Sarah Warsi

If there’s one movie that virtually everyone knows, Home Alone is definitely at the top of the list. No matter how many times you watch it, you can never get tired of the timeless humour and entertainment of a film of a childhood classic.

Recently, I attended an event called Home Alone: In Concert – a private screening of the movie in which all of the film’s audio was performed live and in real time infront of you – as seen above. It was a very unique experience watching the film like this. The orchestra did a fantastic job with each piece and they even played the “20th Century” intro clip that is familiar to many, which I thought was really cool.

Mid-way through the film, during the scenes at the church with Kevin and his ‘scary’ nieghbour Old Man Marley, they actually had a live choir singing behind the screen which really gave those particular scenes and intimate and interactive feel.

It was also interesting watching this film as an adult because I felt like I had a renewed appreciation for some of the characters like Kevin’s nieghbour. His scenes with Kevin showed his soft, ‘grandpa-like’ side that would give anyone the warm and fuzzies.

One other thing that stood out was just how far we’ve come technologically in 30 years. When Kevin’s mom was frantically trying to reach him while in Paris, the use of a payphone and a paper address book sent us right back into a time warp of our pre-cellphone days, which, of course, only certain generations will remember at this point, including myself.

Imagine if a movie like this were shot now. One click of a button on your smart phone, or a quick text message, and boom, your worries would almost instantly go away. It’s amazing how far we’ve truly come. And while the digital age can have a dark side, we should be utmost grateful for the ease at which we can now communicate with one another.

Having said that, there have actually been three subsequent instalments of the franchise, the last one having been released as recently as 2012. I haven’t seen any of those and likely won’t, because none of them included any of the original cast members, as far as I know, and deviated from the original plots, so it would be hard for me to feel that same sense of connection to an old holiday favourite.

Overall, the screening was a really nice experience and a neat way to relive a holiday favourite. The audience varied in age which included a decent number of children. I’d be curious to know if they went home that night with a ton of questions for their parents. “Mom, what’s a pay phone?” “Dad, how come no one in the movie had a cellphone?” “What was that thing that Kevin put into that other thing when he wanted to watch a movie?” (A reference to the cassette tape and VCR) I’m quite obviously being sarcastic, but we can’t deny the expected ignorance of our late 90’s and early 2000s population, better known as Gen-Z, who were practically born with a smartphone in their hand and an Instagram account already created for them! 🙂

Nevertheless, the communal laughter during the many entertaining scenes as Kevin consistently one-up’ed the would-be robbers with his antics brought a sense of warmth and festivity to the overall experience. Hopefully the show will return next year again as it would make the perfect family or friend outing to get a jump start to the holiday season.

What’s your favourite Christmas movie? Please share in the comments.