Cinema News: Why ‘Home Alone’ is still a holiday favorite

December 12, 2025 | View in browser

A boy slaps his palms against his cheeks in shock.

By Mark Olsen

Staff Writer

Hello! I'm Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Even in a year like this one, during which there are numerous truly remarkable movies in the awards-season conversation worthy of ongoing consideration, it is easy to grow tired of talking about a tightening circle of titles.

Which is part of the reason why the announcement of the program for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival came right on time this week. New movies! This will be Sundance's last edition in its longtime home in Park City, Utah, before moving on to Boulder, Colo., starting in 2027. Adding to the import and emotion of the event is that it will be the first festival since the recent death of Sundance figurehead Robert Redford.

A number of films from the 2025 festival are still part of the ongoing awards conversation. Just this week, both "Train Dreams" and "Sorry, Baby" received Golden Globe nominations — which I am relatively certain was not on the minds of those filmmakers when they had their world premieres at Sundance this past January.

Among the titles to look forward to for Sundance 2026 are Gregg Araki's provocative "I Want Your Sex," Cathy Yan's satirical "The Gallerist," Jay Duplass' family story "See You When I See You," Tamra Davis' '90s music doc "The Best Summer" and a profile on Courtney Love called "Antiheroine."

Of course, there will also be many titles from relatively unknown filmmakers, and it is that promise of discovery that keeps us coming back to Sundance year after year.

As festival director Eugene Hernandez put it, "As much as we can talk about the legacy and history and the old timers — which I think will add an incredible aspect to the festival this year — we're creating a festival that is also focused on the celebration of new voices. … For so many people, it will be brand new, no matter what."

'Home Alone' 35th anniversary

On Saturday, the Academy Museum will have a 35th anniversary screening of "Home Alone" with star Macaulay Culkin and director Chris Columbus in-person. Written by John Hughes, the film is about a young boy (Culkin) accidentally left behind by his family at the holidays and how he comes to defend himself against two bumbling thieves (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern).

The movie has become a beloved all-ages holiday classic and seeing it with an enthusiastic audience should be a treat. The event is already sold out, but standby tickets are available.

In his original review of the movie, Peter Rainer noted, "Macaulay Culkin has the kind of crack comic timing that's missing in many an adult star and even when the script gets soppy, he doesn't turn himself into a cutesy ball of gloppy goo. He is refreshingly abrasive throughout."

'Mustang' 10th anniversary

On Sunday, the American Cinematheque at the Los Feliz 3 will host a 10th anniversary screening of French-Turkish filmmaker Deniz Gamze Ergüven's feature debut "Mustang," which was nominated for the Academy Award for international feature. Ergüven is scheduled to be there in person.

The film is the story of five teenage sisters living in an isolated village and yearning for a life of freedom. In her review, Katie Walsh wrote, "'Mustang' beautifully expresses the girls' unbridled energy, a force that refuses to be locked up, controlled or repressed. It's a moving portrait of sisterhood, a celebration of a fierce femininity and a damning indictment of patriarchal systems that seek to destroy and control this spirit."

In an interview with me at the time of the film's release, Ergüven described the performances by the five actresses — Elit Iscan, Günes Sensoy, Ilayda Akdogan, Doga Zeynep Doguslu and Tugba Sunguroglu — as "one character with five heads."

Ergüven added, "From very early on I always said it's a monster of femininity, with 10 arms and 10 legs. They are intertwined, they are extremely familiar with one another. Sometimes, I said, they react to one another's bodies as if they are extensions of their own body."

Points of interest

'Danger: Diabolik' and 'Barbarella' in 35mm

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The Secret Movie Club is going to have a groovy Euro holiday party on Saturday with 35mm screenings of both Roger Vadim's 1968 "Barbarella" and Mario Bava's 1968 "Danger: Diabolik" at the Million Dollar Theater. Attendees are encouraged to dress in their best psychedelic finery.

"Barbarella" is one of those movies that's difficult to describe and best to just experience for yourself: a sci-fi sex satire starring Jane Fonda directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim and co-written by counterculture maverick Terry Southern. Based on a French comic, the film was shot in Italy and produced by Dino De Laurentiis.

In a 1967 profile of Fonda and Vadim in Rome, which includes Fonda driving a Ferrari through the streets of the city to get from the historic villa where they are staying to Cinecittà studio, Fonda said, "The main thing about this role is to keep her innocent. You see, Barbarella is not a vamp and her sexuality is not measured by the rules of our society. She is not being promiscuous but she follows the natural reaction of another type of upbringing. She isn't a so-called 'sexually liberated woman' either. That would mean rebellion against something. She is different. She was born free."

"Danger: Diabolik" stars John Philip Law (also in "Barbarella") as a master thief. With a score by Ennio Morricone and directed with high style by Bava, best known for more lurid genre excursions, the film is the '60s Euro-heist jaunt of your wildest imagination.

Elaine May's 'A New Leaf'

On Wednesday, the Academy Museum will show Elaine May's 1971 debut feature as writer-director, "A New Leaf," in the big David Geffen Theater. Selected by the writer's branch of the Academy, the screening will feature screenwriter Karen McCullah, writer-producer Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith and writer-producer Katie Silberman in person to talk about the film and May's ongoing influence.

Even though the film as we know it was taken away from May and isn't her complete vision, "A New Leaf" is nevertheless a film of bold, confident energy. Walter Matthau plays a trust fund playboy who is fast running out of money. He hatches a scheme to find, marry and then murder a woman of means to continue to fund his lifestyle. Enter May as a botanist who is equal parts awkward and rich. Dark, funny and insightful, the film is a true gem.

Here's hoping the recently renewed interest in May's slim body of directorial work — she has so far made only four films — spurs a long-gestating new project rumored to be shooting soon into a reality.

Eric Rohmer's 'My Night at Maud's' and 'A Tale of Winter'

On Wednesday at the Aero, the American Cinematheque will have a double-bill from French filmmaker Eric Rohmer: 1969's "My Night at Maud's" and 1992's "A Tale of Winter."

"My Night at Maud's," a breakout international hit for Rohmer, was nominated for two Oscars, for foreign language film and original screenplay. A series of conversations among an interlocking cast of characters, the film helped set the template for dialogue-driven adult dramas that still hold sway.

In his April 1970 review, Charles Champlin wrote, "'My Night at Maud's' argues that thee attractive and intelligent people sitting around arguing about the philosophy of Pascal constitutes a movie. I agree. Standing on my chair and waving noisemakers in the air I agree. … But whether or not one cares about the substance of the arguments, 'My Night at Maud's' is a hugely pleasurable evening out because of the excellence of its performances and the convincing and captivatingly credibility of its three principals. It is an adult film which makes clear once and for all what randy juvenilia all other 'adult' films are. This one is, of course, in impeccable taste."

"A Tale of Winter" is the second of what became Rohmer's "Tales of the Four Seasons." In reviewing the film, Kevin Thomas wrote, "The French respect the quirky workings of the human heart more than any other people and among the French filmmakers, the keenest observer may be Eric Rohmer, whose 'A Tale of Winter' finds him at his scintillating best, never wiser or funnier."