Mainlining Christmas

I want to start off by saying clearly and for the record: I hate this movie. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "But, Erin, you hate a lot of movies you watch here." Maybe. But this... this is different. I hate this deeply, completely, and profoundly. I hate that this movie employs uncomfortable circumstances constantly throughout its runtime. I hate that it utilizes the absolute most tired '80s tropes shamelessly (this thing features both an over-sexed grandma and a scene where the main character juggles multiple dates at the same time and venue). I hate that it integrates pop-culture debates about Die Hard, Love Actually, and Baby, It's Cold Outside so shallowly, it feels like the discussions were stolen verbatim from Twitter arguments. And I really hate that one of the romantic leads - and the story as a whole - are a hair's breadth away from being a manifesto for incels. But most of all I really, deeply, truly hate that this thing... is actu

For those keeping track, Home Sweet Home Alone is the fourth  official reboot of the series, as every installment after two has hit the reset button. For those of you who are new here, I should mention we're not big fans of the franchise. That doesn't exactly mean we consider the original bad - it's technically impressive, well shot and edited, and the score is fantastic. There are reasons it's lasted, and I respect it. Respecting a movie, obviously, isn't the same as liking it - none of the earlier Home Alone movies work for me. I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard Disney was going to update the property. A simple remake would have been a hard sell, and they already tried most of the other permutations. Movies 3 and 5 attempted variations on the same premise with new characters, and movie 4 was a loose continuation with a recast Kevin. Home Sweet Home Alone is closer to 3 and 5 - we've got a new lead and new thieves in a familiar situation. This is tec

My, time flies. It feels like just yesterday we were taping our eyelids open and forcing ourselves to watch low-budget CG holiday specials and musicals that would make an angel vomit. And yet here we are again, ready to experience Christmas in all its infinite horror. Indeed, the holidays are upon us again, and as ever we are here to meet them. When we first started Mainlining Christmas, we were at the mercy of mail-order DVDs, our limited collection, and what we could find languishing in the clearance section of used book stores. But the eleven years Mainlining Christmas has been running has seen the explosion of streaming services, making it easier than ever for the yuletide aficionado to transport their imagination to a winter wonderland. Well, more often than not I suppose it's more like a sewage processing center located in a winter wonderland, but the point still holds. If you'd told me eleven years ago that we'd not only still have enough material to keep running thi