Did Macaulay Culkin kill the '80s?

You can confess to adoring him in "Uncle Buck." You might even shamefully admit you once rented "Rocket Gibraltar" just to catch his cutesy little appearance.

But I'm here to tell you: Macaulay Culkin, who turns 28 today, is the devil and his appearance in movies basically destroyed everything we held dear about the '80s. His rise to short-lived super-stardom came at the stoke of the end of 1989. And his fall in the late '90s was karma and triggered the '80s revival.

I'm betting even John Hughes is nodding along, while sitting somewhere in the basement of his Wisconsin home, throwing copies of "Home Alone" into the furnace to cut the chill, muttering "Are you thirsty for more? Are you thirsty for more!?!" to nobody in particular.

Sleep tight, Johnny. Take solace in knowing that Culkin's real slide into evil didn't begin until he played "The Nutcracker" in '93.

TOP 5 QUOTES THAT PROVE MACAULAY CULKIN IS THE DEVIL (Or at least a very weird kid):

5. "Their dog's a ball-sniffer." (Uncle Buck)

4. "Guys, I'm eating junk and watching rubbish! You better come out and stop me!" (Home Alone)

3. "You can't marry a teacher, it's against the law." (My Girl)

2. "Bad worms." (Rocket Gibraltar)

1. "Waiting for your sex?" (Uncle Buck)

Comments

[shirley]

hola como estas bueno me pareces un actor muy interesante me caes chevere y cuidate

[joe]

i dont see how those quotes at all prove hes the devil...

he looks kind'a weird being 28!
looked very cute 'n attractive
In the "Home Alone" series.

--Harsh
LA
Nevada

[Spears]

The fresh prince?

[Chris]

Cruisin' down the road
Fast, not slow
ninety-miles-an-hour
in my 5.0

-Old Wil Smith

[Walter Cox]

You know, I thought "The Last Crusade" was the last movie I saw in a theater with my dad (he's still alive, so no downer here). I just realized it was "Home Alone". Man I can't believe that flick came out a little over half my life ago.

[Steph]

Culkin in "Saved" is great. Love that movie, and he's surprisingly sweet and funny.

[Jeff from Vegas]

You might not like "Home Alone," but mash it up with "I Am Legend" and it actually looks like it might be good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhr7uTHBUrA

[Jeff in Cuba]

Rob,

I'm not sure if enough time has passed for anyone to be "Stuck in the 90's".

Since it's the adjacent decade, it might be more accurate to say "Still in the 90's"

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

Is there a stuck in the 90's podcast? Just wondering? I would probably listen to it. I was the quintesential 80's kids...Almost all my schooling was in the 90's (I graduated from HS in 1990), but I do consider my best years to be the 5 that I spent in college. 1990-1995

I changed my major a couple times.

Let's face it people, 1990 killed the '80s.

;-)

[Tim]

Best line in "Uncle Buck" was actually John Candy talking to the school principal .. " Here's a quarter . Go hire a RAT to gnaw that lump off your face."
classic ...

[J Dub]

I hate the "Home Alone" flicks, but I blame John Hughes, not Macaulay Culkin. Here's a list of films Hughes wrote or produced (or both) after "Home Alone": "Dutch", "Curly Sue", "Beethoven", "Dennis The Menace", "Baby's Day Out", "Miracle On 34th Street", "101 Dalmations", "Flubber", and "Maid In Manhattan". It makes Culkin look like Olivier, doesn't it? I think John Hughes killed the eighties, even though I also think he helped define it.

[Vegasgirlfriend]

I do love Uncle Buck and Saved. I have never seen Home Alone and I never will. One movie of Culkin's I do absolutely love is Party Monster. It's even set in the 80s!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_Monster_(2003_film)

[Marissa]

UNCLE BUCK gets regular play in this household.
"You ask a lot of questions."

"I'm a kid. It's my job."

[John Hays]

I love both Home Alone movies. Great stuff.

[Spears]

My problem(s) with "Home Alone" is that it's not the best movie for ANY of the actors in it. It's almost like a satire of a John Hughes movie. It's just missing the really hip soundtrack.

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

I don't think you guys are being too fair when you rip on the Home Alone movie (The first one at least)...I thought it was a great Hughes movie!

I still use the line with the pizza guy,

"Keep the change you FILTHY ANIMAL!!!"

(Sometimes I get an awkward stare and other times I get a HUGE laugh.)

[Douglas Arthur]

Let us not forget about the classic The Good Son, in which he terrorized a young Elijah Wood. The mom in the end had to choose between the two. Her own son, who was beginnning to look an awful lot like a reincarnation of Damien or good little cousin, Elijah Wood. They are hanging off a cliff and she can only save one of them....high tension indeed. I won't spoil it, but as they said back in the 60's Frodo Lives!

I think McCauley needs some serious detox and to take a real job at a retail store or something and live like a normal Joe for a while to get his head straight.

[Gary in Gilroy]

The Home Alone series blew. Mark, I agree; Saved! was a pretty decent movie for Culkin. I was surprised.

[Mark in East Texas]

I've never seen any of the Home Alone movies, but I think Culkin did a good job in "Saved" - I'm not saying I'm a fan, just that I enjoyed that movie.

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

Walter...do you think the SIT80's crowd will enjoy this soundbyte?

Hughes: "What are you doing with my stool?"

(I'm not referring to a chair either)

Just kidding! hahaha!

[Walter Cox]

Rob, I'm sure "what the hell are you doing in my house!?" is not the sound bite Steve's looking for.

I tend to think of the "eating junk and watching rubbish" line when I'm eating bachelor suppers...like ice cream.

[Rick]

My favorite Culkin line from UNCLE BUCK is whispered
to the older sister:
"He's cookin' our garbage!"

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

"Rollin'...in my 5.0...with my ragtop down so my hair can flow..."

That is (unfortunately) a Vanilla Ice lyric from "Ice Ice Baby"

Sorry, yes, I know it was a terrible song from an even worse artist.

[Spears]

It's probably the lack of meat in the last 4 days, but "rolling around in my 5.0" means what?

My blood alcohol level on weekends?

[Rob Bass from Chicago]

Does John Hughes now live in Wisconsin? I go there all the time. If you can give me a specific location, I can stalk, err...I mean stake him out and try to get a sound-byte into a microphone (secretly) and get him to talk. C'mon people! I will totally do this if you can help me out!

Rob Bass (Not the fish, but BASS as in the thumping sound you hear when Spears is rolling around in his 5.0)

[Neil]

I still remember when David Spade on the Weekend Update on SNL put up an old picture of himself from gradeschool next to Macaulay and said this is you in 20 years!! It was funny how similar they looked. I still use the Macaulay reference whenever I talk to someone on the phone and they say they are home alone, I usually say, just like Macaulay? They never get it...

[Jeff from Vegas]

He's kind of a weird adult, too.