Pop Culture Thoughts

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2018)

Like a live-action episode of "Tom & Jerry," this yuletide classic has the type of pitch-perfect holiday atmosphere that managed to spellbind an entire generation of children during the yuletide season. The Christmas music is so well-selected and the score so warm and distinctive that revisiting this movie every year feels like having conversations with your own inner child. There isn't much to say about "Home Alone" that hasn't been said before, but for the record, my favorite performance here is Catherine O'Hara as Kevin's mom: Her distress and manic energy are palpable, and O'Hara's long career in improvisational comedy helps her dig her claws into a role that could easily have been forgettable in the hands of a lesser actress.