Macaulay Culkin

[4] Chris Columbus (Adventures in Babysitting) directs this John Hughes production about an eight-year-old boy accidentally left at home while his family flies to Paris for the Christmas holiday. At first, the boy (Uncle Buck‘s Macaulay Culkin) enjoys his freedom, but when two burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) target the house, he must find the courage to fend them off. I get why Home …

[5] Writer/director John Hughes serves up this comedy star vehicle for John Candy, who plays an unreliable uncle called upon to babysit his nieces and nephew while their parents are away on emergency travel. As you can imagine, the meat of this movie is in Uncle Buck’s interactions with the children. Hughes is a master at letting characters breathe within the confines of tight story …

[8] Jacob’s Ladder is a terrific example of what can happen when an inspired screenplay gets into the hands of a great director and a capable leading actor. I’m talking about Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost), Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction), and Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption), respectively. Rubin’s script is a fever dream of a tale, following a New York Vietnam vet who’s losing his grip on …