Welcome back to Retromade, where we dive into the movies and moments that shaped our pop culture past. Today we’re rewinding to BOTH 1980 AND 1997 to cover movies that showcase the massive shifts Hughes’ career took, starting with his FIRST movie writing credit: The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla (never heard of it, right?) and then one of his final writing credits of the 90s: Home Alone 3.

This episode is a tad different than usual, thus I’m going solo. I hope you like the episode even if you haven’t seen these movies…

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Hello.

2

Hello, I'm Katie and welcome back to Retro

Made where we dive into the movies and

3

moments that shaped our pop culture past.

4

Today we're rewinding

5

You might wonder why, um, we're gonna

cover movies that showcase massive

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shifts that Hughes career took, starting

with his very first movie writing

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Credit, the Secret Life of Nicola Tesla.

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I bet you've never heard of it, right?

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I hadn't either.

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And then one of his final writing credits

of the nineties, because we do the

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eighties and nineties here on Retro Made.

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This is Home alone.

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Three.

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And yes, because I am a completist, we

will cover the actual final credit of

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the nineties in an upcoming episode.

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So, because this episode's a little bit

different than usual, I'm gonna go solo.

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And also I didn't kennel the dogs.

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So hopefully they're not a complete

nuisance in today's episode.

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I do hope you like it even if

you have not seen these movies.

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And if you do appreciate the effort on

this episode or any prior along the retro

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made journey, you can check the show notes

for a link to my tip page On Captivate,

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which is the last link in the show notes.

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Um, while I do love these movies in the

pop culture of this time period, it is

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actually a fair amount of work and effort.

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So if you've been enjoying Retro

Made, here's your chance to show it.

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I do know that, also times can be

really tough and this might not

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be super feasible for everyone.

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So I'd also really, really, really be

truly grateful for reviews and whichever

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app that you're listening to this on.

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It has been a while since

I've received one, so.

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I'd really appreciate it.

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Or if you're on YouTube, please make

sure that you're subscribed and, and give

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me a thumbs up or comment on episodes.

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And right now, while you're

listening, would be a really great

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time to do any of those things.

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Wink, wink.

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Okay.

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Just a couple updates before we

get into the meat of the show.

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Um, it's been a little bit since I've,

released an episode not too too long.

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Uh, but this is a, a longer

break than I've usually taken.

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I'm sure you've all been on

the edge of your seats for

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the next retro made episode.

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So here we are.

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Additionally, we are nearing the

end of the John Hughes season,

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which has been a long season.

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Actually the first season

was pretty long too.

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Uh, again, I'm a completist.

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And while they're not all bangers I

think at least there's always something

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interesting or fun to talk about.

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Also there's the retro trivia

that usually brings me back in

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time, at least does it for you.

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Please let me know either way, whether

you like this particular segment.

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I know it takes on different forms, and

if I continue with the third season,

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it will take on if people like it, uh,

a little bit of a different format.

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But please let me know

whether you like it or not.

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If you prefer just that I get straight

into the movie discussion, I'd

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also, uh, just welcome the feedback.

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So Retro Made podcast@gmail.com,

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or you can always comment on YouTube.

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Now, regarding season three, I have been

thinking about it for quite a while and I

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have an idea that I've been toying around

with that would be a little different.

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Than the first two seasons, but before

I commit the time that it does take

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I really am genuinely curious how

people are feeling about the show.

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If you've been enjoying

it, please let me know.

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It does really help.

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This will kind of at

least help me determine.

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If or how I move forward

with future seasons.

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So again, you can email me, you can

comment, you can like social media,

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tips on the Captivate site, et cetera.

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All of these things will be

helpful for me moving forward.

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All right.

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Enough about that.

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Let's open the time capsule.

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You guys, this is weird because we're

spanning 17 years, like a whole person's

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lifetime between the release date dates.

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Of the movies we're gonna talk about

today, and they could not be more

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vastly different, but in this time

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Changed in that 17 year period.

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There's just so much that happened

and it feels like lifetimes apart.

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So let's compare.

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How about this episode, what was

going on in the world of pop culture

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1980 versus 1997 and play along?

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Some of 'em are super easy,

so I really hope you do.

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Number one song.

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So the year for the whole year, the number

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Here's your clue.

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1980s top song was sleek, cool, new wave.

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1990 sevens was a global public morning

moment disguised as a pop single.

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I think that that hint might give

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but 1980 is Call Me by Blondie.

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And the global public morning moment

was Candle in the Wind by Elton

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John after Princess Diana died.

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Obviously, number one

movie Worldwide Box Office.

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Both years were dominated

by sequels in spirit.

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One expanding a sci-fi myth, the other

redefining spectacle and romance.

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Any guesses?

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Any guesses?

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Star Wars.

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Episode five.

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The Empire Strikes Back.

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For 1980.

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And then 1997 Spectacle.

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Romance.

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It is, of course, Titanic.

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Who else had the double VHS copy of this?

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I certainly did.

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The number one TV show, 1980, was

about primetime excess and scheming.

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Well, 1997 viewers wanted fast-paced

chaos with a pager and a stethoscope.

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Obviously that's ER for 97, but

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about several times in these early

eighties episodes that we've covered.

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Big show, big show, and maybe I'll

have to check it out at some point.

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What is the biggest celebrity

slash news event for each year?

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I will say both of them are

deaths of famous people.

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The world felt like it was

collectively stopping one marking

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the end of a 60 stream, the other

exposing modern media obsession.

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1980.

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I wasn't even born yet, but

I remember hearing about it.

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The murder of John Lennon

and then who could forget?

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The death of Princess Diana.

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That's the 1997 biggest

Celebrity News event.

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Okay.

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Big Tech Gadget moment.

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The first one kind of surprised me

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1980 made music, personal and portable,

and I thought this came much later.

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The answer is the Sony Walkman

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I feel like I had one in like, I

don't know, 87 and it felt new.

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Okay.

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And then 97 quietly started killing

VHS without anyone noticing yet.

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This is 97, and the answer is

DVD players launch in the US.

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Now, this one feels kind of the opposite.

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I would've thought that

was a little earlier.

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At any rate.

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Okay, so now that, we are in

the mind frame of, both 80 and

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97, let's get into the movies.

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The first one that we're gonna cover

today is The Secret Life of Nicola Tesla.

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Before he came, the King of Teen

movies, John Hughes took a surprising

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detour into the AC slash DC Wars.

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In this 1980 Yugoslavian biopic

Hughes served as a co-writer helping

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to shape the English language script

for a film that feels less like the

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Breakfast Club and more like high

stakes historical science experiment.

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Yeah.

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So I'm gonna try and cover this without

it feeling too much like a history

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lesson, even though honestly it seems

like we could all use one at this point.

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First writing credit for Hughes, it

is seemingly out of left field and, I

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actually watched this quite a while back.

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So I'm trying to, jog

my memory a little bit.

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But I did watch it, you know, as I

sometimes do on a library DVD, but it

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does seem like it now might be floating

around on prime video, depending

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on what mood the algorithm is in.

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So you guys might be able

to catch it if you want.

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It actually does have a 7.2.

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IMDB rating, believe it or not.

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This was released February

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It's almost two hours long.

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The director, let me see if I

can pronounce some of these names

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correctly 'cause it's Yugoslavian.

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Uh, we have Christo Pape is the director.

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I think I got that right.

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And.

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I didn't know anything about him,

but he is a titan of the Yugoslav

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Black Wave Cinema Movement.

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Pop Peach was a master of politically

charged satire, which this definitely

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is, and surrealist allegory who

spent his career fearlessly skewering

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authoritarianism, most notably in

his award-winning sci-fi horror

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cult classic, the rats savior.

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If anybody has seen the rat

savior, please let me know, or.

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Really, if you've seen the Secret

Life of Ola Tesla, please let me know.

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Or if you are just familiar with

the story in general outside of

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the movie I feel like I vaguely

did, but I needed the history.

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Listen, let's be honest.

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Now, like I said, John Hughes is a, he's

a co-writer here, and while he's not the

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primary writer, he's cutting his teeth.

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He did contribute to the screenplay,

specifically working on the English

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language dialogue and the script

adaptation for international

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audiences alongside John W.

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English.

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And then Christo Pape.

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Was also a writer along with

Evo Bresnan and Yvonne Kusan.

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Uh, alright, so this movie is a dramatized

biopic that follows the visionary

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inventor as he battles industry titans

Thomas Edison and JP Morgan played by Gu.

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Guess Gu.

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Orson Wells to bring free

wireless power to the world.

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It's a fascinating, super low budget.

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Deep dive into the scientific Superman

whose ERO ideas for alternating current

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and global energy were decades ahead

of their time, which we'll get into.

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All captured with the distinct

grainy eighties cult cinema charm.

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Despite it being a super low budget

Yugoslavian movie again, you guys,

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the IMDB rating is super high.

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And the, the cast is quite well

known for this kind of a production.

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So you might wonder how it managed

to cast such heavyweights like Orson

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Wells Wells particularly joined the

production through his partner Croatian

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actress Oja Codar, who actually in

the movie plays Katherine Johnson.

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And I didn't realize this but apparently

he has a ha or he had a longstanding

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habit of taking international

acting gigs in order to fund a.

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Some of his own independent film projects.

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Also, the Yugoslavian government backed

the Studio Zagreb film and it leveraged

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its low production costs in previous

working relationship with the, with Wells

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to secure him for the role of JP Morgan.

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So, yes.

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Let's talk more about Orson Wells, which

I'm sure we've all seen citizen Kane.

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He's most famous.

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For his 1941 Cinematic Masterpiece.

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And depending on what mood you're in,

you might be like, is it that good?

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I think it kind of depends on what

mood you're in and how generous

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you're feeling personally.

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But he was only 25 when he co-wrote,

directed, and starred in that.

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So it is frequently cited as

the greatest film ever made.

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I disagree.

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It's what does my opinion matter?

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But you know, he's legendary for

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of the War of the Worlds Gained

international notoriety for reporting

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reportedly causing widespread panic

among listeners who believed a Martian

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invasion was actually occurring.

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I don't think I realized that,

but I found it really interesting.

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Also in my brain, Orson

Wells is so from days.

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Of the past that I thought

I'd be dead by this time.

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But this is how wild 1980 is.

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It seems like it was maybe 30 years ago?

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No, it was 46 years ago.

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But Orson Wills was born in 1915, making

him only 65 at the time of this movie.

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I don't know.

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Time.

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Time makes zero sense now.

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Who plays Nicola Tesla?

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It is again, let me try

with my pronunciation.

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Petar bvi, did I get that right?

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he plays Nikola text, who's the

Yugoslavian electrical engineer

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who introduced the concept

of alternating current ac?

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We talked about Orson

Wells playing JP Morgan.

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The players in this,

titans of the industry.

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George Westinghouse played by Stru Martin.

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I'm unfamiliar with the next couple

people, but I think they were.

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For the time, quite famous.

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So apparently Stru Martin is one

of Hollywood's most recognizable

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character actors of the time, of

course, known for his distinct

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voice and frequent collaborations

with Paul Newman and John Wayne.

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So he is also in Cool Hand, Luke Butch

Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Shrew Grit.

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Up in smoke.

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So that's Strother Martin.

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I'm only gonna talk about the

four main characters here.

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The last of which is Thomas Edison.

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Did you guys know that?

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His middle name is Alva

Thomas Alva Edison.

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I didn't know that.

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But in this movie, he is played by Dennis

Patrick, who was apparently a prolific

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guest star in over 1800 TV episodes.

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He also had several prominent

mainstream film and television roles.

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Some of the most well-known, would

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I think that's, a movie about Joe

Kennedy, if I'm not mistaken, uh,

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with Peter Boyle, also Dallas.

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And his absolute final film role

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The air up there.

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You guys remember that line?

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Boy, I had forgotten

about it until just now.

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Okay.

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You guys might wanna check it out.

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It's definitely different.

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It's extremely different from really

anything else I've watched and

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quite a departure from what we know

John Hughes as, so it's just, hmm.

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It's a study in terms of how, like

this is where John Hughes cut his

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teeth and then what he went on to do.

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It's interesting.

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Anyway, so this movie opens in 1943

with Nicola Tesla alone in a dark New

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York hotel room giving what feels like

a ghost interview from the afterlife.

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I feel like I should have watched it

twice, but it di it seemed to kind of

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pop around in time a little bit and also.

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I don't know the story super well.

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Um, so I really had to pay attention.

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We're in current day 1943, and

it hops over the late 18 hundreds

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into the early 19 hundreds.

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Tesla is portrayed as a classic genius

type, so wildly brilliant, super

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awkward, possibly psychic, and definitely

not gonna be touching your hand.

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He compulsively washes his hands

and refuses to shake hands.

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So he is that kind of like,

that's who we're dealing with.

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He also claims to get

full on mental visions.

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And he is often seen or

portrayed as really sad, lonely,

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and emotionally unplugged.

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These people, no one can understand them.

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I feel like they're kind of, um, they're

on a plane of their own, which is sad.

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But as a kid, he sees lightning storms.

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He reads obsessively and becomes

fascinated with inventions,

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obviously leading to, him to have

this lifelong mission, which is.

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To revolutionize the

world through electricity.

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And also he is navigating this

era dominated by corporate greed.

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Super fun.

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Also, not at all, like

what's happening today.

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So at one point he famously claims that

he intercepted intelligent radio signals

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from outer space while experimenting in

Colorado Springs my neck of the woods.

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So sometimes people don't

take him super seriously

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I found a few things really

poignant or prescient for the times

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that we're living in right now.

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One of which is that he warns over a

century ago that the current energy

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sources are poisoning the planet.

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Resources will run out.

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Humanity should have access to free

clean power and wouldn't you know it?

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This is where everything goes sideways.

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Shocking, right?

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Because free energy is great for

humanity, but terrible for shareholders.

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That's right.

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So Tesla, he has his plan to eliminate

wires, which does, threaten the current

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industries, the copper industry, fossil

fuels, basically anyone whose business

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model relied on selling you electricity.

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Sound familiar?

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It's like really tragic actually.

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And going back to what Pape is

known for, his commentary on this

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type of thing and authoritarianism.

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So he's at this collision point between

a humanitarian visionary, that's who

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he is versus capitalism's need to

put a meter on God damn everything.

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Enter the villains of the story.

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That's right.

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These people that we know as

household names like JP Morgan,

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like Thomas Edison, maybe just more

human than we would like to think.

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JP Morgan again played by Wells.

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Initially.

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He backs Tesla's warden Cliff

Tower with $150,000, that's a crazy

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amount of money back in the day.

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He believes it's for wireless

communication, which it is, but.

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Then he finds out that Tesla wants to

transmit free energy to the world, and

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essentially his response is Cool idea.

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How do I bill it?

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So Tesla explains that you

cannot meter free power.

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What happens?

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Morgan pulls the plug.

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And not only that, but he blocks

other investors and the tower is

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eventually demolished for scrap metal.

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Then enters Thomas Edison, who

somehow manages to both be a

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genius and the Pettiest man alive.

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Tesla works for Edison

early on and Tesla's deal.

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So when we talked about the kind

of the fight between AC versus

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dc, so uh, Edison's deal is DC.

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And this is the war of the currents . So

Tesla wants to improve the DC systems

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and he's promised a $50,000 bonus,

which Edison later laughs off as a joke.

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Telling Tesla he doesn't

understand American humor,

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this does spiral, like I said, the war

of the currents where Edison launches a

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full on smear campaign against Tesla's AC

power, including electrocuting animals,

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all to protect his business model.

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My God, things don't change.

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. Those are some of the villains,

but despite that Tesla's AC system

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does win big at the nine, not 19.

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The 1893 Chicago World's Fair,

which becomes the first fair

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ever F lit by electricity.

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Which system does that?

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AC or dc?

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It's Tesla's system, the AC

system that does do that.

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But because I said Edison is super

petty, he's furious and refuses

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to sell light bulbs to the fair.

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So Tesla is teaming up with George

Westinghouse, another household name.

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They casually invent a workaround

to this bulb and I will say among

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all of the greed, corporate greed,

westinghouse is the rare bright spot here.

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He actually does genuinely back

Tesla when no one else would, but.

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Even he eventually faces financial

ruin from the war with Edison and

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the banking pressure around it.

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Tesla, who was owed millions in royalties

from his team up, he tears up his contract

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in order to save Westinghouse saying all

that money would've just gotten in my way.

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Which is either the most noble or the

most tragic sentence in the entire movie.

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So Westinghouse thankfully does continue

to quietly pay for Tesla's hotel

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room and expenses until his death.

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So where we see him when we enter

the movie, and this we're kind of

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popping back in time, is he's being

interviewed, uh, in his New York.

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Hotel.

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So he lives there sort of as a

recluse towards the end of his life.

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And Westinghouse kind of paid for that.

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So that, that's nice.

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The film ends with Tesla

reflecting on JP Morgan.

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Here's what he says.

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Here's what Tesla says about JP Morgan.

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I let him know what the world could

be, and I think that is the most

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tragic sentence in the entire movie.

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And here's how it ends.

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Cut to modern day car traffic, smog

and pollution credits roll, Pope.

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Nicely done.

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Nicely done.

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And I will say.

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Good thing.

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None of this is still relevant, right?

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So speaking of visionary ambition and

lasting impact, let's now whiplash

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straight into the exact opposite end of

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Three, a movie that got AAM

for the worst remake or sequel.

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All right, you guys.

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Uh, seriously, you could not

ask for most polar opposites.

381

But now Homeland three seems more, at

least like we, towards the end of, so

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this is the nineties, the late nineties.

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He's very into his kid fair.

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He's no longer doing these teen movies

that made him famous, that he's you know,

385

tied to in an iconic way, home alone.

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Three.

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Release date is December 12th, 1997.

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Oh, I will say, so the reason I

thought of this, okay, the rating for

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home alone three is obviously pg, but

there was actually no rating at all

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for the Secret Life of Nikola Tesla.

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It was 1980.

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So I, I don't know.

393

Uh, now contrast also

with the IMDB rating.

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4.6

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out of 10.

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For Home Alone.

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Three.

398

Now the director here is

new, uh, for the podcast.

399

We've not covered him.

400

His name is Raja Gosnell and he's

known for directing comedies and

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family films, which makes sense.

402

And among his most known movies

would be Never Been Kissed from

403

99 Big Mama's House from 2000, the

404

2004, this movie, and then also yours,

405

live action movies from 2011 and 2013.

406

You might wonder, he seems

to come outta left field.

407

How did he get the directing role

for, you know, what was set up to be

408

probably quite a successful movie?

409

He was.

410

He's also an editor, this Raja Gossner.

411

Including he edited, or at least

was one of the editors, uh, for

412

Pretty Woman and also Hughes Movies.

413

Miracle on 34th Street and

the First Two Home Alones.

414

So that tracks.

415

And then obviously our

writer here is John Hughes.

416

Some of you may have seen Home Alone.

417

Three.

418

I had not, this was my first

watch for both of these movies.

419

So if you haven't seen it or if you

purposefully forgot it in your mind.

420

Mol three ditches the McAllisters

altogether and replaces them

421

with a new kid named Alex Pruitt.

422

New Traps and a spy plot meets slapstick

premise that feels more Saturday

423

morning cartoon than holiday Classic.

424

In this, he has defend off four

international criminals who are seeking

425

a top secret microchip in his toy car.

426

It's louder, stranger and

determined to prove the franchise

427

could survive without its heart.

428

Results very much up for debate.

429

I disagree.

430

I don't think they're up for debate.

431

We'll get into it, but.

432

Let's talk about our cast.

433

Again, I'm gonna stick to just kind of

the primary cast, but, in my opinion,

434

aside from Alex, the rest of the family

cast, so there's the bad guys, and

435

then there's the family and there's

like police officers, et cetera.

436

But the family, I think they're

doing a terrible job acting.

437

I, I do think like the goons and

the old neighbor lady are fine.

438

Boy or the family.

439

It's just it's quite starkly bad.

440

Aside from Alex, so Alex

Pruitt is played by Alex Linz.

441

I don't think you'd know

him for anything else.

442

I think this is what he is most known for.

443

But, if anybody's seen the TV

444

think it was pretty short lived,

but he was a regular in that.

445

I couldn't tell you who, but.

446

And then his mom.

447

Here's, uh, here's a Hughes

connection for you guys.

448

Alex's mom named Karen in this is

played by Haviland Morris, and if

449

anybody remembers a prior episode

from 16 Candles, we talked about her,

450

she's a recycle for Hughes, which he

often does, and I appreciate that.

451

This is 13 years later.

452

So in 16 candles, she plays the big crush.

453

Jake Ryan, his girlfriend, she's wearing

a blonde wig, which we talked about in

454

the episode because in real life she has

red hair, which she has her red hair in

455

home alone, three, but in 16 candles.

456

They didn't want to have

two red heads in the movie.

457

The highlight would have to

be Molly Ringwald in that.

458

So a Evelyn Morris was wearing a

blonde wig and it was super noticeable.

459

So anyway, in this, she's playing a

suburban mom with her actual red hair.

460

Allah, Catherine O'Hara, she has,

kind of Auburn hair, so they're

461

really, we'll talk about it, but just

remember we're trying to keep with the

462

formula pretty closely in this movie.

463

So that said, we have, uh, brother

Stan, he's played by Seth Smith,

464

and you would know his face, but.

465

I couldn't really tell you what

else he's in, but he kind of has

466

that, you'd know his face, but

he's basically a buzz standin.

467

Um, similar with Alex's

sister named Molly.

468

So again, we have this, the

whole sibling interactions very

469

similar to the first couple.

470

But Scarlet Hansen plays Molly,

but like I said, these people

471

are not doing a good job acting.

472

You know, I think she's gone on to, to

be a wonderful actress, just not in this.

473

And then Alex's dad, Jack is played by

Kevin Kilner, also super familiar face,

474

but it's like that very typical dad look.

475

He's been in like a ton of different

TV episodes, lots of credits,

476

but like one off TV episodes.

477

And then I also wanted to call

out one of the police officers

478

that comes to the house.

479

So.

480

Alex calls the cops because he

keeps seeing net keep like twice,

481

two different times he sees

burglars, but nobody believes him.

482

So the cops come and the burglars

aren't visible to the police.

483

So Alex gets in trouble for that

484

one of the police officers that comes to

a burglar call is played by Neil Flynn.

485

Does that sound familiar to anybody?

486

Well, he is most known for playing

the janitor in Scrubs and also I.

487

Watched the show, the middle, I don't

488

I can't recall when that was on.

489

But it's that show with Patricia

Heaton, I think they're in Indiana.

490

Uh, it's sort of like a modern

day Roseanne kind of, I would say.

491

But anyway, he plays the

husband Mike in the middle.

492

So that is our cast of characters.

493

I don't think you'd know the

goons if I named them all.

494

So we're just not going to, but there's

four of them, including a woman.

495

Nicely done.

496

Uh, the music here, I will say we

opened this movie with the very familiar

497

home alone music, which is great.

498

But the music is someone new.

499

At least for, for me and the Retro

Made Podcast, Nick Glenny Smith is uh,

500

the composer here, English Film Score,

composer, conductor and Musician,

501

who is a frequent collaborator of

one of my favorites, Hans Simmer,

502

contributing to scores including The

Rock, which was nominated for the

503

Academy Award and for Best Sound.

504

And I don't think I realize that he's also

part of Han Zimmer's film Score Company.

505

Named Remote Control Productions.

506

So this is who we're, we're

working with for this movie.

507

It had a budget of $32 million, and the

box office gross worldwide was 79 million.

508

Alright, my thoughts and what

is happening in this movie?

509

Hmm.

510

My favorite thing about this

movie is Alex's pet Rat.

511

Doris.

512

She is easily the MVP for me.

513

A close second is his

brother's talking Parrot.

514

So done.

515

That's a wrap.

516

Just kidding.

517

We'll actually talk a little

bit more about it, but if

518

that gives you any indication.

519

Of the caliber of the movie.

520

So Alex, I think is cute enough.

521

I'm not even really big into kids.

522

But a, he's a cute enough kid.

523

He plays an 8-year-old.

524

And like Kevin, you know, again,

we're following all the beats.

525

Just like Kevin, he says adult

things to play for laughs.

526

But it seems kind of forced in

this, and it lacks just, you know,

527

there's just, you can't help, but

there's nothing wrong with this kid.

528

It's just that we're used to Macaulay

Culkin who has that X factor.

529

And, it's just hard to

replicate that and he doesn't.

530

So he is shown to be super interested in

contraptions and he has an array of small

531

pets that come into play in the movie.

532

Again, I really do like pet rats adorable.

533

I like truly, I love rodents.

534

Like they're little hands.

535

They're actually extremely smart.

536

There's bomb sniffing rats.

537

I think that they get a bad rap.

538

And, um, so.

539

Rodents.

540

There's nothing wrong with them.

541

They're just little dogs

with their little hands.

542

They're cute.

543

Okay.

544

So, like I said,

545

we open with the very familiar music.

546

Now how are we gonna get the

bad guys in suburban Chicago?

547

We have a $10 million missile chip.

548

That is hidden in a

remote controlled toy car.

549

So they're started in like

Hong Kong, I wanna say.

550

So there's like a, like a Hong Kong crime

boss, and then they're in San Francisco

551

and they're trying to figure out how to

get this chip through airport security.

552

Right.

553

And they put it in this, uh, toy

remote control car and then put that

554

into this, um, like a, just a bag,

like a from a store and it happens

555

to be a super common bakery bag.

556

Let's say it's like a

target bag or something.

557

Like tons of people might have that.

558

There's a mixup obviously, because

it's a very, very common bakery bag.

559

So Alex's, quote unquote mean old lady

neighbor because, again, beat for beat,

560

uh, she takes the car home instead.

561

She put her bag through the airport

security in the same bakery bag,

562

but she actually had San Francisco

sourdough bread inside Alex's

563

neighbor takes home the wrong bag.

564

The bad guys realize this.

565

So that's how we get them

in Alex's neighborhood.

566

In a suburb of Chicago.

567

Now we have to get him home alone.

568

Right?

569

In this, he gets chickenpox.

570

So he is homesick from school.

571

That's how we get him home alone.

572

And also, no one believes him.

573

He's, you know, he's a, he's super

into these, um, contraptions.

574

He's got a telescope, lots of.

575

Inventions.

576

Like, he's a, he's a pretty smart

kid and no one believes him.

577

When he calls the police, he sees

them like through his telescope

578

and the neighbors, 'cause they're

trying to figure out who's, who's

579

got this toy car, blah, blah, blah.

580

So he gets ridiculed a little

bit, just like Kevin did again the

581

siblings are sort of mean to him.

582

You know, the, the police

don't quite take him seriously.

583

Like you're, you're a crying wolf.

584

And just like in the original

home alone, he does get redemption

585

in the end, which we'll get to.

586

So.

587

One thing that's different about this,

which I actually did appreciate, is

588

that this takes place after Christmas.

589

So everybody's kind of got

their tree out by the curb.

590

There's still some Christmas lights,

but it's after Christmas clearly.

591

And so I, I guess that's a little

bit of a nice change of pace,

592

but everything else super

follows the formula.

593

Pretty much beat for beat.

594

Like I said, there's

this brother and sister.

595

Giving him a hard time being mean.

596

And then there's the Kevin scream

when he puts the after shav on.

597

But here it's when Alex realizes

that he has chicken pox.

598

So we get that same scream.

599

We have a redheaded mom that is

reproducing Catherine O'Hara,

600

some of her iconic looks and

expressions and the big mom son.

601

Hug at the end.

602

So it's like really

trying to reproduce that.

603

P has RIP, Catherine O'Hara.

604

I absolutely adore her

and truly will miss her.

605

So we need more Catherine

O'Hara in our life.

606

There's also a dog door in this,

like there was in home alone.

607

And as we talked about on that

episode, we don't see a dog.

608

But if you're listening

closely to the conversation.

609

That Kevin's mom is having, uh,

with either the sister or a neighbor

610

or somebody when they're packing

at the get, at the beginning she

611

does reference that the dog is,

they took the dog to the kennel.

612

So the McAllisters clearly have a dog.

613

Thus the dog door, which plays a part,

in all these pranks and booby traps.

614

However, Pruitts.

615

Don't appear to have a dog.

616

I mean, I guess you could argue they

bought the house and it already had

617

a dog door, so let's go with that.

618

But they don't appear to have a dog yet.

619

There's a dog door.

620

And also the seemingly cranky

at first elderly neighbor.

621

That obviously is gonna grow

on us in the end and be kind of

622

part of the redemption story.

623

This is 97 to try and again, remember

the technologies at that time.

624

I guess I, I quite liked some of

the spyware that the bad guys have.

625

I was like, Hmm, that's pretty

cutting edge for the time.

626

We'll put that in the pro column.

627

Also, just kind of laughing

at the era a little bit.

628

Beepers and pagers played

a fair amount in this.

629

Also cordless, landline phones.

630

So just a little, little

631

That's basically it.

632

So now we get to the point where there's

the setups and the booby traps and

633

the pranks, and there's four bad guys.

634

So essentially we're doubling.

635

And they did.

636

I mean, there were so many, there was

a ton more, so much so that I think it

637

made the movie feel long and drawn out.

638

I was bored.

639

I'm like, are we done yet with the,

like it just went on and on and on.

640

And I, I guess I wasn't super

amused after a while, so I was like.

641

And it's not actually that long.

642

I mean, it's, it's

longer than the average.

643

It's uh, an hour and 42 minutes, but

it seemed like a full on two hours

644

to me, which is never a good sign.

645

Without saying much more, you can kind

of guess what I feel about this movie.

646

It's fine.

647

I think it's a great, kids movie.

648

Just using the home alone franchise

to get viewers, but it could have

649

just been a standalone movie.

650

They were really following the

formula, but very, very different

651

from the original two home alone.

652

So, you know, we can see at this time

in John Hughes career, he seems to

653

be phoning it in, as we've talked

about several times on the show

654

with some of these later movies.

655

Now I did read something that I

found a bit shocking in terms of

656

reviews critic reviews, I should say.

657

So Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun

Times gave the film three out of

658

four stars, and he said that he

found it to be fresh, very funny, and

659

get this better than the first two.

660

Ebert also praised the film in his review

661

Cisco and Ebert giving it a thumbs up.

662

His colleague, gene Siskel, thanked

God gave the film a thumbs down

663

and strongly disagreed with Ebert's

positive assessment of the film

664

leading to a super heated argument.

665

I guess I didn't watch that, but I think

you can probably find it on YouTube.

666

So.

667

Even so much so that at one point

Cisco questioned whether Ebert was

668

okay, to which I super second that.

669

So you guys, I I don't think I could

have found a way to be more all over

670

the God place with this episode, but

these were two movies in the catalog.

671

Of John Hughes eighties and nineties

movies that I felt we had to cover

672

because like I said, I'm a completist.

673

Now, you may not have

seen either movie one.

674

Pretty well critically acclaimed,

with over a seven point,

675

let's see, Nicola Tesla 7.2

676

super high and then one below five.

677

And spanning such a

vast difference in time.

678

Like so much happened in the 17

year span between these movies.

679

So, you know, I didn't even try and

find some sort of a great segue.

680

For these movies, there's no

nothing that ties them together

681

other than the fact that John

Hughes, had a hand in writing them.

682

So I would like to know who actually

has seen either of these movies.

683

I bet some of you have seen Home Alone

three, but I'd be shocked if anyone

684

has seen The Secret Life of Ola Tesla.

685

But if you have.

686

Please let me know, have you even heard

of the Secret Life of Nicola Tesla?

687

You just have to write in or comment on

YouTube to let me know your thoughts.

688

And there are a few episodes

left, so don't go anywhere.

689

There's a few episodes left and

this is John Hughes catalog that we

690

haven't covered, including one of

the eight that he wrote and directed.

691

I can't believe no one's chosen it yet.

692

So.

693

Without further ado, this does wrap

up the super strange double feature

694

that I've tackled the Secret Life of

Nicola Tesla, followed by Humble in

695

three, which I guarantee is the widest

tonal gap in retro made history.

696

If you're actually still listening

at this point in the show,

697

sincerely, thank you and I promise.

698

Probably, that the next episode

will make much more sense.

699

So remember, review, comment,

email, tip, all of the things.

700

And until next time, be kind, rewind.