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John Debney's HOME SWEET HOME ALONE (2021)


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John Debney to Score Disney+’s ‘Home Alone’ Reboot

John Debney (The Passion of the Christ, Iron Man 2, The Jungle Book, Elf, Hocus Pocus, The Greatest Showman) has been hired to score the upcoming Disney+ original movie Home Alone. The film is directed by Dan Mazer (I Give It a Year, Da Ali G Show) and stars Archie Yates, Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney, Ally Maki, Kenan Thompson, Chris Parnell, Aisling Bea, Pete Holmes, Timothy Simons and Mikey Day. No plot details have been announced yet for the family comedy, which is based on the Chris Columbus-directed and John Hughes-written and -produced 1990 hit feature of the same title scored by John Williams. Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell wrote the screenplay. Hutch Parker (Logan, X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Dan Wilson are producing the 20th Century Studios production. Home Alone is expected to premiere next year on Disney+.

 

Debney’s recent projects include Netflix’s Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey and Brenda Chapman’s Come Away, both of which were just released earlier this month. The composer has also recently recorded his score for the upcoming live-action/animated hybrid feature Clifford the Big Red Dog. The film is directed by Walt Becker (Wild Hogs, Van Wilder) and features the voices of Darby Camp, Jack Whitehall, Sienna Guillory, Rosie Perez, Kenan Thompson and John Cleese. Jordan Kerner (Fried Green Tomatoes, The Mighty Ducks, The Smurfs) and Iole Lucchese of Scholastic Entertainment are producing the project. Debney has previously collaborated with Becker on the 2009 comedy Old Dogs. Clifford the Big Red Dog is set to be released in theaters nationwide on November 5, 2021 by Paramount Pictures.

 

https://filmmusicreporter.com/2020/11/18/john-debney-to-score-disneys-home-alone-reboot/

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12 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Both the movie and the talentless hack they hired are just very depressing

That's a bit harsh!  He's written some good stuff.  Elf, for example is a solid example of his Williams-esque Christmas writing

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Cutthroat Island, Passion of the Christ and The Emperor‘s New Groove are the only are the only Debney scores that have ever made an impression on me. None of them are great, but those three are at least interesting.

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We obviously don't need more HOME ALONE. The first two films aren't only unique in their aesthetic, but also 'time capsules'. Doing that kind of glossy, unadulterated, US Christmas style these days doesn't go over as well as it did in the early 90s. Just look at HOME ALONE 4 and 5 (3 was kinda cute, though).

 

That being said, Debney is a great choice. He's one of the best pastiche composers out there, especially of Williams' style. And he recently did a Christmas movie for Netflix (haven't seen or heard it yet). As others have said, I would rather have him than Göransson, Desplat or -- God forbid! -- Giacchino, for example.

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PASSION OF THE CHRIST, maybe. But not really. That's not why I like him. Originality is only one out of several criteria by which one may evaluate a composer.

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3 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Of course, I was just wondering since I'm only really familiar with a handful of his works.

 

My top 10 Debney, if it can be of any help:

 

1. CUTTHROAT ISLAND

2. Passion of the Christ

3. The Young Messiah (basically Passion's younger, less ambitious brother, but I'm a sucker for that sound)

4. SeaQuest DSV

5. Hocus Pocus

6. Elf (another testament as to why he's a good fit for HOME ALONE)

7. Duma

8. De dødes tjern

9. End of Days

10. Spy Kids (although this had a myriad of composers)

 

Honourable mentions to SIN CITY, WHITE FANG 2, ZATHURA, PREDATORS.

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8 minutes ago, Thor said:

CUTTHROAT ISLAND

 

It's OK, but relentless (even on the OST). I've been warming up to this a bit more after recently giving it another chance. And somehow I ended up with all three CD releases!

 

8 minutes ago, Thor said:

Passion of the Christ

 

End credits is OK-to-good, the rest is mostly boring.

 

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36 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

End credits is OK-to-good, the rest is mostly boring.

 

By "End Credits", I assume you mean "Ressurection" -- the centerpiece track.

 

I obviously disagree with your assessment otherwise. I'm an absolute sucker for this type of orchestral/world music amalgam. I could listen to it forever.

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I've never had any reason to boycott a film, but I will for this one. I don't really care who's scoring it, what I care about is that they have the audacity to take a beloved Christmas film that's not even thirty years old, and remake it so the same assholes who shoveled buckets of popcorn down their throats with Aladdin, The Lion King and the other soulless, sadistic, cheap, hollow, incredulous, disingenuous remakes will come flying back to the cinemas for this garbage.

 

You know what else will suck, and nothing against Debney - but this film won't have the same songwriting from Leslie Bricusse or Williams' magical themes. So fuck this, fuck everything about this. I don't love Home Alone, but the idea of remaking it because it will sell tickets is disgusting consumerist crap.

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4 minutes ago, The Big Man said:

1990 was only ten years ago.

 

Indeed. I can't wrap my ahead around time either, these days. Basically, every time distance to the past feels like the half of what it actually is. At least.

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I doubt the movie will be all that good, but after Living Your Yourself, I'd watch anything with Aisling Bea :lovethis:

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1 minute ago, mstrox said:

Over the Halloween season we bought some old 1990s TV animated special called The Halloween Tree which had a downright lovely score by Debney - so much so that I searched for a legit release that I could buy (which doesn't exist).  No clue if it suffered from temp track love, but I thought it was a pretty good kids' movie score.

 

At least it's on YT.

 

 

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John Williams Home Alone and Home Alone 2 are scores that while beloved never quite receive the respect these scores deserve. In both cases his scores elevate the films. His Christmas music/songs have become standards. These are damned good scores and while i poo poo most expanded editions the two disc HA2 is excellent.  

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Alas, THE JUNGLE BOOK didn't do much for me. Felt too bombastic and/or directionless. But I remember that a lot of people liked it, including my own colleagues in the IFMCA.

 

I'll take the Rozsa or Poledouris instead. Or even the original Disney.

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