Home Alone

***Home Alone*** is a series of Christmas family comedy films produced between 1990 and 2012. The first two films, Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), follow the adventures of a boy named Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) who, during the course of the film, gets burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) arrested by using booby traps. The third film, Home Alone 3 (1997), has a similar plot but with a new protagonist, Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz), and more of a spy theme.

### Home Alone (1990)

> "When Kevin's family left on their European vacation they forgot one minor detail: Kevin.
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> But don't worry... He cooks. He cleans. He kicks some butt."
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***Home Alone*** is an American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a boy who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. Kevin initially relishes being home alone, but soon has to contend with two would-be burglars played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. The film also features Catherine O'Hara and John Heard as Kevin's parents.

Culkin was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. Home Alone has spawned a successful film franchise, including the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the only Home Alone sequel to have the original cast reprising their roles.

* November 16, 1990 (US); December 7, 1990 (UK)

#### Plot Summary

It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris, France. But the youngest in the family named Kevin (Culkin) got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) and was sent to his room which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents' bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry (Pesci) and Marv (Stern), about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice. IMDb.com

### Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

> *"He's up past his bedtime in the city that never sleeps."*
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***Home Alone 2: Lost in New York*** is an American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It is the second film in the Home Alone series and the sequel to Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin reprises his role as Kevin McCallister, while Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern reprise their roles as the Wet Bandits, now known as the Sticky Bandits. Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Rob Schneider, Tim Curry, and Brenda Fricker are also featured.

The following plot, when Kevin and his family decide to take a trip to Florida, but Kevin takes the wrong plane and ends up in New York City. He tries to make do with what he has, such as using his father's credit card to stay at the Plaza Hotel, but is soon confronted by the Wet Bandits and must outrun and out-prank them again.

The film was shot in Winnetka, Illinois; O'Hare International Airport in Chicago; Evanston, Illinois; and New York City (which was star Culkin's hometown at the time). The exterior of Duncan's Toy Chest in New York City was filmed outside of the Rookery Building in downtown Chicago. The exterior of Haven Middle School in Evanston, Illinois is shown prior to the Christmas pageant. The Miami scenes were filmed in Los Angeles, including an exterior of Miami International Airport which was filmed at Los Angeles International Airport. The film became the second most financially successful film of 1992, earning over $173 million in revenue in the United States and $359 million worldwide against a budget of $20 million. The film is also notable for featuring a cameo from future President Donald Trump, who had owned the Plaza Hotel at the time of the film's production.

* November 20, 1992 (US); December 11, 1992

Home Alone 3 followed five years later in 1997, but the original cast and director did not return for that film.

#### Plot Summary

Kevin McAllister (Culkin) and his family are planning to go to Miami, Florida during the holiday season this time around. At the airport, Kevin becomes separated from his family and ends up on an airplane to New York City. Kevin manages to stop a taxi cab and has the driver take him to the Plaza Hotel, and using his father Peter's (Heard) credit card, Kevin rents out a suite. While in New York, Kevin befriends E. F. Duncan (Eddie Bracken), a friendly toy store owner, and Kevin also befriends a homeless Pigeon Lady (Fricker) then Kevin runs into his old enemies Harry (Pesci) and Marv (Stern), who have escaped from prison. When Kevin discovers that Harry and Marv plan to rob Mr. Duncan's toy store on Christmas Eve, Kevin makes plans to stop them. Kevin's mother Kate (O'Hara), upon realising that she and the family have become separated from Kevin, frantically tries to find Kevin. IMDb.com

### Home Alone 3 (1997)

> "It's bad news for bad guys... Again.
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> There's a new kid on the block."
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***Home Alone 3*** is an American family comedy film written and produced by John Hughes. It is the third film in the Home Alone series and the first not to feature actor Macaulay Culkin and the cast from the previous films (1990, 1992), director Chris Columbus, and composer John Williams. The film is directed by Raja Gosnell (in his directorial debut), who served as the editor of both original films and stars Alex D. Linz as Alex Pruitt, an 8-year-old resourceful boy who is left home alone and has to defend his home from a band of criminals.

* December 12, 1997 (US); December 19, 1997 (UK)

#### Plot Summary

Four high-tech industrial spies, Beaupre (Olek Kupre), Alice (Rya Kihlstedt), Jernigan (Lenny Von Dohlen) and Unger (David Thornton), steal a top-secret microchip, and, to fool customs, hide it in a remote-control toy car. Through a baggage mix-up at the airport, grumpy old Mrs.Hess (Marian Seldes) gets the toy and gives it to her neighbour, 8-year-old Alex. Spies (Linz). The spies want to get the toy back before their clients get angry and decide to burglarise every house at Alex's street to find the chip. But Alex is prepared for their visit... IMDb.com