the only other person who thought the third one was pretty good? It was funny watching Siskel's shocked disgust when Ebert said this was the one "that finally got it right". Didn't seem likely after it recast Culkin and the villains. Whatever the flaws of the first two were, Culkin's star presence clearly carried them.

I don't remember it at all now, but I know I dug the third installment the one time I saw it. I think one thing I appreciated was more eclectic villains (including a woman!) since Harry and Marv were really stale after two movies. Also, I think the traps weren't quite as extreme, and therefore more fun to watch. Some of the shit that happened to Harry and Marv was fucking brutal.

Lightweights, all of yas!

Not ashamed to admit the Roberts Blossom moment in the church in Home Alone still stabs me in the goddamned heart every time. Fuck you so very much, John Williams.

Only thing I remember standing out from Home Alone too is a sorta-brilliant transition between the Grinch cartoon, and Tim Curry's diabolical grin.

Bring that series on.

On topic though, thank goodness Im not the only one whose heart just fucking shattered during that moment where Fozzy asks Kermit if everything's going to be okay. Still the best moment in that film.

Great writeups on all of these, Joshua.

You know what I noticed for the FIRST TIME while seeing it this Thanksgiving?  In all the times I've seen Home Alone in my lifetime, I had never noticed that Kevin had that tiny TV in the kitchen (that he used to play Angels With Filthy Souls) connected to two (relatively) HUGE speakers on each side of it. 

So weird that I never noticed that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naisu Baddi 

Some of the shit that happened to Harry and Marv was fucking brutal.

By the end of the second one, Kevin is throwing bricks off a building at their heads.

I do NOT understand who that is funny to.

I laughed when I was a kid, but the bricks in the 2nd one definitely came across as too brutal.  Even with the cartoony tone, what is clever about simply hurling bricks with deadly accuracy?  At least paint-cans swinging on a rope has some resemblance to a cartoon.

Its funny how this one felt all 'warm and cartoony' whereas the second one really took on a bit of a mean-streak to it (I remember the traps in the second one being much more violent and painful looking)

Sorry, but I want to subject you to The Crow franchise. Do eet. 

Yet another stellar entry!  I can't wait to read your take on Home Alone 2.

Weird. None of the violence Home Alone 2 came off as anything but hilarious to me. I think I may have found the brick throwing part the funniest thing about it when I was a kid. I found Pesci branding his hand on the doorknob in part 1 to be much more brutal. Other than Ebert throwing a hissyfit at the time this is the first I've heard of anyone thinking it was too much.

I think I might even prefer two to one, if I'm being totally honest. Tim Curry and the Angels with Even Filthier Souls bit put it just slightly ahead. A shame they couldn't get Culkin to do a third one. They could have turned this into a Bond type franchise with a different locale each film. Maybe a crossover movie with Dutch? The possibilities were endless!

I think it was mostly the Electrocution part that got to me. Its been a long time since I saw it but I remember thinking 'wow..this is a bit of a jump from the first one'. Still cartoonish for sure.

I truly believe that this is the most articulate piece of writing on Home Alone 2 in existence!

hehehehe

I love that you went back to the issue of the wealth of the McCallisters.  But really, everything is great stuff.

I don't have any desire to revisit this one.  I watched the first two movies a couple of years ago, and I found Culkin's performance to be UNBEARABLE.  I wanted to kill him.  And really, he doesn't do anything significantly different from the first movie.  It's just that the same performance became obnoxious when delivered from a slightly older/bigger Culkin.  What felt genuine (if still mannered) in the first movie now felt like a feature-length performance that belonged in a soup ad.

As a kid I remember really liking this. To the point where I stole my sisters 'talk back' or whatever that mic thing Kevin had was called. Now, not as much. The first is still great, but this one doesn't age nearly as well.

Oh and one point though, I think the whole 900 dollars on room service bit, was meant to mean that Kevin had been piling up the room service on credit (to make it seem as though kevin just thought it was all free or something), without realizing it. It could play either way, but that's how I always read it.

And in HOME ALONE 3, they try and return to the wholesome tone of HOME ALONE 1, but they aim everything at toddlers and tone the violence down, which made it a very painful thing to sit through. 

A better HOME ALONE 3 might have been this: Kevin, an up and coming criminal in his mid 30's, has to commit one more robbery to get enough money to flee town.  The house he breaks into is in a rich neighborhood with only a 10 year old boy inside. Should be easy pickings for Kevin, but there's a catch...  He's robbing the house of his own son-- the son he never knew he had with the Pigeon Lady from HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK.  Zaniness ensues.

I won't be surprised at all if we see a Home Alone reboot/sequel in the next few years focusing on an adult Kevin and his inevitably misplaced son.

I agree.  It's only a matter of time before the studio turns its eye to this franchise as a potential reboot success.

I always liked Phantasm 3's take on this series.

This is Peter McCallister.  THUH FAAAAAAAAATHERRRR.

CREDIT CARD?  YOOOOOU GAAAAAAWT ITI!

Before everyone starts fanfictioning the place up and someone writes that rule 34 required Wet Bandits slash piece, I wanted to jump in and once again congratulate you on a great column. I had honestly never given that much thought about the material wealth of the McCallister family, but in retrospect is a very interesting way of looking at it. Well done!